Museum struggles to survive

A small group of board members and volunteers are working to preserve a collection of photographs and eclectic artifacts at the Wahkiakum County Historical Society Museum in Cathlamet.

The museum’s board of directors has spent reserves to keep the doors open, but only $1,100 remains, said Board President Judy Brawn, who estimates the annual budget to be over $3,600.

Despite its serious financial challenge, the board is enthusiastic about the collection.Exhibits focus on local industry, including fishing and farming equipment, a logger’s bunkhouse from the 1870’s, dairying and items from a local physician’s examining room.

Outside the museum, the Totem, a fish-buying boat stands as a memorial to the area’s commercial fishing heritage.

The historical society was formed in 1958 by Robert Hughes, Robert Goodfellow and Ivan and Mildred Jones when the building on River Street was completed, museum curator Kari Kandoll said. Since then the collection has grown to include approximately 5,000 images, only half of which are catalogued and properly preserved. Kandoll said she donates approximately $800 per year to that effort.

Since Wahkiakum County stopped funding the museum three years ago, the board has laid off a longtime employee and sold memorial bricks to raise funds, Brawn said.

At present the historical society has 200 members, but over half are lifetime members who do not pay annual dues. After visitors dwindled this fall, the museum closed for the winter to reduce heating costs.

Expenses run between $300-500 per month, primarily for utilities and insurance, Brawn said, but income is approximately $300.

A budget of $500 a month would “stop the drain,” curator Kari Kandoll said, but it wouldn’t provide a cushion or allow improvements.

Artifacts include delicate Victorian wreathes of human hair, a 19th century photograph album which is also a music box, a Philco television and a ceramic television lamp with a Chinese coolie seated under an upturned green glass shade.

Photographs of funeral boats leaving Puget Island for Westport burials and regattas bringing crowds to the docks in both Skamokawa and Cathlamet represent the county’s early days when life and death centered on the Columbia River.

Since 2005, Kandoll has collected over 35 volumes of genealogical material on local families. Kandoll focused on genealogy after a fall left her with a broken leg and memory problems. “I wanted to train myself to remember,” she said.

Kandoll said board member Franz Eykel plans to create a net house exhibit using wood salvaged from the Warren Cannery that Chris Doumit is donating. Roberta Trotter, a member at large from the West side of the county, is working to create a display of a Chinook pictograph of She Who Watches to be exhibited in the spring.

Board Secretary Evelyn Huerd has transcribed county records including homestead, cemetery and census records. Ralph Keyser is Vice-President and Julie Fritsch is treasurer.

The historical society is soliciting members and volunteers and welcomes donations.

Costs for the memorial bricks vary from $40 to $100; they are made by Lower Columbia Monument in Kelso, which ensures speedy delivery, Brawn said. People are putting pets’ names on bricks and are welcome to add them to a garden at home, she said.

Kandoll expects the genealogical work she does online at (www.wagenweb.org/wahkiakum)to raise funds.

For further information contact: Judy Brawn at 360-849-4452 or Kari Kandoll at 360-849-4353.