County resident O.D. Sell founded the Carver County Historical Society (CCHS) in 1940. The original task was to collect and preserve the history of Carver County and Minnesota. He had a large personal collection of objects relating to the county’s history that he wanted to share with the public. This forms the core of the CCHS’ collection.
In the beginning, the CCHS had no permanent home. For the first few years, the collection was stored in attics and barns. Sell, a Mayer resident, was then allowed to use space in the city’s school building. A few years later, in the mid-1940s, the CCHS moved to Waconia. The collection was again stored in different buildings. It was made up of mainly pioneer and American Indian objects, as the focus was on collecting historic objects at this time. The Society was not yet collecting contemporary pieces, though donations were beginning to be accepted.
Sell was the first president of the organization, serving through its first twenty years. He created a strong working relationship between the CCHS and the county government. Carver County has helped fund the Society for many years. In 1960, the CCHS and the county worked together to raise money to build a permanent home for the CCHS. That same year, the CCHS lost long-time director O.D. Sell. He died shortly before the new building opened. From Sell’s death in 1960 through the mid-1980s, there was no professional staff. Volunteers ran the CCHS, performing all the jobs of the organization. This included putting together exhibits, allowing public visitation, and helping guests with research in the archives and collections.
Over time, the CCHS building grew too small for the growing number of school groups who came to visit. The collection was outgrowing its storage space as well. After years of planning and fund raising efforts, construction began on an addition in 1996. The newly renovated building opened on January 1, 1997. The new section included staff offices, a research library, a boardroom and three new gallery spaces. This freed up other space for an education classroom and the growing collection. The CCHS also owns a house to store the bigger collection pieces, and a historic log granary on the county fairgrounds.
The CCHS is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. Its mission is to collect, preserve and interpret the history of Carver County. The organization and its staff spend their time on keeping a working collection of county related artifacts and records of past events. Carver County history is taught to the public through exhibits and programming. The CCHS also helps support the exhibits and work of four affiliate organizations in the county. These are the Chaska Historical Society, the Chanhassen Historical Society, the Wilkommen Heritage and Preservation Society of Norwood Young America, and the Watertown Area Historical Society.
The goal of and vision for the CCHS is to be the leading organization for Carver County history and preservation. These goals are achieved daily through grant funded projects and library research. Exhibits in the museum and partner organizations share history with the public. Programming is offered for schools, senior and adult groups, and families. A few of the exhibit, research, and collection pieces of significance include the library of the Deutscher Leseverein Bibliothek, the archives of Benton Township, the Andrew Peterson collection, copies of every county newspaper, the Choosing Carver County gallery on the counties immigrants and early settlers and the Extraordinary Sacrifices military gallery. In the twenty-first century, the CCHS has finished indexing all county newspapers into a searchable online database. The CCHS has moved the 13,000+ photograph collection into better storage, and scanned all photographs for ease of access through computers.
Turning Point: The Carver County Historical Society, founded in 1940 to collect and preserve the history of Carver County, received funding for a permanent home in 1960, allowing the Society to greatly expand it exhibit, research and program offerings to the public..
Chronology:
- 1940: The Carver County Historical Society is founded by O.D. Sell of Mayer. He becomes the first president of the organization.
- 1944-1945: The CCHS moves from Mayer to nearby Waconia.
- 1960: Carver County builds a structure for the CCHS in Waconia.
- 1960: O.D. Sell passes away.
- 1960: The CCHS is run by a volunteer staff, and will be for the next two decades.
- 1980s: The first paid staff is hired at the CCHS.
- 1996: Construction begins on an expansion of the CCHS building.
- January 1, 1997: The newly expanded CCHS opens to the public.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carver County Historical Society. “2009-2019 Strategic Plan”. Strategic Plan. Carver County Historical Society, 2009.
“Carver County Museum Moved to Waconia”. Carver County News, July 13, 1944.
“County Historical Society in Process of Moving Into New Building”. Waconia Patriot, June 8, 1961.
“County Historical Society President Dies at 84”. Norwood Times, March 10, 1960.
“Historical Society Building Contract is Awarded”. Waconia Patriot, September 1, 1960.
RELATED RESOURCES
Primary:
“31-Ton Tank Arrives for Historical Society”. Waconia Patriot, December 14, 1961.
Anderson, Keith. “Of Historical Importance”. Waconia Patriot, November 21, 1996.
Brown, Leanne. “Collecting, Preserving and Interpreting History”. Chaska Herald, December 9, 2004.
“Care is Urged”. Weekly Valley Herald, January 22, 1942.
“Carver County Historical Society Guards Many Treasures of Area”. Carver County News, August 18, 1949.
“Carver County Historical Society Home”. Young America Eagle, May 31, 1940.
Johnson, Dr. Hildegard Binder. “Dr. Hildeg Johnson, Historian, Librarian Praises Co. Museum”. Waconia Patriot, December 3, 1942.
Sell, O.D. “What a Historical Society Means to Carver County”. Waconia Patriot, November 14, 1940.
“State Grant to Fund Introduction of County History Into Schools”. Norwood Times, July 27, 1978.
Transcending Time: Carver County Historical Society. Quarterly Newsletters, Carver County Historical Society, Waconia.
“Waconia Designated as Logical Place. . .Historical and Veteran’s Building to be Erected”. Weekly Valley Herald, May 22, 1947.
White, Elizabeth. “County Historical Society Celebrates 50 Years”. Chanhassen Villager, April 19, 1990.
Secondary:
Carver County: Today and Yesterday. Compiled by the Carver County Statehood Centennial Committee, 1958.
Holcombe, Maj. R.I., ed. Compendium of History and Biography of Carver and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota. Henry Taylor and Company: Chicago, 1915.
“Local Societies at Work: Carver County Historical Society”. Minnesota History, 23 No. 3 (September 1942): 253-303. http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/23/v23i03p253-303.pdf
“Local Societies at Work: Carver County Historical Society”. Minnesota History, 25 No. 4 (December 1944): 368-412. http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/25/v25i04p368-412.pdf
“Local Societies at Work: Carver County Historical Society”. Minnesota History, 28 No. 3 (September 1947): 269-308. http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/28/v28i03p269-308.pdf
“Local Societies at Work: Carver County Historical Society”. Minnesota History, 30 No. 1 (March 1949): 50-95. http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/30/v30i01p050-095.pdf
Lofstrom, Ted and Lynne VanBrocklin Spaeth. Carver County: A Guide to Its Historic and Prehistoric Places. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1978.
Tremblay, Ruth and Lois Schulstad. Images of America: Carver County. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, South Carolina, 2011.
Warner, George E. and Charles M. Foote. History of the Minnesota Valley: Carver County. Reprint. Carver County Historical Society, 1986. Originally published in George E. Warner and Charles M. Foote, History of the Minnesota Valley, Minneapolis: North Star Publishing Company, 1882.
Images/Audio/Video
AV-81-6268 Photographic print “O.D. Sell” [Description]: Carver County Historical Society exhibit 1942 at the Carver County Fair. Waconia, Minnesota. Rights held by the CCHS.
Watercolor image.“Museum_Watercolor” [Description]: a watercolor image image of the front of the Carver County Historical Society building. 2008. Rights held by the CCHS.
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