A Young Museum in the Press (Revisited)

 As we enter the year 2023, the Cable Natural History Museum turns 56 years old. We are embracing a new year, new director, and new projects, but that doesn't mean we forget the past. To that end, let's look back on an article originally published last year.

The Museum was first making the papers as a new attraction and educational destination over 55 years ago. What a thought! For this organization to have not only survived, but thrived, in our small community that long is a momentous achievement. 

Reading back through saved newspaper clippings, full of expressive words used to market this special place, I'm able to gain a sense of what we meant to the broader public at the time - years before my own lifetime and before many of our current members' collective memories. 

From the Milwaukee Journal, Lois Nestel pictured in her early 60's. 

Note: If you're wondering, "Forest Lodge" ties in with the Museum's benefactor and one of many powerful women in our history, Mary Griggs Burke. She resided at the Forest Lodge Estate, which is situated on the south shore of Lake Namakagon and still visited by program participants year-round. Plenty more can be found on Burke and the Estate outside of this article, including the following website: northland.edu/centers/soei/forest-lodge/.

Mary Griggs Burke leased to the Museum a property along Garmisch Road,
featuring a diverse landscape for the purpose of developing a trail.

The budding museum's first director, curator, and naturalist were all wrapped into one indelible woman named Lois Nestel - a woman who the current staff naturalists have written about often despite having only met her through her written words and preserved creations.

A young Lois Nestel, the Museum's founding director.

As an important figure at the Museum, Lois began her career simply - actively immersing herself in the local environment. She took various notes on the phenology of Cable and later wrote newspaper columns describing her excursions outdoors. She also eventually acquired a certificate in taxidermy, preserving a number of local birds for public display. Lois's knowledge of the area was trusted then and still is today - her "Wayside Bounty" accounts of edible local plants have inspired me to try new recipes using the unplanned plants in my garden; her illustrated calendars of seasonal happenings are compared to the notes of a friend who regularly volunteers in the collection. 

With all my investigations into our archives and first-hand accounts, it appears that Lois was not just an important figure at the Museum - in some respects she was the Museum. Lois was almost always pictured in photographs of the Museum published int he 1970's and '80's. Often alongside her were the specimens that she created herself - taxidermy birds, plaster casts of fish, and even a selection of nature paintings. Many of these creations are still held in the Museum and on display for our current visitors. While a forward-thinking Museum, we have a resounding appreciation for our past. 

Nestel works alongside her won taxidermy creations, which span from songbirds to eagles.

In the early days, we were filled with potential. After settling into a new building in a permanent location in 1971, the Museum quickly began exploring the exhibit design process, collaborative opportunities with local schools and organizations, and the development of new nature trails which helped to connect visitors with the Northwoods. We have maintained and expanded upon all of those efforts to this day - and still have potential as we look to the next 50 years to come!

In the above photo published by the Washburn Times in 1971, a variety of 
Lois's pieces can be seen on display for a "steady stream of visitors." Much of her 
work is still a part of the Museum's collection, and some of her mushroom paintings
have been on display in our classroom this past year.