A black shoe made of leather is taken out of a box and placed on the table in front of museum visitors. Its shine has not faded from when it was created back in the Civil War Era.

Telling history through objects that have been dug up around the Wood County Historical Museum is what Archeology Dig is all about, along with being an archeologist for the day.

The main goal of the archeological dig is to find items related to the museum’s poor house, as well as 20th-century items. At the end of the summer, the items found will be put into a display case in the asylum building, which is the newest exhibit the museum will be opening.

According to Dana Nemeth, director of the Wood County Historical Museum, the last archeological dig on the grounds was 15 years ago. Mostly bottles were found at the time of the dig, and machines were used to dig them up. This is the first time the digs are being held during the summer.

The digs currently take place near the infirmary building, which was built in 1971. There are hopes to find the 20th-century items near there.

“If we dig deep enough down, we might be able to find some items from around the time of the Native Americans.” Nemeth said.

Felicia Konrad is interning at the Wood County Historical Museum this summer. She is a graduate of Heidelberg University with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. According to Konrad, she wanted the program to be educational and interactive in order to associate what’s been found and which building it might have come from to the people that used to stay there. She is running the Archeology Dig program this summer.

The participants of the program use screens to filter out the dirt that was dug up to see if there is anything that might be in it. What doesn’t filter out of the screen will sit at the bottom and be analyzed.

Afterwards, participants learn the history of the items and what it means today. They can then tour the museum to further expand their knowledge on what they learned.

While the program is full for the summer, people can come out to the museum to tour the buildings as well as to see the other events the museum offers. The classes are limited to 10 participants, according to the website, and are for ages 10 and up. People who are interested can always call the museum to see if there might be room, according to Konrad.

Additionally, the demo days listed on the Wood County Historical Museum website for the archeological digs are no longer happening. However, demo days for other events at the museum are still taking place.