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Museum Hours
Beginning February 16, 2013
Tuesday through Sunday
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Closed Monday & Holidays
Closed: Easter, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve Day, Christmas Day, New Years Eve Day, New Years Day
ADMISSION
(Beginning February 16, 2013)
Adults $7.50
Children (5-17) $3.50
Seniors (65+) and Students w/ID $5.50
Under 5 Free
Families $20.00
(2 adults & their minor children)
Members Free
This exhibit is now closed..
Virtual Exhibits
Joseph McCarthy: A Modern Tragedy
See the Museum's first exhibit about the life and times of this controversial man.
A.K.A. Houdini
Learn more about the world-renowned magician who claimed Appleton, WI as his hometown. Take the quiz and see if you are a Houdini expert!
Call to Duty: Outagamie County in World War II
This interactive exhibit focuses on the lives of Outagamie County residents, and their life-changing experiences during World War II on the homefront and the battlefront.
Progressive Appleton: Through the Lens of W.D. Schlafer
What was Appleton and the Fox Cities like during the Progressive Era (1890 - 1920)?
The turn of the century was a period of speculation and excitement. Americans felt the excitement of world fairs and new technologies entering their daily lives. This exhibit focuses on Appleton and the Fox Cities' evolution from a fledgling manufacturing town to a modern industrial center.
Through a collection of 3,000 photographs, amateur photographer W.D. Schlafer captured this rapidly changing environment during the Progressive Era in the Fox Cities.
Visitors will see how much Appleton and the Fox Cities evolved as new technologies and ideas changed the lives of area residents during the transformative period. Visitors will also learn about the first flight in the Fox Cities and the first presidential visit!
Exhibit features:
- Over 200 enlarged photos from 1890 - 1920
- Past and Present photos
- Eye Spy Games
- 3-D Artifacts
- Life Size Panoramas
- Much more!
This exhibit is a local history lesson with a national context for all ages! Plan your visit by clicking here.
Information on Photographer W.D. Schlafer :
Envisioned as a transition between the past and future, people flocked to Chicago’s Columbian Exposition to see exciting new technologies and hear ideas that would transform their lives. In the crowd was a ten-year-old boy, Wilmer D. Schlafer. After returning to his hometown of Appleton, Wilmer was poised for the new century and used his Kodak camera to document the commonplace and landmark changes.
With newspaper reports and a large sampling of artifacts that cover some of the stories, a selection of Wilmer’s collection of nearly 3,000 photographs will take on a new meaning. Visitors will see Appleton’s evolution through political, technological and social reform in a transformative period known as the Progressive Era.
Thank you to our major sponsors who helped to make Progressive Appleton: Through the Lens of W.D. Schlafer possible.
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