The Marathon County Historical Society received the 2023 Reuben Gold Thwaites Trophy for Local History from the Wisconsin Historical Society. The award recognizes the impact of the Marathon County Historical Society's services and the role it has played in preserving and sharing the unique history of this community.

About the Marathon County Historical Society

The Reuben Gold Thwaites Trophy recognizes an affiliated historical organization for continued excellence and overall service to its community over a period of at least five years. The Marathon County Historical Society (MCHS) has demonstrated excellence in collecting, preserving, and sharing local history since 1952. The MCHS collects, preserves, and shares materials related to the history of Marathon County to help people learn about Northwest Wisconsin and explore their own historical connections. The MCHS operates two historic structures, the Yawkey House Museum and Woodson History Center, in Wausau.

The Marathon County Historical Society maintains professional standards for the care and management of museum and archival collections. Collections are housed in climate-controlled storage and managed with museum collections software. The MCHS Collection Management Policy is reviewed and updated on a regular basis by a Collections Committee consisting of staff, board members, and volunteers.

Over the last several years, staff members have led an ambitious schedule averaging 220 programs, events, lectures, and walking tours each year. Through public programming and attendance at the Woodson History Center, the MCHS serves an average of 16,381 people per year. Programming is designed to reach various age groups at locations throughout the county. The Little Red School House program serves between 1,500-1,700 students each year. During the pandemic, the Little Red School House program experience reached fourth grade students through education outreach kits teachers utilized in their classrooms. The MCHS signature program series, History Speaks, was disrupted during the pandemic, so MCHS staff responded by offering two new lecture series formats, History Chats and History Speaks on the Air, reaching online and hybrid audiences through Facebook and YouTube. These programs reached more than 10,000 viewers in 2020 and 2021.

The Marathon County Historical Society’s thoughtful and innovative approach to developing new audiences, designing exhibits and programs that serve audiences throughout Marathon County, and adaptation of core programs and services during the pandemic demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to community education and outreach. The Marathon County Historical Society also demonstrates careful stewardship of collections and an ongoing commitment to the care and preservation of the historic structures managed by the Society.

Learn More

• Learn about the Reuben Gold Thwaites Trophy for Local History

  See past winners and learn more about how to nominate local historical societies for the trophy.

• Learn about the Board of Curators Awards