Staff photo by Fritz Busch Brown County Historical Society Collections Curator/Archivist Marilyn Hesse recently retired after nearly 40 years service. She is standing near one of her favorite museum exhibits, the Menzel Village.

NEW ULM — Recently retired for the second time, Brown County Historical Society (BCHS) Collections Curator/Archivist Marilyn Hesse fondly recalled some of her favorite museum exhibits after working there for nearly 40 years.

Hesse retired Dec. 4 for the second time. She retired from full-time work 13 years ago, then returned to the museum to work part-time.

She began working at museum reception office in 1984 but later moved to museum collections in the basement of the former New Ulm Public Library, where the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame is now located.

The museum later moved to the former New Ulm Post Office building at Center and Broadway.

“I would go to the museum basement and check to make sure we had items on our records list,” Hesse said.

Over the years, more than 10,000 items have been donated by county residents and individuals who live elsewhere, but have Brown County family connections.

Three-dimensional donations include pipes, paintings, furniture, clothing, grindstones, carpentry tools, brewing kettles, hair artwork and uniforms.

As museum office manager in charge of registering the museum collection, Hesse would view donations to decide if the the BCHS would add the price to its collection. She considered a donation’s condition, whether is was pertinent to Brown County history; whether the museum had a similar piece; and the item’s size.

She decided whether to accept the piece temporarily or permanently. If she had concerns whether the item would be an asset to the BCHS collection or if particular conditions would be needed for its care and storage, she would take it temporarily until the BCHS Collection Committee reviewed it. Her museum duties included emptying 10 museum dehumidifiers daily.

Due to lack of storage and exhibit space, the BCHS can’t accept everything offered. Large pieces such as a teller window, desk, hat rack, oxen hokes and other items were held in storage, until it was decided if they would appear.

Despite space limits, the BCHS always seeks new donations. Items the BCHS would particularly like to acquire include toys, uniforms from the Gulf, Korean and Vietnam wars, local business items, children’s clothing, from toddler age up.

After Cathedral Holy Trinity High School graduation, Hesse worked for 20 years at Hesse-Abraham freight depot, later Abraham Transfer on Valley Street South before working at the museum. Her uncle Henry Kaping was an antique dealer with a store on Minnesota Street South.

She’s visited Washington, D.C. several times and attended the U.S. Girl Scout Roundup in Colorado Springs.

Among her favorite Brown County Historical Society Museum exhibits are a Russian exhibit she helped build that included three cardboard horses pulling a wagon with embroidered designs.

Hesse’s museum duties included examining items such as flapper dresses (often used on 1920s runways) that were donated to the museum.

A Girl Scout exhibit was another one of her favorites that was placed on the museum first and second floor in 1985. Hesse was a Girl Scout for 11 year and the local Girl Scout leader for 32 years.

Some of her other favorite museum tasks were creating doll and Christmas tree exhibits.

“I really like setting up the Menzel Village exhibit. It’s a lot of intricate work. It’s different every year too. I also really liked creating World War I and II exhibits,” she said.