Column: Preserving the Past, by Pat Mulso

The Freeborn County Historical Museum’s Christmas Tour of Homes was a huge success. A special thank you goes to the museum’s program committee for all its work decorating the museum, selling tickets and working the day of the event as well as to those people who opened up their homes for the tour. The event netted almost $3,000 for the building fund. We also want to thank Addie’s Floral & Gifts, Albert Lea Convention & Visitors Bureau, Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce and the Mary-Go-Round Shoppe for selling tickets and the community for supporting our efforts.

Mark your calendar for our annual Christmas gathering, which will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 1. The museum is decorated and ready for viewing. Santa will be joining us for the afternoon and, as always, there will be coffee, cider and Christmas treats. The event is free for museum members and $1 for all other visitors.

In case you haven’t notice our old entrance is now a beautiful exhibit window facing Bridge Avenue. This exhibit will change several times per year. It is decorated for the Christmas holiday and may be viewed from the outside as well as from the inside. We will soon have Phase 2 of our expansion and renovation completed and plan to begin Phase 3 this spring, which will be the changes on the old lower level to house our paper archives.

The museum will be closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

The museum will be hosting a four-hour defensive driving class from 8:30 to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 11. The cost is $20 for AARP members and $25 for nonmembers. The cost includes the course materials and an administrative fee. You must pre-register for the class and will need your driver’s license number. To receive the lower cost you will need to provide your AARP membership number. The refresher class is needed every three years after the initial eight-hour class to continue to receive a discount on your auto insurance premium.

Yesterday the museum hosted a special program in memory of President John F. Kennedy. A special thank you to our volunteer speakers, Gary Schindler, Bob Bailey and Bob Indrelie. As I was doing some research, I found the following information to share regarding the Tecumseh’s curse. Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who died fighting on the side of British Canada against the United States in the War of 1812, placed a curse on the American presidency. He proclaimed that every president elected in a year that ends in zero would die during his term. This proved to be true until 2000. Every president elected in such a year died in office, with the exception of Ronald Reagan, who was shot but survived and is believed by some to have broken the curse.

Here are the presidents affected during that time: William Henry Harrison, elected 1840, died of pneumonia one month into his presidency; Abraham Lincoln, elected 1860, assassinated in 1865 at the beginning of his second term; James A. Garfield, elected 1880, was assassinated in 1881; William McKinley, elected for his second term in 1900, was assassinated in 1901; Warren G. Harding, elected in 1920 supposedly died of ptomaine poisoning in 1923; Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected in 1940 for his third term, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1945 at the beginning of his fourth term; John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, was assassinated in 1963; and Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980, survived an assassination attempt while in office.

 

Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum in Albert Lea.