Object Photography at the Marathon County Historical Society

After my visit to Portage, I headed further north to Wausau, where I photographed collections at the Marathon County Historical Society. I spent the day with volunteer curators Kathy Jansen and Linda Forbess, who sifted through the Society’s extensive holdings for some interesting artifacts, including a wafer iron made by a local blacksmith and several examples of crochet and other needlework. One of the most exciting things I got to see was a group of books printed by the Philosopher Press, a fine printing press operated by Helen Van Vechten and William Ellis in Wausau around the turn of the twentieth century. The Marathon Historical Society recently acquired several books produced by this important press, including a gorgeous full-color version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (the book’s frontispiece is shown above).

While in Wausau, I also had the chance to get a sneak peak at the Yawkey House (below), which reopens to the public this weekend after an extensive restoration by the Marathon County Historical Society. The house was built in 1901 by Milwaukee architects Henry Van Ryn and Gerrit de Gellke, but remodeled in 1908 by George Maher, resulting in an unusual combination of a Classical Revival-style exterior and an Arts and Crafts interior.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.