Post from Community: The Milwaukee Public Museum and Kohl’s invite you to meet the Watson family | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Public Museum
February 1, 2021
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Though the Milwaukee Public Museum’s doors are still closed due to the City of Milwaukee’s Health Order 4.2, thanks to their partnership with Kohl’s, MPM continues to offer free programming you would have been able to experience at Kohl’s Thank You Thursday onsite through MPM’s Community of Curiosity webpages.
In honor of Black History Month, the public will enjoy Meet the Watson Family, a video program on theStreets of Old Milwaukee that shares the story of the Watson family, spotlighting their influence on Milwaukee’s history. The program will showcase artifacts and objects that belonged to the family.
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Sully and Susanna Watson took their family from the oppressive conditions of antebellum Virginia in 1834 and, after several years in Ohio, arrived in Milwaukee in 1850. Through skilled labor and business entrepreneurship, the couple played a vital role in establishing Milwaukee’s Black middle class.
The Watson family photos and papers came into MPM’s collections in 1992, and the Museum added the Watson Family Home into the Streets of Old Milwaukee in 2000.
While the Museum is closed, MPM and Kohl’s encourage you to visit www.mpm.edu/curiosity to find a variety of free programming and activities to have some fun and learn something new during these difficult times. The Museum looks forward to reopening its doors as soon as they can and hosting the very popular Kohl’s Thank You Thursday as soon as it’s safe to do so.