Menominee museum celebrates county judge, Katherine Laughton, in summer exhibit

MENOMINEE — When driving down 10th Avenue to 1st Street in Menominee, picture a judge walking down the sidewalk, complete with their robes.

That’s what residents sometimes saw as Judge Katherine Marion Stiles Laughton walked home from the courthouse on her lunch break — her home now known as Spirit House.

She served as Menominee County’s probate judge, was elected in 1936, and became a juvenile court judge.

That made her the first female judge in Menominee County and the second woman in Michigan to be elected a probate judge.

Laughton is one of the six women featured in this summer’s “Women of the Menominee River,” presented by the Menominee Heritage Museum, 904 11th Ave., Menominee.

Abbey Hoijer, museum curator, found it easy to add Laughton, also known as “The Purple Dragon” for her no-nonsense approach and larger-than-life personality, to the exhibit.

“She’s always been one of my favorite historical figures,” she said. “For a woman to be in that position in the time that she was, that’s remarkable. She was a trendsetter.”

The Menominee Heritage Museum opens Monday (Memorial Day) from noon to 4 p.m. to kick off this season’s hours of operation. It will remain open until Labor Day on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.

The exhibit features historical artifacts from the six women, including a hat from Judge Laughton.

Hoijer said there was plenty of information about the women featured, spanning the 1700s to 1969.

“Queen Marinette got me started because she’s such an amazing historical figure,” she said. “There are so many great women in Menominee/Marinette history.”

History has traditionally been male-dominated, but Hoijer said many of the stories of women in the area have been preserved.

“They made just as much of an impact as the men around here,” she said. “That’s special for this town.”

The exhibit also features Franke Tobey Jones, Dr. Nancy Rodger-Chenoweth, Francis D. Radford, Queen Marinette and May Dugas.

Hoijer said Laughton’s quote about children stirred her, maybe because of her other position as a children’s librarian at Spies Public Library.

In an interview, Laughton remarked on being “a little devil, myself” and said she may have ended up in court if not for her father, who was Menominee County Sheriff and who preceded her as the probate judge. She joked at first, but her next quote indicated that she took her job very seriously.

“Mistakes are made in the Supreme Court, Circuit and Probate Courts, but these mistakes can be corrected even if millions of dollars are involved. But if a juvenile judge makes a mistake in dealing with a child, perhaps that mistake can ruin the child’s life,” Laughton said.

These words still reverberate after all these years for Hoijer and will for those who visit the exhibit this summer.

“I’ve gotten to know these women so well,” Hoijer said.

The Menominee County Historical Society will feature in two special events this year: One is a rummage sale on Aug. 22 and 23 on Stephenson Island in conjunction with the Marinette County Historical Society and other local historical societies. The other is a “Night at the Museum” on Sept. 7, where reenactors will dress up as local historical figures.