Shelbina Boy Gathers History Quickly

By Troy Treasure

  Max Fahle of Shelbina has been bestowed a lifetime membership to the Shelby County Historical Society and Museum.

  It’s quite an accomplishment … for a second-grader. Max, the son of Steve and Linda Fahle, is eight.

    “I just watched a bunch of movies about the Civil War and a bunch of wars. I started thinking about it,” Max said of how his interest in history began. “I heard there was a museum right next to our shop and I came over.

  “I wanted to learn more about it. So, I stayed over and now it’s my job.”

  Max began assisting Museum Director Kathleen Wilham with the sorting of articles and documents. His muscle is also a big help carrying boxes up and down stairs.

  “He earns his money,” Wilham said.

  Max is not just a gofer, either, sometimes guiding Museum tours as he did recently for a reporter and photographer.

  Max indicated he has a growing interest in American presidential history.

  “George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, I have heard of a bunch of others because in math (class), we go through coins and I normally learn about many of the presidents,” Max said.

  “Abraham Lincoln made a speech about the Civil War about stopping slavery because it was wrong to be mean to people just because they have a different skin color,” he said. 

  During his time at the Museum, Max has also been able to learn more about his own family’s history.

  Well on his way to becoming a legitimate historical archivist, Max plans to keep doing his job in the foreseeable future.