Adopt an Artifact! is a unique program offered by the St. Charles History Museum that allows people to “adopt” various artifacts from the Museum’s Collection. Artifacts may be adopted for up to a year and can be renewed.
Why bother looking at artifacts, you might ask? Artifacts - the objects we make and use - can be sources for better understanding our history. While textbooks focus on the great documents of the American past, or the important events, artifacts can show us another kind of history, another way of approaching the past.
Join us on our as we explore St. Charles’ history through 100 artifacts from our collection posted in 100 days. What will you learn?
95 years ago on this date St. Charles resident Louis Rockwell was a Second Lieutenant with Company B, 2nd Engineers serving in France during WWI. His cousin, Thomas Farnsworth, was a First Lieutenant and pilot with the 96th Aero Squadron, also serving in France. The following is a transcript of a letter written by Rockwell to Farnsworth’s parents about a chance meeting of the two cousins.
It’s September 6th, 1926, and hundreds of people from Northern Illinois flock to the Arcada Theatre in St Charles for its long awaited debut. Inside the Theatre, visitors are immersed in an atmosphere of the luxurious and the exotic while they await an evening of film and vaudeville performances. 86 year later, the Arcada Theatre still has that 1920s charm, and remains a stunning piece of St Charles history.
Back to School time is a great time to take a look back at the history of some of the schools (and educators) in St. Charles. Earlier this week we shared some history of Anderson Elementary School. As we mentioned in that post Anderson, Davis, and Richmond schools were all built in the same year using the same floor plans to save money. Today we thought we would share some history of Davis and Richmond schools. Since we shared the information on the buildings yesterday, we will focus on the women these schools are named for in today’s post.
Today marks the first day back to school for students in STC District 303. To celebrate the start of another school year we thought we would look back at some of the schools in our district and share a brief history of each. Starting with Anderson Elementary seemed like a logical choice and so here is a short history of the Amelia T. Anderson Elementary School.
Former Mayor Fred Norris and St. Charles Heritage Center Board Member Charlie Brown are shown kicking off the St. Charles Heritage Center’s 75th Anniversary Endowment Campaign with donations of $1,000 each. The goal of the Heritage Center is to raise $250,000 throughout the year long campaign culminating with the center’s 75th anniversary in January of 2008. Norris and Brown believe there are at least 100 long-time residents of St. Charles, like themselves, who will also contribute $1,000 to help collect, preserve and present St. Charles history.
Throughout the next six months the Heritage Center has a variety of activities planned such as a time capsule sale, history walk and tour of St. Charles, and a history trivia night.
The St. Charles Heritage Center was formed in 1933 and was originally known as the St. Charles Historical Society. Initially housed in the St. Charles Municipal Building, thanks to the Baker and Norris families, the museum moved to its current location at 215 East Main Street in 2000. For more information on how you can help with this campaign please contact the St. Charles Heritage Center at 630-584-6967
The St. Charles Heritage Center is proud to announce that their Educator, Natalie Gacek, is the 2007 recipient of the Illinois State Historical Society’s Malkovich Award for Young Museum Professionals.
The Malkovich Award is given in recognition of outstanding accomplishment of a full-time museum professional under the age of 30 who shows leadership in the field exemplified by holding office or serving on a committee of a professional organization; presentations at workshops or conferences; publications; contributions to research in an area of expertise; and creativity and vision as it relates to his or her current position. Natalie will be presented with her award at the Illinois State Historical Society’s Annual Awards Luncheon next month in Grafton Illinois.
Natalie has been at the Heritage Center since her graduation from Northern Illinois University in 2002. In her 4 ½ years here, Natalie has worked closely with the local schools to develop in-class and on-site programs that supplement the third grade local history unit, been involved with local museum organizations, and revived the Junior Historical Society – a group for youth interested in local history.
Natalie has been honored in the past with Awards of Excellence from the Illinois Association of Museum for her Junior Historical Society programs. She has also spoken about the Junior Historical Society at conferences and written an article for publication in a museum association newsletter. We congratulate Natalie on her latest accomplishment and look forward to her future successes.
*Special tours may be scheduled ahead of time for any day of the week, including Monday
Your City. Your History. Your Sense of Community.
The Museum welcomes participation in all activities by individuals with disabilities and special needs by working cooperatively with the Fox Valley Special Recreation Association. The Museum is committed to inclusion by providing public programs in the most integrated setting, providing to the maximum extent feasible for interaction between people with and without disabilities.If you or a household member has a special need or request for reasonable accommodation in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, please contact us at least one week in advance of an activity, program, or visit date. For more details, call 630-584-6967.