By Kim McDarison
Visitors to Jones Park on Thursday were treated to a unique lesson in Midwestern history.
Sponsored by the Dwight Foster Public Library, the ‘BUS-eum,’ a traveling museum made from a retrofitted school bus, made a four-hour stop in the park where anyone interested could learn about some noteworthy aspects of Midwestern American history.
Historical presentations, found both outside and inside the bus, are free. Outside exhibits include display panels and a video presentation viewed from under a canopy. Inside the bus, visitors are treated to interactive exhibits, hosted by knowledgeable interns, and reading materials, many of which are offered for purchase.
The bus is the brainchild of Michael Luick-Thrams, a native of Iowa, professor of history, and the founder of two nonprofit organizations, one in America and the other in Germany.
In America, Luick-Thrams said, the nonprofit is called TRACES Center for History and Culture and in Germany, it’s called Haus der Spuren, which means “House of TRACES.” TRACES focuses on history found in America’s heartland, he said. Much of that history has German connections.
Luick-Thrams divides his time between Germany and the American Midwest, serving as the executive director of both iterations of the nonprofit organization.
The BUS-eum has been traveling across America each summer since 2003. When not aboard the bus, Luick-Thrams teaches history in Germany.
While he was raised on his family’s farm in Iowa, he said, he traveled to Germany where he earned his Ph.D in 1997 at the Humboldt Universitat Berlin.
Luick-Thrams said he registered the bus program as a nonprofit organization in America on Sept. 11, 2001, the day known as “9/11,” made infamous worldwide after Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia.
Soon after registering, he received a “Spirit of America” grant for $8,000, which, he said, as he pointed to the bus, “was the genesis of all this.”
The BUS-eum left the Iowa-based center on summer tour for the first time in 2003 and it has visited Fort Atkinson before, making a stop in the city in 2005.
Since then, he said, some $25,000 has been invested in the bus to keep its mechanics sound and presentations fresh.
Displays on and within the bus are updated and changed seasonally, he said, adding that exhibits on display this season are among the 9th or 10th he has created.
The bus making the tour today is the third retrofitted bus, he added, noting that since its inception, over “one-third of a million” visitors have climbing aboard, and the bus has stopped in every American state. Through use, things succumb to “wear and tear.”
The center and bus are supported by donations and through the purchase of literature available on the bus and through Amazon.com, Luick-Thrams said.
Some 12 books available for purchase on the bus are published by the center. Another 40 publications also are available and are produced by other sources, he said.
Pointing to the wealth of materials presented on shelves throughout the BUS-eum, Luick-Thrams said: “We know it’s a lot of material, but all of it is in book form so people can go home and read it.”
On the road, the mobile museum has a full itinerary. Before arriving in Fort Atkinson on Thursday, it visited La Crosse, Madison and Sun Prairie, and was scheduled to next arrive in Chicago, where it would spend four days before returning to Wisconsin for a stop near Milwaukee on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
The bus winters in Iowa, Luick-Thrams said.
The bus and its staff — including Luick-Thrams and several interns — seek to impart pieces of Midwestern American history using multimedia presentations. Among stories featured this year are: Anti-German hysteria of World War I, the flu pandemic of 1918-1919, prohibition-era bootlegging in the American Heartland, the “Second Wave” of the Ku Klux Klan in the Midwest in the 1920s, and the farmer rebellions during the Great Depression.
Aboard the bus as an intern this year is Melissa Grotch, 19, and a citizen of Germany.
A second intern, “Leo,” is from the Middle East.
Internships are offered through the center, Luick-Thrams said.
Grotch said the pandemic of 1918 exhibit is very popular this season.
“People find it interesting that even back then, they had to wear masks,” she said.
The exhibit about anti-German hysteria is also popular, she said.
“So many people from Wisconsin have German roots,” she noted, adding that many gravitate towards the piece of World War I history, which occurred between 1914 and 1917.
On Thursday, Grotch said, she had been riding the bus for two weeks. This is her first visit to America. Among her impressions so far, she said, “people are very interested in history; people really enjoy being informed.”
Before accepting her American internship, Grotch said she studied history and read a lot of books about German and American history.
As a German citizen, she said, “When I’m here I bring the German history to them (Americans) and they can tell me about the American part.” In this way, she said, everyone is learning.
Grotch graduated from high school in Germany in 2020, and while she plans to attend college when she returns to her country, she also wanted to travel. She had planned for a gap year, but, she said, COVID altered her plans. Now she is here for a few months, and she also may go to Canada for a year.
Leo said he is glad to be participating aboard the bus — “it’s fun,” he said — but he was reticent to talk about himself. He stressing a desire to maintain his privacy.
Also aboard the bus is volunteer Brad Otto. On Thursday, he was busy with duties of coordination, such as making press releases and itineraries.
Those interested in visiting the bus in the Milwaukee area will find it at the Freistadt Heritage Foundation/Lindenwood Community Center, 12351 N. Granville Road, Mequon, between 1 and 5 p.m., Tuesday, July 20, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 21.
More information about the BUS-eum and the center is found here: https://www.traces.org.
Pictures of visitors to the bus on Thursday in Jones Park follow.
Joe Vorwald, at left, and Jean Heiman, both of Fort Atkinson, view exhibits presenting German-American history on an exterior panel of the BUS-eum. “My dad spoke German on the farm,” Vorwald said, adding that he was attracted to the bus to learn more about his German heritage. Heiman, too, said family heritage and an interest in prohibition drew her to the bus. She also found interest in the pandemic of 1918 presentation and the movie about bootlegging in Templeton, Iowa, she said.
A reproduction of the iconic “kissing photo,” has a prominent place on the exterior of the bus. The image was made famous during World War II when in the excitement of learning the war was over, a sailer kissed a nurse in New York City’s Time Square. The two were strangers at the time.
Inter-library Loan Librarian Amy Christian, at left, and TRACES Center for History and Culture Executive Director Michael Luick-Thrams discuss aspects of history that are presented on and inside the bus.
Inter-library Loan Librarian Amy Christian, at left, and Mike Daniels, Fort Atkinson, share intrigue while viewing an outside exhibit panel.
Grayson Fall, 3, climbs the stairs to board the BUS-eum. He is followed by family member Nevaeh Daniels.
TRACES intern Melissa Grotch, 19, and a citizen of Germany, shares information about the pandemic of 1918. She said the panel is one of particular popularity with BUS-eum visitors as they look to make comparisons between the flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic of modern day.
Michael Luick-Thrams, the executive director of two nonprofit groups: Iowa-based TRACES Center for History and Culture and Germany-based Haus der Spuren, points to a wealth of printed materials for purchase aboard the bus. The traveling museum is funded through donations and book sales.
A group gathers in Jones Park near the bus to discuss exhibits.
Nancy and Russ Amacher, both of Fort Atkinson, view an outside exhibit. Both have served as curators of the Cambridge Historic School Museum since 2000. They arrived for the obvious reason they said: they like history.
A rack of materials are available for reading underneath a canopy near the BUS-eum.
Dorna Boore, Cross Plains, at left, and Stan Ziegler, Waunakee, view panels on the bus. Having missed an opportunity to view the BUS-eum in Sun Prairie, the two said they drove to Fort Atkinson.
TRACES Center for History and Culture Executive Director Michael Luick-Thrams prepares to start a video.
A video about bootlegging in Iowa is presented from an outside panel. Seating was provided under a canopy.
TRACES Center for History and Culture Executive Director Michael Luick-Thrams shares two books available for purchase found aboard the bus. They are “Midwest POWs in Nazi German,” at left, and “At Home in the Heartland.”
Inter-library Loan Librarian Amy Christian, at right, and TRACES Center for History and Culture Executive Director Michael Luick-Thrams stand near the BUS-eum on Thursday. The bus was sponsored in Jones Park by the Dwight Foster Public Library.
Some information about BUS-eum founder Michael Luick-Thrams.
Photos by Kim McDarison
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