The museum houses and displays artifacts, archival documents, and art from donors from Mascoutah and the surrounding area. The Mascoutah Heritage Museum was given to the Society in 2003 by Wayne Wilson, owner of Jenkins Business Forms. The museum houses displays permanent collections of Mascoutah memorabilia, Harvey Pitt's mounted waterfowl, a schoolroom, and Adelia Hangsleben's dolls. In addition to the Heritage Museum, the Society owns the Berger-Kiel Log House. Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, the House is listed as "a rare example of one-and-one-half story log houses in near-original condition." Donation information:
MUSEUM POLICY OF MASCOUTAH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Revised by the Executive Board on March 27, 2012
1. The Society must have clear title to all acquisitions. It will make no special agreements as to use or disposition of an object by the Society.
2. All acquisitions must be clearly related to the history of the Mascoutah area. Objects represented as related to specific events, places, or persons should be authenticated by documentation. Objects not related to specific events, places, or persons should be typical of an element in Mascoutah's history. Items which are merely sentimental, attractive, or unusual should not be made part of the permanent collection.
3. Acquisitions should be in good enough condition so that they can be useful to the museum without straining the financial or technical resources for preservation and exhibition.
4. The Accession Committee must have the authority to decide what to accept for the museum and how to use or dispose of what is not added to the collection.
5. The Accession Committee will obtain and use reference books to identify and evaluate objects so that it can choose wisely which objects to accept and keep. These books will become part of a permanent reference library in the museum.
6. The Accession Committee will not assign values to acquisitions. Proffer agreements will be given to the donor, with values based on the donor's valuation of the gift.
