WASHINGTON CO. SPORTS EXHIBIT COMING TO BRENHAM HERITAGE MUSEUM

  

The newest permanent exhibit set to come to the Brenham Heritage Museum will focus on Washington County’s history in sports.

The museum says design work and fundraising are now underway for a substantial, interactive exhibit dedicated to the sports history at Brenham, Pickard and Burton High Schools and Blinn College.

The exhibit will occupy a large portion of the main gallery on the museum’s lower level, spilling out into the basement elevator lobby.  It will present history of all sports, both men’s and women’s, split into 12 separate segments.

Each of the schools will have their own area, and other portions are dedicated to local athletes who turned pro, championship seasons, legendary coaches, historic rivalries, cheerleading and marching bands, semi-pro and amateur baseball, and the historic baseball games played in conjunction with Maifest.  Another segment called Brightest Stars will highlight a sampling of local school athletes across the decades.

Brenham Heritage Museum historian Mike Vance, who was once the museum’s executive director, says sports are an important part of millions of people’s lives, and this exhibit will provide an opportunity to show off artifacts and photographs from the rich sports history of Brenham and Burton. 

Interim Executive Director Ciera Harris says, “We’re really proud of the fantastic, cutting edge ways that we’re telling the history of Brenham and Washington County and sharing our local stories with thousands of visitors, too. The museum is an extremely important attribute for the city.”

Naming rights are available for 11 of the 12 sports exhibit areas, along with sponsorship spots for a vintage scoreboard and a “Rub the Cub” statue where locals can wish good luck to the Brenham High School teams.

The museum is also looking for anyone in the community willing to donate artifacts that remain areas of need.  Some of those include old jerseys, sports equipment older than the 1950s, an early Blinn letter sweater or jacket, programs, ribbons, homecoming crowns, and old marching band items.  Additional pieces requested include Pickard High School artifacts and items connected to championship teams or star players such as Cecil Cooper, Roosevelt Leaks, Limas Sweed, Joe Routt and Ernie Koy, Sr.

Donors of artifacts chosen for display will be acknowledged in each item’s captions, and the donations may be tax deductible.

The total budget for this permanent sports exhibit is $250,000.  The museum says this is the most expensive single exhibit element being added to date.

For more information, or to contribute, visit https://brenhamheritagemuseum.org.