Author: Sam

We have been taking advantage of the museum being closed and warm weather to make some improvements at the museum. In addition to recently clearing out our old book store and moving it to the foyer with improved lighting, several other changes have been made.

A utility sink downstairs which was unusable due to having no drain now has been tied into the drain pipes making it functional. All of the remaining shelving that was left in the old book store has now been moved. Two sections were cut from 8 foot high units down to 4 foot high units creating 20 feet of four foot shelving in the attic storeroom. The 12 foot wide 8 foot high unit was dismantled and reassembled in the second floor storage room. This revealed the windows in the old book store for the first time in over 20 years or more.

White pegboard was added to two closet displays on the second floor and two dumbwaiter displays on the first and second floors making them more attractive and easier to rearrange without having to add nails or screws. The tops and bottoms in the dumbwaiter displays were also replaced with more substantial material.

Many of the displays which were accessible have now had hinges with locks and hasps put on them to secure them.

We are also in the process of moving displays around to create new and interesting things for visitors to see.

A recently adopted award for the Williamson County Historical Society got its first inductees last week. The award called the WCHS Honor Roll is awarded in appreciation of dedicated service to the society. It serves as a reminder of the amount of hard work and dedication that some of our volunteers put into the society.

Husband and wife team, Mary Jean and Clarence DeMattei have both been dedicated workers at the museum for the last 13 years and are good examples of the Honor Roll’s reason for existence. Mary Jean served as museum curator and Clarence has served as a board member since 2003. Mary Jean often spent her time cleaning and taking care of displays while Clarence took care of the physical maintenance on the building.

The society can’t thank them enough for their selfless service over the years, but we can honor their service and selflessness.

We recently completed a project on our agenda, the movement of our old book store into a new location more accessible in the foyer. The old book store used to occupy a 12 x 7 foot room all by itself which we have future designs on for use as a first floor bathroom and a utility closet with a utility sink. Two new lights were added to the foyer which has always been too dark and equipment was moved away to install more compact newspaper racks and shelving which condensed all of our book store into a more compact but usable space.

Our old book store always seemed to be missed by visitors because it was out of sight. Now that the book store is right at the entrance our books and offerings will be hard to miss. There is also a bench seat conveniently beside the steps which means visitors can sit and peruse the books before buying. The change has created a much more open and well lit entrance to the museum.

This also gave us the chance to inventory our stock. The society plans on making more of an effort to advertise what books we have on hand for sale. At the moment we do offer a list under the Book Store Tab on the website and we plan on running specials on select books in the near future.

Board members and volunteers of the Williamson County Historical Society met Thursday, Dec. 10th, 2015 at Bennie’s Restaurant in Marion for their annual Christmas Lunch. WCHS President Sam Lattuca thanked all of those present for their dedicated service this past year citing that the organization has gotten a lot of projects completed. He also indicated that we still had a lot of work to do in the coming year and looks forward to getting those tasks completed.

Lattuca previewed a new Honor Roll plaque that will reside at the museum which cites the names of dedicated volunteers to the society. Lattuca indicated that the society plans on putting more emphasis on membership and volunteers in the coming year. Following Lattuca’s remarks, Sharon Vansaghi presented Lattuca with a gift card for his service.

Those in attendance were Violet Grisham, Bob and Phyllis Jackson, Helen Lind, Sam and Debbie Lattuca, Ann Gammon, Betty Millard, Colleen Norman, Ursula Richey and Sandy Pender.

The Williamson County Historical Society was recently contacted by Magilla Entertainment in New York. They are a production company working on a show for the Discovery Channel which will feature a short history package on Charlie Birger and the Shelton Brothers Gang. The production company is in the process of securing licensing on historic support photos for the feature.

The 2015 Holiday Home Tour hosted by the Marion Civic and Cultural Center was held on Sunday, December 6th, 2015 and the Williamson County Museum was selected to be one of the homes on the tour this year.

Museum Curator/Coordinator Sharon Vansaghi worked to get the museum ready for the holiday tour assisted by Ursula Richey and Colleen Norman. Sharon set up two Christmas trees to illustrate the types of  gifts that might be found under a tree in the past compared to a gifts buyclomidovulation more likely to be found today.

A large wreath was hung over the mantle, a recent acquisition donated to the museum. The museum will remain decorated until the new year. The museum is now operating under winter hours of operation and is only open on Saturdays and by appointment until the first part of March due to winter heating costs.

Society members working the museum during the tour were Sharon Vansaghi, Colleen Norman, Ursula Richey, Helen Lind, Bob Jackson and Sam Lattuca.

Due to outrageous heating costs through the winter, we will be falling back to our winter hours of operation after Thanksgiving. Following Thanksgiving through February we will only be open on Saturdays from 10 AM to 3 PM or by special arrangement until the first Monday in March.

The museum was recently gifted a Grand Army of the Republic Charter for the Carterville Post 237. The charter was hanging on the walls at the Haven at Crab Orchard Lake for years and was donated to the museum for future safekeeping. Apparently the original charter for the Carterville post was lost in a fire long ago and this citation is a replacement for the original.

This charter is dated April 25, 1907 and the charter members listed were:

The GAR was a fraternal organization created in Decatur, Illinois in 1866 for Union soldiers and sailors. Linking men through their experience of the war, the G.A.R. became among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress to establish regular veterans’ pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at more than 490,000, was in 1890, a high point of various Civil War commemorative and monument dedication ceremonies.

At least one or more of the charter members of this particular post were captured by the confederacy and served time at Andersonville Prison. Colleen Norman is working up biographies on each member and will publish her results in the next members quarterly of our society.