About
Preserving our stories for future generations.
Arnold Museum
OUR PURPOSE
Imagine the history of Arnold brought to life in story form to be enjoyed by many on our Historic Walnut Street. Imagine an online museum modeled after exemplary national museums but for the specific purpose of portraying the historical story of our rural area. Imagine being able to have Arnold historical scholars, alumni, students, and others contribute important historical information about the Arnold area from their homes and libraries across the country. Imagine a student in 2035 working on a high school research project and discovering a recording of their great-grandfather at the Arnold Area Historical Museum. An abundant amount of history is harbored by the elders and neighbors of our area, and before these living witnesses of local history are gone, we would like to preserve their stories.
What we are imagining, a long-standing vision of many, is coming together but requires monetary help. Our goal is to create an Arnold Area Historical Museum that entails both a building site and an interactive website. Our vision is to preserve, collect, cultivate, and narrate the stories of our Arnold area. We hope for these vignettes to provide not only something to see, but more to read, to listen to, and to interact with as the future generations, family members, and those interested in our story research and learn about our area. Two separate driving forces are working together to propel this museum project forward. Although the website funding is being sought through other grant opportunities, it is necessary to include its information to accurately illustrate the full scope of our museum.
Board Members
Renee Bubak, President
Jason Jenkins, Vice President
Rick Peterson, Treasurer
Nicole Badgley, Secretary
Carlene Lanham
Berni Crow
Karen Horst
Jason Jenkins, Vice President
Rick Peterson, Treasurer
Nicole Badgley, Secretary
Carlene Lanham
Berni Crow
Karen Horst
Committee Members
Barb Peterson
• Becky Dailey
• Jason Wehnes, Web Site Committee
• Mo Sanford
• Karen Hough
• David Leach, Cornerstone Curiosities
• Carolyn Watkins, member, Fundraising Contact
• Melva Phillips, member
• Justin Strasburg, building committee
• Holly Tullis, member
• Kim Beshaler, member
• Donna Corbin, member
How it all started...
Headline 1
During the spring semester of 2022, the ninth-grade students from Arnold Public Schools worked with their history and English teachers to research homesteads. The teachers’ initial inspiration was to create an online museum using these materials to create homesteading exhibits to put on our school website.
Headline 3
Naturally, when the 2022 Arnold Community Foundation springtime community vision gathering also identified the idea of preserving our area’s history as a valuable and important asset, we knew these bright ideas by the school and community would have the greatest impact if combined.
Headline 2
Most of the students investigated their own families, but some branched out to well-known families in the area. With the primary documents that students found, they created timelines of ownership, collected photographic evidence, wrote a narrative, and learned a lot about their families and neighbors.
Headline 4
Joining the school's historical research project efforts with the committee’s plans will result in a more thorough approach to the idea of a museum and will have much greater far-reaching enrichment and significance both for the people in the Arnold area and for anyone who has ties to Arnold.