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Unlocking the Vault: 75 Years, 75 Stories
What makes a museum interesting? How do we help visitors understand the connection between past and present? They gather these messages from a museum’s collections. The power that these artifacts have, and the messages that they convey, are immeasurable because of their links to a historic event or person. And, those messages may mean something different to each of us.
As part of the Milwaukee County Historical Society’s 75th Anniversary celebration in 2010, our staff has selected 75 items from the collections that are both unique and enlightening. Objects and archival materials that tell a story, either about their connections to Milwaukee County’s past, or about their acquisition by the Historical Society. These 75 will be revealed throughout the year, as part of the Anniversary celebration – first on the Society’s website, then in an exhibit opening in fall 2010.
Try to envision Solomon Juneau wearing his famous frock coat. Or think of yourself in Milwaukee in 1906, driving a Sears automobile down Grand Avenue. Imagine the sacrifices of men like World War I veteran Reverend Gustave Stearns, whose Army uniform the Society owns. Consider the young men and women of the NAACP Commandos – dressed in stenciled sweatshirts like the one to be displayed – fighting for housing law reform.
We also can see ourselves represented as a diverse community through items that define ethnicity – religious murals from the Our Lady of Pompeii Church, women’s church hats from the African-American community, or a Weinstube cask cover from one of Milwaukee’s earliest German beer halls.
75 items. 75 stories. What stories have been recorded over the last 75 years? What stories do you want told during the next 75 years?
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