History of the Museum
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Ray Howe and Leonard Colvin, cochairs of
the display committee for the proposed
museum, show off a donated wood and
leather forge bellows. From the
Butte-Anaconda Standard-Post,
December 1, 1963. Photo by Sam Melhorn.
Used by permission of the Montana
Standard. |
The World Museum of Mining
got its start in 1963, as the brainchild of
members of the Butte Exchange Club, a civic
organization. John M. Guilbert was the General
Chairman of the Museum Committee. Other members
of that spearhead group were Rayworth Howe and
Len Colvin, cochairmen, and James Chelini, Jack
Keely, Bob Nottingham, Jack Latka, Bill Lynch,
Walter Russert, Ora Scott, Ed Sparks, Les Waite,
and James Kreitzberg. Other members of the club
were also active in the formative stages of the
Museum.
The Club realized the immense
scope of their undertaking, but the response
from the community — individuals, businesses,
and government — was almost immediate and was
very generous. The Museum was incorporated as a
non-profit organization in October, 1963, with
John Guilbert (President), E.E. MacGilvra, and
F.E. Lienemann (Treasurer) as Directors. By the
spring of 1964 a full Board of Directors had
been chosen, including Samie Jane Keith
(Secretary), Frank Antonioli, James Archibald,
Rayworth Howe, Hubert Johnson, Jr., Edwin Koch,
Leonard Lively, George O'Connor, Edward Renouard,
Edward P. Shea, and Thomas Wigal, as well as
Guilbert, MacGilvra, and Lienemann.
An early major supporter, in
terms of donations, was John Clayborn Moore of
Helena, who donated many artifacts including the
Chinese Herbalist's Shop from Blackfoot City,
the stone arrastra, and the old-time organ.
Moore's donations totaled more than $60,000 in
value — in early 1960s dollars.
By April 1964, land had been
donated by the Anaconda Company for a museum
site east of Harrison Avenue, but before the end
of May, the site had been changed to the current
location at the Orphan Girl Mine, which was also
donated by the Anaconda Company.
Even before there was a
physical museum, the first member of its Mining
Hall of Fame had been chosen. Reno H. Sales,
chief geologist with the Anaconda Company from
1903 to 1948, was known as "The father of modern
mining geology." He was inducted into the Hall
of Fame in April 1964.
Throughout 1964, the
Butte-Anaconda Standard-Post (as the
daily paper was then known) was full of reports
of new donations to the Museum. Financial
support was provided by the Montana Historical
Society and the American Institute of Mining
Engineers (AIME), as well as countless
individuals and the Anaconda Company. With a lot
of hard work — all of it by volunteers — the
Museum held its opening day on Sunday, July 18,
1965. By that time, Dr. E.A. Bartoletti, a Butte
dentist, had succeeded John Guilbert as the
President of the Museum; Guilbert had left Butte
and the Anaconda Company to become a professor
of geology at the University of Arizona.
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