Kenosha Museum Opens June 14, 15
By Kathryn Jorgensen

KENOSHA, Wis. — A new museum that tells the Civil War stories of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan will open June 14 and 15.

Kenosha’s Civil War Museum will celebrate with “A Salute to Freedom” featuring reenactors, the Regimental Volunteer Band, dancing, cannon firing and demonstrations by the 1st Illinois Light Artillery Battalion and 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, Co. D, musket drill, storytelling, period crafts and activities for all ages.

The opening is a happy occasion for museum staff since a March 22 fire in the new building could have proved disastrous. The spontaneous combustion fire in a janitor’s closet caused $200,000 in flooring, smoke and water damage.

Director Paula Touhey says the fire caused some delays in completion of the main exhibits. The museum is going ahead with the opening before the permanent exhibits are completed and not try to rush things.

“It is disappointing,” she says, “but we do want to get it right.”

The museum hosted some 4,000 people for a scheduled dedication ceremony and exhibit preview the week after the fire, and put off the formal opening until June.

Touhey says the $16.6 million museum is beautiful. It’s a two-story building with a second-floor terrace overlooking Lake Michigan. While the building is modern it hearkens back to Civil War architecture with pillars and ironwork reminiscent of railroad bridges in the lobby.

The first floor includes the main exhibit gallery, veterans memorial gallery, a gift shop and Freedom Hall multi-purpose room for events.

The temporary exhibit gallery on the second floor is opening with a display about the U.S. Army transport steamer Maple Leaf that was sunk by torpedo off the coast of Florida and its discovery. Classrooms, offices and a public resource center with books, maps, documents and computers are on the second floor.

The museum has a collection of artifacts and welcomes donations, loans and copies of documents. Carroll College donated its W. Norman FitzGerald collection of Civil War materials to the museum and Carthage College put the Frank A. Palumbo Collection on permanent loan there.

Opening weekend visitors will be able to tour the 15,000-square-foot permanent exhibit “The Fiery Trial,” even though it is not completed. Touhey says they will find it interesting to see how exhibits are constructed. The lighting and sound are not installed. “The magic isn’t quite there yet,” she says.

This permanent exhibit area is quite complex and not something that could be constructed quickly. Since the idea is for visitors to travel back to period settings, the museum is building accurate life-size dioramas and interactive exhibits, including a town square, train, riverboat and battlefront, through which the personal stories of dozens of men, women and children will be told.

“It’s very exciting, it’s going to look great,” Touhey says.

The exhibit area will be closed after June 15 so work can continue. She hopes it will be open in late July. The museum is free and the $5 adult admission for “The Fiery Trial” exhibit won’t be charged until that gallery is open.
In the meantime the Civil War Museum has a busy schedule of activities planned as follows:

“A Salute to Freedom” grand opening and preview of exhibits will be June 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and June 15 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

 “Civil War Days: The Road to Freedom” living history event will be held July 12 and 13 from 10 to 4.

First-person presenters will give performances twice a day on June 27; July 8, 16 and 25; and Aug. 6, 12 and 22.

On Sept. 13 the Great Lakes Civil War Forum will feature speakers Scott Wolfe, Dr. Gordon Dammann and Daniel Nettesheim and a special tour of the museum.

Historian Lance Herdegen, who is a consultant to the museum, will lead an eight-day tour of Eastern Civil War sites in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia from Oct. 13-20.

The Civil War Museum is part of the Kenosha Public Museums system, which includes the Kenosha Public Museum and Dinosaur Discovery Museum. For information call (262) 653-4140 or go to www.thecivilwarmuseum.org.