This is a tough issue. I know of folks who have donated things to museums, that have either lost the items, or couldn't tell them where it was, etc. Think about it from the museums point of view though! They only have so much room to display things, and they probably have storage places filled with things folks have donated to them. Unless you have some major artifact for a museum, sending your precious photos may not be the best course of action.
When my father got up in age he decided to give me all his movies, and my brother all his still shots. What will happen to them when we are gone...we do have children, but what will they do with the stuff!!
Perhaps donating to a local library is a good source, so the contents can be put into a display or some sort of viewable arrangement for local patrons to see if they wish, or copy perhaps for research. The Denver Library has several such prominent collections, but I wonder about the not so famous photographers!!??
Maybe sometimes ebay is the way to go for old stuff, then at least it finds a home for someone who appreciates it if they are willing to bid on it.
The sad part is hearing about good collections that were lost to things like fire, or flooding. I know of two former Union Pacific employees who had nice 16mm film collections they shot during the steam days as well as prints and fire or flood got them many years ago. We do lose stuff through several forms of destruction, but a guy cutting up his own stuff is a pit unrational!
Greg Scholl
PS I hope he doesn't have any old films to rip up!!! I would even pay him for not doing so!!!