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Pfaender cup on loan for WWI exhibit

Staff photo by Connor Cummiskey Jay Pfaender holds his grandfather Albert’s loving cup that will be on display in the Brown County Historical Society Museum’s World War I exhibit. Pfaender received the cup from his relatives in Colorado who brought it when visiting to see Pfaender’s aunt Marion interred in the New Ulm City Cemetery.

NEW ULM — A rare artifact is being loaned to the Brown County Historical Society (BCHS) Museum for its World War I exhibit.

Jay Pfaender, great-grandson of one of New Ulm’s founders, William Pfaender, has loaned a loving cup awarded to his grandfather Major Albert Pfaender.

The cup’s inscription reads: “Presented to Major Albert Pfaender by the officers and men of the First Battalion, Second Regiment Infantry, on the occasion of their muster out of federal service, Jan. 24, 1917 in token of their high esteem and appreciation of his kind and efficient leadership during their term of duty on the Mexican border.”

Albert was surprised with the cup by his troops upon arriving back in New Ulm after their service attempting to catch Pancho Villa.

It is particularly unique due to the circumstances surrounding its gifting.

“I am an army guy, we do not give loving cups to your commanders,” Jay Pfaender said. “You don’t do that.”

Loving cups were a token of admiration used during the 19th and early 20th centuries, BCHS Research Librarian Darla Gebhard said.

The earliest examples of cups the BCHS has were awarded in 1904 on the 50th anniversary of New Ulm’s founding. They were given to the then-living original settlers, Gebhard said.

Jay is loaning the cup in part to emphasize his fathers patriotism. No small matter as Albert was ejected from his position as city attorney by the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety after a speech he gave during a Turner Hall rally.

“The loving cup is a display making the case that Albert Pfaender was a hero, not a disloyal person,” Pfaender said.

During his speech, Albert argued that an amendment should be made to the draft law, allowing only volunteers to serve in foreign wars, Jay said. He also distributed petitions to garner support.

Albert argued draftees should only be used to defend the homeland from invasion.

“The idea was that volunteers should be used for foreign service,” Jay said. “Drafting should be used for stateside service.”

He did affirm during his speech that anyone drafted should serve. Albert argued for a constitutional amendment requiring a popular referendum to declare war as well, according to a letter to the editor by Albert’s daughter Marion Pfaender Downs in the Bench & Bar law publication.

The major’s problems did not end with his tenure as city attorney. The Minnesota State Bar Association began proceedings to disbar Albert on charges of disloyalty and sedition, according to Marion’s letter.

With a family to feed, Albert publicly apologized for his statements and giving a series of loyalty-focused speeches to avoid losing his profession, according to the letter.

“My grandfather had a noble effort, but in reality I think that he got caught up in something that got out of control,” Jay said.

The cup will be displayed in a room that focuses on the extent of dissent during WWI and the first amendment.

It is one of three branches of the WWI exhibit that also includes a section on the homefront with an interactive exhibit and another section about the front lines with a full-sized model of a trench.

The museum will hold VIP behind-the-scenes tours Thursday, May 4 led by Historian Dan Hoisington. The tours are limited to around 30 people. Tickets are $75 for nonmembers and $65 for members and can be reserved by calling (507) 233-2616.

May 5, the exhibit will be open to members for free. May 6 will be the public opening with free admission from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Hoisington said the museum is looking for a taxidermy rat for the museum’s trench.

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