Spring 2023

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Langlade County Historical Society Newsletter - Spring 2023

Museum Tours

Spring is always a time of renewal and we at the LCHS Museum are happy to return to our educational school programs providing local history with interactive components to children of all grades.

Structured tours, geared to elementary school students began three years ago, organized by Patricia Kennedy. That program has been a success with the schools since its inception in 2019. After a hiatus due to the pandemic and museum remodeling it has grown and been adapted to accommodate older students and adult groups.

One of the first school tours organized by Patricia Kennedy.

In 2022 we welcomed Preschool through High School students, home schoolers and Senior Citizen groups to partake in the treasures of our beautiful Museum. We look forward to hosting more groups to share in the interesting history of Langlade County from the Glaciers of 100,000 years ago, to the first inhabitants migrating here over 9000 years ago and the current local tribes, the European settlers, the logging , the railroad and more, reaching into the present day.

Please contact Mary Kay Wolf or Patricia Kennedy at the Museum at 715-627-4464 or lchs@dwave.net for additional information or to schedule a free tour available April through October.

A Library Evolves

Almost as soon as Antigo was incorporated as a city, its citizens recognized the importance of a library in order to become a thriving community. Various groups, with different goals, worked to create a lending library. All felt that access to books was important to personal development and civic engagement. Little could they envision all that a library would entail in the future: providing meeting space for civic groups, internet access for those without computers or connections, children’s story time, lending DVDs, CDs, recorded books, ebooks, and access to archives for genealogists and researchers. But access to books alone was a motivation enough for Antigo’s pioneers.

Louis Mendlick established Antigo’s first lending library, a rental, from his stationery store on Superior Street in the early 1890s. At the same time, as throughout the U.S., the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) attempted to establish a free lending library in Antigo in the belief that access to books would deter people from bad behavior. The Antigo WCTU statement of purpose read “in the intelligence of the people lies the safety of the nation, and that the free circulation of good books in the community would be a counter-attraction to the saloon and its influences.” After two unsuccessful attempts in 1894 and 1895, the WCTU worked with other civic minded people to successfully establish a free lending library, located at 711 Fifth Ave.

City Hall housed Antigo’s first taxpayer
supported free library, after several years of a free library run by volunteers and located in various businesses. Charles Dallman, who constructed City Hall, would also later build Antigo’s Carnegie Library, which is now the museum.

The library proved popular and soon outgrew its space, moving to space offered by John Ogden, publisher of the Antigo Republican newspaper in his newspaper’s offices. The space was rent free and volunteers staffed the library. Books were donated or purchased through cash donations. The new space soon proved unwork-able due to its popularity and sought a new home. City officials granted the library space in one of its build-ings with the thought of creating a city subsidized free lending library in the new city hall, then being planned. After some negotiations the city agreed to set aside space in the new city hall for a library and set aside funds for its maintenance. The WCTU donated its collection of 750 volumes.

The concept of a free library, open to all, had advanced from being a volunteer organization run by the WCTU, struggling to find rent free space in local businesses into a more permanent space in a public building supported by taxpayers. But this was just the end of the first phase of the history of Antigo’s Public Library and the start of the next steps to getting a library building of its own, staffed by professionals.

Items Donated

Randy Rustick: Fish hatchery sign, fuel glass container

Carolyn Westen: Women’s and baby’s clothing

Monetary Donations

In memory of Ludene Kommers from Dean & Polly Blazek

Membership Updates

Membership Renewals

Elvera Frisch
Jeff Holm
Patricia Kennedy
Cheryl & Jeff Marx
Sandy Robrecht
Walter Rugland
Nick & Jeanette Salm
Dumaine & Judy Turney

New Members

Patricia Hammel

Lifetime Members

Hope Reynolds Flemming & Gary Flemming

Wisconsin Historical Society Affiliates Program

Even before Wisconsin became established to preserve its history. In 1898, at the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the WHS, Reuben Thwaites, its director, proposed that the WHS institute a new program to assist “auxiliaries” or local historical societies in their mission to preserve their local history. Two auxiliaries were named, Green Bay and Ripon. Wisconsin was the first of any state’s historical societies to establish such a program to help local communities preserve their own histories.

The nature of the relationship be-tween WHS and its’ ”auxiliaries” has evolved over the years and continues to evolve, especially with plans for the new Wisconsin History Center, scheduled to open in 2026. “Auxil-iaries” are now known as “affiliates” and their numbers have increased from two to about 440. Affiliates are primarily regional historical societ-ies but also include societies devoted to a specific topic rather than a re-gion: such as forestry, labor history, ethnic groups, etc.

In 1961 the WHS established the Wisconsin Council for Local History (WCLH) as the official organization of the affiliate program. The WCLH, through its board, works to coordi-nate programs among the affiliates, provide funding through mini-grants, and acts as a liaison between the affiliates and the WHS. The WCLH has divided the state into 10 regions, each with its own representative on the 15 member board of directors. Langlade County Historical Society, along with those in White Lake, Elcho, and Mattoon, in this area, are all part of the Northwoods Region. WCLH helps organize an annual meeting each October with work-shops, seminars, and opportunities to network with other local historical societies. The 2023 meeting will be held in LaCrosse and celebrations are being planned to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the affiliate program.

While some local museums are well funded and have professional staffs, most, particularly those in northern and rural areas, are all volunteer organizations who have no special training in museum management. Our museum is an exception in that we have the funds to hire a cura-tor (albeit part-time) thanks to the generous funding of the community. Mary Kay Wolf, our curator, and the volunteers are enthusiastic and hard-working. But to fill in the gaps in expertise, it is good to know that the WHS, the affiliate program, and the WCLH are there to help. The 125th anniversary of the program is indeed something to celebrate.

Affiliates are divided into 10 regions. Langlade County is in the Northwoods Region.