America's 250th: Stars, Stripes and Stories

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courtesy Driftless Historium

A display case with flags.

Part of a display in the exhibition 'America's 250th: Stars, Stripes and Stories.'

media release: The Driftless Historium (100 S 2nd Street, Mount Horeb) is marking America’s 250th anniversary with two special exhibitions opening in the Kalscheur Family Foundation Community Gallery this spring. 

“America’s 250th: Stars, Stripes and Stories,” showing now through June 9, 2026, highlights how the American flag has been used and reinvented in the Mount Horeb area over the last 140 years. For five decades, the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society has collected documents, photographs, and three-dimensional objects that represent the rich history of southwestern Dane County. Among these items are numerous pieces that include the American flag, as well as actual flags used on front porches, in parades, funerals and flown over public buildings.

Over one hundred objects and photographs were selected for this exhibition. The items on display span from the American Civil War to the 1976 observance of America’s 200th Anniversary, to the use of the flag motif on items dating to the 2000s. The diversity of these items exudes the pride that local residents have taken in this iconic American symbol.

For a limited time, visitors can also see a special traveling exhibit created by the Wisconsin Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Opening April 3, 2026, “Patriots of the American Revolution: Their Legacies in Wisconsin” highlights Wisconsin’s connections to the American Revolution. Sponsored by the Governor Nelson Dewey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Maple Bluff/Madison, this special exhibit will be on display through April 30, 2026. 

Founded in 1890, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization whose members can trace a  lineage to an individual who participated in the Revolutionary War. With almost 190,000 members in more than 3,000 chapters in the United States and abroad, the organization’s mission is to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. 

Both exhibits are free and available for viewing during regular museum hours, Friday through Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, email mthorebahs@gmail.com or call 608-437-6486.