Historical Society Misses Great Opportunity

With director Michael Mann's Public Enemies opening today, it occurred to me that the Wisconsin Historical Society squandered a wonderful opportunity to draw visitors into the Museum and/or the Archives down on campus.

The film is about the bank robber John Dillinger and his fellow gangsters who plundered their way through the Midwest in 1933-34. Sure, Dillinger was famously gunned down by G-men in front of the Biograph Theater in Chicago in 1934, but he and his gang were no strangers to The Land of Cheese. Here in Wisconsin, they hit the American Bank and Trust Co. in Racine. In April 1934, the gang hid out at the Little Bohemia Lodge up north in Manitowish Waters. Dillinger even adopted the pseudonym "Jimmy Lawrence", which was the name of a petty criminal from our fair state.



Such Wisconsin ties would have made for an interesting exhibit. Get some photos of the bank in Racine and Little Bohemia together and try to pair them with, say, publicity stills from the movie. Talk about the history of both places and perhaps try to explain why Manitowish Waters was chosen as a hideout. Mann is a UW grad which could have meant an easier time getting access to promo materials for the film. Get an interview with the lead set dresser and do something to show how downtown Columbus was given a makeover to look like a street in 1933 or 34.

Other directions to take the exhibit: recall when Mark Harmon was in Wisconsin to play Dillinger for another movie adaptation of the gangster's life. Or how about mentioning this woman:



That's Polk County Sherriff Katharine Moore who held Dillinger gang member Tommy Gannon in custody for five months. Perhaps do a bit about women sheriffs at the time.

I'm not saying that the WHS should dedicate every exhibit to an ephemeral trend in pop culture, but I think it would have been an interesting draw for many who ordinarily wouldn't visit a WHS museum or archives. Once you've got them in the door, you have a chance to introduce them to other exhibits and programs that the Society offers.

Unfortunately, this opportunity has come and gone and it looks like it won't come around again as Gov. Doyle has just critically wounded, if not killed, Wisconsin's film industry.

I didn't know that the FBI had a YouTube channel until today and I find that they have a brief video about the shootout at Little Bohemia.