WAUPUN — An end-of-year letter was sent out to the membership of the Waupun Historical Society, detailing the successes at the museum from the past year and reminding members of the upcoming annual meeting in January.
The membership letter detailed what’s changed at the museum, including the creation of new exhibits, research they completed, and events hosted by the Historical Society.
Earlier this year the museum opened the first of its permanent exhibits, “If the Walls Could Talk: A History of Wisconsin Corrections in Waupun.” The creation of this exhibit made Waupun one of the few cities with a museum covering prison history, both in Wisconsin and nationwide.
In October the Historical Society held the 7th Annual Forest Mound Cemetery Walk, a presentation of local historical figures who were buried in Waupun. The Cemetery Walk is one of the Historical Society’s most popular events and is held on Halloween night at Forest Mound Cemetery.
A temporary exhibit “A Christmas Past” was also opened during the holiday parade at the beginning of December. The exhibit featured historical Christmas decorations including an antique artificial Christmas tree made with feathers. The exhibit also had a slideshow with photos of historical Waupun during the holidays and a Waupun-produced Stoddart pump organ which was played by board member Christopher Nord.
This week the Historical Society announced the creation of a new permanent exhibit on the life of Clarence Addison Shaler, one of Waupun’s greatest beneficiaries. The exhibit will be titled “A Bronze Age: The Life & Legacy of Clarence Shaler” and will be unveiled in March.
The annual meeting will be held on January 21st at 2pm in the Waupun Heritage Museum. The meeting will cover the future plans of the Historical Society and elect two candidates to board positions. Individuals who are interested in becoming members can contact Historical Society president Zac Dickhut.
