Missing Minnesota Capitol chair surfaces
The search for missing Minnesota Capitol furniture designed by Cass Gilbert has turned up a chair in Wisconsin.
Brian Pease, the Minnesota Historical Society site manager at the Capitol, said a former Capitol employee contacted him shortly after an MPR News story about the furniture.
The woman, Cris Peterson, lives in Grantsburg, Wis. Peterson said she bought the leather swivel chair for $15 from a state legislator 43 years ago, when she worked as a Minnesota Capitol tour guide.
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“I’d love to give the chair back, because that’s where it should be,” Peterson said. “It’s completely original.”
Architect Cass Gilbert designed the Capitol building, which opened in 1905, as well as much of its original furnishings. Over the years, many of those pieces were sold, discarded or moved. About half went missing.
With the Capitol undergoing a major renovation, historians are trying to locate some of the missing furniture and return it.
Pease said Peterson’s chair was one of 134 used by members of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Those chairs were replaced in the 1970s during a remodeling project.
“They sold those chairs to members,” Pease said. “This House member just sold it to her.”
The Minnesota Senate is still using originals of the same style of chairs.
Pease said the Historical Society collections department must still decide whether to acquire the chair.