GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Brown County’s Neville Public Museum is celebrating the county’s 200th anniversary with an exhibit of history from every decade.
It will include an artifact which has not been displayed publicly in many years.
They’ve decided to bring out a piece of history that’s been tucked away in their storage for 84 years. It’s a 157-year-old flag.
“After Abraham Lincoln made his big speech, basically calling for people to join the Union army, the people of Green Bay got together at Fort Howard and had a little celebration,” said Lisa Kain the Museum’s curator.
“This flag was made especially for that celebration.”
Stories, paintings, and photos of Fort Howard have been shared for more than a century.
Left behind is this 157-year-old artifact.
Kain tells FOX 11 the flag has a rare star pattern found during the civil war era.
“It has 34 stars for each of the states at the time.”
The flagpole where it hung was once a prominent part of Fort Howard’s landscape — located right across from where the Neville Museum now stands.
“Part of its history is what happened to it after it came down and how we stored it,” said Kain.
Many pieces of the fabric are shredding from natural wear.
Kain says they chose to conserve the flag and keep all of the imperfections.
“We wanted to tell the story of the flag without altering it.”
Tulle was applied to both sides of the flag by textile restoration business in Chicago. It is intended to keep it from any more wear.
An original case — as big as a room in the museum — is being made to display the flag.
Kain says history will speak for itself.
“You’ll see areas of loss in the red and that’s because of the dyes. Certain dyes fade faster.”
The goal is to keep the flag in the same condition for future generations.
Starting May 29 it the Brown County 200 anniversary exhibit will be on display.
