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Past News
2008
December 2008
A ECHS Board meeting was held on December 16.
Founding board president, Richard Netolicky, and founding board director,
Leo Modracek, stepped down from the board after 5 years of serving.
Thank you to both for their interest and support of our society from its
beginning to the present. Ed Vavra was appointed to the board and
elected president. Mark Krob joined the board as a director.
Clary Illian agreed to continue as Secretary/Treasurer, and Barb Horak
agreed to continue as V. President.
Work continues on a wall display that will feature the
Western and Shueyville neighborhood, to be located to the left of the "Our
Early Settlement & Development" display in the lower level of the Community
Center.
September 2008
The ECHS manned a booth to display historical information
at the Ely Fall Festival. Clary Illian gave historic walking tours and
our new t-shirts were for sale.
July 2008
We had a great response from the crowd lined up for the
Ely Firemen's' Breakfast on the 4th of July this year. There were lots
of interested lookers and we had some interesting conversations about
history. Look for us at the upcoming fall festival in Ely!
February 2008
A wall display is now in place in the Council Chambers
focusing on the history of the City of Ely (Government, Fire Department,
Library, 1972 Centennial Celebration, Conversion of the School into a
Community Center). Click on the "Displays" tab to the left for a
preview.
2007
October 2007
A display on early settlement in the Ely area is
now complete and posted on the wall as you enter the Community Meeting Room in
the lower level of the building. Click on the "Displays" tab to the left
for a preview.
July 2007 - ELY CHILDREN GO
ON HISTORY WALK
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Clary Illian of the Ely Community History Society leads
children on a "history walk". |
Children look at the pictures in one of the historic
wall
displays in the Ely Community Center. |
Children participating in the Ely
Public Library Summer Reading Program, "Get a Clue", had a chance to learn
some history on Thursday, July12. Clary Illian and Barb Horak of the Ely
Community History Society led a group of about 30 children and parents on a
history walk from the library to the History Center, which is located in the
Ely Community Center.
Along the walk the children learned that the town first
grew because of the coming of the railroad, learned a bit about the downtown
section and the old Ely bank, and identified some of the oldest houses on
Walker Street.
At the History Center the children learned that the
building had once been the Ely School and discussed historic displays on the
Center's walls. The children visited the history society's Archives Room and
were each given a packet of historic Ely post cards at the end of the tour.
March 2007
We are currently doing background research for a wall display about the
history of early settlement of the Ely, Western and Shueyville area.
February 2007
New Display - A display about the history of businesses in Ely is now
completed and is located on the wall leading into the City offices on the
second floor. Background information and photos were furnished to Will
Thomson of Armadillo Arts, who designed the display.
2006
September 2006
The Ely School House, now the Ely Community Center, was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places as
of September 20, 2006.
July 2006
Will Thomson of Armadillo Arts, an exhibit design and
graphic arts company, will design our next wall display, which will focus on
the history of the Ely School and its transition into the Community Center.
His credits include exhibits in over 30 sites in Iowa, including the Kent Park
exhibit, Devonian Fossil Gorge at Coralville Dam, and the Johnson County
Courthouse exhibit. A future wall display will be about the history of
businesses in Ely, which is now in planning stages.
The Ely Community History Society and Preservation
Commission had an entry in the Ely Fourth of July parade, with old Ely
school desks and historical displays. We also manned a booth
during the annual Ely Firemen's Breakfast selling historical items and giving
out information on our projects.
The History Center's entry in the Ely July 4th parade
featured desks from the old school
April 2006
We are presently in planning stages for
the next historic wall display, which will be about the history of Ely School
and its transition to Community Center. Work is also progressing on
getting the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In
the archives room we are processing incoming collections, and inputting
information into our software.
February 2006
Remodeling on the Community Center building is nearly
complete. We have re-opened the Archives Room.
January 2006
We apologize for the absence of our web site in recent months.
Problems beyond our control caused it to be off-line. In the
meantime the Archives Room is still closed while remodeling of the
Community Center building is finalized. Hopefully, it will be open
again in mid-February. We are anxious to get back to work on the
archives!
2005
| September, 2005
The Archives Room
remains closed while building remodeling is taking place.
Ely High School Reunion Samples Ely History
On September 3rd, 2005 the Ely High School Reunion
was held at Gwen's Restaurant in Lisbon.
Clary Illian, representing the Ely Historic Preservation
Commission, and Barb Horak of the Ely Community History Society attended
to inform those present about the progress on the Archives Room and
History Center. Several albums featuring old photos from the
Archives were on display, as well as an original school desk.
Will Page, a Public Historian from Des Moines,
talked on the progress of placing the Ely school building on the National
Register of Historic Places, and his past work with the nomination process
of the Dows Street Historical District in Ely. |
Click photo to enlarge
(Photo) Lloyd Duffy, MC, speaks to
the gathering of Ely High School graduates from various years during their
reunion on September 3, 2005. In front is an original school desk
from the high school, part of a display by the Ely Community History
Society. |
August 2005
The Community Center building in which the archives is
located is presently undergoing total remodeling. The Archives Room
will be closed until the project is complete in a few months.
Volunteers should contact 848-4963 or
848-4074.
June 2005
We are pleased to announce that we have received a grant from Iowa Network
Services (INS), with a matching grant from South Slope Cooperative
Communications Company for a total of $400. We thank them! These
funds will allow us to purchase a scanner and photo-quality printer in order
to handle the hundreds of photos we are in the process of preserving for our
digital archives.
May 2005
The Archives has installed a new computer capable of handling multi-media
tasks such as scanning and storing large images. In addition we have
purchased archiving software.
The Preservation Commission is undergoing historical research as a
background for listing the Community Center building on the National Register
of Historic Places.
April 2005
Barb Horak & Laurie Rathje are working on a display featuring Gladys Holets
and the Holec/Holets family association with Ely, as the History Center's
first wall display. Funds from the Gladys Holets Estate, through the
Putnam Township Benevolent Fund, will allow us to begin the long process of
designing wall displays throughout the Community Center building.
2004
November 2004
ECHS VOLUNTEERS visited the History Center in Cedar Rapids and received a
tour and instruction from archivist Jill Jack on how to properly store items
with archival materials and containers.
October 2004
PRESERVATION COMMISSION NEWS - Our new Historic Preservation Commissioner is
Eileen Jacobson, who replaces Audrey Yarborough.
September 2004
From the State Historical Society of Iowa web site
REAP/HRDP FY04 and FY05 Grant Awards Announced
Historic Preservation Category—FY05 [For Year 2005]
Grant #: 05-001
Ely Historic Preservation Commission
Ely School National Register of Historic Places Nomination
1570 Rowley Street, Ely
Grant Request: $2,800 Project Total: $4,200 Funded: $2,800
The Ely Historic Preservation Commission will prepare the documentation for
listing the Ely School on the National Register of Historic Places. The
building, now called Ely Community Center, houses Ely City Hall, Senior
Dining, and the Historic Archives Room.
ARCHIVES NEWS
Volunteers are continuing the slow process of recording, describing and
organizing current holdings. If you are interested in learning how to
help, call Clary at 848-4963.
August 2004
PRESERVATION COMMISSION NEWS
The Preservation Commission will receive a $2,800 REAP/HRDP Grant.
The purpose of the grant is to employ a historian to facilitate nomination of
the Ely School building (now the Ely Community Center) to the National
Register of Historic Places. The matching grant will involve volunteer
research efforts toward the nomination. The Resource Enhancement and
Protection/Historical Resource Development Program (REAP/HRDP) is paid for by
Iowa's Resource Enhancement and Protection Act. The State Historical
Society of Iowa administers HRDP.
ELY COMMUNITY HISTORY SOCIETY NEWS
Jill Jack, Archivist at The History Center in Cedar Rapids, presented a workshop
August 18th to archives volunteers on how to accession items, and set up
policies and procedures. Volunteers are beginning the process of
organizing current holdings.
Ely Community History Society will be receiving a $15,000 grant from the
Putnam Township Benevolent Fund towards creating historical displays on the
walls throughout Ely Community Center Building.
July, 2004
A sign in the area to the east of Ely Library has been installed depicting
the Dows Street Historic District. Labor for the sign was donated by Bob
Zvacek of rural Ely. Signage has also been obtained for each individual
building that is part of the historic district. Stop down to see the new
additions!
Counters and a computer have been installed in the the Archives Room.
June 2004
Volunteers installed new shelving units and filing cabinets in the Archives
Room.
May 2004
A volunteer work crew laid new carpeting in the Archives Room.
Members of the Ely Historic Preservation Commission and Ely Community
History Society attended a workshop at Kirkwood College entitled Preservation
101: Preservation Planning.
April
2004
A volunteer work crew removed the old carpet from the Archives Room and
painted the walls in preparation for new carpeting, shelving and office
furniture.
March 2004
We have received a donated computer and printer from The REACT
Center for use in our Archives Room. We thank them for the excellent
service they provide in distributing refurbished computers. The REACT
Center, Rockwell Educational Access to Computer Technology, is a non-profit
organization funded by Rockwell Collins Foundation and managed by The
Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.
February 2, 2004
The Ely Community History Society, Inc. has been granted tax-exempt status (181K .pdf file)
from the IRS as of February 2, 2004 under Foundation Status Classification 509
(a) (1) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section
501 (c) (3). Related documents are available for public inspection upon
request. Donations to the Society are tax-deductible.
February 2004
Donated funds are nearly at a level for us to proceed with remodeling the
archives room. We are in the process of pricing shelving, archival
supplies and labor. Thank you to all those that have responded to our
fundraising letter!
2003
December 2003
Through a grant application to the Greater Cedar Rapids Community
Foundation, the Ely Community History Museum has received a grant of $3,020.00
from the Nina E. & Victor Merveaux Historic Preservation Fund. These
funds will be used for the archives room.
November 14, 2003
Through a long process spearheaded by the Ely Historic Preservation
Commission, the Dows Street Historic District has now been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places as follows: IOWA, LINN COUNTY, Dows Street Historic District, Dows
St. bet. State and Main Sts., Ely, 02001026,
LISTED 11/14/03
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