Museum Update Annual Meeting Presentation by Sister Dolores

Winter 2016
Langlade County
Historical Society
Annual Meeting
Presentation by Sister Dolores Demulling
O
n November 19th the Langlade
County Historical Society held
its annual meeting and banquet at
North Star Lanes in Antigo. Sister
Dolores Demmulling of the
Religious Hospitellers of St.
Joseph described the history of the
Order, which has been administering
Langlade County Memorial
Hospital since its beginnings. The
Order was founded in La Fleche,
France in the 1630s by Jerome
LeRoyer. It established a hospital in
Montreal in 1642 with three Sisters
arriving to administer it in 1649.
Subsequently it expanded to other
parts of Canada before developing
hospitals in various parts of the U.S.
It was while administering a hospital
in New London WI that the Sisters
were visited in 1933 by a contingent
of civic leaders from Antigo. They
came to visit a friend who was
hospitalized due to an accident at the
train depot while on route to Chicago. They were so impressed with the
hospital that they asked the Sisters to
Museum Update
A
come to Antigo and take over
an as yet incomplete hospital.
Construction had begun but was
halted due to the Great Depression.
Three Sisters, Sisters Ann
McIntosh, Melvina Martin, and
Gladys Ridout arrived in Antigo
with three pieces of luggage, $20,
and faith. They faced an incomplete
building, an outstanding debt of
$18,000 and no funds available to
complete or furnish the hospital.
But complete the hospital they did,
and the Order has continued to run
it for about 80 years. Sister Dolores
Demulling’s presentation had a particular poignancy since she and her
colleagues Sisters Adele Demulling
and Jean Bricco will not likely be
replaced and are the last of the
Relgious Hospitellers of St. Joseph
who will serve the local hospital and
our community. Today, Langlade
Hospital is operated in partnership
by the Catholic Health International
and Aspirus.About 80 people
esentation on how an important
major goal for the upcoming year is the redesign of the main floor ceiling and lighting, which are badly in need of repair. Some preliminary
plans have been drawn up for lighting. The goal is to better display our
artifacts but still maintain the character of our historic building. As a first
step we must repair the ceiling and heating duct work, again with efforts to
restore the character of the building. Much research and cost analysis still
needs to be done and these steps are underway. Once remodeling begins it
will be necessary to close the museum for a time.
aspect of our local community grew
out of, and is connected to, the vision
of a man in France almost 400 years
ago.
Sister Dolores Demulling (far right) related
the history of the Religious Hospitallers
of St. Joseph and its role in establishing
Langlade Memorial Hospital. With her are
colleagues Sisters Adele Demulling (far
left) and Jean Bricco, and Dr. John McKenna. Dr. McKenna, now retired, was on
staff at the hospital. His father, Dr. Eugene
McKenna performed the first surgery in
Langlade Memorial. Dr. John McKenna
provided the corsages being worn by the
Sisters.
Curator:
Mary Kay Morrissey Wolf
Directors:
Dean Blazek
Fran Brown
Nancy Bugni
Glenn Bugni
Judy Grimm
Lisa Haefs
Joe Hermolin
Gary Whitman
Diane Zuelke
Page 1
Thank you
Items Donated:
Lloyd Anstutz: Miscellaneous items
Alan Berger: WWII army bicycle (loan)
Jeanne Darling: Treasurer’s book
Springbrook School 1905-1948
Connie Deau: Photos & Summit
Lake memorabilia in memory
of Bob & Ann Rasmussen
Foster Dunwiddie:
Letters from
Shirley Geilfuss
Mrs. Grzywacz: Military items of Alan Sage
Joe Hermolin: CCC memorabilia
Robert Palfres: WWI British Army cap badge
Jackie Reynolds: Pictures from World Book
Lois Schoenfeldt: music and news items in
memory of George Schoenfeldt
Naomi Stickney: Antigo memorabilia
Paul & Debra Syrjala:
Chair & stool in memory
of Esther Currie
Memorial Donations:
In memory of: Robert Umsted
In memory of: Ed Morrissey from Vanguard
Charitable for ceiling and
lighting renovations
Monetary Donations:
James Aulik
Langlade County Genealogical Society
Sheldon Foundation
Sheila Hall for ceiling and lighting renovation
Membership Renewals:
Karen Aulik-Now, Fran Brown, Roger & Kay
Doran, Ann, Paul, & Joshua Duffek, Wallace
Eckart, Lauria Fellner, Judy Grimm, Sheila Hall,
Marion & Clifford Hoffmeister,Jean Marilyn
Hunter-Preiss, Sally Jansen, Mary Josvai, Fred &
Kathleen Kelm, Ron Korn, William & Charlotte
Kraft, Jeff & Cheryl Marx, Jackie Reynolds,
Sandra Robrecht, Nick & Jeanette Salm, Sam &
Carol Steffan, Dick Strasser, Dumaune & Judy
Turney, Bill & Helen Williams, Diane Zuelzke
New Members:
Victoria & Jerome Marx
Clark Palmer
Thanks to MacKenzie Lee for videotaping the
annual meeting
Page 2
LANGLADE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Sources for Tips on
Restoring Historic Buildings
M
any people are interested in
the history of the house they
live in or the building where they do
business. They consult the museum
and we are happy to help in any way
we can. We do have some advice to
offer. But our expertise is limited. If
you want to research your home the
Wisconsin Historical Society can
help through its web site. Sandborn
maps are a good place to start and
the maps are now on line. They were
prepared for insurance companies
assessing fire risks to buildings. The
maps for Antigo and Elcho provide
details on the footprint of a building and extensions such as porches.
The maps are color coded so you
can tell what materials were used
in construction. Some people at the
museum can help walk you through
finding and interpreting Sandborn
maps online but call ahead to
schedule before coming in.
People may be interested in
restoration of an historic home and
for that our expertise is even more
limited. But some help is available
at the touch of a computer keyboard.
The Wisconsin Historical Society
has assembled a series of articles
to help steer you in the right direction. At www.wisconsinhistory.org/
preserve-your-building you will find
a drawing of a house divided into
sections as shown here. Just click on
a particular section and you will be
directed to articles concerned with
that part of the structure. In total
there are 145 articles. The articles
provide do it yourself tips or suggest
when to call in a contractor. This
resource was created to help building
owners understand preservation and
restoration techniques and also why
preservation matters and how to plan
and finance a restoration project.
LANGLADE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Preserving Francis Deleglise’s Legacy
A
ntigo may be the first city in
Wisconsin to make an effort to
preserve part of its history. In 1914,
as the city grew and downtown
buildings proliferated city officials
decided to move the Deleglise
cabin from its original location near
Antigo Lake to what was then the
library (now museum).
Over 100 years later and
after two further moves on
the grounds of the library/
museum and a major
restoration in the 1990s, we
still strive to preserve the
cabin even as we raise funds
to update the museum’s main
floor ceiling and lighting.
The rumble of traffic on
Superior Street and the
passing years have caused
some deterioration to the
WINTER 2016
chinking. As in the past we turned to
Terry Laib for preservation expertise
and assistance. Francis Deleglise’s
original Antigo home, erected in
1877, is still in good hands and
offers visitors a glimpse of pioneer
life in Langlade County. The cabin
is closed in winter and some cold
sensitive artifacts are moved
indoors.
Terry Laib specializes in restoration of
Wisconsin’s historic structures. Once
again he visited Antigo from his home
base in New Berlin.. On an unusually
warm and pleasant fall day he repaired
some of the chinking on the Deleglise
cabin.
In 1914 city officials preserved Antigo’s
first home by moving it south a few blocks
on log rollers from its original location
near Antigo Lake to the library/museum.
The small addition which had been
Deleglise’s office has been removed for the
move and is indicated by the white wash
at the left end of the cabin.
Forest History Comes to Antigo & White Lake
T
he Forest History Association
(FHAW) held its 40th annual
meeting this past October in Antigo.
For the past four decades the FHAW
has been collecting and making
available valuable information on
Wisconsin’s history of logging and
its associated industries. The
archives of their annual proceedings
and their newsletters are accessible
online through the Wisconsin
Historical Society.
Joe Hermolin used the museum’s
archives of material from Elcho’s Civilian
Conservation Corps camp to describe the
importance of the CCCs during the Great
Depression.
Attendees toured sites in Antigo,
including the Wood Technology
Center at Northern Technical
College, the museum, and Kretz
Lumber. In White Lake they toured
their museum and gained an
appreciation of the importance
of the Wolf River in log drives.
A tour of the museum, particularly
our collection of logging photos
was a highlight for many of those
participating. It is remarkable to see
how an important part of northern
Wisconsin’s economy developed
from rather humble origins to where
it is at today. Wood products provide
almost 60,000 jobs with an
economic impact of almost $23
billion state-wide.
Presentations of local interest
included the story of the CCC
Camp 657 in Elcho, given by
Joe Hermolin, the role of trees in
landscaping urban parks given by
Sara Repp, Antigo’s Park, Recreation & Cemetery supervisor, and
the story of the World War II glider
pilot training school based in Antigo
given by Sara Conner of the Camp
5 Museum/Wisconsin Forestry
Museum . These talks were recorded
Many conference attendees were fasand will be made available in the
cinated by the museum’s collection of
near future.
photos and artifacts related to the history
of forest products industry.
Page 3
LANGLADE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
WINTER 2016
Working With the Wisconsin Historical Society
A
t our local museum we try to
preserve and share various
aspects of local history, but this is
not an easy task. Curator Mary Kay
Wolf and volunteers are all dedicated
to and interested in
how we got to where we are and
telling that story. But we are
basically all amateur historians and
could use all the help we can get.
For that we turn to the Wisconsin
Historical Society (WHS) for
technical advice and, occasionally,
for financial support.
an emphasis in expanding what it
can do to help local museums. While
their role in reaching out to local
communities may grow, it is not a
new mission.
We are affiliated with the
WHS through the Wisconsin
Council for Local History. Through
this affiliation we gain access to
workshops, meetings, webinars,
technical advice, opportunities to
connect with other museums facing
similar dilemmas to ours, and to
grants.
The WHS was formed in 1846, two
years before Wisconsin became a
state. For many years it worked out
of a room in the state capitol and
operated on a budget obtained by
annual membership fees of 50 cents.
In 1898 members of the Society
advocated for helping create a
network of local affiliated historical
societies. In 1899 Green Bay and
Ripon became the first two local
affiliates. Today there are almost
400 affiliates (including us) in every
corner of the state. At about the same
time the WHS was able to move
out of the state capitol and into its
own building on the University of
Wisconsin – Madison campus.
The WHS, and its Foundation, are
currently reexamining their role with
In recent months the WHS through
its Foundation has been consulting
The Wisconsin Historical Society has offices and archives
in a building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Campus. The Society is older than the State of Wisconsin
itself.
Page 4
with local museums and looking
into ways that they can expand their
assistance. At a recent meeting
in Rhinelander representatives
from many local museums in the
Northwoods met to discuss results of
a survey which sought to determine
the character of local museums and
what help they need. The last such
survey was conducted about 10 years
ago and technological changes have
altered the way many organizations
operate. After reviewing the survey
results there followed a roundtable
discussion on how the Foundation
could improve on what is currently
offered and what additional
programs might be welcome. This
was the first of a series of such
roundtables around the state. By
the summer of 2016, after a number
of sessions, a summary will form
guidelines for how the Wisconsin
Historical Society and its Foundation
can help us in Langlade County in
our mission.
An annual conference organized by the Wisconsin
Historical Society is one of the many ways the WHS
helps local museum staff and volunteers learn and
network.
LANGLADE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
WINTER 2016
Railroads
Not long ago the railroad was the main mode of travel. Tracks crisscrossed Langlade County and the depot was an
important part of any town.
Top Row: Antigo’s original depot erected 1892 (l), New depot erected 1907 (r)
Middle Row: Pelican (l), Summit Lake (r)
Bottom Row: Mattoon (l), White Lake (r)
Page 5
LANGLADE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SPECIAL THANKS
Special Thanks to Santa (Bud) who
posed for photos and listened to 218
kids, accompanied by 246 parents/
grandparents. Each child got a toy
or book thanks to the C.A.R. Thrift
store. Thanks also to volunteers who
acted as Santa’s elves.
October 1 to May 1,
Thursday to Saturday
May 1 to October 1,
Tuesday to Saturday
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
MEMBERSHIP DUES
Individual, 1 year: $25
Individual, 3 years: $50
Family, 1 year: $30
Family, 3 years: $70
Junior (18 or younger), 1 year: $3
Business, 1 year: $100
Life Member: $250
At one time nature
controlled ice skating.
Kellogg’s Pond (Antigo
Lake) was a popular spot
and even had a warming
hut. Skates were different
then, they were clamped
onto regular boots.
ITEMS FROM THE MUSEUM
Langlade County
MUSEUM HOURS:
Historical Society
404 Superior St., Antigo, WI 54409
Phone: (715) 627-4464
Email: lchs@dwave.net
web site: www.langladehistory.com
404 Superior Street
Antigo WI, 54409
ADDRESS:
WINTER 2016