The future of history; The Mower County Historical Society is poised to become a larger treasure
Published 11:00 am Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Hundreds, if not thousands, of artifacts from Mower County’s past are housed within several buildings at the Mower County Historical Society. This year, the society hopes to create a professional storage space. — Photos by Trey Mewes/trey.mewes@austindailyherald.com
The Mower County Historical Society has big changes planned for the future.
The society looks to cement its legacy as a professional society through a catalog of its archives and several smaller projects to help staff achieve that goal.
John Haymond of the Mower County Historical Society highlights storage issues within several MCHS buildings. The society looks to tackle its storage issues through several projects this year.
“One of my goals as a director is to ensure the society reaches and maintains the professional standards of a real research facility,” said John Haymond, executive director for the historical society. “We’re doing very well in that regard.”
The society has at least 15,000 to 16,000 items, according to Haymond, but the archives could have as much as 20,000 items.
The problem is, no one has gone through and professionally cataloged the archive, so the society may have untapped resources stored throughout the society’s buildings.
As Haymond points out, Mower County’s historical society started as an amateur group, similar to other societies across the state and nation. However, the society’s collection has grown so huge that it needs professional management.
“This is not a coffee club any more,” Haymond said. “This is a professionally run historical society.”
This year, the society will complete two larger projects to help the organization better function and free up more space for exhibits.
Society staff hope to turn the Williams building, which previously housed a Native American collection, into a professional storage space. The building is a concrete structure, according to Haymond, which means it doesn’t have insulation, air conditioning or other things to ensure the society’s archives are climate controlled.
In addition, the society hopes to build two bathrooms in the Pioneer building, which will help the society take on more members of the public.
Mower County Historical Society Executive Director John Haymond shows how a storage space within the Pioneer building will become public bathrooms later this year. The society is planning several projects this year to increase its functionality.
The society is also looking for more support from the community. Haymond said the society is discussing another major fundraising event this year for the public, and the society hopes to convince Mower County townships to give an average of $500 per year to the historical society, which would give the group a nice cushion when it comes to maintenance issues.
Yet properly archiving the entire collection of Mower County records could take years to complete, even as the society receives research requests from as far away as Germany.
That doesn’t bother Haymond and the other society staff, however. To them, the collection could mean better opportunities for Mower County to get to know itself.
“There’s limitless possibility for what we could achieve here,” Haymond said.
