Brownsville Historical Association holds rummage sale fundraiser

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Small mariachi figures are tagged with prices Saturday, May 20, 2023, at the Brownsville Historical Association’s Clutter for a Cause event at the Brownsville Heritage Museum. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

BROWNSVILLE — The parking lot outside the Brownsville Heritage Museum bustled with activity Saturday as passersby walked along the tables piled with items, books and appliances for the Brownsville Historical Association’s Clutter for a Cause fundraising event.

“This is the second time we have hosted this. We did it for the first time last year in the fall on a kind of trial run. We weren’t really sure what we were going to get out of it,” Aubrey Nielsen, Collections Manager for the Brownsville Historical Association, said.

In 2022, the nonprofit held the event intending to do some spring cleaning by holding a rummage sale as they had a lot of things sitting around the museum that they weren’t using anymore or that weren’t part of their collection, like office supplies and furniture to raise money for their programs.

The event was a success, and the Brownsville Historical Association reached out this year to their members and the community to donate more items for sale to continue to benefit their work. The organization hopes to hold two sales events each year, one in the fall and another in the spring, to continue to raise money through these small fundraisers.

Joseph Linck is reflected in a trio of mirrors for sale as he browses through boxes of books Saturday, May 20, 2023, at the Brownsville Historical Association’s Clutter for a Cause event at the Brownsville Heritage Museum. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

The Brownsville Historical Association started in 1947 and has grown over the years with a merger in 2016 with the Historic Brownsville Museum and more recently with the Costumes of the Americas Museum in 2020.

“Our mission is to promote, preserve and educate our community about the history and heritage of Brownsville, and one of the ways that we do that, of course, is through all of our locations. We have so many locations across the city, and we always welcome people to come in and see what we have to offer because every location is a new experience, from the Costumes of the Americas Museum to the Stillman House Museum,” Nielsen said.

Part of that work is providing both free and paid events for the community to explore local histories and the museum’s many collections, such as the free fashion show “Guatemalan Textiles Then & Now” recently held on May 12 and the upcoming ticketed Sip N’ Paint session on June 6 at the Laureles Ranch House in Linear Park.

Small fundraising events like the Clutter for a Cause are just one of the many ways the nonprofit can fundraise to provide events like these for the community.

Aubrey Nielsen, Collections Manager for the Brownsville Historical Association, sets out framed posters for sale Saturday, May 20, 2023, at the Brownsville Historical Association’s Clutter for a Cause event at the Brownsville Heritage Museum. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

“It’s not a lot of money, so we are not talking tens of thousands of dollars, but the money we do raise from it comes back to the museum to help us support programming throughout the year. The majority of our programming is free to the public, and one of the ways we can continue to do that is through small fundraisers or events that we do charge at,” Nielsen said.

Nielson said that community members interested in helping in their work have a variety of ways to lend a hand, from small donations to buying memberships or even volunteering their time at the museums or for programming.

For more information about ways to help or upcoming programming, visit www.brownsvillehistory.org.