DEARBORN – A Dearborn Community Fund grant of $500 to the Dearborn Historical Museum will be used to literally shine a light on the museum’s Pioneer Room in the McFadden Ross House.
For 50 years students have made an annual visit to the museum’s Pioneer School Program.
The Pioneer Room is one of the stops on the elementary-age field trip. There volunteers, in the replica of a one-room school, share with children the early pioneer history of Dearborn and Michigan.
But the Pioneer Room is in the basement. And though it is a popular educational opportunity for thousands of children each year, the grant from the Dearborn Community Fund will make it better.
The museum will use the money to purchase lights that will illuminate donated artifacts.
“There are so many exciting objects, early tools used to build cabins and implements necessary for survival,” museum curator Jack Tate said. “And, right now they get lost to visitor’s eyes in the dimly light room.
“It will also be much easier for students to see the text in the McGuffey Readers that our museum supplies too.
“I’m thankful for the donation from the Dearborn Community Fund. The crucial upgrades to the Pioneer Room in the McFadden Ross House will help teachers, volunteers and all of us better appreciate the lives of our local descendants.
“Donations are always welcome. Next, we’ll upgrade our multimedia resources as money becomes available.”
For more information about the Dearborn Historical Museum or the Pioneer School Program that takes place at the Museum’s McFadden-Ross House, 915 S. Brady St., call 313-565-3000.