By John Taylor/Contributing Writer
Greetings from the Jefferson Historical Museum. This is the second in an occasional series to keep you informed as to the news and events at your museum.
As almost everyone in Marion County is aware, there was a prolonged power outage last month and, as a result, the museum was closed for a few days as were most other businesses in downtown Jefferson. For those of you old enough to remember, downtown Jefferson was very reminiscent of the downtown Jefferson of the early 1060’s when the new highway route bypassed Jefferson. Thank goodness that is no longer the case.
The Board did not meet in June due to that outage as the Gallery on the second floor where we meet is some-what uncomfortable temperature wise even when the power is on. However, that will soon no longer be the case. Thanks to a grant by the Schluter Foundation, the museum will add another unit that will do a great job of keeping us cool and help protect the artifacts in that room from the heat and humidity. Thank you very much, Schluter Foundation. That project starts next week.
One other project will start this week. That is the painting of our first-floor ceiling tiles and molding repair in preparation for our first-floor exhibit renovation. This will take about a month.
Next on the calendar is our free July lecture of our quarterly lecture series. This quarter’s program will feature Fran Hurley, doing a person-in-character presentation of Harriet Potter, based on the memoirs Harriet wrote. Look for more information on our web site www jeffersonmuseum.org and an email blast arriving soon. The date of the lecture July 20, 2023, social time with wine and cheese starting at 6p and the lecture at 6:30p. This program is being presented by the Harrison County Museum.
Our major fund raiser, the 12th Annual Civil War Symposium, will be held on August 5 at the Transportation Center, with a speakers’ reception to be held at the newly cooled museum on August 4. Again, for further details, check the web site and watch for another email coming soon.
We have recently received the donation of a copy of the African American cemetery map and list of cemetery names. They will be framed and added to the African American exhibit.
Musework, our first-floor exhibit renovation firm, will begin their work now in August, due to a conflict with another ongoing project. We anticipate having some design graphics to share with you within the first three months of that project.
We have a new employee manning our reception desk on Sundays. Elizabeth Hancock began working recently to take the place of Debbie Brewer who has retired. We welcome you to the staff, Elizabeth.
And, finally, once again we can always benefit from donations, not just money but any office items or cleaning supplies you might like to give. This is not to minimize our financial needs because it does take a lot to maintain our 133-year-old building. Also, in the fall, we will mail out membership renewals. If you are already a member, encourage your friends and neighbors to join. We have a wonderful museum with programs throughout the year and we want you all to share these experiences with us.