By Ben Rodgers
Editor
DE PERE – The De Pere Historical Society (DPHS) is celebrating 50 years chronicling the history of a community many people know and love.
But this milestone for the society is just a footnote when looking at all the important people, events and things that weave the historical fabric of De Pere.
McKim Boyd, president of DPHS, can go back to the 1600s when it comes to De Pere.
“Obviously, it was a Native American settlement here,” Boyd said. “There were a number of Native American tribes that used De Pere as a base for themselves. They had their own established communities here. It was known for the wild rice growing along the shore and tremendous fishing was along the shore.”
White settlements eventually cropped up at Rapides des Peres where people traveling by water would have to portage to continue south along the Fox River.
“People coming from Green Bay, they had to portage,” Boyd said. “They had to take their canoes out and walk along the shoreline to get through the rapids and it was there where they would portage and take their canoes out they established the St. Francis Mission.”
Father Claude Allouez established the mission in 1671 and until the completion of the military road connecting forts Howard, Winnebago and Crawford, the waterway served as the area’s only connection with other developing areas of the state.
“At one point in the 1800s De Pere was the county seat for Brown County,” Boyd said. “It was wrestled away from Green Bay, which was two separate communities. They cancelled each others’ votes out and De Pere was the county seat, which it held for 15 years.”
He said De Pere is not only unique because of its rich history, but also due to a river running through the heart of the city.
“It is De Pere, Wisconsin, but historically we maintain this east/west mentality, which is more pervasive than anything I can think of,” Boyd said. “It’s more tongue-in-cheek, but historically it’s a rivalry more than most communities.”
De Pere is also the only city in Wisconsin that is home to two separate school districts.
“It’s unique, it’s unusual and there has been in the last 120 years no fewer than six referendums to try and consolidate them and obviously none of them passed,” Boyd said. “They still try to hang on to their identity.”
But, when the city comes together for events like Celebrate De Pere, or the Pink Flamingo Classic, Boyd sees the unity of a single community in full force.
When Boyd was growing up, on the city’s east side he often walked across the bridge to the library on the west side, when he noticed the brand new De Pere Historical Society, which opened in 1970.
“I was drawn in and captivated by all the old photos that Max Franc, who was the original curator, had accumulated over his lifetime and was now sharing with the community with the newly formed historical society,” Boyd said.
Boyd and his pal Joe Seroogy carry that torch to this day, having hosted roughly five photo shows a year for the last 20 years for the DPHS.
Both Boyd and Seroogy work for historical businesses.
Boyd manages the Union Hotel, which has been in his family for more than 100 years. Seroogy and his famous chocolate have been in De Pere since 1899.
“Going into the initial photo show we were hoping maybe eight to 10 people would show up and we ended up with 45 who came along,” Boyd said. “At the end of the hour and a half we asked how many would come back and every hand came up. So we proceed to do four or five a year every year since then.”
Showing photos of old De Pere is only part of what DPHS does.
The White Pillars Museum on Broadway has a trove of reference material available to the public when its open from 1-6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday.
But Boyd and DPHS are looking at the next 50 years and ways to keep history relevant to younger people.
“I feel as a society right now we’re at that crossroads,” he said. “We need to create the direction the society is going to move in. We are looking at within the next year kicking off a campaign to build onto and/or remodel the existing building to lay the foundation for what’s going to happen for the next 50 years. We’re going to try and create a space that has the flexibility to change, and incorporate the technologies that are available today and will continue to change as we move forward.”
Those who want to celebrate the last 50 years of the DPHS and who want to learn more about the future of the group are invited to this year’s annual dinner starting with a cash bar at 5 p.m. and dinner at 5:45 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Swan Club in De Pere.
A family-style chicken dinner will be served. Awards and a program will follow. The event will close with a fall photo show from Boyd and Seroogy.
The cost is $20 per person and advance tickets are available at the Union Hotel or online at deperehistory.org.