The Veterans Memorial Hall opened in 2008 to honor the men and women of Grant County who have served our country in times of war and peace. The project was started in 2007 when Clint Grove was Commander of the Elbow Lake American Legion Post.
The Grant County Historical Society had received many uniforms, models of planes, Civil War artifacts, U.S. flags and other military pieces from the Civil War to the Iraq-Afghanistan War, but did not have sufficient space to display them properly. The Legion had funds available and chose to work with the Grant County Historical Society to build the addition to the Museum. Clint Grove, Stuart Anderson, Wayne Schneeberger and other Legion members helped design the building and the arrangement of the exhibits.
Many people used their talents to illustrate the exhibits: Lois Fagerberg, Lenore Bevins, Vickie Haraldson, Sharlee Franklin, Judy Lohse, Judy Gunderson, Evie Grove and J.T. Teirsteeg.
The Veterans Memorial Hall represents an important part of Grant County’s history.
SOURCES at the Grant County Historical Museum:
Several personal scrapbooks with newspaper clippings
Narrative History of the 151st Field Artillery Battalion – Ervin Volker
American Legion Weekly newsletter 4 June 1920 – 20 August 1921
Books:
US Official Pictures of the World War, Pictorial Bureau, Washington DC, 1920
Pictorial History of the Second World War; Wm Wise & Co. Inc., New York 1944 [Series of 10 books]
11th Airborne Division, WWII and Korea [no publication date]
Confederate Soldier in the Civil War, Fairfax Press [no publication date]
Newspapers: Minneapolis Star and Sunday Tribune newspapers
Vertical Files of the Veterans Memorial Hall
Placards by the Exhibits
There are many more books pertaining to different military branches. The collection has not been cataloged.
By Linda Westrom
8.19.22
