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When you see the head curator biking with his children in the middle of the day, it’s a dead giveaway that The Milwaukee County Historical Society, like pretty much every other place in town, has closed during the coronavirus outbreak.
But in an effort to bring its current exhibition, "Revealed: Milwaukee’s Unseen Treasures," to folks who can’t come see it for themselves, MCHS has launched a new video series called "Moment at the Museum."
The first episode, which you can watch here below, featured Miller Brewing Company’s Fred C. Miller...
"We thought it would be a shame if all the amazing work our curator Ben Barbera put into the exhibit was not ableto be viewed by the public," said MCHS Executive Director Mame McCully.
"Through these videos, the public will not only get to see the exhibit through a distinct lens, but they can learn about Milwaukee’s history wherever they may be."
The videos are produced and narrated by MCHS Programs Fellow, John Harry, a history graduate student at UW-Milwaukee.
Harry, who worked in radio for a decade, has the skills for the the job. He’s also always knee-deep in the study of brewing history, which makes the choice of his first subject a gimme.
Harry also organized an exhibit about Peoples’ Brewing that was at the museum last year.
"To be able to survive this crisis as a small non-profit will require some ‘outside the box’ type of thinking, and I’m thankful that MCHS leadership has allowed me to contribute in such a meaningful way," says Harry.
You can keep up on future "Moment at the Museum" episodes at MCHS’ social media channels and its YouTube Channel.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
