Tom Bielenberg, Woodbury Heritage director and curator of the artifacts. Bielenberg is the son of Woodbury’s first mayor, Orville Bielenberg, and is a Woodbury Heritage Society Board director. Photos: Woodbury Heritage Society
Take care when cleaning out your loved ones home—some artifacts may be vital to your community’s heritage.
Our lives are stories ever unfolding. Each year brings memories and memorabilia—high school yearbooks and graduation caps, love letters and family photographs. Inevitably, many of us will have the experience of sorting through our own belongings or clearing the homes of our loved ones. So there comes the question: What items are worth saving?
We connected with Woodbury Heritage Society (WHS) board director Margaret Wachholz and Washington County Historical Society (WCHS) executive director Brent Peterson to learn more about what donations the organizations may accept to include in their collections and what items they already have.
What to Keep an Eye Out For:
As you return to beloved family photographs, consider the context of the image. Often, what’s happening behind your loved ones is the most important to archive—like a shop in transition or a town parade. And this need not apply only to black-and-white images, recent photos are also appreciated.
“[WCHS is] not always looking for things from 100 years ago. We’re looking for things that have made history today,” Peterson says.
In the 43 years of WHS history, photographs have been collected from a variety of sources. Although photographs are not currently being collected by WHS, over 3,500 photos exist in its collection. Volunteers and members are working to categorize and scan all photos, so they can be visible to the public.
The WHS posts a bit of history every morning on its Facebook page (Woodbury Heritage Society), Wachholz says, which usually includes historical photos.
Letters and documents, including club minutes, contracts, deeds, diaries, family records, letters and maps offer context and legitimacy to a moment in time. While they’re some of the most time-consuming items to sift through, they often hold the most historical value.
WHS collects authentic documents from Woodbury’s rich history. These documents are some of Wachholz’s favorite items that WHS collects, including the Justice Dockets from 1867—still in excellent condition.
“The first settler, William Middleton, who hails from Ireland, my own country, was also a justice of the peace official,” Wachholz says. “They’re beautiful hand-written notes done in beautiful penmanship by William Middleton.”
WHS and WCHS both have a large collection of textiles and miscellaneous artifacts, ranging from something as historical as a military uniform to common household items like a coffee grinder. WCHS even recently obtained a Minnesota House of Representatives chair.
WHS has around 300 medium to mini-sized objects from the past, including farming materials, wagons, cribs and kids toys. These objects are displayed at the Woodbury Heritage House and serve as educational tools for visitors.
“Students and children come and touch for ongoing learning every other Sunday at the open houses, so that they can really witness what children of every age did 100 years ago when the settlers came and what games they played,” Wachholz says.
Interested in donating to the WCHS collections? The best way to inquire about an artifact is to send an email with a photo and description of the item along with the local connection. Staff and committees at respective organizations will decide whether to accept the artifact. (Note: WHS is not currently accepting donations.)
“I always say that families should take what they want first because family artifacts belong in the family. But if they don’t want them—and they want to know where they are—then the historical society is the next best step,” Peterson says.
Woodbury Heritage Society
2301 Tower Drive
heritagesocietywoodbury@gmail.com
Facebook: Woodbury Heritage Society
Washington County Historical Society
1862 Greeley St. S., Stillwater; 651.439.2298
Facebook: Washington County Historical Society
Instagram: @wchsmn
