Alexis A. Praus

Kalamazoo Valley Museum Director (1946-1978)

The first curator of the Kalamazoo Valley History Museum was Mary E. Palmer. From 1928 until her retirement in 1945, Palmer worked along side library directors Flora B. Roberts and Jeanne Griffin to expand the institution’s collections, and to promote the importance of understanding the rich tapestry of cultural heritages throughout the world. It was through the exhibition of the museum’s array of historical artifacts that many children and adults during the Great Depression would come to understand aspects of the world beyond Kalamazoo.

The museum’s second director was Alexis A. Praus, a central figure in Kalamazoo’s local preservation community, who was “endlessly curious and fascinated by history.” Praus would significantly expand upon the early work of Palmer, overseeing the museum’s evolution as a popular community institution. He would also contribute to the growth of Kalamazoo’s local and Michigan history infrastructure, arguing in favor of preserving the past during a postwar boom when historical landmarks were frequently dismissed as obstacles to progress.

“Anybody who works in the field of Kalamazoo history and Michigan history now and in the future is stepping in the footsteps of Alexis Praus, and they’re mighty big footsteps to follow.”

–Larry Massie, historian

Praus was born in New York City on 24 March 1913. His parents had immigrated to the United States from the Sudetenland, a frontier portion of what today is the nation of Czechia, as teachers seeking to learn English. When he was just a child, his parents moved to Long Island, New York. According to the intrepid Praus, his love of history and exploration began when he was a small boy stricken with a case of wanderlust. As he grew older, he would travel all around the city, finding old cemeteries sandwiched between skyscrapers. His mother did not seem to worry about his safety as he wandered through the different neighborhoods of New York City.

“I never had one bad experience. Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but I can’t remember reading about muggings and things like that. Things were different back then. I used to wander Harlem in the dead of night. It was a great place. I had a job washing dishes down there while going to college. There were no problems. The same with hitchhiking. There was never anything close to a threatening situation. For me, it was a great way to wander the countryside and meet all kinds of people.”

Encore Magazine, Sept./Oct. 1984, p.6

He earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a master’s degree from Yale University. While he was initially attracted to biology, he later became fascinated with the study of Native Americans. His field work conducted in the late 1930s focused on excavating the earth lodges of indigenous tribes, the result of which led to the completion of a master’s degree in anthropology and archaeology.

From 1943 to 1946, Praus served in the U.S. Army. Deaf in one ear, he taught chemistry in the Medical Enlisted Men’s Training School at Fort Benjamin Harrison and Camp Atterbury, Indiana. As the war began to wind down, Praus began to think about where he wanted to settle down, preferring a smaller city. A friend of his from the army had mentioned Kalamazoo as an option. It just so happened that the head curator position at the museum had opened up when Mary E. Palmer retired. Shortly after arriving at the Grand Rapids and Indiana train depot on E. Michigan Avenue, the 33 year-old Praus accepted the job offer that came with an annual salary of $3,200.

Upon his arrival to Kalamazoo, the Ivy League-educated historian and archaeologist inherited a museum whose development had suffered from neglect as a result of a decade-long economic depression and second world war. Funding for museum advancement had largely been put on hold during the 1930s, guaranteeing that the museum would languish in a “rickety old building” next to the library (The Peck House). The conditions were not ideal, but along with the support of the board of education and library director Dr. Mark Crum, Praus set an ambitious course toward transforming the museum into an esteemed destination, one both educational and fun for its visitors. After Kalamazoo voters approved the construction of a new library building in the late 1950s, space was made on the second floor to house the museum’s collections, exhibitions and planetarium. Praus enthusiastically embraced the new building’s possibilities, and set about challenging a commonly held view that museums were only “big-city attractions.” Praus also countered the view that collecting a community’s local and state history was of little interest to its citizens. Recognizing the value in local preservation efforts, Praus purchased a camera for the museum so that he could capture images of Kalamazoo’s vintage buildings before they were torn down. He would go on to give hundreds of lectures over the years on Kalamazoo’s architecture and antiquity, as well as arguing for the preservation of historical architecture, including the Kalamazoo State Hospital water tower, when in 1975, the State of Michigan had planned on demolishing it.

Over the following years, led by Praus, the museum added two permanent displays that many longtime residents will likely recall: the tomb of an Egyptian mummy, and a replica of a pioneer log cabin. When he wasn’t collecting, exhibiting or lecturing, Praus was authoring or editing work to be published. Two of his short histories published in the 1960s include The Bullet That Killed the Alpena Chinaman and The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. His other works included museum pamphlets on the local cholera epidemic, the excavation of the Bronson Park mound, the Gold Rush adventures of a Kalamazoo man, and a listing of Kalamazoo County historical markers. And while most of his focus remained on the day to day stewardship of the museum, Praus still found scholarly opportunities to participate in archaeological field work, including as part of an expedition “to Tuscany where scientists probed several Estrucan tombs in Italy to try to learn more about the civilization that pre-dated the Romans.”

An active member of the civic and cultural life of Kalamazoo is an understatement. He was a member of the Michigan Historical Commission, helped to found the Kalamazoo County Historical Society, the Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society and the Kalamazoo Postcard Collectors Club; and was the president at one time of the Kalamazoo Historic District Commission, the Kalamazoo Astronomy Club, the Kalamazoo Historic Commission, the Kalamazoo Torch Club, the Kalamazoo Arts Council, the Chamber Music Society of Kalamazoo, the Kalamazoo Rotary club, the Kalamazoo Civil War Centennial Commission, and the Sister City committee. Even in retirement, Praus stayed engaged, serving as board secretary for Senior Services, Inc. Praus passed away on 14 September 1999, and is buried in Mountain Home Cemetery.

“I’ve always enjoyed people. That was the best part of my work. My father was a college graduate. But his advice to me was to treat people who work honestly for a living, and do good jobs, with respect. I never judge a person by his or her formal education or money. Living in Kalamazoo has been a pleasure. I really found roots here and I have universally been treated well. Kalamazoo has been good to me and I am grateful. There are no complaints and certainly no regrets. Museum work allowed me to do a great deal of traveling and meet all kinds of unusual people.”

Encore Magazine, Sept./Oct. 1984, p.41

Written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library, December 2024. Last updated 6 January 2026.