Kristin Qualls discusses Frank Wheaton and the origins of Wheaton Village. Oral history interview with Kristin Qualls by Catherine Whalen and Barb Elam, July 26, 2019, Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center. Clip length: 01:14.

Kristin Qualls: If I’m understanding correctly, the origins of Wheaton Village was, again, Frank Wheaton thinking about, you know, Henry Ford has a historic vision and Rockefeller had a historic village, and Rockefeller had his historic site in Williamsburg, and so all these industry magnates—that he was, because Wheaton Glass Company was one of the biggest glass companies in the country, had factories all over the world—so I think he had this vision of this tourist attraction that was going to draw all the people to come here. So not so much for local folks, but this tourist attraction that would be this village that represented when his grandfather founded Wheaton Glass. And the original plans for this place was to be twice as many buildings, including a church and a cemetery, and a boat building and a farm, and so it really was to represent in a sort of, again Sturbridge Village [Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Massachusetts], Greenfield Village [Dearborn, Michigan], Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, Virginia] kind of way, which I’ve always thought with my background in museums was partially influenced by how history was sort of being taught in that way, and what was popular in terms of these historic or faux historic contexts in which to learn it, especially as you’re heading into the Bicentennial era and that kind of idea.