History Museum in Great Falls receives $500k donation for new research center

The History Museum in Great Falls has received a number of upgrades since it moved into the old International Harvester Tractor Supply building over 20 years ago.

But its latest undertaking is the most significant to date.

Spearheaded by a $500,000 donation from Owen and Gayle Robinson, the History Museum will be creating a new research center on its second level and a “Visible Vault” which will allow the public to observe preservation work and conservation treatments.

Museum Executive Director Kristi Scott, who had previously worked at the C.M. Russell Museum and Paris Gibson Square, said she’d never received such a “transformative” donation in her career than what the Robinsons have supplied.

“They are giving a very generous gift that is going to allow us to create a state-of-the-art research center for generations to come,” Scott said. “This is our history and the fact that Great Falls has this is really special.”

The project, which was also funded in part by ARPA and Historical Preservation grants, will add considerable footage to the current space for researchers to work and add climate control in the overflow archives and artifact collections storage. Other improvements include ADA accessible bathrooms, a new fire escape hall and historically preserved windows will be added for the “Visible Vault.”

“We’re doing everything from preserving important documents and archival material to conserving things, say made of leather and brass or isolating certain materials with archival tissue paper, or padding things out and attending to objects and digitizing archival material,” Scott said of the vault. “It’s a great way to engage and learn about museum work and there will be plenty of opportunities for internships and experiences for kids who want to get involved in museum work in the future.”

Robinson, a former city commissioner and longtime activist with the Cascade County Historical Society, said the history of Great Falls and Cascade County is very near and dear to his heart.

“It’s just kind of always been in my blood,” Robinson said. “I’m a history buff and this is kind of what I wanted to do.”

Robinson worked with the Tribune in transferring copious archival material to the History Museum in 2022. The museum has an archivist that has undertaken the sorting of the Tribune files and photos for about five hours a week. Robinson said the receipt of the Tribune’s historical content got the ball rolling in his mind of what changes needed to be made to the museum.

“That got me thinking that we really need a better place,” Robinson said. “And my wife, Gayle, and I just decided we wanted to do something special for the community that would last and make this a place people could come to do research. We’re hoping that it will become big enough in the future to make it a repository for other things, like from the county, that could become part of this research center.”

In addition to the Tribune archives, the History Museum also recently received historical records from the Ursuline Western Province of the Catholic Church.

“It’s really exciting to work in a place that has this material available to the public,” Scott said. “The internet is great, but you can’t find everything on there. There are treasures that are in this building that are important beyond comprehension and will continue to be uncovered as the years go on. We’re excited that Great Falls is a museum town and we’ll have a top-of-the-line research center thanks to this transformative gift from the Robinsons.”

LPW Architecture designed what will be called the Owen and Gayle Robinson Research Center, and construction is set to begin in February. Scott said she hopes work will be finished sometime next summer ahead of the Montana Historical Conference that will be hosted in Great Falls in September.

“We know that we have a great service ahead of us with the research center, and this will make it truly possible at a high caliber,” Scott said.

The History Museum will be open additional hours during December and this Saturday will host events from noon to 5 p.m. The Gift Shop Open House begins at 12:30 with Christmas carols by the local women’s acapella group Sound of the Falls, followed by a presentation of the new book “Walkin’ Down the Middle: The Hi-Line Metis” by historian and author Candi Zion.

Tours of the new research center project will also be held at 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Admission is free for all events.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: History Museum in Great Falls receives $500k donation for new research center