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Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Guests flock to see latest exhibits at Carnegie Historical Museum
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
The number of visitors who stopped to sign the Carnegie's guest register in 2025 was 915. This included people attending class reunions, homeschoolers, attendees at our Lunch and Learn talks, and artists taking advantage of our variety of interesting objects to draw. It does not include the significant numbers of people who forget to sign the register, or who are members of the various clubs that hold their meetings on the second floor, like the 50 members the Red Flag Horseless Carriage Car Club who parked their restored cars in front of the museum while enjoying a catered meal here before touring the museum itself.
We continue to be amazed at how far some people travel to visit the Carnegie. Sierra Vista, Arizona; Destin, Florida; Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; Fort Mill, South Carolina; England; China; Canada; and the Netherlands. Many hear about us on Facebook (followers grew to over 2000 this year), and we had over 10,000 views on Instagram.
With a staff of two, director Jake Schmidt and researcher Charlotte Wright continue to rely on the help of dedicated and skilled volunteers to keep our building and its displays clean and updated, our many donated items processed, our photographs identified, and our files and storage areas organized. Throughout 2025 we were able to count on Terri Drobney, Rita Puder, Scott Lowe, Martha Flinspach, John Godwin, and Kathy Tollenaere to volunteer on a regular basis. In addition, several of the members of our Museum Board of Directors help us with repair and restoration work, computer problems, finances, and general problem-solving!
We were thrilled to have 4 employees from Aeron volunteer for several hours. From July 1 to the end of December, we have been able to contract with Iowa State student Alisha Brinkschroeder to help us with transcriptions, newspaper research, and inventory, and in December she brought her twin sister Tisha with her to volunteer for cleaning, reorganizing files, doing online research, and creating a display. The total of volunteer hours for the year was 584. If you are interested in history and would like to explore the possibility of volunteering at the Carnegie, contact Jake or Charlotte to fill out an application.
Our Herring Gallery on the ground floor, which contains historical items from Fairfield and the smaller towns in Jefferson County, continues to be popular with people whose roots run deep here. Visitors love seeing historical objects and documents about churches, schools, philanthropic and social organizations, cemeteries, industries, and businesses. As donations of local history items continue to pour in, we often add new objects to the display cases. The most exciting object we received in 2025 was the original movie projector for the Co-ed Theater, which is now the first thing you see when you walk into the gallery.
During Fairfield's popular "Art Walk," our interviews with Jefferson County's Century Farm, Heritage Farm, and Golden Anniversary Farm families will continue in 2026, but we will also be featuring, every other month, a Jefferson County industry. Each featured family or business is invited to speak at the museum at 6:00 PM on the first Friday of every month except January, February, and March. These free programs are videotaped by Fairfield Media Center and afterward are posted to YouTube. To find programs from the past two years, search YouTube for Carnegie Historical Museum Heritage Farm Series. The first program in 2026 will be in April. If you want to talk to someone about including your family farm or business, talk to Jake.
Thanks to funds raised by the Carnegie Museum Foundation Board, new wooden blinds were installed in 2025 that are replicas of the original blinds in the building. The Foundation Board has begun a fundraising campaign in support of the restoration of a mansard roof that will look like the one on the original building and will also increase the museum's storage space.
During 2025, in addition to the monthly Century Farm exhibits, other display cases featured the history of 4-H in Jefferson County, the 8 rare 1860s Constitution and Union newspapers that were found in the museum's attic, and an exhibit featuring Nelson Company, Inc. Planning took place for the year-long exhibit in our large balcony case, in which objects collected during the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations will be featured for all of 2026. This exhibit will not only remind Jefferson County citizens of what happened here 50 years ago, but will also be a catalyst to spark renewed interest in the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In addition to doing research, giving tours, accepting donations, and accessioning, cleaning, and repairing items, Jake and Charlotte have been working behind the scenes to make sure the museum's procedures and official forms are up to the standards suggested by the Iowa Museum Association. In December of 2025, they completed their second year of training in the IMA's program.
The monthly Lunch and Learn presentations, held at noon on the 4th Friday of each month, are arranged by volunteer Kathy Tollenaere. Held in a meeting room on the 2nd floor, these programs are free to museum volunteers and members of the Friends of the Museum group, but members of the public can attend for a $5 fee. Topics covered by speakers in 2025 included John Loin's discussion of his involvement in Fairfield's Habitat for Humanity program, Scott Brown's presentation of the history of Behner's funeral home, and Pete Tollenaere's discussion of his involvement in building the suspension bridge over the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa.
For information about joining Friends of the Museum or about any of our programs or displays, about holding a reunion or meeting at the museum, or about donations of objects, please call the museum at 641-472-6343 or stop by and talk to Jake. For information about monetary donations to help fund our building restoration work, contact our Foundation Board (P.O. Box 502, Fairfield, Iowa 52556).
Our hours are 11:00-4:00 Tuesday through Friday. On the first Friday of each month except January, February, and March, we stay open until 9:00 PM. We are closed Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, although special tours can be arranged by calling the museum number.
