Historical Society preserves past, and looks to the future

Gathered together for a moment of celebration, supporters of the Carlton County Historical Society did not try to conceal their enthusiasm last week. Carlton County had just signed over the deed to the 99-year-old Shaw Memorial Library Building in Cloquet.

Excited to take on a future filled with both big challenges and new possibilities, the group assembled in the museum's exhibit area on a late April afternoon.

Executive director Mark King summed things up.

"It has been a harrowing path for the Historical Society since last spring, when the county announced that the Shaw Memorial Library Building was for sale," King said.

The historical society isn't a part of Carlton County government but is home to many of the county's most treasured stories of past devastation and heartbreak, perseverance and triumph. The society was sure it now needed to look for a new home. As staff and board members searched, they were unable to find anything that could suitably house the expanding collection of historic artifacts and archives.

The solution was closer at hand than many might have imagined.

King noted that when the new Cloquet library was built, "this building was sold to Carlton County for $1 with the agreement that it was to be the permanent home of the Carlton County Historical Society."

With the agreement in mind, county officials arranged to sell the Shaw Memorial Library Building to the society for $1.

While the historical society has occupied the building since the late 1980s, ownership now presents a host of new challenges to ensure that treasured donations from the public will continue to have a safe home.

It also presents opportunities.

King added that the historical society is excited about several new initiatives, noting that they just received a grant from the local Sons of Norway that will allow them to produce a new publication on Norwegian-American poet and Cloquet resident, Julius Baumann.

"We also hope to open up the use of our building more by sponsoring author and music events," the director added.

In terms of the physical building, King said the first priority is to get a new roof this summer.

"The roof has been patched many times but must now be replaced or we risk permanent damage to the building and our collection," King said.

He touched on other challenges.

"We took a cut in our county funding when we agreed to take over the building," he said, with significant new expenses for insurance, groundskeeping, and maintenance that the county used to cover.

King said the challenges are an opportunity for growth.

"The historical society was founded by members of the community, and has always been a community-driven and -supported organization," King said. "People have been donating to us since the very beginning (and) continue to donate photographs, memorabilia, letters, and artifacts to us on a weekly basis, so it is exciting. We now, more than ever, see ourselves as member-supported."

Ed Kavanaugh, president of the society's board of directors, took the long view, recalling the many times the public has come to the aid of the society. He cited past public support for new windows, air conditioning, and a much-needed elevator to move materials from lower level storage to the main floor exhibit space.

Kavanaugh said the Shaw Memorial Library itself was built on the foundation of the original Cloquet library that burned to the ground in 1918.

"This was the library," he said. It opened in 1920. "There were individuals and families that made contributions to build and maintain this library."

The devastated survivors of the Cloquet Fire continued to care for the betterment of one another, Kavanaugh said, and that is the foundation the Shaw Memorial Library was built upon.

"Think of the commitment that people made to help educate the common person. They were genuinely committed to helping each other," he said.

Kavanaugh went on to talk about how people from all over the county have gotten involved in keeping the historical society relevant. He told the story of how roughly 6,000 barns burned down in Carlton County in 1918.

"The whole [rural] society was built around that little immigrant family farm, and the barn was at the center of it," Kavanaugh said. In the years after the fire, hundreds of barns were built to replace those that burned. "Now, people want to talk about their barns," he said.

Kavanaugh pointed to recent photos that document the work of Barn Committee members who searched out, and found, the fading magnificence of these structures. Ranging from abandoned barns in a state of near-collapse to soaring, almost cathedral-like arches of post and beam, the images have captured and preserved a part of Carlton County's rich history.

"We have people from all around the county, because the barns are all around the county, and they come here to see this exhibit. People are now part of this," Kavanaugh said.

Kavanaugh attributed success, and his optimism about the society's future, to the members of the board who are actively engaged.

"Our board is made up of people who are very, very committed," he said. "Keep in mind it's all volunteers. When there is something to be done, they do it. It's exciting, the enthusiasm. People like to be here. We have a waiting list to be on the board."

Board member Trish Johnson enjoyed the personal reward in serving as a member of the 1918 Fire Committee, made up of directors and staff of several local historical societies. It organized a year's worth of programming and exhibits related to the fire.

"We decided that we want to keep meeting at least a couple of times a year because we just like getting together," Johnson said.

Administrative assistant Amy Utech is possibly the person most familiar with the stories hidden within the society's archives.

"A newspaper article from March 29, 1918 tells the story of two men punished severely for their pro-German views. A well-known man was carried to the countryside and whipped," she said. "Another man, while working at the Cloquet depot, was abducted and tarred and feathered in a nearby box car," Utech said.

Since the historical society opened its first exhibit space in 1965, it has told the stories of local heroes, villains, and ordinary citizens.

"The stories that stay with you from the archives are unexpected voices that cry out from old, forgotten texts," Utech said.