GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Neville Public Museum provides a window into Green Bay’s past and present.


What You Need To Know

  • The Neville Public Museum in Green Bay is featuring two Packers-related exhibits during the NFL Draft

  • The National Railroad Museum is offering hourly tours of the museum during Draft week

  • About a quarter of a million people are expected to attend the three-day Draft in April

Executive Director Beth Kowalski said it’s preparing to share that community history with hundreds of thousands of visitors expected for the NFL Draft in April.

“The focus though really is not on the game itself, but it’s really about the community, the community spirit and a lot of the Packers that came here, stayed here, left, but then also came back and contributed and are part of our community today,” she said.

For the Draft, the museum is hosting a pair of Packers-related exhibits.

One looks at the history of the team through video and photos. The other explores the history of African American players in the city.

“We have a (photo) collection from Henry Lefebvre, Otto Stiller and the Green Bay Press-Gazette film collection. We’re going to look through history through those photographs that we’re enlarging from negatives that are in our care,” Kowalski said. “We also have our famous Lego Lambeau. Everybody loves Legos and when you walk in our front doors, you’re greeted by this amazing Lego Lambeau that was gifted to us.”

(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)

The three-day Draft is expected to host about 250,000 attendees. The event runs from April 24 to 26, but visitors are expected to be in the community more than just those dates.

Historical offerings in the area extend beyond football to transportation and other topics.

“One of the things that we really want to show people is that Green Bay, while we love the Packers and the Packers are a big part of our culture here, there are some other really cool things here as well,” said Justis Tenpenny, the marketing and communications director at the National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon.

He said the museum will be offering hourly guided tours of the museum during the week of the Draft.

“This is the National Railroad Museum. This isn’t just a small museum in a small or mid-sized town, this is a national museum,” Tenpenny said. “We have incredible pieces of rolling stock here. We have incredible pieces of American history. We have over 150,000 railroad artifacts.”

(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)

Kowalski said the museum hopes the attractions appeals to both fans of the Draft and those who are here working it.

“Yes, we’re in 2025, but we have more than 100-plus years of film and photography that we can look back and compare and contrast,” she said.