'The History Keepers' properly archives area's rich history'

Half-hour show debuts Oct. 23

BY TERRY ANDERSON
tanderso@greenbaypressgazette.com
History is a sort of cottage industry in Green Bay.

Last year, when Wisconsin Public Television was preparing "Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Green Bay," the producers were surprised by the number of local organizations involved in historical preservation. They were so impressed that they created "The History Keepers," a 30-minute documentary that will debut at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 on WPNE, Channel 38.

The documentary begins with the arrival of Elizabeth and Henry Baird to the area in 1824. She paints a picture of a small, cheerful community with 30 houses and two stores. It moves to recollections of Deborah Martin, who not only penned a history of Brown County, but as librarian at the Green Bay Library began to collect and display artifacts of interest.

The documentary also offers information about Press-Gazette columnist Jack Rudolph, who during a dozen years after World War II wrote more than 650 columns about local history.

One of the most charming moments in the show comes from Mary Jane Herber, local historian and genealogist at the Brown County Library, recalling the wintery day in 1975 when Tank Cottage was moved on a Fox River barge from Green Bay to Heritage Hill State Historical Park in Allouez. Herber jokes that she went to river that day to make sure she was present to witness the historic home falling into the river.
"When you're making a show you're always have segments that you want to tell, but just don't fit into a seven-minute segment," said principal producer Mik Derks. "I remember the whole crew was struck by this remarkable place, a community that take its history very seriously."
Can a television show change a community?

Carol Jones, governor for the Green Bay-De Pere Antiquarian Society, believes last year's Wisconsin Public Television documentary about the history of Green Bay has had a substantial impact — not just in telling Green Bay's story to the rest of Wisconsin, but also bringing together local groups that are involved in celebrating and preserving local history.

"The catalyst that brought us together was Mik Derks (principal producer) and his crew," Jones said. "They got everyone to sit down and begin talking with each other. We were all passionate about our particular interest, but we weren't really talking to each other until the television program."
Out of that show came the creation of the Brown County Federation of Historical Museums, a collection of eight groups and museums that is devoted to historical preservation.

"It wasn't me, it was the project of bringing these groups together," Derks said. "We had a roomful of people with a passion for history, but who confessed they had never been in the same room together.

"But I do remember talking with Barb Miller (director of the Heritage Hill Federation) about the Oneida Indians' seven-generation philosophy and being struck that the History Keepers are part of that seven-generation philosophy. Making decisions, preserving history to benefit those who will be here in the future."

Brown County Federation of Historical Museums
• Neville Public Museum
• Heritage Hill Historical State Park
• Oneida Nation Museum
• De Pere Historical Society
• National Railroad Museum
• Brown County Historical Society
• Wrightstown Historical Society
• Green Bay Area Research Center

Information about the Brown County Federation of Historical Museums, plus schedules about events at the museums can be found at: www.bcfhm.org/en-us/default.aspx.