Culver Historical Museum  

Library, Antiquarians plan museum

Culver - Plans for a local history museum in Culver were announced this week by the Culver-Union Township Public Library board of trustees.

The museum will be located on the lower lever of the original Carnegie library, board president Ron Cole said.

The Antiquarian and historical Society of Culver will be responsible for creation of the museum, work on which is expected to begin this year.

The plan also includes a local genealogical and historical research area, which will occupy a portion of the space.

The library's historical records are already regularly used by people researching their family history, according to Carol Jackson, library director.

The library board and the Antiquarian board have agreed for the museum to be accessed through the library and to be open during regular library hours.

The society currently has two exhibit cases on the lower lever lobby of the library that are used for historical exhibits.

The society hopes to open a larger exhibit in the same area that will sere as an introduction to its place for a community historical museum.
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"This is the latest endeavor of the Antiquarian and Historical Society to highlight the unique heritage of the Culver Community," said Jim Peterson, society founder and chairman of the board. Hevnoted several past projects, including Heritage Park, built on the site of a former gasoline station at Main and Jefferson in Culver, the reconstructed lighthouse in the Culver Town Park and the designation of three National Register historic districts n the Culver area.

The Antiquarian and Historical Society has formed a museum committee that has been holding regular meetings in preparation for the project.

The Indiana Historical Society conducted a seminar attended by society members in the Culver library just more than a year ago.

The committee chairman, Fred Karst, said the first objective will be to create an environment for the museum and research area on the lower level of the library, at the society's expense.

The society hopes to obtain the services of a professional museum designer as the project moves forward.

A campaign to raise funds for the museum is being planned, and obtaining grant money will also be explored.

Members of the museum committee have visited many other historical museums during the past year as a part of its efforts to make the Culver museum an outstanding addition to the community.

"We plan to cooperate with the Marshall County Historical Society museum in Plymouth, although our goal is to create a separate museum that will provide an attraction that both residents and visitors can enjoy in Culver ", Karst said.

Peterson explained that the Antiquarian Society was formed more than a decade ago as an informal group of history buffs who often brought artifacts to the meetings to launch a discussion.

Meetings are now held monthly during the warmer months and usually include an ice cream social late in the summer. The current president is Bob Kreuzberger.

All people interested in Culver history are encouraged to join. A family membership costs $20 per year.

The Culver Library was built on Main street early in the 20th century. Since the completion of its addition, it has branched out with widely-used facilities for Internet access and become a center for community programs and activities. Jeff Kenney is the library's programming and local history coordinator. He also serves as secretary of the Antiquarian Society.

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Members of the library board in addition to Cole are Rita Lawson, Phil Mallory, Kathleen Kline, Rebecca Church, David Campbell, and Peg Schuldt.

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Culver Citizen
Thursday 26 April 2007 pg. 8

Antiquarians Seek volunteers for history museum Committee

Board will select, approve artifacts

Culver - Volunteers are needed for the accession committee of the Antiquarian and Historical Society of Culver and its local history and genealogy museum and research center in the Culver-Union Twp. Public Library.

In the past patrons have donated artifacts and in the future more artifacts will be given to the Society to be displayed at the library.

The accession committee will select and approve of donated artifacts for exhibit and preservation following guidelines as to the type of artifacts that can be accepted.

It will only take one or two hours once a month to be a part of a community endeavor that seeks from the past to preserve for the future.

If interested, please write to Jeff Kenney c/o Antiquarian and Historical Society of Culver, P.O. Box. 125, Culver , In. 46511.

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Antiquarians open to museum thoughts

Culver - The Antiquarian and Historical Society of Culver is inviting members of the public to drop by the Culver - Union Twp. Public Library on July 30 to share their thoughts, ideas and input on the development of the contents of the Culver area's first local history museum.

Construction on the museum space is already under way in the 1915 Carnegie area of the library, in downtown Culver.

The Antiquarians, meanwhile, have contracted with Ted Swigon of Chicago Scenic Studios, a design firm with which Swigon had helped create numerous museums in Indiana, Illinois, and beyond, from small-scale to large, in years past.

Swigon will join the Antiquarians on Saturday, July 30 from 10 a.m. to noon in the small meeting room on the library's lower level, in seeking public input on the story that the museum will tell pertaining to Culver 's vivid and varied past.

Museum committee head and Antiquarian and Historical Society vice-president Fred Karst noted that this meeting is just the first step on many in establishing the contents and direction of the museum.

There will be many more phases necessary to work out the museum's contents and narrative in much greater detail in the coming months.

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Sanitarian and Historical Society of Culver receives a $40,00 grant from the Marshall County Community Foundation.

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Easterday Construction co. done several projects for The Antiquarian & Historical Society of Culver for the Museum room

The first project was a simulation of the train station shelters in the hall leading to the museum entrance and

the “Culver ” sign, vintage picture of a train at the station was blown up and adhered to the doors beneath the display.

They also took vintage pictures, enlarged them and transferred them onto canvas and wrapped them around plywood mountings and installed them on the wall outside the entrance door to the museum.

Another was a new ramp fashioned to look like a pier to the stage area within the museum and a boat display at the entrance.