Now on display are two large-format aerial images of Kalispell, one from the 1930s and another from the present day. Flathead High senior Atlas Jaques (above), through her work-based learning experience with the museum, compiled multiple historic aerial images into one, using high-resolution scans made by museum member and history buff Pat Walsh.
Additional research and imagery from Donna McCrea, director of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Montana’s Mansfield Library also are part of the exhibit.
Thank you to everyone for making this unique exhibit possible!
Movie Night at the Museum will feature the 1991 film Enchanted April. The film screens 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, at the Northwest Montana History Museum. The production stars Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, Polly Walker, and Joan Plowright. Supporting cast members include Alfred Molina, Michael Kitchen, and Jim Broadbent.
The film tells the story of four English women who decide to leave rainy 1920s London for an April stay in an Italian villa on the sunny Mediterranean. Lotty Wilkins (Lawrence) and Rose Arbuthnot (Richardson) know each other only slightly through their ladies club, but make the decision to join forces and travel to Italy, hoping to bring some joy into their dreary lives. Because they need help with the expenses, they invite the elderly Mrs. Fisher (Plowright) and the very wealthy and beautiful Lady Caroline Dester (Walker) to join them.
Based on Elizabeth von Arnim’s 1922 novel The Enchanted April, the film follows the experiences of four diverse women as their friendship grows and their lives change for the better during a month in the Italian sun.
The film was shot on location at Castello Brown in Portofino, Italy, the castle where the book’s author had stayed in the 1920s. Enchanted April premiered with positive reviews at the London Film Festival in November 1991.
Doors open 6:30 p.m. Admission and popcorn are free. Soda pop, water, beer, and wine are available for purchase. Seating is provided, but viewers are welcome to bring their own cushions or seating.
Celebrating its 25-year anniversary, the Northwest Montana History Museum brings the past alive through exhibits, artifacts, educational programs, and events. Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell. Call 406-756-8381.
On April 24, Jeff Warner performs “Range the Wild Woods Over: Songs and Stories from the Lumber Camps.”
An international performer and recording artist, Jeff Warner tells history through traditional music played on banjo, concertina, and “pocket instruments” such as cow bones.
Six months after unveiling its new Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs exhibit focused on the timber industry, the museum presents Warner’s program on life in the logging camps, particularly its songs and stories – and even the smells. The performance starts 7 p.m. Thursday, April 24, and doors open at 6 p.m.
Dangerous, lonely, and remote, the logging camps of the early 1900s were difficult places. Residents made their own entertainment.
Come listen and learn about working in the woods from a traditional music man.
This performance is sold out.
More on the performer: Jeff Warner comes from a royal family of song collectors (his parents, Frank and Anne Warner, learned the murder ballad “Tom Dooley” from Appalachian musician Frank Proffitt in the 1930s, along with hundreds of other tunes); worked for Pete Seeger; performed around the world; recorded for Flying Fish/Rounder and other labels; and too many accolades to list here. Visit his website for more.
Details: Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org
Do you have cherished home sewn items crafted by your great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, or relative? Such objects, passed down through generations, connect you to memories of the crafter and to history. They call to mind the fashion and household trends unique to their time period.
The Northwest Montana History Museum’s new exhibit Home Sewn: Thread, Cloth, Needles, and Yarn showcases a variety of crafts: sewing, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, quilting, and needlepoint. Many of the articles on display were handed down through families and then gifted to the museum.
Visitors will see an extensive variety of handsewn articles representing the skill of the crafter. Featured pieces include a 1910 wedding gown (exhibited with photo of bride Minnie Larson wearing the gown on her wedding day), 1950s children’s clothing, and practical items such as 1950s embroidered kitchen towels and an 1897 log cabin silk quilt.
Enhancing the exhibit is an 1895 Montgomery Ward cabinet model treadle sewing machine (below). This machine is unique in that the back of the cabinet bears vent holes in the shape of two hearts to provide ventilation—something a machine with open cast iron supports did not need.
A display showing a child’s bedroom, replete with a brass headboard and embroidered quilt, features a handmade, braided rug. A doll’s bed with a quilt and a display case filled with handmade children’s clothing and doll clothes completes the room.
As always, the exhibit includes a hands-on corner with activities for children.
Details: Museum hours run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org
Some spots remain for Aspen (pictured) and Cameron Decker’s talk 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2. The Deckers specialize in art, toolmaking, and language in all they create. Most recently they unveiled a mural in Missoula and last year completed a parfleche commissioned by the Northwest Montana History Museum.
The Arlee artists will speak about the process of making Salish art and tools, the issues that it brings up in regard to making the objects (environment, sustainability, culture), and what that reveals about the place they are in as contemporary Native Americans. The presentation teaches about native plants, and connection with the land and local ecosystems. Their presentation also introduces the science behind these objects, as well as various contemporary Native American artists who influence their work. Both speakers incorporate and speak Salish and Plains Sign Language associated with the making of objects in their program.
John White Series talks go deep on aspects of Northwest Montana life and history and give reason to gather in winter with friends, family, and others who share curiosity for our state and its people. Talks almost always sell out; you can reserve space for the Deckers’ talk at the link below.
The John White Series pays tribute to beloved former staff members John Whites Sr. and Jr. of Central School. The 1894 schoolhouse is Kalispell’s oldest public building and home to Northwest Montana’s premier history museum, which draws thousands annually for exhibits and events.
The John White Series is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Northwest Montana History Museum and its mission to preserve and present regional history.
Details: 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2; social time in Hollensteiner-Stahl Hall afterward; Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org
Admission is $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers. Purchase at the link above or you may also try your luck coming in to the museum.
Apparently the first movie filmed in Montana was Where Rivers Rise in 1922.
We’d love to find a copy of this film and hope history buffs may have come across it, or know someone who might know more about the film and the beginnings of Montana’s movie business.
A screening in 1947 in Columbia Falls mentions Mr. and Mrs. Bill Slifer, who sponsored the event.
Contact the museum, 406-756-8381, with any leads you may have! Thank you.
Find out the answer to that question and more at Sally Thompson’s presentation about Northwest Montana stories and how they shape our lives, part of the museum’s continuing 23rd annual John White Series.
Thompson’s talk starts 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19. Please don’t delay in reserving a spot as there are only a couple of dozen seats left. Come into or contact the museum, or order online.
Focusing on several regional stories in her newly published Disturbing the Sleeping Buffalo, Sally Thompson will talk about frontiersman William Hamilton, aka “Wildcat Bill,” and his time in the Tobacco Plains; the Glacial Lake and Kootenai origin story; and how Thompson followed the trail of Father De Smet and found a cross that had been installed at the headwaters of the Columbia in 1845. Where is it exactly?, you might ask. “I’m not telling,” Thompson says as she freely shares the story of the man and the discovery.
The way we share, retell, and integrate stories of the past shapes our view of the now and the future, a principle that intrigues Thompson and keeps her digging for more. About the presenter: Sally Thompson, who has an academic background in anthropology and archaeology, prefers to call herself an ethnohistorian or cultural heritage specialist.
She ran the archaeology program at Historical Research Associates; served as expert witness for the Taos Pueblo Water Rights case, and for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes on the ARCO lawsuit regarding pollution of the Clark Fork River; and as director of the Regional Learning Project at University of Montana, where she worked with tribes to develop curriculum resources on history, geography, and culture.
Her first book, People Before the Park, was published in 2015. In 2024, Farcountry Press published her Disturbing the Sleeping Buffalo, which was followed by the publication of Thompson’s Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World: Chief Charlo and Father De Smet in the Rocky Mountains (University of Nebraska Press).
All John White Series talks are followed by social time in Hollensteiner-Stahl Hall.
We are sold out for Sunday’s presentation by Jack Gladstone, which launches our 23rd annual John White Series.
Space remains for the other three talks in the series, but it would be wise to get on it! Either come in to the museum to reserve a spot, call us, or purchase online from the convenience of your keyboard.
All John White Series talks in recent memory have sold out.
They’re a great chance to gather with Montana-focused folks eager to learn more about where we live. The John White Series pays homage to longtime employees John Whites Sr. and Jr. of Central School (current home of the Northwest Montana History Museum), who connected with generations of Kalispell schoolkids and educators.
For 23 years, the Northwest Montana History Museum has organized presentations on the many facets of Montana history for its John White Series.
John White Series talks last year focused on bears, motorcycle adventuring, indigenous foods, and Meriwether Lewis’s mom.
The talks go deep on aspects of Montana life and history and give reason to gather in winter with friends, family, and others who share curiosity for our state and its people. Reserve your space early to avoid disappointment (talks almost always sell out) by ordering the series or individual talks at the links below. You also can make reservations by stopping by or contacting the museum.
2 p.m. Jan. 5 Jack Gladstone on “C.M. Russell: Heritage and Legacy“ 2 p.m. Jan. 19 Sally Thompson on “Northwest Montana Stories and How They Shape Our Lives“ 2 p.m. Feb. 2 Aspen and Cameron Decker on “Our Belongings: Sqelixʷ (Salish) Art and Toolmaking“ 2 p.m. Feb. 16 Denny Olson on “Glacier National Park: The Little-known Stories Behind the Grandeur“
The John White Series pays tribute to beloved former staff members John Whites Sr. and Jr. of Central School. The 1894 schoolhouse is Kalispell’s oldest public building and home to Northwest Montana’s premier history museum, which draws thousands annually for exhibits and events.
The John White Series is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Northwest Montana History Museum and its mission to preserve and present regional history.
Details: 2 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 5 and 19 and Feb. 2 and 16, 2025; social time in Hollensteiner-Stahl Hall afterward; Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org
Tickets for individual talks are $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers. The four-part series costs $40 for members, $75 for nonmembers. Purchase online, come in to the museum, or contact Amy Drown or Margaret Davis at the museum.
More details to come, but for now save Jan. 5 and 19 and Feb. 2 and 16 for four Sundays of learning and socializing with expert presenters from Jack Gladstone (pictured) and Denny Olson to Aspen & Cameron Decker and Sally Thompson.
Reserve your spot by coming into, or calling, the museum. The ability to make online reservations is coming soon.
