Should gallows timber be part of historical display?

A Sunday Free Press story about Mankato's place as the site of the largest mass execution in U.S. history raised questions about just how far we're willing to go to "show and tell" a history that remains very ugly in the minds of many.

The timber that was used as part of the gallows where 38 Dakota were hanged is apparently tucked away in some storage area under supervision of the Blue Earth County Historical Society.

Historical society officials says it's not clear whether the timber is authentic and that its historical roots can not be easily determined. But a story in the 1927 Free Press indicated it had been given to the historical society by the University of Minnesota. They had apparently received it from longtime Mankato man who had salvaged it and used it in his hardware store for several years.

The controversy of course, as with much of history, is the message one will be sending by using such an artifact in a historical display.

One has to be careful not to "celebrate" the instruments of hanging, but at the same time, one cannot hide a history just because it is unpleasant.

So what would be accomplished by displaying the timber or, for that matter, the noose from one of the 38 that is in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society? That organization also does not plan on displaying it.

I compare it to the telling of a compelling, yet unsettling newspaper story, of which we've done many over the years. A gruesome murder, an unspeakable act against children. These are never easy stories to do.

The reasoning might be useful in the case of the historical exhibits. Will the display of these artifacts draw such an emotional response that it will, in effect, mute the other more valuable lessons to be learned from history?

Or will the emotions the exhibit might evoke have a deeper impact on our thoughts about such violence going forward?

It's a tough call. It's a judgment call.

But in the end, I always ask: Do we gain by having less information or do we gain by having more? We'll never be able to control how people feel about facts and historical exhibits, we can only hope a larger number will gain from the information and, as we say with history, be destined not to repeat it.