An Afternoon in Kendrick

If you're looking for a great party, look no further than Kendrick, Idaho.  Saturday April 25th marked a festive celebration in Kendrick, Idaho.  The Juliaetta-Kendrick Heritage Foundation opened their permanent museum.  This museum is the culmination of years of hard work to obtain and preserve the Fraternal Temple building in Kendrick.  Entering the museum you go into a large open space that just screams for large events to be hosted there.  This space had wonderful exhibits along the walls which explained the history of downtown buildings in Kendrick and Juliaetta.  This exhibit traced ownership and in most cases showed images of the buildings and their various uses.

When you are at the museum, I encourage you to ask a lot of questions.  First and foremost, look at the floor beneath you on the first floor it is from Mr. Walt Disney!  Be sure to ask the host at the museum about how that came to pass.  While you are asking questions be sure to inquire about how much their rental fees are for your next great event.

Did I mention that this was a party?  Along the rest of the first floor was a fantastic spread of food and beverages for the grand opening patrons to consume as well as chairs setup to watch the historical documentaries about the Kendrick and Juliaetta region.  But now let's head upstairs to go to the museum (as if this wasn't exciting enough).

Up a flight of stairs is an excellent example of what is possible when local historians work hard to remember and honor their heritage.  Much of the grand room upstairs is filled with historic images and objects that help to tell the story of the history of the Juliaetta and Kendrick region.  The entry room is dedicated to Bob and Lois Iller for all of their support of the J-K Heritage Foundation through the years.  Another room in the museum is donated to Arlene Wallace, whose family donated many objects and generous funding to the museum.  Remember, this is a party.  To begin the afternoon the museum had a formal dedication from the pump organ and flute accompanied by a formal blessing for the space.

Walking through the museum you are surrounded by historical images, objects and information about the Juliaetta and Kendrick region.  Looking at these objects it is clearly an example of local history well done.  The residents of these communities the museum serves should be excited to have such a valuable historic resource located in Kendrick.  I took many photos of the museum while I was there, but I thought I'd share just a few with you and encourage you to visit the museum yourself to see the rest of the exhibits.



The museum, located at 614 E Main St. in Kendrick, will be open from 1pm-3pm on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month, I strongly recommend visiting.

Here are some photos of the museum, research room and patrons.

A Communications exhibit at the museum.

A veterans exhibit at the museum.

Research materials available for research at the museum.

Happy and excited patrons at the museum.

  - Zachary Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society

Northwest History Network

This year Latah County Historical Society has been a recipient of a Northwest History Network Microfunding Grant.  This article is written to inform our membership and the Northwest History Network of the progress we have made with the new archival boxes provided by this grant.

In January of 2014 I joined the Latah County Historical Society (Latah County, Idaho with our office and historic house located in Moscow) in capacity as museum curator.  As many of you are aware, work at local historical societies requires working in a variety of roles, some of my daily responsibilities include: curating historical artifacts, registering artifacts, documents and photographs into our collection, organizing volunteers to assist with the operations of the historical society and maintaining and storing archival documents.

The Latah County Historical Society (LCHS) is fortunate to have fully functional rolling shelving for our archives.  This shelving is approximately 70% full of records, each housed in acid-free, archival boxes.  While I was beginning to work with the archival collection I found that many of the Large Collections were a series of smaller boxes, which were labeled numerically since there were no large archival boxes (e.g. LC [Large Collection] Greeting Cards Box 1, LC Greeting Cards Box 2 . . . ).  While this was a bit cumbersome it did not warrant buying new boxes since there were other more pressing needs.  As time rolled on more large collections were donated to LCHS.  As these projects piled up I knew that I had a problem brewing on my hands.

In March I found the Northwest History Network’s Microfunding Grant opportunity.  I applied in an attempt to fix the archival box shortage.  In June I found out that LCHS was funded through the Northwest History Network.  In July I researched archival box options and ended up ordering 30 boxes from Hollinger Metal Edge model number RSB-18 with dimensions 12W x 15L x 10H.  I chose these boxes because of their value for money.  I did a lot of research and calling in order to maximize the Northwest History Network Microfunding Grant.

Since the boxes arrived in August they have been put to work.  Some of the new projects include getting backlogged document collections in acid-free storage complete with new inventories.  At the Latah County Historical Society one of our most prominently researched figures is Frank B. Robinson.  While the Frank B. Robinson Collection is well used there are boxes of unprocessed records in our backlog.  Thanks to this grant LCHS has the archival boxes necessary to begin processing these boxes and make them available to researchers.

The newly completed Robinson collection from the LCHS backlog now processed in acid-free boxes.

Another notable project has been the consolidation of smaller collections.  These boxes have allowed me to combine large collections housed in multiple small boxes into one large box.  This consolidation is not only easier to handle but also allows for quicker and more efficient access by the researchers. 

LC 1912 Center used to be in the three smaller boxes on the left, now it is in the larger box on the right.

The archival boxes have also been used to house new collections.  Recently LCHS received a new large collection of Frank A. David (a prominent citizen who worked and owned department stores in downtown Moscow, ID) papers.  These papers span his and his family’s history in Latah County.  While this collection has not been processed yet, I am able to store them in acid free storage in the meantime.

These boxes have been used not only in the documents collection but also in the textile collection.  LCHS has used these boxes to re-house some of the hats in the collection.  This has moved these hats out of acidic boxes and into acid free long-term storage.

The Northwest History Network Microfunding Grant has been a great way for the Latah County Historical Society to improve its storage while increasing access to our records.  This grant allowed LCHS to maintain archival storage standards while processing existing and new collections.  I would like to thank the Northwest History Network for funding this Microfunding Grant and I hope success at the LCHS will encourage other historical societies to apply to this worthwhile opportunity in the future.

Zachary Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society

Voting in Latah County

Looking back on the most recent election makes us proud here at LCHS.  We believe in the importance of voting and its impact on our lives.  Here in Latah County there has been a long standing tradition of voting and its importance.  In researching our archives we came across the following photos of the voting process.

Joan Bauer, then-Latah County Clerk explains to Moscow High School United States government class voting procedures. Watching are seniors Shelly Bobeck, Chris Tylutki, and Phil Nordquist. No date. 001-6-441.

Zoe Cooley, Moscow Library Board Member, recounting ballots in 1990. Cooley.Z.02.

 While the voting process is important, there is not much about voting that is more important than the actual ballot.  These ballots were from the election held August 14, 1956.  The ballots represent the Republican and Democratic party tickets for that election.  Notice on the Democratic Party Ticket is long time Senator Frank Church.

Lastly here at LCHS we would like to thank everyone who voted in the last election on Tuesday.  Thank you for having your voice heard.  The election results are available from the Latah County Website here.

Make A Difference Day

On Saturday morning the University of Idaho Center for Volunteerism and Social Action sponsored the Make A Difference Day.  Saturday nine UI student volunteers descended upon the McConnell Mansion to help LCHS on some special projects.

The hard working UI student volunteers at the McConnell Mansion.

These students and I worked hard on two projects, one of which would not have been possible without the help of Ryan from Guardian Comprehensive Home Services.  This project was the outside clean-up of the McConnell Mansion.  As you might have noticed it is getting colder outside and the leaves are turning from green to yellow, then onto our lawns.  Ryan from Guardian stepped up and was at the McConnell Mansion early Saturday morning to do some pruning around the grounds before the student volunteers arrived.  Once the volunteers arrived they were set to work raking leaves and prunings, then flipping them into the Guardian truck for removal.

Raking in front of the McConnell Mansion.

Guardian's yard debris removal truck.

UI students flipping the yard debris into the Guardian yard debris removal truck.

A big thank you goes out to Guardian as well as the UI students for helping the McConnell Mansion look its best this fall season!

But wait, there's more!  Here at LCHS we like to host events, however sometimes people need a little extra help finding our event locations.  Years ago wooden folding sandwich boards were donated to LCHS so that we can help people find our events.  These sandwich boards have been well loved over the years and were in need of some re-finishing.  A second group of students worked to pull all of the staples out of the boards, sand the boards and give them a fresh coat of paint.  These students were so efficient that they even helped to rake leaves after they had finished working on the signage!

Sanding and pulling staples from the signs.

Look for these newly painted signs next time you're looking for an LCHS event!

This was a great morning for LCHS as we got more done before noon than I had hoped for.  Thank you to Guardian and to the University of Idaho Center for Volunteerism and Social Action for helping make this event a success.

 - Zach Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society

Volunteer Lunch

Here at the Latah County Historical Society we are serious about our volunteers.  On Thursday 10/23 LCHS hosted some of our volunteers for chili with fixins, vegetables, brownies and cheesecake at the historic McConnell Mansion.  This lunch was a great way for us to recognize our volunteers.  This was also a great opportunity for the volunteers to meet each other.  The lunch was well attended by approximately 20 LCHS volunteers.  Here at LCHS we would like to sincerely thank all of our volunteers for their hard work, without your efforts LCHS would not be what it is toady.

Below are some photos of some of the wonderful LCHS volunteers.
 

Archives Month!

October, as some of you may know, is American Archives Month.  To get you in the archival mood, I thought I would begin Archives Month by discussing the Latah County Historical Society archives.  When I talk about archives, I am speaking about documentary history.  Historic papers (also referred to as records) stored in acid free folders and in acid free boxes so that they can be preserved as long as possible. 

The LCHS archival shelving units.  These units hold thousands of records across hundreds of collections.

The LCHS archives are housed in our Centennial Annex.  The LCHS archives consist of five Spacesaver double sided rolling shelving units and one wall mounted shelf.  These 11 shelves contain many treasures of Latah County.  I am hoping to portray these treasures to you with some regularity this month as we celebrate Archives Month.

The records are safely stored in acid free boxes so that they can be preserved for as long as possible.

Below are a few photos of the LCHS archives and the archival boxes used to preserve the records within.  Stay tuned for more as LCHS shares our archives with you, our captivated digital audience, over the course of October.

Collections come in all shapes and sizes with boxes to match.

 - Zach Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society

2014 Troy Old Timers' Day

Today we at the Latah County Historical Society would like to fill you in on a little event happening in Troy TOMORROW July 12, 2014.   This event is the Troy Old Timers' Day.  This event is free to attend, however has some costs involved for food and some activities.  To begin talking about this event let's take a look at the events that are planned.

The event begins with an all you can eat pancake feed for only $5.  This event is sponsored by the Troy Lions Club.  I would suggest eating a light dinner tonight so that you can take advantage of this great deal.  The pancake feed starts at 6 AM, so be early and be hungry.

A pancake feed in Moscow, ID, circa 1950, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 01-11-110.

After everybody is full of pancakes the next natural thing to do is go for a run to help eliminate the calorie overload.  The Boy Scouts are sponsoring a 5K fun run along the Latah Trail beginning at 8 AM.

C.S. (Hec) Edmundson, 1908 AAU National Champion, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, Edmundson.C.01.

Once you have ran, it is time to sit back and enjoy a parade down Main Street of Troy.  The parade will have coffee and doughnuts available to replace all those calories you lost while running at the Troy Lutheran Church.

After the parade it is time to sit down for a good, old fashioned buffalo burger.  Buffalo burger sales will start at 11am as will the Snake River Six, a live band.  Live music will continue throughout lunch with Chanda Knaptik performing at 12:15 and Carla Miles performing at 1:15.  The music and lunch is sponsored by the Troy Lions Club.

There is a 3 on 3 basketball tournament beginning at 11 AM hosted by Lori Smith and the Troy Recreation Department.  If basketball isn't your sport there is also a 4 on 4 volleyball tournament beginning at 11:30 AM hosted by the Troy High School Volleyball team.

The Troy High School boys basketball team from 1917, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 15-06-003.

The highlight of the afternoon (At least I think so) is the buffalo chip toss.  At high noon there will be a buffalo chip tossing contest so I encourage everyone to chuck their chips and see who can get their pioneer fire starter the furthest.
 

Debi and Mike Kealey, buffalo ranching near Troy in the 1980s, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 25-02-463.

Well these are simply the morning and early afternoon activities.  The entire event goes until 8 PM.  For a full list of activities, events and vendors I encourage you to go to their website here: http://www.troylionsclub.org/troy_day.htm .  I hope everybody has a great time out in Troy this weekend, be sure to stay hydrated as the forecast claims it will be close to 100 degrees out there.

  - Zach Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society