Civil War artifacts to Kenosha museum
November 18, 2014 | In the PressFrom Daily Union (http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_f29fc1fc-6f36-11e4-a4be-0344d9475ec3.html (opens in a new window))
The Lake Mills-Aztalan Historical Society has loaned its Civil War artifacts to the Kenosha Civil War Museum in exchange for restoration services.
On Monday, representatives from the Civil War museum packed the artifacts for the trip to Kenosha, where they are to be restored and displayed for the next three years.
While visiting the Aztalan Museum this summer, Kenosha Civil War Museum director Dan Joyce made note of the poor condition of the museum’s Civil War artifacts, especially the clothing, which had begun to mold. Joyce offered to have the artifacts professionally cleaned by his staff in exchange for a three-year loan of the items for exhibit.
The museum, which focuses on telling individual stories, is interested in the artifacts due to their personal ties to the Aztalan and Lake Mills area.
“We are always looking for additional stories to tell at the museum,” said Gina Radandt, curator of collections at the Kenosha Public Museum, of which the civil war museum is a branch. “We can work with the pieces, develop a way to display them, tell some of these great people stories, and then credit the loan to the historical society.”
Radandt noted that the items, when on display in Kenosha, will mention the location of the Aztalan Museum, which hopefully will spark more interest in the local museum since the Kenosha Civil War Museum receives more than 65,000 visitors a year.
“He (Joyce) thought it would be a win-win for everybody,” Radandt said. “We can help the artifacts out and then we can utilize them in an exhibition in our own place and bring them back at the completion of the loan in a little better shape.”
The Kenosha museum’s story line features the six states of the Upper Midwest. Radandt said the museum is not strictly focused on the battle aspects of the Civil War, but, rather, the impact the war had on the generation from 1850-90.
“I like to think of us as a social museum,” she added.
Among the items transferred Monday were a writing desk, an officer’s jacket and cap, a large coat with cape, a sword, canteens, several firing arms and other various weapons.
The sword and canon balls, belonging to Homer Schuyler, were donated by the Schuyler family, some of the first settlers in Aztalan. The Klatt family donated the large coat and cape.
The writing desk, cap, coat and canteens belonged to Oscar L. Ray, who orignally was from Lake Mills and continued to live in the area for many years following the war. He was a member of the 29th Volunteer Regiment from Wisconsin and retired from service as a lieutenant.
Because only high-ranking officers such as Ray had writing desks, it is one of the more unique artifacts found at the museum.
The Aztalan Museum when established in 1942 only accepted items from Lake Mills, making the personal connection to each artifact even more historically valuable.
Radandt said she hopes to have at least a few of the artifacts cleaned, cataloged and on display by the first of the year. The poor quality of many of the artifacts is due to several factors, including not having a climate-controlled facility, according to Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society President Robin Untz.
Untz, who took over as society president about a year ago, noted that the exchange came at great time as the historical society works to update the museum.
“It’s an opportunity we couldn’t pass up as we struggle to make ends meet and get the museum back up on its feet and work to make the museum a better environment for our artifacts,” Untz said.
