Museum director reports low winter visitation, major digitization project, and upcoming America 250 programs

Catherine Huntsville, director of the Riley County Historical Museum, told commissioners January is typically the museum’s slow season and reported visitation numbers for January (112 at the museum, 23 at the Goodnow House, 34 at the Wolf House). She said volunteer hours were lower in winter and that staff are planning spring field‑trip and America 250 activities.

Huntsville described a large project to process and digitize the Blaker photography donation, which has been stored off‑site; the historical society has paid about $362 per month for that storage and the museum plans to catalog and make images available through a new online photo platform. She also said the historical society has selected someone for the society administrator position but will announce that hire formally at a later date.

Huntsville listed upcoming programs (including a Kansas Day event and a planned “drinks and tales” program) and noted staff are prioritizing America 250 programming this year over the museum’s Fireside Chat series. She asked commissioners for questions and said marketing and scheduling details will follow.