Raleigh County Historical Museum reports stable visitation, plans major deaccession and notes staff retirement

Catherine Huntsler, director of the Raleigh County Historical Museum, presented the museum’s October report on Nov. 17, reporting visitation near seasonal average, strong volunteer support (about 234 total volunteer hours in October) and programming updates that included walking tours, a cemetery preservation workshop and a collaborative "Drinks and Thinks" presentation on true crime in Riley County.

Huntsler said staff have been extensively working at the Wolf Studio, a Historical Society property that has served as long-term storage since 1983, and that cleaning and processing decades of material is revealing accession items as well as non-collection material that will be transferred to off-site storage or donated to other museums. She said the Historical Society board approved a large-scale deaccession that will involve "over 1,000 items" once paperwork is complete.

Huntsler also announced the resignation and retirement of museum assistant Lisa Jones, who will leave on Nov. 19 after about four-and-a-half years with the museum; staff plan a farewell event that day. The museum is planning to use volunteers to cover Jones’s shifts in the short term and the Historical Society may recruit a part-time contract registrar in 2026 to address backlog and collections processing.

Huntsler gave dates for upcoming public programs and said internship recruitment for spring 2026 is underway.

Sources: Catherine Huntsler, Raleigh County Historical Museum (monthly staff update, Nov. 17 meeting).