Morrison County Historical Society

The Morrison County Historical Society (mchs) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing Morrison County history. It owns and operates the charles a. weyerhaeuser memorial museum in little falls, mn.in january 2024, mchs opened a temporary exhibit on the art of local artist wes sod, titled "dear redhead: the art and artistry of wes sod." This was on display for the first half of the year. Planning for mchs' riverbank restoration project has continued. While we had originally planned to conduct the work this summer, there have been delays that have pushed it into the coming year. Other projects include replacing the museum's roof and front porch.mchs continued our partnership with the Morrison County fair. Our exhibit at the santa house this year focused on Morrison County in the 1970s. The overall reception was incredibly positive, with guests sharing their own memories of the 70s.after the death of long-time museum friend alvina smuda, and considering our long association with the smuda family, mchs dedicated our as-of-yet unnamed collections work room space as the smuda family work room on june 15th. Ben, alice, and alvina smuda have all worked and volunteered for mchs at various times throughout the decades, and the museum wouldn't have its current location if not for the smuda family selling it to us. We are eternally grateful for all of their help and generosity over the decades.2024 was mchs's second year participating in the charmed bike ride as part of visit little falls. Children who collect charms from every location are entered into a drawing to win a bike from a local bike shop. Carried out a partial phase ii archaeological survey of our property, with a focus on the land that will be disturbed by riverbank restoration project. Results were promising and further steps will be taken with the rest of our land in the coming years.collections manager amy left mchs at the end of july, and former museum manager grace took up her position. A temporary employee filled the role of museum manager until we hired alesha ouren, who will begin work in january 2025. Alesha was also responsible for our musser grant position, which involved creating a searchable database for our uncommon focus photo collection, which includes over 1,000 photos of local landmarks. Hosted events including our annual meeting at linden hill with guest speaker pat sharon on september 18, and lectures in collaboration with the Morrison County genealogical society.2024 was mchs' first year participating in the little falls christmas tours as the nutcracker suite. We received a donation of nutcrackers that were previously used at the rosenmeier house, as well as contributions from a private donor who had a nutcracker collection. Along with the nutcrackers, we displayed our favorites from our collection of christmas cards. A scavenger hunt to find our more unique nutcrackers on display was available, with prizes to be won. We received a steady flow of attendance in the two weekends that the program ran, totaling 273 visitors. The exhibit will be on display through the end of january 2025.mchs staff assisted on and off-site researchers in answering their research questions.maintained an active online presence via our blog/website, facebook, and youtube.grew the mchs collections through donations from members and friends.number of members in 2024: 140number of collections donors: 48number of researchers: 150number of visitors: 2,362number of website visitors: 738,301