Contact: Kara O’Keeffe
Kara.okeeffe@wisconsinhistory.org
608-261-9596
Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society is pleased to see Governor Evers’ and the state’s commitment to the new state history museum project by including it in the 2019-2021 Wisconsin State Capital Budget.
“Wisconsin now has the opportunity to build a world-class history museum which will democratize our state and national collections,” said Christian Overland, The Ruth and Hartley Barker Director of the Wisconsin Historical Society. “This new state history museum will give Wisconsinites across all 72 counties an opportunity to engage and inspire more than twice as many students each school year, increasing current student visitation to the museum to more than tens of thousands annually.”
The Wisconsin Historical Society has been preparing for an opportunity to update the current museum for two decades and continues to make this a top priority. The current museum presents critical problems involving public safety, failing technology, and facility maintenance issues.
“The new state history museum will be a place unlike anything we’ve seen today,” said former Governor Jim Doyle. “It will allow us as a state to share Wisconsin’s exceptional history collections with future generations and our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the space for the next century and beyond.”
“We deserve as Wisconsinites to have the best history museum in the country,” said former Governor Tommy Thompson. “And I can assure you that both myself and Governor Jim Doyle will come together and do everything we can to build this world-class museum.”
The Society has been traveling across the state to hear how a new state history museum can represent communities. Through the Society’s statewide Share Your Voice engagement events, they will visit over 40 communities and will have met all of the Wisconsin American Indian Nations. The statewide engagement events’ purpose is to get feedback from the public on how this new state history museum can represent Wisconsin and create relevant stories that have local significance and national impact. Visit wihist.org/yourvoice for more information.
The Wisconsin Historical Society has been working towards building a new $120 million, 100,000-square-foot museum for more than 20 years. The new museum will more than double exhibition space, include state-of-the-art technology, and providing learning, meeting and flexible spaces. The new museum will reach and connect people all across the state through distance learning technology and exciting, modern and relevant exhibitions and programs.
For more information on the Wisconsin Historical Society visit wisconsinhistory.org.
About Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit www.wisconsinhistory.org.
