Highlights Archives
Historic Sites to Offer New Perspectives on the Past
When modern-day time travelers explore portals to the state's past this year at the Society's historic sites, they will find something new — from new critters and exhibits to new special events and innovative interpretive programs.
Visitors to Old World Wisconsin will be greeted by two new arrivals to the site — Pat and Pearl — a magnificent pair of Percheron horses, who can be seen grazing the site's rolling pastures or working the fields. New electronic devices will also make navigating the 576-acre site more manageable — digital audio tour guides that allow the visitor to select from a menu of options providing insights into the site's 1870s crossroads village and its 10 ethnic farms, as well as the 19th-century settlers who occupied them.
For the first time, Old World Wisconsin will also offer a series of four week-long summer day camps for children 9 to 11 between July 12 and August 6, offering the youngsters a choice of fun and educational day camps, each featuring activities developed around historical themes. These will include Native American and immigrant cultures; Laura Ingalls Wilder-inspired chores, crafts and pastimes; pioneer-era farm duties; and 19th-century work roles of men versus those of women.
Pendarvis, the restored Cornish miners' colony in Mineral Point will feature a new quilt exhibit called "Selections from the Collections: The Quilts at Pendarvis." The exhibit will feature a variety of quilts from the site's extensive collections, arranged by quilting technique and accompanied by an explanation of their context and significance.
Madeline Island Historical Museum in La Pointe, opening Saturday, May 29, will present a new exhibit contrasting the island's traditional summertime pastimes with a look at life on the island during winter. Titled "How’s the Ice?" the exhibit explores the rigors of island life when winter sets in as contrasted with a "Good Ol' Summertime" exhibit, which celebrates a century of summer vacations in the sun among island residents and visitors.
The 2004 season also marks the sesquicentennial observance of the Grand Excursion of 1854, billed as "a celebration so big it takes one river and four states to hold it." The event will re-create the grand train and river steamboat expedition that brought worldwide attention to the Upper Mississippi River Valley, which in 1854 marked the edge of the Western frontier. Two historic sites situated on the river — Stonefield in Cassville and Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien — will conduct special events during the grand flotilla, which runs from June 25 through July 5.
Stonefield, opening Saturday, May 29, will celebrate a "Mississippi River Festival" on Sunday, June 27, with tours of the State Agricultural Museum and the home site of Wisconsin's first governor Nelson Dewey, music in the village gazebo, and historic games on the village green.
The Villa Louis, opening Sunday, May 8, will mark the occasion on Tuesday, June 29, with "Grand Excursion: Villa Louis," an event featuring tours of the grand Victorian mansion, refreshments under a lawn pavilion, and a variety of period lawn games and amusements. The mansion complex will again showcase the splendor of its recently restored room interiors, a major documentary restoration project completed last year that returns the house to the splendor of its 1890s heyday.
H. H. Bennett Studio & History Center in Wisconsin Dells, which exhibits the life's work of pioneering landscape photographer H. H. Bennett, will begin its second season featuring a vast collection of rare and one-of-a-kind dolls created by Native American artisans representing every tribe in North America. Other exhibits in the history center document H. H. Bennett's role in popularizing the Wisconsin Dells as a tourism destination even before the turn of the 20th century.
Wade House in Greenbush, opening May 15, will turn back the clock back to the 1860s and life on the home front during the Civil War years, including its third season featuring daily operation of the working, water-powered Herrling sawmill. The site will also feature a Civil War live shooting event, "School of the Soldier," on Saturday, June 5.
All the historic sites (not including Circus World Museum in Baraboo) will also offer deep discounts on admissions one day only, Sunday, June 6, during "Visitor Appreciation Day." Admission to the sites will be $2 per person for adults and children 5 and older that date only. Madeline Island Historical Museum will offer free admission that date only.
Visit the historic sites' Web site for more details on the 2004 visitor season.
:: Posted April 22, 2004
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