Museum Education Program Underway

Volunteers Sought to Help with Collection

Battle Lake, MN, October 19, 2016:  Research and curriculum development has begun on an education program related to Minnesota’s role in the Civil War and Resettlement after the war. Prospect House Museum announced that it has hired Julie Fietek to lead development of the curriculum, and it is also looking for volunteers to work preparing exhibits.

Fietek has a Master’s degree in elementary education, plus a degree in ecommerce and web development. She comes to the museum with over 11 years of experience teaching at the elementary level, and over a decade of experience developing training programs and curriculum for Fergus Falls Public Schools, Pioneer Care and others. Fietek lives with her family between Battle Lake and Ashby.

Darla Ellingson, a part-time employee of the museum, is the Education Project Director. “Julie has very creative ideas and a great demeanor,” said Ellingson. “We are fortunate to have found someone so talented to play a lead role in this program.”

The museum education program is scheduled for a soft launch in May, with the full program starting in fall of 2017. Students will engage with aspects of Minnesota’s role in the Civil War and Reconstruction after the war, on-site at the museum. The program addresses specific standards provided by the Minnesota Department of Education for social studies, with these topics being introduced at the 6th grade level. Hands-on learning stations and a new interpretive tour at the museum will be included.  

The program plan came about after the Governor’s Civil War Task Force went to the MN Legislature and requested monies specifically for Civil War projects to be funded by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Prospect House applied for a grant and was awarded $38,652 through the Minnesota Historical Society.

A companion historic preservation program is underway, which will protect and rehouse the Civil War collection. Volunteers are sought to help catalog artifacts.

“It’s a fun opportunity that is also important for the museum,” said Ellingson. “Teams work in pairs to identify and log items before they are temporarily moved so the room can be upgraded with new lighting, cabinets and exhibit walls.”  

Museum experience is not required to volunteer, but basic computer skills are helpful. Ellingson added that volunteers who sign up to work on the curatorial project now may also assist in curating new exhibits, and have the first opportunity to sign up to help with the school program this spring.

Volunteers are scheduled in 2.5 hour blocks. Those interested in applying are asked to send an email request for a volunteer application to [email protected]. Applications are also available at the museum.

Historic preservation efforts are made possible by a grant from the City of Battle Lake and a donation from the Battle Lake Lions which helped start the program, and is sustained by a generous lead donation from the Veden Trust. After completing work in the Civil War room, the museum plans to continue its historic preservation efforts in the other three stories of the mansion.

More about The Prospect House and Civil War Museum:

The Prospect House, a Georgian-style “mansion,” was the first house and later the first resort in Battle Lake, MN. James A. “Cap” Colehour, a veteran of the Civil War, migrated to Battle Lake, MN, and built the first house in town called the “Chicago House” in 1882.  In 1886 Colehour built an addition onto his house and began to offer his home to visitors, which he then called “The Prospect Inn,” as a seasonal resort hotel. He operated the resort until 1924 when he retired at age 82. Cap’s daughter, Kathrina, and her husband, Ernest Wilkins, remodeled the interior five years later in 1929. The house’s furnishings and décor have not been changed since that time.

Continually inhabited by descendants of Cap Colehour since 1882, the four stories of Prospect House are filled with priceless artifacts, including a large exhibit room on the lower level dedicated to the Civil War. Historical markers around the yard tell the story of the Prospect House, which is on the State and National Register of Historic Places.

The Prospect House and Civil War Museum is open year round. Call (218) 864-4008 for a tour appointment reservation.  The Civil War Education Project is made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society, through the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund by the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.

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