Free admission to Marquette Regional History

When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24

Where: Marquette Regional History Center

Admission to the Marquette Regional History Center will be free for all visitors during open hours of 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24 thanks to a sponsorship by local Rotary groups.

The Marquette Regional History Center (MRHC) has a number of sponsorship options available, including providing a free admission Saturday, helping to ensure local history is accessible to everyone.

The Rotary Club of Marquette, Marquette Harbor Rotary and Ishpeming Rotary united in this sponsorship as part of their participation in International Rotary’s annual World Polio Day, an effort to raise awareness and funding to eradicate polio. An awareness walk will begin at 11 a.m. the Frazier’s Lake Superior Theater Boathouse and end at the MRHC, 145 W. Spring Street, where visitors can learn about Marquette’s polio history.

The Upper Peninsula was hit hard by the polio epidemic, which came in two waves, 1938-1940 and again in 1950. There were 320 confirmed cases, 13 of which were severe enough to need commercial respirators to help patients breathe. Only one such device was shipped to the region, however, so local ingenuity created a homemade “iron lung” respirator using a wooden crate and vacuum cleaner, one of which is on permanent display in the Main Gallery Exhibit at the MRHC.

Participation in the walk is not required for free admission to the History Center, and no sign up or registration is needed. For more information on the day’s events visit rotaryclubofmarquette.com. For questions about the Marquette Regional History Center or admission call 906-226-3571 or visit marquettehistory.org.