It
has been almost seven years since the founding of the Sutton Historical Society
and three since we began contributing to Sutton Life Magazine. It is time to
report on what we are doing.
The
mission of the Sutton Historical Society is to collect and preserve the
artifacts and information about the past in the Sutton community. The first
need when we started was a home for the artifacts, the Sutton Museum.
The
three museum buildings, the Historic House, the Wolfe Country School Museum and
the museum in the original John Gray house soon became an established part of
the Sutton scene.
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Six of the active young people in and around Sutton about 1900: Carl Spielman, Ada Gray,
Homer Gray, Irene Honey, Albert (A.W.) Clark and Mayme Wieden. |
The
Historic House displays the home of John and Emma Gray much as it might have
looked soon after they built it in 1908. Their original home serves as to space
for museum items and the Wolfe school provides visitors, especially kids, a
look at country schools fifty and more years ago.
The
museum supports that part of the mission of preserving artifacts. Visitors
enjoy hands-on access to household items, furnishings and other artifacts that
have a Sutton story. The artifacts, the stuff of the past, comprise an important
and expected part of the role of a museum. People enjoy the butter churns and
bed pans as well as other items common in the past but gone from our everyday
life now. We appreciate the many, many contributions from people who have made
possible our collections.
Among
the items in the museum are the original dining room set in the historic house,
the baggage cart from the Sutton depot, a bedroom set from the early Honey
furniture store, high school annuals, Ebert sister paintings, Beulah Ochsner’s
hats, and veterans’ stuff – uniforms,
memorabilia, photos; the list goes on and on.
The second part of the historic society’s mission involves finding and
preserving information about Sutton’s past, not only preserving that
information but distributing it for the education and entertainment of those
with an interest in Sutton’s past.
This
series of articles in Sutton Life Magazine has played an important part in distributing
information that we uncover about the history of the Sutton area. There are so
many stories about the deeds of earlier Sutton residents that have been lost
from our collective memories or are known to only a few. The various outlets
from the historical society give exposure to these stories.
A
few of the forgotten, or almost forgotten stories we’ve uncovered include the
story of William Wellman, a 14-year old Sutton newspaper publisher who became
obsessed with hot air balloon travel attempting to reach the North Pole and
Europe in his balloon; the Umma Luebbens’ invention of the round baler; Adeline
Nolde’s design for the FFA emblem, the breadth of Ted Wenzlaff’s military
career; Alida Curtiss’s Grafton and Sutton-based novel about her friend Nellie
Stevens; Eugene Bemis’s book “The Squawker” and his career as publisher of the
York New Teller newspaper; Herbert Johnson’s Saturday Evening Post covers;
Betty Swanson’s immigration story from Sweden to Salt Lake City to Council
Bluffs to Sutton and many, many more.
We’ve
retold the stories of several better known Suttonites plus the stories of
groups of people in the town’s past. Remember the article about Satch? All of
us over a certain age remember that man. He was the identity of the town for
several years. Out-of-town athletes knew Satch but how many in our younger
generations had heard of him? If stories like his are lost our town will lose
some of its personality.
Our
newspaper column has also been in place for three years. There are stacks of
old county newspapers in the basement of the news office. You could spend your
own time going through those old papers to learn something of the story of
Sutton’s past. Instead, we lay out the highlights from 25, 50, 75 and 100 years
ago each week. Besides, one hundred year old deteriorating newsprint will not
withstand much more handling.
Our
online presence at www.suttonhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com offers yet
another outlet for information about Sutton’s past. The advantages of the blog
are that it is easily updated, can be as timely as today and it reaches people
world-wide – it really does.
So
there are two major categories of things the historical society does: stuff and
stories. My personal preference is the stories part. And yes, I do have a
passion for finding and retelling those stories.
We
all need something to be passionate about. But those of us in the historical
society are the first to admit that historical matters are not everyone’s
interest, much less passion. If you don’t share our passion in historical
matters I hope you have found your own. But if that is the case, why have you
come this far in this article?
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The Wolfe School District #55, a part of the Sutton Museum and fully furnished with desks, piano,
pot-belly stove and an assortment of period grade school textbooks. |
Maintaining
and developing the historical society demands effort and some money (yes, we
have a light bill, insurance and lots more.) There is a small, and yes,
passionate cadre of loyal workers and supporters of the historical society. We
are proud when visitors comment on our products and acknowledge the work. But
our small number constrains how much we can do.
Our
visitors and those who contact us via email, phone calls and letters are
actually skewed towards the non-residents, even the out-of-staters. People who
once lived in Sutton or whose parents or grandparents were once residents
maintain their interest in our town. We field a steady stream of requests for
information about people who once lived here and someone is trying to
reconstruct the memory of them. There is real satisfaction in fulfilling that
kind of request.
Do
you have even a glimmer of passion for the past? Or would you like to develop
an interest? We would be thrilled to have you join us. There are numerous
projects on our TODO list, projects that we think would add to our understanding
of Sutton’s past and would educate and entertain. Just contact us and we’ll
talk. We can show you what we’ve done and the kinds of things we’d like to do
if we only had more hands involved.
The
museum is open from 2 – 5 PM on Sundays or call 773-0222 for an appointment. Our
monthly meetings are the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 at the historic
house, 309 N. Way Avenue. We have a fun gathering the first Saturday of each
month with our Pancake Breakfast at the American Legion from 7:30 to10:30. The
breakfasts provide a steady revenue stream that keeps our financial head close
to the water line. Your enjoyment of the pancakes and conversation is an easy
way for you to help out with that funding part of our challenges. Another
kitchen volunteer or two would be great too.
So
visit the museum and the blog, read the newspaper and continue to read our
Sutton Life articles to enjoy our work. Better yet, join us and help us expand this
service to the greater Sutton community.
This article first appeared in the July, 2012 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For further information about Sutton Life Magazine or for a subscription, please visit: http://www.suttonlifemagazine.com/ or call 402-984-4203.
