Executive Director’s Report

from Sauk County Historical Society Newsletters 2021 - 2022

Baraboo Depot Update

WELL, 2020 is now officially “hindsight,” and I imagine most of us are glad that it is over. It has been a truly historic year in many ways. Mixed in with all of the not so good news, there have been some bright spots. One was early last year when the Society was notified that it had been chosen as the winner of the 2020 Reuben Gold Thwaites Award for excellence in local history. Although the traveling trophy could not be awarded at a public ceremony, it was delivered personally by Christian Overland, Director and CEO of the Wisconsin Historical Society. SCHS has a long relationship with the state historical society as one of its earliest affiliates. In fact, 2020 marked the 115th year of operation for the Sauk County Historical Society. In October the Society was able to help Sauk County celebrate its second Indigenous Peoples Day with the installation and dedication of two interpretive panels and a commemorative bench along the Baraboo Riverwalk. The panels commemorate the effigy mounds and Ho-Chunk village that once existed in the area. Another bright spot in 2020 was the completion of master plans with Sauk County for Man Mound and Yellow Thunder Memorials. These plans will guide and define work at these incredibly important sites for years to come. Acquisition of the historic Baraboo depot was another bright spot. This unique building is one of only a handful of railroad buildings across the state designed as a depot and division office building. When it was completed in 1902 it was a focal point of pride for the city and county. When it is restored and renovated for new uses it will be such a focal point once again as a community gathering site and a place to share more of the incredible history of Sauk County. I would like to thank all of the members and supporters who have helped sustain SCHS through this remarkable year. Your unflagging support helped keep us going and kept these bright spots happening. There are more to come.

Monetary Donations

November-December, 2020

Fred & Patty Burger

Beverly Cabbage

James Carpenter

Gail Phillips

Beverly Simonds

Book Review by Robert I. Girardi, Author of The Civil War Generals and The New Annals of the Civil War

THOUSANDS of books about the American Civil War have been written. Campaign studies, battle narratives, regimental histories and memoirs and biographies fill countless shelves. Yet, there are few topics that are new or that deal with familiar studies in a uniquely compelling way. Desotell’s The Captured, the Sick and the Dead challenges this view. Desotell has taken a small corner of the conflict and put it under the microscope and woven into the much larger tapestry of the Civil War to provide a panoramic approach to the story

Desotell tells the story of a small group of men who joined three Confederate regiments mainly from Tennessee and Alabama who were captured at Island No. 10 in April 1862. The author also writes about their interaction with soldiers from the 19th Wisconsin who guarded them once they arrived at Camp Randall as prisoners. His attention to detail in all aspects of the story are strengths of his book.

To purchase, contact the publisher at sandbeachpress.com