Presidential Memorabilia Is On Display In Northern Wisconsin Museum

A small museum in De Pere is exhibiting a collection of presidential memorabilia that features several hand-written letters from presidents and what may be some of Abraham Lincoln’s china.

The White Pillars museum, run by the De Pere Historical Society, is displaying letters from Grover Cleveland, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Adam Stueck, the museum’s director, said the letters came from a 19th-century Philadelphia bookseller. They were acquired by the Green Bay & De Pere Antiquarian Society and are on loan to the museum.

“My favorite is the John Adams letter,” said Stueck. “It’s later in his life, and he’s writing about how people are producing portraits of him, artists he’s never met much less sat for. He’s not very happy with that.”

Stueck also said a heartfelt letter from Andrew Jackson on display is also noteworthy.

“That was written within a year of his death,” said Stueck. “The handwriting, as you can see, is not very good compared to earlier documents that Jackson wrote.”

Also among the collection are two plates that might have come from Abraham Lincoln’s White House china service.

“Mary Todd got frequently in trouble for spending a lot of money during the Lincoln administration,” Stueck said. “And this is really, really high quality china. Gold points and everything.”

The exhibit runs until the end of the year.