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Good morning and welcome to In Our Range.
I'm your host, Mike LeBeau.
Our guest this week is Kristin Kolasar, Treasurer of the Iron County Historical Museum.
She's here to talk about the museum, its history and resources, and the many great events they have throughout the year.
The Iron County Historical Museum was built in 1893 as the town hall for the now vanished township of Vaughn.
The museum building was sold the following April to serve as the courthouse for Iron County.
In 1976, the Iron County Historical Society acquired the building and spent a decade performing extension restoration.
The Iron County Museum offers three full floors of displays from history of iron mining, to railroads, timber, to veterans, home life, to faith-based articles.
Rooms are filled with many old photos showing life from the past.
Many of the photos in the main hall gallery were the work of Emma Sackett, who pioneered the field of photography for other women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The heart of the museum is the weaving room.
Here you'll see living history and progress as the weavers use ancient methods and looms to produce beautiful rag rugs.
The volunteer work of the Weavers is the primary source of income from the museum.
You can purchase hand-woven rugs, or placemats, or you can place a special order.
A research center is located adjacent to the weaving room.
Here scanning and copying of documents can be done.
Microfilm copies of all available newspapers from the county are also on file dating back to the 1880s.
The museum hosts lectures throughout the year on the history of Hurley and the Gogevick range, as well as many other events celebrating the history of Iron County.
Kristin Kolasar is a volunteer and the treasurer of the Iron County Museum in Hurley.
She began volunteering in 2015 there and she works on research, museum events, and exhibit
development.
Kristen is a third grade teacher for the Hurley School District.
Good morning, Kristen, and welcome to In Our Range.
Good morning.
It's great to be here.
Yeah, it's nice to meet you.
So we're celebrating the 50th year of the Iron County Historical Museum, huh?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, I only know that because it's my birth
year.
And so the Historical Museum exists.
It's one of the oldest brick buildings in town, and it was originally the courthouse for Von Township, named after a prominent fella from Ashland and Bayfield, Mr. Von, forgot his first name.
It became the Iron County Courthouse, and a lot of notable events and trials took place.
What are some of your favorite stories or events that took place in that building?
Probably the most interesting trial was the one involving Emma Sigler, who went on trial for murdering her husband.
Yeah, that was a horrible story.
I read a book.
on that one.
Her husband was tremendously abusive to her and the children and then it just became a crazy story of intrigue with other persons involved and a fella named Andrew taking the fall for it and she spent a long time in prison in Wisconsin and Andrew did as well.
But yeah, that's an incredible story there.
I remember when I went on one of the spooky tours in recent years.
They had a judge there played by the terrific Steven Lundy and told story about a dog being a witness to a, I think it was a murder.
that took place there so a very wild history in iron county and so i just wanted to talk about that because history it's not always just some boring dates and times there's real personal stories especially here on the range so you are the treasurer for the historical museum open three days a week
four days a week in the summer monday wednesday friday and saturday from ten to two
and you're gearing up for heritage days this what this year as well
Right.
There'll be an open house.
Yes.
We'll have an open house on Friday, July 24th from 10 to 2.
And we have three programs that day.
So at 11 a.m.
and 1 p.m.
We have Stephen Cole and he's going to be portraying abolitionist Frederick Douglass and then at noon we're going to have Bill Jamerson and he's going to be doing a sing-along of the CCC camps.
Oh, they're both great presenters.
They both do a wonderful job with what they do.
That sounds like it's going to be a tremendous event.
Great.
So there are three floors of exhibits.
You know, you could spend at least a whole day in there.
There's very personal stories and then broader histories.
What are some of your favorite exhibits?
Probably our most popular exhibit is the mining room.
We have a very extensive collection of minerals.
And so many people who come to visit the museum had ancestors who were miners.
So they really like to explore that area and see what life was like working in that profession, which was very dangerous.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of the Papstmine disaster this year with three floors of exhibits to curate.
Well, how do you decide what gets exhibited?
and what gets moved out and moved in.
So we have a lot of our rooms are themed, and then we can rotate items in and out of that.
Our most recent exhibit, just won an award for the State of Wisconsin for the best new exhibit, is on Hurley Native.
He was an anti-Nazi spine master, and his name was Leon Lewis.
We also have a historical marker for Leon Lewis in the front of our building, and a Holocaust Memorial daffodil garden as well.
Yeah, the Ellie Weasel monument right there in front of the courthouse.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Yeah, I had no idea that there was such a super spy history connection here on the range.
Definitely a fun project to work on.
He lived in Hurley from his birth in 1888 until 1897, but we're still very proud that Hurley is his hometown.
That's great.
And so the weavers that are sort of considered to be the heart of the historical museum, you know, I know a lot about mining.
and timber.
What is their historical connection to weaving?
Here in Hurley, then?
Yes.
A lot of people who are in the weaving room had grandparents or great grandparents who had looms in their own homes.
It was a Finnish custom primarily.
Oh, wonderful.
So the Finns brought the custom of weaving.
It wasn't done on like an industrial or production level.
It was just for people in their homes.
Yes.
There are demonstrations.
Yes.
So anytime any of the weavers are working, people are welcome to come and watch them do their craft and they can also answer questions.
There's actually four or five different people who have a role in making each rug.
So they start by choosing the fabrics and then you have a person who is the cutter and they cut them to a specific width and then they go to another person who's the sewer and then they sew it into a long continuous strip.
Then it goes to the weaver and then finally to the finisher who does the ends and then checks for quality control and then it gets placed for sale.
So you're demonstrating history while also preserving tradition and keeping people interested in this element of our culture and history here on the range.
Yes, we often have visitors come in and say, oh, I remember my great-grandma had one of
those
looms, but they don't know how to do the weaving.
Yeah, and they get to see it and that's great.
And so the open house is coming up on the 24th and then I made a mention earlier to the spooky Halloween tour.
I can't quite remember.
the official title.
The
Haunted History Flashlight Tour?
The Haunted History Flashlight Tour, which I took my kids to and really thoroughly enjoyed it.
Some of our favorite local actors from Theater North and other stages in the area do living characters from the basement all the way up to the third floor courtroom in there.
When do you start asking for volunteers and help in your preparations for that?
Usually we start getting volunteers for that around August.
around August and so people can reach out to you or someone else if they want to be involved in that.
They could reach out to the Facebook page.
When did that come about?
I loved that event.
When did you start doing that?
I believe the first year we started it was in 2016 and one of our volunteers attended a similar type of event in the Duluth Superior area and they thought that would work really well in our museum.
And I agree.
I think it does work really, really well.
And then because you get these living histories, you get these beautiful, wonderful stories.
Some of them are funny, even a little absurd.
But some of them are also beautiful and connect us to family traditions on the range.
And you put you get this tour of the whole building as well.
It was hard for me to not be distracted by all the exhibits as I was trying to go along with the tour.
So you start looking for volunteers for the Haunted Halloween flashlight tour around August.
People can reach out through the Facebook page.
What are some other volunteer needs that you have?
We have a big need for volunteers right now.
Quite a few of our volunteers have recently retired from volunteering.
So we have a lot of need, especially in cleaning and housekeeping.
We could use help if anyone is willing to cut the grass and then we could also use help in the weaving room.
Okay, and people can reach out to you through the Facebook page if they're interested in that.
Or call the museum 715-561-2244 or they can just stop in and see the different areas and see what interests them.
Yeah, anyone interested in
and taking care of this history and have some time and they're handy with a feather duster or a vacuum cleaner or a broom.
They can give you a call when you guys are open four days a week or they can message you otherwise and get involved.
And there are any lawn mowers out there.
You know, let's help keep that beautiful building looking good, eh?
Yes, and we do have our own lawn mower, so we would just need someone to operate it.
We provide the gas and the machine.
Okay.
And you're located right across the street from the memorial building.
Over there just a couple blocks off a highway 51 right there.
It's got the giant three-story brick building there and a Romanesque style.
I love that word Romanesque.
It's vaguely Roman.
But it's got the incredible clock tower that has its own wonderful history as well.
So thank you for coming in.
Are there is there anything else that you'd like to touch on or talk about today?
Yes.
So the week of Heritage Days on Wednesday, July 22nd, we will also be having a presentation, and this is going to be given by Blaise Burton.
And he will be talking about in 1920, as the Volstead Act took effect, local businessmen in Hurley conspired with wealthy and powerful elites in Milwaukee to keep their establishments operating.
This is going to be the first of a two-part presentation that will explore one of the first attempts by Tavern owners to traffic large quantities of whiskey from Chicago to Hurley via an auto caravan.
So that's Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Wow, so some bootlegging history on July 22nd at 6 p.m.
and that'll be in the Historical Museum there?
Yes, that'll be in the courtroom of the Historical
Museum.
In the courtroom up there on the third floor.
Well, that's ADA.
You've got an elevator that goes up there as well.
A
stair.
chairlift.
Stair chairlift.
Excellent.
So anyone can come and be a part of that.
That sounds like a fun presentation.
It sure does.
I'm looking forward to it.
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much for coming in this morning.
Is there anything else you'd like to offer our listeners this morning before we head out the door?
We'd love to have our local listeners come in and visit the museum.
A lot of people who live around here have never been there, and they really seem to enjoy coming.
We have all the old year books, so if you want to look back at your yearbook or a grandparent, and we also have scavenger hunts for kids, so fun for all ages.
That sounds incredible.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Kristen.
Thank you for having me.
My guest this morning has been Kristen Kolasar, volunteer and treasurer with the Iron County Historical Museum, right there in Hurley.
The museum will be hosting a presentation by Blaise Burton, entitled The Highway 51 Booze Caravan, Part 1, on Wednesday, July 22nd at 6 p.m.
This presentation will explore the trafficking of whiskey from Chicago to Hurley via auto caravan during prohibition.
Then on Friday the 24th, you can visit the museum during their open house coinciding with Hurley Heritage Days.
Their monthly featured exhibit for July commemorates the celebration of the United States Bicentennial celebration in 1976.
The museum is also looking for volunteers to help clean up and tend the grounds.
They're specifically in need of folks to help keep the lawn mowed.
They can provide the mower and the gas.
You can contact the Iron County Historical Society Museum through their Facebook page or by calling them at 715-561-2244 or you can stop in.
From April 1st to November they're open four days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m.
Thank you for joining us this morning on In Our Range.
I'm your host, Mike LeBeau, and we'll be back next week.
