left- Blue Mounds resident Martin Cliff was the maker of this Hardanger Violin. The instrument dates to 1895 and will be displayed in "Your Treasures, Your History" exhibit.
1975 - 2005
In celebration of the Historical Society's 30th anniversary a new exhibit is being prepared and installed in the Museum's Centennial Gallery and is slated to open May 1st. More than 100 artifacts have been drawn from the Museum's extensive and diverse holdings for inclusion in the exhibition. The items were selected by Donna Read, one of the Society's newest curators, and by president Brian Bigler. During the month long selection process items were chosen for their local importance, their social statements, their relevance to area communities in the collections territory, their representation of the diverse talents of area citizens, and, if they passed the "wow" factor - visually interesting!
The items represent some of the first artifacts to become part of the Museum's permanent collections, like the 1918 operating table from the Mt. Horeb Hospital gifted in 1977. The gift of a pottery vase brought to the Museum by well known artist, Marjori King, during the exhibit's installation, will be amongst the most recent items. The vase will join an earlier work of King's selected for inclusion and dating to 1986.
The largest item displayed is a 1971 Ski Doo snowmobile gifted by Milo & Dorothy Bergum and Ken Kellog. Ken Kellog won the machine during a raffle at the second annual snowmobile races held at Mt. Horeb on January 3, 1971. The snowmobile was lovingly restored for the exhibit by David Boyden, and his son Mike, who received school credits for taking on the local history project.
From its inception the Historical Society has been known for its detailed interiors, and this exhibit has given the opportunity to once more ply this old favorite. Using the gallery's limited space curators have painstakingly reproduced an actual 1899 photo of the interior of John S. Donald's farm home office. The very desk where Donald started his long and distinguished political career is included in the setting, as is a photo of Delma Donald Woodburn at age one year, who, at 102 gifted the items in the room setting to the Historical Society. The exhibit is also fitting as Delma was a member of the organization from its very beginning.
Your Treasures, Your History: 1975 - 2005 will run for three years and will be available during regular Museum hours and for special group tours.