Women’s History Month: Helen Ferslev

Helen was a devoted educator, talented artist, and a local history advocate in Green Bay. Helen is particularly important to the Neville because without her we may not be where we are today. In honor of all she’s done for our community and the museum we want to share just a few of her accomplishments.

Helen is one of several special women that lived here in Brown County that valued the arts and the preservation of history. Helen’s dedication to preservation of history is most evident in her hard work to make our current museum building a reality. Helen served as President of the Neville Public Museum Corporation. Before 1983 the museum sat in a smaller and less conducive building on Jefferson St. Helen fought for a new facility that was eventually supported by the county, the city, and private donors, a true community project. Here is Helen breaking ground with the County Executive, the Mayor, and the Museum Director.

Neville Foundation president, Helen Ferslev, Mayor Samuel Halloin, Brown County Executive Donald Holloway, and Museum Director, James Quinn, break ground in 1981 for a new museum.

We have several artifacts in our collection that reflect Helen’s continued dedication to education, local history, and the arts. The collection includes a diary, scrapbooks, and letters from her time in London in 1948 and 1949 when she participated in the Teacher Exchange Program. We also care for awards given to her for her many accomplishments in education and here at the museum. Helen’s focus on education and interest in history led her to co-author the text book “It Happened Here” in 1949. We have a copy of it in our research library. Later in life she continued her education by taking different art courses. Works of art she created are also held in our collection.

The museum is thankful for people like Helen that continually support our mission and fight to preserve local history and engage the arts.

Lisa Kain

Curator

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 23, 2021 at 9:36 AM

    We are immensely thankful & grateful for women like her!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Things You May Not Know about Stompy the Mastodon

Image
1. He’s not a Woolly Mammoth Stompy is a mastodon, but what’s the difference?   For starters mastodon tusks were less curved than a mammoth's. Mastodon teeth were different from a mammoth’s as well.   Why was that?   Because Mastodons lived in swampy areas and chewed on branches and shrubs.   Mammoths grazed on grasses in open plains. You can see the difference between the two species teeth just behind Stompy in the exhibit!   2. His fur is made of cow tails Stompy is covered in 1,500 cow tails!   The cow tails were washed, bleached, and colored before being adhered to his body.   This was done by the artist to achieve the look of shaggy curly hair which would’ve helped him stay warm at the end of the last Ice Age. Photo taken in 1983 right after the diorama was installed for the new museum.   3. He sheds… so please don’t pet the mastodon   Stompy is now 37 years old!   Over the years he lost some of his hair but who wouldn’t after entertaining the masses for three d
Read more

What's This Thing? Artifact Spotlight

Image
Why is there a ledge on the inside of this cup? It's a mustache guard! Mustaches became trendy in the 19th century, which lead to extensive grooming and mustache care. Men used mustache wax, mustache brushes, mustache combs, and mustache scissors to shape and maintain their preferred style. Some even dyed their mustaches. All of these products did not fare well when mixed with the heat and steam from tea, coffee, or other hot beverages. Mustache wax would melt. Dye would drip. Tea and coffee could stain facial hair. Mustaches would be complete disasters. Mustache guards like this one protected a man's mustache, while allowing him to still enjoy tea time. This earthenware mustache cup was donated in 1937 by Mrs. Sophia Thelen. It is one of several mustache cups in the Neville's collection. The mustache cup was invented in the mid 19th century by English potter Harvey Adams. It soon spread across Europe and over to North America. Mustache cups were originally sold individuall
Read more

Green Bay’s Titanic Ties are Unsinkable

Image
On April 14, 1912 the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. It sank less than three hours later in the early morning of April 15, 1912.  The sinking of the RMS Titanic may feel distant in time and place but Green Bay has deep connections to the disaster. Dr. William E. Minahan, who died on the Titanic, is buried in a crypt in Woodlawn Cemetery, visible from Riverside Drive.   Dr. Minahan was traveling home from Europe with his wife, Lillian, and sister, Daisy, after an extended vacation abroad.   The Minahans had planned on sailing home sooner but a coal strike prevented their intended ship from leaving.   They thought they were lucky having been able to book first class tickets on Titanic, but history would prove otherwise. On the night of the sinking, Dr. Minahan put his wife and sister into a lifeboat telling his wife, “Be brave.   No matter what happens, be brave.”   Those were Dr. Minahan’s final words.   His family received news on April 27, 1912 that Dr. Minahan’
Read more