JACKSONVILLE, Ark. (KATV) \u2014 A Jacksonville woman is turning a life-changing cancer diagnosis into a mission to preserve her community\u2019s history by helping reopen the Jacksonville Historical Museum.<\/p>\n
After the museum closed under previous leadership, its exhibits were packed away and the building sat unused for years. <\/p>\n
Lida Feller, a Jacksonville resident, decided she didn\u2019t want the city\u2019s history to remain hidden.<\/p>\n
Feller began working with friends, family and other community members to bring the museum back to life. <\/p>\n
She said she never considered herself a historian, but simply someone who wanted to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just a Jacksonville resident wanting to do something to help others,\u201d said Feller, who now serves as vice president of the Jacksonville Historical Museum.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Feller was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While many people create bucket lists after receiving a diagnosis like that, she chose a different goal \u2014 reopening the museum.<\/p>\n
Jerry Sanders, president of the Jacksonville Historical Museum, said volunteers have spent hundreds of hours restoring the space and preparing exhibits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we\u2019ve taken on some big projects in the past, but it was for her,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n
When the museum reopens, visitors will find exhibits highlighting Jacksonville\u2019s history, including artwork and stories from the community. Sanders said he believes the refreshed museum will resonate with visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the people will really enjoy the new museum over the last one, for sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Feller, the project is also personal. She said she didn\u2019t always care about history until she began researching her own family background.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I found out my history and where I fit in with the bigger picture of the United States, that\u2019s when stuff really got me interested in history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Now, she hopes the museum will inspire younger generations to learn about their own roots.<\/p>\n
\u201cI care about kids, and I want them to learn their history so that they know what their history is about,\u201d Feller said.<\/p>\n
The Jacksonville Historical Museum is scheduled to hold its grand opening on March 21 at 2 p.m. Organizers said they are still accepting donations and hope to continue expanding the museum with additional local history exhibits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Ark. (KATV) \u2014 A Jacksonville woman is turning a life-changing cancer diagnosis into a mission to preserve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-187940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}