Posted 10:24 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, 2012
When the relocation of the village of Gays Mills is completed this year, residents and others shouldn’t have any trouble recalling what the old town looked like.
[caption id="attachment_9130" align="alignright" width="400" caption="History majors Daniel Sackmann, left, and Bret Campion, put up a display of historical photos of Gays Mills Friday afternoon for the historical exhibit to open Jan. 30 in Murphy Library's Area Research Center. The UW-L seniors are in the history class that developed the exhibit. Sackmann is from Richland Center. Campion is from Iowa City. "]
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UW-La Crosse students complete pictorial display
When the relocation of the village of Gays Mills is completed this year, residents and others shouldn’t have any trouble recalling what the old town looked like. A UW-La Crosse history class spent the fall semester working on a large, pictorial display covering the village’s 152-year history.
Seventeen 24-inch by 36-inch panels contain historical and contemporary images detailing the village’s Kickapoo River-side location, along with its new site about a mile northeast and out of the floodplain.
“The display looks very nice and should be well received by those visiting the village’s new visitor’s center,” says History Professor Charles Lee, who oversaw the class. That is where the exhibit will eventually be displayed.
Students in the class worked in pairs while hearing from Gays Mills residents and leaders, collecting ideas, images and village history to portray. Lee says most of the images for the panels were retrieved from UW-L Murphy Library’s Area Research Center and date to the 19th century. Some came from the village’s centennial booklet, while others were captured last fall to document the relocation.
[caption id="attachment_9131" align="alignright" width="400" caption="Colleen Cushman, an 83-year-old Gays Mills resident, drew a 1950s map of Gays Mills Main Street from memory at her kitchen table in August 2011 when History Professor Charles Lee interviewed her. This is a photo copy of one section. The original drawing is approximately 3 feet x 6 feet."]
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“The students did the research, they designed the layout, and they put the entire display together,” says Lee. “For most of them this was their first professional display, which will give them a great experience for their professional careers as historians.”
The exhibit will be displayed on campus Monday-Friday, Jan. 30-Feb. 3, in the Murphy Library Area Research Center before heading to its permanent location at the new Gays Mills Visitor Center.
Campus exhibit hours are 9:30 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. weekdays, and 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays. The Village of Gays Mills and the UW-L History Department funded the display.
If you go—
What: Gays Mills Historical Exhibit
Who: Created by UW-L history students
Where: UW-L Murphy Library Area Research Center
When: 9:30 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. weekdays, and 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays
Admission: Free
Ongoing: Moves to permanent display at the Village Gays Mills Visitors Center in February
[/caption]
UW-La Crosse students complete pictorial display
When the relocation of the village of Gays Mills is completed this year, residents and others shouldn’t have any trouble recalling what the old town looked like. A UW-La Crosse history class spent the fall semester working on a large, pictorial display covering the village’s 152-year history.
Seventeen 24-inch by 36-inch panels contain historical and contemporary images detailing the village’s Kickapoo River-side location, along with its new site about a mile northeast and out of the floodplain.
“The display looks very nice and should be well received by those visiting the village’s new visitor’s center,” says History Professor Charles Lee, who oversaw the class. That is where the exhibit will eventually be displayed.
Students in the class worked in pairs while hearing from Gays Mills residents and leaders, collecting ideas, images and village history to portray. Lee says most of the images for the panels were retrieved from UW-L Murphy Library’s Area Research Center and date to the 19th century. Some came from the village’s centennial booklet, while others were captured last fall to document the relocation.
[caption id="attachment_9131" align="alignright" width="400" caption="Colleen Cushman, an 83-year-old Gays Mills resident, drew a 1950s map of Gays Mills Main Street from memory at her kitchen table in August 2011 when History Professor Charles Lee interviewed her. This is a photo copy of one section. The original drawing is approximately 3 feet x 6 feet."][/caption]
“The students did the research, they designed the layout, and they put the entire display together,” says Lee. “For most of them this was their first professional display, which will give them a great experience for their professional careers as historians.”
The exhibit will be displayed on campus Monday-Friday, Jan. 30-Feb. 3, in the Murphy Library Area Research Center before heading to its permanent location at the new Gays Mills Visitor Center.
Campus exhibit hours are 9:30 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. weekdays, and 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays. The Village of Gays Mills and the UW-L History Department funded the display.
If you go—
What: Gays Mills Historical Exhibit
Who: Created by UW-L history students
Where: UW-L Murphy Library Area Research Center
When: 9:30 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. weekdays, and 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays
Admission: Free
Ongoing: Moves to permanent display at the Village Gays Mills Visitors Center in February