Milwaukee’s Fight Isn’t Over—Save Our Public Museum!
Dear Milwaukee residents,
The fight for our Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) is not over. Don’t believe the lie that our history is lost. The building at 800 W. Wells St. stands strong, its artifacts, collections, and exhibits—owned by Milwaukee County, not MPM—still ours to protect. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, supposed to be our ongoing voice, risks our heritage’s destruction by allowing MPM’s unchecked actions. We must demand they speak for us now.
MPM’s leadership, led by Dr. Ellen Censky, claims it’s solely a natural history museum, not a history museum, stating, “Milwaukee County has given the authority to MPM to run the museum, as I might say, a natural history museum, not a history museum.” Yet, MPM secured $45 million in taxpayer funding by pitching itself as both natural and human history. This shift threatens our cultural artifacts.
Worse, Censky falsely claims MPM, Inc., a private nonprofit, owns the exhibits, saying, “The collections are what is owned by the public… The MPM staff have created the exhibits.” The 2013 Lease and Management Agreement proves Milwaukee County owns the collections, artifacts, exhibits, and personal property—taxpayers are the true owners. MPM is a vendor, not the owner. Censky’s assertion that “current thinking” justifies $80–$90 million in exhibit updates risks erasing treasures like the Streets of Old Milwaukee, dioramas, taxidermy, and built-ins. She claims MPM can decide their fate without public input, and the Board is letting them.
This isn’t about “trusting the professionals.” MPM openly dismisses accountability, ignoring public concerns about the old museum’s collections voiced since January 2023. The Board, hearing these pleas, must act. Their “train has left the station” excuse last month and the third-floor closure on April 6, 2025, with two days’ notice, demand urgency. At the March 13, 2025, Finance Committee meeting, Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez said, “I just want to see more of a concerted effort, like, I’m not seeing it. So, like, if these are behind the scenes, that’s fine, but I’m not seeing it, and I think the general public needs to see it.” The Board can assign a workgroup—make them do it.
Contact the Board of Supervisors at [email protected] or (414) 278-4222 to demand a Community Oversight Workgroup to manage the fate of our old museum’s collections. Join us at MPM’s Streets of Old Milwaukee event on April 26 to amplify this fight. Our history isn’t gone—it’s ours to save.
We need to come together to raise awareness that this is issue is not decided.
@onmilwaukee@RepDonovan
@MPMilwaukee
@DavidCrowleyWI@journalsentinel@UrbanMilwaukee
Leftists have been litigating against parents and kids in Wisconsin’s parental choice education programs for 30 years.
They lose and lose.
That’s likely to change if Susan Crawford is elected to the Supreme Court.
For the sake of thousands of children who could be kicked out of their schools, we must elect @TeamSchimel.
@SteveAustinWI@ScottPresler@AFPWI@GreenBayGobbler@JayWeber3 @GrassrootsPapi @DeAngelisCorey
.@GrassrootsPapi and @AFPWI are in Milwaukee talking about our fight to hold down energy costs as one way to stop inflation. #ProsperityIsPossible with the right policies.
We had a really amazing time last night! One thing is clear, the results of irresponsible spending in DC is hitting areas like North Milwaukee the hardest. It was great to talk with voters about why their buying power is shrinking while providing some relief to my neighbors ❤️
There are some folks at The Post in Madison right now upset that @AFPWI succeeded in keeping electricity bills from increasing today but that hasn’t stopped @GrassrootsPapi from growing the movement in Milwaukee tonight. #grassroots
People are paying more but getting less because of inflation, and THIS SUNDAY from 9am-3pm in #Milwaukee we will try to ease some of those #BackToSchool burdens with...
💇♂️FREE haircuts for kids 4-16
🎒FREE school supplies
🍕FREE food and drinks
You MUST sign up to get a cut.
Milwaukee has never been a town of fools 💯 they feel the inflation, and they know that more empty promises and political warfare wont help americas people. What a great day out there today!
“Instead of addressing the issues of inflation, he's attempted to spend more money…”
@GrassrootsPapi on why #Bidenomics is failing everyday Americans.
https://t.co/ErTeozvARM
The legalization crowd likely oversells the positives and undersells the negatives. But at some point you have to simply look at the bottom line and potential lost revenue that our lack of movement on this issue is leading to.