Happy New Year from the Lyon County Historical Society! I want to thank all our volunteers, members, donors and visitors for the great year we had at LCHS. First of all, our volunteers contributed hundreds of hours at the museum working on projects, greeting visitors, serving ice cream and other daily tasks. Second, the generosity of our members and donors contributed toward our exhibits, preservation materials and programs at the museum. Also, we received many great photographs, artifacts and documents related to Lyon County history donated to LCHS this year. Finally, I want to thank all our visitors, school groups and organizations who visited the museum this year.

The highlights of 2016 include: the Fur Trade in Minnesota Traveling exhibit in March; Museum Expo in May; David Pichaske’s Secret Places of Southwest Minnesota program in May; Migrant Voices: the Marshall Area Narrative Inquiry Project exhibit in May; Time Travelers program for the Marshall Community Services Summer Talents Academy in June; the new main floor exhibit, Where We Shopped and What We Wore: Retail in Lyon County 1870-1965 opened in October; the Commemorating Controversy: The Dakota U.S. War of 1862 traveling exhibit in October; Zombie Night at the Museum in October; the screening of Little Crow and Dakota War in November; the 4th annual Indoor Christmas Tree Walk in November; and the annual Holiday Home Tour in December.

The Commemorating Controversy traveling exhibit is located on the 2nd floor of the museum until April 1. In 2017, four traveling exhibits will be at the museum and located on the 2nd floor. The exhibits include followed by the dates of when they are here: Coming of Age: The 1968 Generation (Jan. 14-April 16); Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites (April 3-June 26); New Land, New Life: Norwegian Immigrants in Minnesota, 1825-1925 (July 1-Sept. 30); and Electrifying Minnesota (Sept. 2-Jan. 14, 2018).

We received the following Minnesota Cultural and Heritage Grants, aka Legacy Grants, in 2016: $10,000 to hire a museum consultant to draft a research report for the 2nd floor exhibit gallery, $1,923 for staff to attend the Association of Midwest Museums/Minnesota Association of Museums Annual Conference (AMM/MAM) in July, $10,000 to hire an oral historian to conduct an oral history project on the 1957 Marshall Flood and the 1968 Tracy Tornado, and $6,859 to hire a consultant to conduct a National Register evaluation of the museum’s building, which turns 50 years old in 2017. We also received a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Bank Foundation for the 2nd Floor Exhibit Gallery.

We completed the research grant for the 2nd Floor Exhibit Gallery with Bluestem Heritage Group and staff attended the AMM/MAM conference in July.  In 2017, we will be working on the oral history grant, the National Register evaluation grant, and the next phase of the 2nd floor exhibit gallery, which is the exhibit plan.

The Lyon County Historical Society is a nonprofit, member-supported organization. For more information on membership, research, volunteering, or the museum’s collection, please contact us at 537-6580 or director@lyoncomuseum.org. Like our page and follow us on Facebook.