Culver Historical 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.
v
"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.
...
Members of the library board in addition to Cole are Rita Lawson, Phil Mallory, Kathleen Kline,
Rebecca Church, David Campbell, and Peg Schuldt.
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.
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.
Sanitarian and Historical Society of Culver receives a
$40,00 grant from
the Marshall County
Community Foundation.
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.