Highlights Archives
Obama-signed Cheesehead Finds a Home
When Mansfield Neblett wore a Wisconsin cheesehead hat to President Barack Obama's education speech at Neblett's daughter Jennifer's middle school in Madison November 4, he could have had no idea of the chain of events it would set off, making Neblett a local media star. Neblett, a Liberian immigrant, said he wore the cheesehead as a symbol of his pride in his adopted state. The cheesehead did not go unnoticed by Secret Service agents who are a constant presence whenever a sitting president travels. Before the president entered the gymnasium at Wright School, an Obama representative persuaded Neblett to surrender the cheesehead in exchange for a pledge to have the president sign the hat. And the rest, as they say, is history.
A Story that Captured National Attention
 Museums and Historic Sites Administrator Alicia Goehring accepts the Obama-signed cheesehead from Mansfield Neblett Media covering the event seized the moment. Associated Press picked up the story, and soon the tale of Neblett's life as an immigrant who has come to love his adopted homeland popped up in newspapers and on television stations all over the state and nation, all inspired by the cheesy headwear he chose for the occasion. In one of his first media interviews, Neblett said he might sell the Obama-signed cheesehead on eBay, but later he had a change of heart, telling a reporter that he would like to donate the hat to the state. Within a day Wisconsin Historical Museum curator Paul Bourcier was in contact with Neblett, who agreed to donate the cheesehead to the museum for exhibit as part of its permanent collection of political memorabilia.
Cheesehead Becomes a Museum Artifact
In a public event at the museum on Wednesday, November 11 — one week to the day from when President Obama signed the cheesehead — Neblett turned over the attention-getting headgear to the museum. Again, a swarm of local media was on hand to document the occasion. The cheesehead now is on display in a plexiglas case on the first floor of the museum on Madison's Capitol Square. Later, curators will move the case to the fourth floor, but now through the holiday season it will still be available for visitors to see a simple foam cheesehead that became a national news story and, now, a permanent part of Wisconsin history.
:: Posted November 11, 2009
|
