Staff photo by Fritz Busch Brown County Historical Society Research Librarian Darla Gebhard stands in front of a German historical exhibit at the Brown County Museum.

NEW ULM — Brown County Historical Society (BCHS) Research Librarian Darla Gebhard became interested in history decades ago and her life hasn’t been the same since.

A passionate grade school teacher and mobile history unit had a lot to do with it.

“My seventh-grade teacher at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in New Ulm, Teddy Pelzl, was a great Minnesota history teacher and teacher for all my classes,” said Gebhard.

“He took us on a field trip to Milford Township where his family, the Pelzls and Palmers lived during the U.S.-Dakota War. He took us all the historical sites where his ancestors lived, the Palmer Ferry Site,” she added. “He took us to the ground depression where the Palmer cabin site was. He showed us Palmer Creek and told us of all the things that happened to his family. His grandparents died in the U.S.-Dakota War. That stuck with me. I became very interested in Minnesota history, particularly U.S.-Dakota War history.”

Years later, Gebhard said she watched the award-winning “Roots” television miniseries set during and after the slavery era in the United States.

“I thought, I really need to know more about my own family, so I started to go to the New Ulm Public Library at night and read all the old newspapers,” she said.

“Finally, librarian Esther Radke told me to go to the Brown County Museum, under the public library then, and look at the newspaper files. I had no idea the Brown County Historial Museum existed. I went down there and asked to see the file on the Cordes family, my family name,” said Gebhard.

She said museum director Paul Klammer gave her a file with photos including her grandparents that she’d never seen before.

One day while walking down Minnesota Street with her son, Gebhard said she saw a former ice cream delivery truck parked backwards to the street in 1976.”A man in the truck asked me if I wanted to watch a video. I thought it might be fun for him because it was about Brown County history,” said Gebhard. “We sat on folding chairs in the back of the truck and watched the video on a screen. Then, Paul Klammer asked me if I wanted to join the Brown County Histori-cal Society. I said sure. He said it was five dollars. I said for a year? He said for life. I gave him five dollars and got this card. It was the best five dollars I ever spent. I became a member. They began asking me to volunteer and I got a job. I’m still here.”

Over the years, she’s worked with many people including film companies and TPT (Minnesota Public TV), finding them historical things they wanted.

“Probably the most fun thing was when the movie company producing the movie “New In Town” which was actually set in New Ulm, but filmed in Canada,” said Gebhard.

The 2009 American-Canadian romantic comedy drama movie was about a Miami businesswoman (Renee Zellweger) who adjusts to her new life in a small Minnesota town after being sent there to oversee a restructuring project. She warmed up to the town’s charm and climbed the corporate ladder.

“The movie company called and wanted photographs of New Ulm,” she added.

Gebhard said she met many Minnesota mayors when they toured New Ulm including Jesse Ventura, who later became Minnesota governor, Wendall Anderson and Rudy Perpich and others.

“I’ve worked with (Minneapolis) StarTribune reporters including Curt Brown and Don Shelby, formerly of WCCO TV Channel 4 at the German POW Group Camp south of New Ulm,” she added.

“You get to meet some interesting people working here. You never know who will come through the door,” Gebhard said.

“I worked with the History Detectives (a PBS program that provides new insights into national history, often presenting a human story associated with age-old artifacts),” said Gebhard.

“One day, I got a phone call from someone with a heavy, British accent who said they were the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) from England. They wanted to come to New Ulm to film a documentary about the United States and Britain during World War I,” she said.

“They wanted to know if I could find World War I Veterans. I said yes. They flew in from London, England. They interviewed William Pfaender, Elmer Penkert and others. They filmed it all here,” Gebhard said.

She also worked with National Geographic magazine, German reporters and authors.

“With modern technology now, I can answer queries from Germany, Norway, Luxembourg and Switzerland and send a photo to them in five minutes,” Gebhard said. “I hear from a lot of scholars working on masters and doctorate degrees and people working on exhibits in places like the House of History in Stuttgart, Germany. I’ve worked with people on popular German books about the U.S.-Dakota War.”

She said interesting parts of her job include doing research for exhibit scripts and historical files plus work for the book “Eight Days in August: The Accounts of the Casualties and Survivors in Brown County during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862,” written by John Isch and Gebhard. the book detailed the stories of survivors and those that died in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.

The book is an overview of the U.S.-Dakota War, from Chief Little Crow’s leadership of Dakota warriors who attacked New Ulm and Fort Ridgely to Brown County militia units. The book is available at the BCHS and online.

“The most researched items were World War I, anti-draft rallies, The Turner Society, the U.S.-Dakota War, (author and artist) Gag and our German POW Camp,” Gebhard said. “Most of the people who contact me are authors, scholars or people working on exhibits, especially in Germany, on subjects like what happened to Germans who immigrated to the U.S. That included our (museum) curator accompanying artifacts to German museums.”

Gebhard served four terms on the Junior Pioneers Board of Directors and worked on Minnesota Historical Society oral history projects.

Inducted to the District 88 Hall of Fame in 2021, Gebhard was described as “a passionate advocate for keeping the stories alive of New Ulm’s past. Her commitment to preserving New Ulm’s history is an asset to all. She more than doubled the BCHS family genealogical files from 2,500 to more than 5,000. Her enthusiasm for history led to many opportunities for the community to benefit from learning more about the past and upholding it for generations to come.”

Receiving the 2013 New Ulm Athena Award, Gebhard was described as “an inspiring community leader, storyteller, enthusiaster researcher and historic treasure.”

Lisa Besemer, the 2011 Athena recipient and emcee for the 2013 awards program said it well.

“If you don’t know where you came from, you don’t know where you are or where you are from, just ask Darla.”