These stories can also be heard on Sunday mornings around 10 am on WILD 102’s “Look Back in Time” program. Each week’s radio story will be posted here on our website.
Weekly radio stories are researched, compiled, and read by Sheila Winstead, RCHS Board Member.
April 7, 2024
The Roseau County Museum is beginning to move all the artifacts stored in the back Storage Room to make way for an upcoming project of installing moveable storage shelves, made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. If you’ve ever taken advantage of the events when Britt Dahl, our Director-Curator, has offered tours of the Storage Room not usually seen by the public, you’ll be able to imagine what an undertaking it is to temporarily move the collection of nearly 100 years to spaces within the already full main exhibit areas of within the museum. Britt has been planning this project for quite a while and recently held a training day for anyone interested in volunteering to help move these items. It’s quite an opportunity to see some of the items in the collections. Exhibits are redesigned, and items are rotated occasionally, especially for special events, as there’s no way that everything can be displayed at any one time. However, it wasn’t always that way.
The Roseau County Historical Society was formed in 1927 by a group of men with a common goal: to keep the history of Roseau County. Per O. Fryklund was a taxidermist and collector of relics, curios, and articles used by the locals and around the world. When he was elected Clerk of Court, these items were housed in the basement of the Courthouse and formed the basis for the first museum. Some of those old items can still be seen on display and are enjoyed by visitors, with many of them remembered from their childhood visits to the old museum. After being designated as the official Historical Museum of Roseau County, the Board of Commissioners allocates yearly funds to help maintain and operate the museum. The Historical Society relies on annual fund drives, memberships, donations, and grant funding to help with the mission.
The collection has grown from a room full of artifacts outgrowing its original site. In 1937, the collection was moved to three large rooms above the newly built Municipal Building in Roseau. During the mayorship of John Reese, he promoted the building of a new Library-Museum Complex, and shortly after he retired, grant funds to build it were announced in 1974 by Representative Bob Bergland as having been authorized by the Economic Development Agency. The City of Roseau added funds to complete the job. All of the items were moved again to the new building when it was completed in 1976. Then came the flood of 2002. Volunteers moved as many items as possible into the old Municipal Building, which had a higher floor than the Library-Museum Complex. Other larger items were put in semi-trailers if they could withstand the temperature and humidity changes for a while. But the flood waters rose quickly, the dike was breached, and some items still in the museum were ruined. However, other items were only slightly damaged, but they were saved by washing or freezing them right away. After the 2002 flood, the Library-Museum Complex and the old City Auditorium were demolished and replaced by the current Roseau City Center, another huge building project. Then everything had to be moved again into that new space.
In looking through old Roseau Times-Region newspapers in the research area from 95 years ago, an article in the February 15, 1929 issue invited the public to an event. I’ll read from the article now.
“Opening of the museum of the Roseau County Historical Society will be made a public event Monday evening, February 18th. The museum is located in one of the basement rooms of the courthouse. The room was renovated and equipped for the collection, and since then the exhibits have been considerably augmented.
The collection now consists of many documents, pictures, newspapers and articles from the pioneer days, all of which have been labeled and catalogued. It is the intention of the sponsors to keep adding articles from time to time as such are discovered or are given to the collection.
Preceding the public inspection of the museum will be the entertainment given in the court room. This entertainment is in the form of an illustrated lecture showing in new slides the pictures of leading men in the state’s history, historical scenes and the natural resources of the state. It will be history in a concentrated form told in words and pictures. The slides are furnished by the local organization for use in this entertainment by the Minnesota Historical Society. The natural resources of northern Minnesota will likewise be shown under the auspices of the Forestry Department.
In his announcement of the entertainment and opening of the museum, Secretary G. I. Brandt of the Historical Society states that an admission charge of 15 and 25 cents will be collected for the use of the local society in carrying on its work. Let many be there.”
Next week I’ll read about how the public enjoyed that 1929 open house
Thank you to (www.roseauonline.com) for letting us share our county’s history with your listeners by donating air time, studio time, and production staff every week.