The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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May 2, 2012

(Take our poll) Our View: Gallows beam has history to teach

The Free Press

— In Memphis you can go to the room in the Lorraine Motel where Rev. Martin Luther King was staying when he was shot on the balcony. Then you can walk across the street and enter the building where his assassin waited for him.

In San Antonio you can see the weapons used in the Alamo and the bullet holes in the walls where the Texas militia lost the fight to the Mexican troops.

In Washington, D.C., you can see the pile of shoes belonging to the victims of the Holocaust.

It’s no secret that often history isn’t pretty. Wars, disease, violence, injustice have been characteristic of humankind since its beginning.

And seeing the remnants of those times — their detail and tangible presence — contributes to our knowledge and understanding of what happened.

Here in Mankato, our history is forever tied to the Dakota Conflict and the fact the city is home of the largest mass execution in U.S. history because 38 Dakota Indians were hanged here in 1862. Telling that story as completely and accurately is our obligation, even if it means displaying reminders of how crude our ways once were. At issue is whether a piece of wood apparently from the gallows stored by the Blue Earth County Historical Society should be on display.

As long as the context and explanation that comes with a quality intepretive exhibit exists, the beam should be available for public viewing.

In explaining why the beam hasn’t been displayed by the Blue Earth County Historical Society, Executive Director Jessica Potter first said that space is limited at the museum and little proof of its authenticity exists.

In 1881, the University of Minnesota newspaper published a story about Mankato businessman John Meagher buying the timber in an Army auction after the hangings and using it as a beam in his hardware store. Meagher eventually shipped the timber to the university with an explanation of where it came from. He explains in his letter, “The notches around one side of this were to accommodate the ropes.”

That seems like sound detail to verify where the beam most likely came from — as authentic as other artifacts passed down from family members that end up in displays in county museums across the country. Meagher’s address tag still hangs from the beam.

Potter is adamant the proof is not strong enough that this is a gallows beam. She, in fact, went out of her way to claim a few months ago that the beam was somehow mislabeled and was instead from a bridge — a mystery solved in a mere week.

Last week, though, she admitted to The Free Press that the beam is not a bridge timber and is the original beam that came from the university.

Potter and the board of trustees must stop circling the wagons and understand that the role of the Historical Society is not public relations but as stewards of historical fact. The greater purpose is educating the public with the best available information through discovery. If the county Historical Society does not have the know-how to delve into this matter to find out as much as possible about the artifact, then outside expertise should be tapped to do so.

Having a piece of wood associated with the death of 38 Dakota and eventual destruction of the Indian way of life is a heavy responsibility. That is why context and tact are of utmost importance. The Historical Society is right to not treat its burden lightly. Mankato has worked for years to be the place of reconciliation because of what happened here 150 years ago.

But it isn’t lack of sensitivity that prompted historians to open up Rev. King’s hotel room, point out bullet holes at the Alamo or include piles of shoes at the national Holocaust museum. It is witnessing the concrete details of those times that is so powerful and eye-opening.

The artifacts of the Dakota Conflict should be part of the storytelling that marks its significant place in our country’s history.

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