A Message from the Director

There is lots of excitement at the DPM as we begin a new year. We will be installing a major new exhibit, making arrangements to administer the long-running Granary High School Exhibition for the first time, hosting nearly 350 elementary students for the “World of Wood” artists/apprentice workshops, and studying the possibility of expanding the DPM’s facility with a much-needed addition, all of which we will be telling you about in the upcoming months. None of these activities would be possible without the continued support of those dedicated volunteers who serve on the DPM Board and the DPM Foundation Board. They oversee our work and support our efforts. A special thank you to those whose terms on these boards ended in December: Evelyn Blum, Hank Lussem, Mike Sandsmark, Gene Aisenbrey and Julie Pfeifer. Their contributions of time and talent have been invaluable to the progress of the institution. As is quite often the case, the board members who had the vision and developed the plan will not be the ones to carry out the plan or witness the vision become reality. Our tribute to these retiring board members will be a continued commitment to their vision of an ever improving Dacotah Prairie Museum, which includes completing the special projects mentioned above.

Gallery Closes for Renovation

The gallery currently featuring “Happy 125th Birthday, Aberdeen” will close January 14 so work can begin on a new exhibit to highlight traditional Native American housing. This display, one of the special projects mentioned in the Director’s Message, will include three structures common to the tribes of this region, a tipi, an earthen lodge (both full size) and a scale model bark dwelling. For the past year, staff and volunteers have been doing the research necessary to ensure every aspect of the exhibit will be constructed and interpreted correctly. Volunteers have also been busy weaving grass to form the walls of the earth lodge. In the next months, the structures will be installed in the gallery in preparation for the exhibit’s opening planned for the summer of 2008.  We appreciate your patience throughout this process. The end result will be worth the inconvenience!

Newsworthy Events of Past Januarys in Aberdeen

• 1881 The official plat of the Aberdeen townsite was filed on January 3.
• 1911 The Milwaukee Depot was destroyed by fire on January 11.
• 1927 The new Capitol Theater opened on January 13. The first showing was not a movie but a play based on The Green Hat, a novel by Michael Arlen. On January 14, the Capitol showed its first movie, Kid Boots, a silent film starring Eddy Cantor and Clara Bow.
• 1935 Aberdeen’s first radio station, KABN, began broadcasting from its studio on the sixth floor of the Ward Hotel at 6:30am on January 21.
• 1938 The U.S. Post Office and Federal Building on 4th Avenue opened on January 16.
• 1961 The Central Building on the campus of Northern State Teacher’s College was destroyed by fire on January 31. The initial damage estimate was $1.5 million.

Tune in to “This Day in History” each weekday at 7:51am on 97.7 FM to hear national, state, and area happenings of the day prepared by the DPM.

“Artful Lunch” nets $1700 for Gallery Lighting

The Yellow Brick Road Questers sponsored an Artful Lunch to benefit the DPM on October 27. In addition, a Santa created by Pat Faeth was raffled for the cause. These efforts netted $1700, which will be used to help purchase new track lighting for the DPM’s Lamont Gallery, its art gallery. Quester member Alyce Berggren recently presented the proceeds check to museum director, Sue Gates. Thanks to the work of this group, the lights can be installed during 2008.