Heritage Hall Museum and Archives
+1 605-925-7545

On this date 120 years ago, Dec. 10, 1900, South Dakota Mennonite College was formally organized. Four days later, the charter of incorporation was granted. Construction of the school building was completed in 1903 and classes began in October. That building, commonly known today as Music Hall, continues in use on the campus of Freeman Academy, which continues the mission of faith-based education. The roots of what would become Heritage Hall Museum & Archives emerged at the s...chool in 1911 with a collection of rocks and fossils. Over the years that collection expanded with addition of artifacts and grew into a museum. Today, Heritage Hall Museum & Archives is located on a sprawling complex located south of the campus and operates independently. But we value our roots and historic relationship with the school which became Freeman Junior College and Academy and the positive impact it has had on this community. To learn more about the museum, visit https://heritagehallmuseum.com/ See more

Here's a shoutout to Nathan Schrag. Two weeks ago today, he helped us record a stimulating conversation between S. Roy Kaufman and Marnette (Ortman) Hofer at Heritage Hall Museum & Archives. They visited about Kaufman's new book, The Drama of a Rural Community's Life Cycle. "We wanted to get an inside peek at his motivations and to learn a bit more about why he put it together," said Hofer, executive director and archivist of the museum. The half-hour interview is available on the museum website https://heritagehallmuseum.com/news-%26-events as well as the the museum's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXXVFQqA3uM&feature=youtu.be The book is available for sale at the museum, open weekday afternoons until 4. You also order it by calling 605-925-7545.

We appreciate the history that the Freeman Courier shares every week, items from the archives of the Freeman Courier and Hutchinson Herald. It's always a fun read and we look forward to what we'll learn. Last week included an item from 1940 about the new license plates coming in 1941 and the Courier used our license plate display to illustrate the history. We love the partnership.

Looking for unique holiday gifts? Check out the Heritage Hall Museum & Archives Mercantile. Not only do you give something special to someone you love, you also support local artisans and the museum. Stop in or take a look online for samples of what you’ll find: https://heritagehallmuseum.com/museum-mercantile. We're open weekday afternoons noon to 4. You can also call 605-925-7545; we ship.

More from Rod Ratzlaff regarding the Low German Mennonites in Volhynia...

We were so happy to host Rod Ratzlaff here last fall (pre-Covid!!) to share his research about Tobias Unruh and the Low German Mennonites of Volhynia. We have Unruh's original baptismal record book and you can access Rod's scans of this book online!

More than 25 years ago, South Dakota State University and the Freeman Courier partnered in a project called "A Day in the Life of Freeman." Last spring, a new g...eneration of photographers from SDSU and Freeman Public remade the project. Tonight, Monday, Sept. 7, a documentary reflecting on both projects airs on South Dakota Public Broadcasting at 9:30 p.m. CST. It will air again on Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. For those who don't have access to SDPB, we will post a link to the broadcast when it is available.

Wouldn't it be great to take a peek at your home community back when you were in high school? Or the year you were born? Or back when your folks were teenagers? That happened in Freeman, once in 1994 and again 25 years later. We'll get a glimpse of the "Day in the Life" project thanks to a documentary airing on PBS this month. Here's the trailer... be sure to tune in! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wyFHgaw0vs&feature=youtu.be

Love this time of the year for all the great produce one can find. It seems like people are increasingly interested in heirloom varieties and in this area, no one has worked harder to preserve heirloom seeds than Dan Flyger. We appreciate his efforts and willingness to share his research and his stories!

75 years ago today, on September 2, 1945, World War II came to an end. Here is one woman's powerful story of forgiveness. https://www.bbc.co.uk//the-holocaust-twin-who-fo/p0837wjy

And it is finished! As of today, we have filed our grant paperwork with the South Dakota State Historical Society for the Deadwood Grant we received toward expenses relating to ensuring our 1879 Deckert House has a firm foundation for the NEXT 140 years. We are so thankful for their support and to the many of YOU who have donated funds toward this project! Thanks also to Koerner Construction, Valley Electric, Thein Moving, and all the others who have worked on this project ...over the past several years. Total costs are coming in right at $75,000 for what we've done thus far. In order to proceed with repair and paint, sidewalks, landscaping, new displays and all the rest, we will need to seek additional donations. So stay tuned.....!

8/31/2020: At home with a new view. Ready for step two -- repair, paint, landscaping and access, displays, etc.!

Know the answer? There is a display all about him here at our museum. He married Elizabeth Viola Hofer who grew up just north of Freeman!

After two years of delay due to wet conditions, we are finally moving our 1879 Ludwig Deckert home to higher ground on the east side of the museum complex, as the first building of a future farmstead.

Monday's Mysteries! Every day is a new adventure here and we come across all sorts of interesting things. We have 3 items we'd like help with -- the two artifacts were in a trunk that belonged to someone who did a lot of worldwide traveling in the early 1900s and was very involved in music, and the photo is from a trophy-winning 1929-30 basketball team, possibly from Freeman Academy (but there was no school annual published that year, so we cannot confirm). Any information anyone could share about any of these would be greatly appreciated!