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Illinois History Calendar 

If your Illinois regional historical society or museum has an upcoming event, exhibit, or program, send notice of it to webmaster@historyillinois.org at least 3 weeks ahead of time. We'll be glad to post your announcement on our website for free. Please follow the format below and be sure to include date, time, location, address, daytime phone number, website, and  a contact person.

Ongoing Exhibits:

Chicago History Museum: Chicago: Crossroads of America. Explore Chicago's changing economy, challenging crises, diverse neighborhoods, groundbreaking innovations, and lively cultural scene. Wander through these galleries to discover the legendary stories, from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to Riverview Park or the renowned rivalry of the Cubs vs. Sox.

Chicago History Museum: Sensing Chicago. History is beautiful, noisy, rough, stinky, and delicious. In this gallery, children use their five senses to explore Chicago, uncover its past, and discover that history is all around them.

Chicago History Museum: Imagining Chicago: The Dioramas. With a new space and expanded interpretation, our beloved feature Chicago's rise from a desolate frontier outpost to the bustling city that hosted the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Chicago History Museum: Schaumburg: From Cornfield to Woodfield. This Community Gallery exhibition focuses on Schaumburg, one of the Chicago area's most prominent suburbs and a regional force in its own right.

Chicago History Museum: Chicago@40: The Band and its City:  The installation commemorates this hometown band's 40th anniversary displaying artifacts from the band's remarkable history. Many of the objects will become part of the Chicago History Museum's permanent collection.

Chicago History Museum: Big Picture: A New View of Painting in Chicago. This exhibition examines the city's evolving artistic traditions. Drawn from the Museum's collection, the exhibition explores Chicago's landscape, abstraction, and social aspects. (ends 08/03/08)

Opening 03/08/08: Chicago History Museum: Catholic ChicagoFirst in a series of exhibitions exploring our city from the perspective of faith, this exhibition will delve into how the experience of being Catholic in Chicago has transformed over time. Examined through a historical context, several themes -- the parish, education, worship, social action, and community celebrations -- will introduce and reveal the lives of Catholics, past and present.

Events by Month:    

     
 January1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31 February 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 March 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31
     

April  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

May  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31 June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
     
July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31 August 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31 September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
     
October 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31 November 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 December 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31

OCTOBER 2008

Date Time Event Location Sponsor
2 7 - 9 pm Oswego Cemetery Walk

Groups of 8-10 people will be guided through the cemetery to speak with the 'ghosts' of some of Oswego's most historic residents throughout the evening.

Free Admission

Oswego Township Cemetery

South Main Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association and Oswego Public Library District

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

4 12:30 - 3:30 pm Scrapbooking Oswego History

Come help celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the Village of Oswego by making a commemorative 12" x 12" scrapbook using professional scrapbooking cardstock, stamps, and paper punches. Participants will also receive a free sheet protector. Presenter is Julie Piesciuk, an independent scrapbook demonstrator. Participants can arrive and complete their projects (allow 20 minutes per project) any time between 12:30 and 3:30 pm.

Admission: $5 (advance); $8 (door)

Early Registration Recommended (space is limited)

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

5 12-4 (last tour starts at 3:15) Sangamon County Historical Society 12th Annual ‘Echoes of Yesteryear’ cemetery walk through Oak Ridge Cemetery

This year the walk is commemorating the 100th anniversaries of both the Abraham Lincoln Association (originally named the Lincoln Centennial Commission) and the 1908 race riots in Springfield with four individuals representing each.

 The 'Historama' area will again feature exhibits by historical associations, the popular Prairieland Dulcimers will be providing a musical backgrounds; a wonderful concession will offer popcorn, cookies and cider;  Society book sales and the Springfield International Folk Dancers.

Price/admission – Free, but donation requested

A trolley will be available to take visitors from their cars to the start and back.

Oak Ridge Cemetery, 1440 Monument Ave., Springfield, IL 62702 Sangamon County Historical Society

308 East Adams Street
Springfield, IL 62701

217-522-2500

www.sancohis.org

6-10 4:30 -
5:30 pm
Travel Illinois

(Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Sharpen your map reading skills while learning to improve budgeting time and money by planning a creative road trip through the Land of Lincoln. Skills learned will allow participants to plan an actual Illinois Road Trip within their budgets.

Admission: $9(residents of Oswegoland Park District)/$14 (non-residents)

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

         
10-11   ISHS Annual Tour

Get ready for a grand adventure this fall as the ISHS explores Bishop Hill, the Swedish utopian community established in 1846 by religious separatists in Henry County. This small town in north central Illinois holds onto its unique Swedish heritage and is one of the most popular and distinctive historic sites in the state. Participants will tour the Bishop Hill colony museum and see the renowned Olof Krans’ paintings, which document the history of this simple agrarian community; dine on Swedish meatballs and noodles at the Red Oaks Inn; tour the colony church and historic hotel; explore the traditional arts and crafts in the village blacksmith shop; and take home delicious pastries from the Bishop Hill Colony Bakery.

Other tour sites along the way include: Historic Knoxville, the first county seat of Knox County; the Galesburg Railroad Museum; and Underground Railroad hideaways in and around Galesburg, an abolitionist stronghold in ante-bellum Illinois. Society travelers will also sample wines prepared by local vintners.

On day two of the Fall Tour participants will attend the 23rd annual Lincoln Colloquium (see page 34), this year at the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College and themed “The Lincoln-Douglas Debates,” to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the historic debates. Guest speakers include some of the finest Lincoln scholars in the nation—Garry Wills, Allen C. Guelzo, Rodney Davis, James M. McPherson, and David Zarefsky. The Colloquium fee (and lunch) is included in the tour registration.

Registration: $175 ($155/members)
Registration available at: http://www.historyillinois.org/Meetings_Events/meetings_annual_tour_2008.htm

Galesburg, Illinois Illinois State Historical Society

210 1/2 South Sixth Street, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62701

217-525-2871

www.historyillinois.org

 

11-12 12:30 -
3:30 pm
Awesome Apple Heads

Since the Oswego area was settled, apples have been baked, canned, dried, and pressed. Now you can carve your own apple head, complete with eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. This traditional folk art makes a great fall decoration and can be used as a spooky addition to every family's Halloween fun. .

Free Admission

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

11-12   Lincoln Colloquium Lincoln Studies Center
Galesburg
 
11-12   Lincoln Circuit Ride

Join us in celebration of Abraham Lincoln.  On the first weekend April 26/27 the Lincoln Circuit Ride will begin as Lincoln did; in Springfield. On the second weekend October 11/12 the Lincoln Circuit Ride will begin in Urbana. Motorcyclists will lead all the conveyances that follow as this is a family event. Over the two weekends, the ride will cover approximately 500 miles and make stops in many of communities where Lincoln learned the words that inspired our nation then and now.

Illinois' Old Eighth Judicial Circuit provided the life experiences that made Abraham Lincoln immortal. We will make every attempt to ride the same roads and visit the same court houses as Abe. Bring your children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors.  Bring your bike, car, truck or ride the trolley. This collective memorial to Lincoln and the Old Eighth Judicial Circuit which shaped his life began in 1914 with the Alliance Chapter of the DAR in Champaign-Urbana.

Registration: $10 per weekend
Register at
www.lincolncircuitride.com

  A.B.A.T.E. of Illinois, Inc.

217/891-6297

sandy@lincolncircuitride.com

16 7 pm October Meeting of the Moultrie County Historical & Genealogical Society

Mr. Wendell Brown of Sullivan, IL, will relate his experience with the old art of "witching" for various underground materials such as metals. Refreshments will be served following the meeting.

Registration is free and open to the public.

Heritage Center
117 East Harrison Street
Sullivan
Moultrie County Historical Society & Genealogical Society

P O Box 588
Sullivan, IL 61951-0588

217-728-4085

www.moultriecountyil.tripod.com

20 7 - 8:30 pm Ridge Historical Society:
Generation X Ghosts -- The Newest Hauntings in Chicago

Lecture and slide show, followed by refreshments and conversation with Richard Crowe, Chicago's first and most famous full-time ghost-hunter. This program will be the grand premiere of Crowe's newest program, exploring the latest generation of ghosts in Chicago.

Admission: $35/members; $45/non-members

Mt. Greenwood Cemetery Chapel

2900 W. 11th Street
Chicago

Ridge Historical Society

10621 South Seeley Avenue
Chicago, IL 60643

773-881-1675

ridgehistory@hotmail.com

www.ridgehistoricalsociety.org

25 7 am - 8 pm McLean County Museum of History Motorcoach Tour Series:
" A Day of History" in Chicago

Tour the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum and Chicago History Museum. Lunch (from Wolfgang Puck Catering) will be served at the Chicago History Museum, and the bus will stop for dinner on the way home.

The National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum inspires greater understanding of hte real impact of war with a focus on the Vietnam War. The Museum collects, preserves, and exhibits art inspired by combat and created by veterans. Also on display is the "Above & Beyond Memorial," comprised of more than 58,000 dogtags for each of the service men and women who died in the Vietnam War.

The Chicago History Museum's permanent exhibit, "Chicago: Crossroads of America," explores Chicago's changing economy, challenging crises, diverse neighborhoods, groundbreaking innovations, and lively cultural scene. Wander through these galleries to discover the legendary stories, from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to Riverview Park or the renowned rivalry of the Cubs vs. Sox. Other special exhibits on display are "Catholic Chicago" and "Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum."

Seating is limited to 44 passengers.

Cost person: $90 (includes transportation, lunch, and admission to all attractions)

Reservation deadline: September 24, 2008

Tour departs from McLean County Museum of History

200 North Main Street
Bloomington

McLean County Museum of History

200 North Main Street
Bloomington, IL 61701

309-827-0428

www.McHistory.org

 

25 11:30 am and
2:30 pm
Premier Performance of "Take Your Places, Ladies!"  

This play will be part of a Centennial Celebration of a Woman's Suffrage
Movement Parade in Boone, IA.  The original parade was either the first,
or maybe the only, such parade in Iowa, and occurred in 1908.

 The re-enactment of the parade will begin at 11:30 am, 
the play will begin at 2:30.  
Boone, IA    
Joyce Schulte
joyceschulte@iowatelecom.net

641.202.0355

NOVEMBER 2008

Date Time Event Location Sponsor
9 12:00 -
3:30 pm
Living History Sunday: Veterans Day Remembrance

The World War II Reenactment Society will bring the history of 1940s to life with period uniforms and artifacts, and possibly a restored vehicle to pay tribute to men and women who served the nation during WW II. A special one-day exhibition of some of the museum's rarest war-related memorabilia will be held in conjunction with the event.

Free Admission

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

15 3 -
4:15 pm
Mother/Daughter Victorian Celebration

Discover the art of Victorian fun. Mothers and daughters are invited to taken an afternoon to learn a Victorian game, make a Victoriancraft to take home, share tea with refreshments, and have a picture taken to remember this special day.

Registration is required.

$11 (Oswegoland Park Districtresidents)/$16 (non-residents)

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

20 7 pm Rescuing an Oswego Landmark:
The Little White School Museum

Starting in 1977, a dedicated group of local residents saved the Little White School from demolition and began its restoration as a community museum. See how the restoration project was accomplished and learn some techniques that could be applied to your own restoration projects as museum director Roger Matile outlines the 30-year rescue project in a multi-media presentation. Tours of the building will follow for interested participants.

$5 (Oswegoland Park District residents)/$9 (non-residents)

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

         

DECEMBER 2008

Date Time Event Location Sponsor
10 7 pm Tin Punching for the Entire Family

Pierced tin items not only look great but also have a long history of use in the home. Explore the art of tin punching by creating a 3" x 5" punched tin artwork.

Free Admission (pre-registration required)

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

13-14 7 pm Christmas Fun Make and Take Craft Activity
for Children of all Ages

Stop by the museum and make some old-fashioned holiday decorations to take home and share. These Victorian-themed crafts will add a special touch to any holiday celebration.

Free Admission (no registration required)

Little While School Museum

72 Polk Street
Oswego

 

Oswegoland Heritage Association

72 Polk Street
Box 23
Oswego, IL 60543

630-554-2999

info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org

         

 

Date Time Event Location Sponsor
         

Archived Events

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Send mail to tcameron@historyillinois.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 09/18/08