The Silver City Museum's permanent collection totals well over 20,000 objects, including approximately 15,000 photos. Photographs make up the largest and fastest growing collection category. At the nucleus of our photo archive is the John Harlan Collection of some 800 local views from the 1870s-1920s, received in 1974. This has been built upon by many family collections, including photos sought out from community members for use in exhibits over the years. A significant 1996 gift, the O.L Hinger Collection of more than 1,700 images from the 1930s and '40s, greatly improved our documentation of the people, buildings, and lifestyles in the region for the period before and during World War II. Community members have helped us identify most of these photos.

Other types of archival materials in the collection, totaling several hundred items, include business records, newspapers, municipal records, and mining documents. Archival documents are considered to be a part of, and are accessioned with, the Museum's Permanent Collection. These materials are available to researchers by appointment and with close staff supervision. Where possible, we have attempted to make the contents of our archival holdings (both photographs and documents) available to researchers in copy form: photocopies in historical files, microfilm and digital copies of record books in the collections, and copy prints or photocopies of photo images in albums for general reference.

The Museum holds over 5,000 household and personal objects dating from the late 19th through early 20th centuries. Artifacts representative of Anglo and Hispanic settlers include clothing and accessories, furnishings and firearms. Several hundred more objects represent the period between the World Wars, including personal, commercial, and work-related items. The elimination of time constraints in the Mission Statement and collections management policy has allowed us to obtain significant materials from the 1930s through the present (one example is a collection of varied items from native son Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, former astronaut and U.S. Senator). Like many museums, we are struggling with criteria for collecting articles from the later 20th century.

Native American artifacts consist of 536 pieces of pottery and lithic material from the Mimbres, Mogollon, and Casas Grandes peoples, ancient cultures located in (or connected by trade to) our region. Museum policy prohibits collection of human remains. From the post-European-contact period are a dozen Apache baskets, two dolls and a cradleboard, several Navajo rugs and blankets, and a few related artifacts. All Native American items were inventoried and reported under NAGPRA requirements. The Museum's collecting priorities include materials from the Chiricahua Apaches, the tribal group which occupied the area that now surrounds Silver City. Warfare and their forced relocation to Florida in 1886 have effectively destroyed this group as a societal unit, and their material culture with them. Very few pieces exist in the collections of other museums, but the opportunity for obtaining these materials is apparently closed. Artifacts representing our mining heritage number at least 100. Our mining exhibits include the Tyrone Room, a period mining office containing equipment from the former company town near Silver City. Designed by architect Bertram Goodhue, Tyrone was an outstanding example of the Mediterranean-style architecture of the World War I era. Our 200-piece collection is nearly all that remains of the town, now engulfed by an open-pit mine. Another exhibit focuses on the Santa Rita mine and includes local mineral samples, assaying equipment, and miners' gear. Unfortunately, much industrial mining equipment is too large for our facilities to house, and its representation is usually limited to photographs and other documentary materials.

Ranching plays a vital part in the local community. Although we have fewer than 50 ranching artifacts in the permanent collection, these are heavily supplemented by loans from the ranching community for appropriate exhibits. Donations of ranch gear are difficult to obtain; ranching is often a multi-generational family business and potential donors frequently want to keep artifacts in the family, or tend to use objects until they fall apart. However, some 200 views in the photographic collection depict mining and ranching activities, helping to interpret these topics in the absence of artifacts.

The H.B. Ailman House, an 1881 Mansard/Italianate structure, is both the Museum's home and its single largest artifact. Originally one of a pair of "twin" houses, it was built from soft, locally made brick and lumber milled from nearby forests. After two decades as a single-family residence, the future museum spent a quarter-century as a boarding house, a brief stint as City Hall, and 35 years as the town fire station. The history of the house is interpreted through label text, our color brochure, website, and guided tours. Much of our institutional attention through the years has been devoted to preserving and protecting this unique example of early local architecture, while also making it safe and accessible to visitors.

By appointment, researchers and others may view and study objects from the Museum's collections that are in storage or are encased in exhibits. Requests should be made well in advance of the planned visit. Contact Jackie Becker