Right in Our Region
Preserving the Legacy of Janesville’s GM By Peggy Werner
T
he legacy of the Janesville General Motors Automotive Assembly Plant will not be forgotten, thanks to two organizations working to preserve its stories and artifacts. Rock County Legacies is being developed by the Rock County Historical Society (RCHS) and the Blackhawk Community Credit Union, the latter founded 56 years ago at the GM plant. It will be located on the RCHS campus at 426 N. Jackson St. About 50 percent of the 5,000-square-foot two-story museum building will be dedicated to GM workers, detailing their lives and achievements. “We’re excited to be collaborating with the credit union on this project to honor the thousands of people who worked at the General Motors plant in Janesville,” says RCHS Executive Director Timothy Maahs. “We’re so proud of
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this project because it’s about the people who worked at GM. We see the pride on their faces as they talk about their experiences.” A long-term goal for Rock County Legacies is to expand beyond GM history to include similar information about other Janesville companies of the past and present, says Maahs. Some GM artifacts are already displayed in the All About Rock County exhibit at the RCHS Museum & Visitor Center. The Rock County Legacies project will involve several phases. A grand opening, including an exhibit showcasing many of the thousands of donated artifacts and a collection of oral histories about GM, is planned for August 2022. “We don’t know exactly what will be on display at this point, but unlike most
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company exhibits, ours will be more about the stories of the people who worked for GM and what the rise and fall of that company meant to our community,” says RCHS Assistant Director and Curator Dr. Cara Kinzelman. RCHS has been open to visitors since 1950, when the William Tallman family donated its Italianate-style mansion in the historic Look West Neighborhood to the City of Janesville. Data about the local GM plant is being collected via data bases, reaching out to specific people, personal appointments, and through a mobile collection unit that will be stationed at major events and venues, where people can stop in to donate artifacts and tell their stories. Dan Mezera, an auto worker on temporary layoff, was hired in September 2021 as a museum assistant for Rock
