Museum - Featured Artifacts

Photographs and Postcards Collection

The Museum has over 5,000 images of Dowagiac, Cassopolis, Vandalia, Marcellus and other towns in the area as well as many people who have resided here. Photographs are available for research and for reproduction (fees applicable).

Kincheloe's Ashtray	Eisenhower Jacket	Lapmap	Round Oak Dog

Kincheloe’s Ashtray

Captain Iven C. Kincheloe, of Cassopolis, went on to be a test pilot in the early days of space exploration. This ashtray was given to him by his flight instructor when he received his Air Force pilot’s wings in 1950. Kincheloe set the altitude record in 1956 and was the first man to achieve weightlessness in space. He died in a plane crash in 1958.

Eisenhower Jacket

Staff Sergeant William Burrows of Dowagiac wore this jacket upon his return home after serving in the 11th Armored Division during World War II. He served in the European Theatre of Operations.

Lapmap

This “lapmap” was used by Leigh Wade during the first Around the World Flight in 1924. The United States Air Corps sent four planes on the dangerous mission which took almost six months, with Cassopolis native Leigh Wade piloting one of the crafts. This rare map from the mission features lines drawn by the pilot while flying over France or Belgium.

Round Oak "Dog"

At the end of the workday, workers in the Round Oak foundry had extra molten iron (or magnesium during World War II). Instead of discarding the extra metal, they used special patterns to create items such as this dog. This two piece boxer dog was made by Abraham Lincoln Shanafelt in the early 1900s.