Willi Fels and His Chums

An Association of Friends of the Otago Museum Talk

Photos of staid, unsmiling, and ‘very’ serious men, stare down from the staircase that leads from our Tangata Whenua to Maritime galleries. Who were they?

The short answer is they were the museum’s foundational collectors, donors and benefactors. Some, like Willi Fels, are well known, but most have been rather unkindly treated by history, with key roles played, largely forgotten.

There are also others, that arguably should have had their photos placed there too, but have not for a variety of reasons.

Let Rosi Crane, the Otago Museums Honorary Curator History of Science, enlighten you, with her passion and knowledge of local history and sense of fun.

Barclay Theatre