Heritage Museum celebrates 45th anniversary with new exhibit

Libby's Heritage Museum is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a new traveling exhibit.

The exhibit, which explores the cultural and scientific implications of minerals alongside a vibrant collection of different specimens, will be on display for the remainder of the season.

"We don't have a lot of traveling exhibits come through," said Museum Exhibit Committee Chair Laurie Marie.

The last "big" exhibit that came through was "Key Ingredients: America by Food," courtesy of the Smithsonian, Marie said. The mineral display is a stand-alone display, Marie said.

"We just want people to come in and have a look," she said.

The mineral display illustrates the use of microbes to combat acid mine drainage, water and soil contamination and toxic waste.

The collection of historical items, alongside informational displays, illustrates how minerals have played a role in the history of Libby. It addresses the discovery of gold in the 1850s and has equipment on display that was used to separate gold from other minerals.

Additionally, there is an exhibit of minerals sourced locally and regionally, from Libby to Butte to Jardine, Montana.

The display is courtesy of the National Forest Service Museum of History and Hecla Montana has sponsored the exhibit's travel expenses.

The collection will be at the museum through the end of the season, Sept. 10, and there will be a few other updates to the museum as a whole completed toward the end of the season, she said.

"It's all about the minerals that came from our National Forests," Marie said.

The Heritage Museum, which is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, relies on donations. The 12-sided log building, or dodecagon, was built mainly by volunteers, according to Marie.

The museum still boasts many other exhibits from nearly every Western period. There are artifacts and informational displays that delve into the history of the first nations people of the Kutenai, or Kootenai, tribe.

Information on railroads, steamboats, firefighters and the timber industry line the walls. There are also displays of explorer David Thompson, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and even antique buttons.

One of the updates the museum hopes to have done later this season is the Ingram cabin, also known as the Miner's Cabin. It's a structure from early Libby that sat on the property of Bill and Rosalie Ingram on Second Street.

The museum has many exhibits outside the building and they hope to soon add a section of the old swinging bridge from Kootenai Falls.

The museum's displays are often sourced from donors, but Marie said that they would occasionally put the word out that they are looking for specific items – which they did with the Libby Loggers display.

One story that the museum holds is told from many perspectives, and it is the video and audio accumulation of multiple accounts of the Libby asbestos exposure that rocked the community. The museum waited until the situation had become stable and an appropriate amount of time had passed before reaching out to different perspectives in the community.

"The best way for us to tell that story was to let the people involved tell that story," she said.

The museum hosts a space for local artists and creatives to display their work, and every month to six weeks, there is a change of the "Tower Gallery," Marie said.

There are many different mediums, including quilts to acrylics, she said. Toward the end of the season, the museum is looking for photographs and there is still time to bring in work for display – participants do not need to list their work for sale, but that is an option.

At the end of the season, the museum will hold a vintage and collectible sale on Sept. 8-9, where they sell antiques and collectible items. A museum volunteer said there are openings for vendors whose items fall into the correct categories.

With all of the work the museum does, it requires a steady staff of volunteers, many of which are "retiring" from their volunteer roles, Marie said.

Marie has been with the museum for 25 years and contributes much of its success to an institutional memory held by their faithful staff. The museum could use help at the front desk, in the archives, or mowing the lawn, Marie said.

Still, with all the things the museum has on display, it's pretty impressive that it was put together with volunteer work, Marie said.

"And when it's 90 degrees outside, it's a nice cool place to be on a hot day," she said.