Ephraim Historical Foundation Inc

Education and outreach programs: an important part of our mission is educational and outreach programs, all of which are designed to engage a wide variety of audience with the history and heritage of the ephraim community, and to provide a strong sense of community. We offer a wide variety of children programs, adult programs, family programs and tours. We also strive to be a cooperative member of both the ephraim and door county community; a number of our programs are done in collaboration with other area organizations.teaching trunk program: an outreach program conducted in the gibraltar schools in fish creek, wi. A trunk, containing authentic artifacts and related activities, is presented to several classes. A staff member and volunteer accompany the trunk dressed in costume representing historical figures from ephraim's past. They were able to describe what life was like for their characters. Each trunk was designed to be grade-specific and related to current curriculum. In 2013-2014, the ehf visited the 4th graders and kindergarteners a total of three times with three different trunks (trunk topics relate to the history of ephraim and door county and included: early years in ephraim; the victorian era; tourism and the cherry industry). In 2014-2015, the trunk program visited the 4th and 8th graders with three trunks (topics to include: early years in ephraim; tourism and the cherry industry; peninsula park and the ccc camp (this is a collaborative effort with the peninsula park). A special holiday trunk was taken into the kindergarten class. The ehf continued to visit the these same grades in 2021-2022.gibraltar's 3rd graders tour (started in early 1990s): we host the gibraltar school's 3rd graders for a day and give them a tour of the village and we end with an ice cream social at the ephraim moravian church. Bethany lutheran church is included in this tour as well as our historic buildings. Ehf museums: during the summer season, the ehf operates a total of five museums: the anderson barn history museum; the anderson store museum; the pioneer school; the goodletson cabin; and the historic iverson house museum. The historic iverson house can be viewed only by scheduled tour. The other museums are open during the summer and visitors are welcomed. Each museum provides a distinct illustration of ephraim's history and is furnished with artifacts from the foundation's collections: the anderson store functions as a museum store, selling local history books, penny candy, and hollyhock seeds among other wares, while also displaying many original artifacts including patent medicines, shoes, and household goods; the pioneer school is interpreted to the school days of 1939 with desks and blackboards; the one-room goodletson cabin exhibit interprets pioneer life on the frontier in 1855; and the historic iverson house is interpreted to the 1880's, with a permanent exhibit illustrating the time of anna and anders petterson, the third moravian minister and his family and with reference to pastor iverson, the builder of the house. The anderson barn stands apart from the rest of the museums as it includes annually rotating exhibits, featuring the foundation's collections and a genealogy project. Upstairs in the anderson barn our hands-on hayloft features our children's mascot, bjorn the horse. The hayloft is a place where children can engage with old-fashioned games and toys, match traditional quilt patterns, write a reproduction postcard home at the old postmaster's desk, try on old-style clothes, and play house in the homemaking area. Historic walking tour (began in early 1990s): walking tours of the village are offered once a week during the summer. Visitors take a leisurely walk around the village with a volunteer tour guide, who provides the history of the village, beginning with the founding in 1853 through modern day. Classic tram tour: tram tours of the village are offered daily when the ehf museums are open. Guests are chauffeured around the village in our electric tram and are provided a detailed history of the village by a knowledgeable volunteer driver. The ehf purchased the electric tram in 2010.history speaks: this lecture series was established in the late 1980s and continues to this day. Speakers present on a variety of topics relating to door county and wisconsin history and culture. Programs take place in the ephraim village hall on tuesdays evenings in july. This is a free event and is open to the public. Annual summer social: this is our annual fund-raising dinner, organized by volunteers. We average about 200 guests, which often features a historical theme and music. It is a wonderful way for ehf members to see friends and reminisce. All funds raised at this dinner go to support the ehf's mission of historic preservation.christmas in the village: collaboration with the ephraim business council. A day-long holiday celebration in the ephraim village hall for the public. The ehf provides old-fashioned games for the day and assists with the set-up and take-down.heritage alliance of door county: collaboration with other door county historical societies and organizations. This group was first established by the ephraim historical foundation in 1998 with the purpose was to bring together the history organizations of door county to share knowledge and experience, and explore possible collaborations; it was to be a service organization for those involved with historical preservation and presentation in door county. The heritage alliance of door county has done a number of collaborative projects and programs over the years.

Preservation and presentation of the history of ephraim: a great deal of work goes on behind the scenes in the ehf archives and in our artifact storage areas. The ehf is the steward for a large and varied collection of artifacts and archives. From the objects and documents in our collection we conduct research on the history and heritage of ephraim and this research is then used in programs, exhibits, publications, research requests from ehf members and the public, and to add to our own understanding of the community we represent.archives and collection care and documentation: the ehf has a professional curatorial staff (executive director/curator and collection manager) tasked to work with an archives committee of volunteers to ensure the proper care and documentation of the ehf's collection. The ehf is the only historical organization in door county equipped with climate-controlled (temperature and humidity) storage area and the staff needed to care for the collections. The ehf staff often serves as a resource for other historic organization and history societies in door county. The community recognizes the ehf's ability to responsibly and professionally care for artifacts and as such, the ehf receives a number of interesting and important objects and documents annually. The curator and the archive committee make decisions on which items to add to the ehf collections. As items come into the collection, they are documented; however, there remain a large number of artifacts that were donated to the ehf before the implementation of pastperfect in the early 1990s. Documenting these artifacts is ongoing work and great strides are being made. Work continues on reorganizing the ehf collections in the storage areas. In 2014, a sump pump over-flow caused our basement to flood, but effective disaster planning, including flash freezing of affected materials, saved virtually all of our archival materials from the water damage during area high water in september, 2014. In 2016, repairs and improvements were finalized and collections were returned to the archival storage areas. Also in 2016, the ehf hired a third full-time staff member to allow professional curator to focus time in the collections. The svalhus library has been an additional way for us to share our collection.exhibits and research: the ehf's museum exhibits are routinely reviewed to ensure the correct information is being communicated, and this information is being communicated in the most effective way. The anderson barn museum, with its rotating exhibits, provides the most flexibility regarding exhibits, and enables the staff the freedom to experiment with new exhibit ideas and forms. For several years, the ehf has conducted research on family genealogies and displayed the research in the barn. This exhibit has evolved into an ongoing research project that will continue into the future. Our rotating exhibits also enable the ehf to give the public and members access to the ehf's extensive collection. Publications: the ehf sells a variety of books in the anderson store museums, all of which are related to the history and heritage of ephraim and door county. A number of these books are published by the ephraim historical foundation.