2011 Glencoe Community Guide - Pioneer Press Communities Online

hIsTOrICAl sOCIETY
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The Board of the Glencoe Historical Society, in costume for the award-winning The Amazing
Chase. - Glencoe Historical Society Archives
the Gl e n c o e historical so c i e t y
President: John Carothers
Director, research Center: Barney Berlin
375 and 377 Park Avenue, Glencoe, IL 60022
phone: 847- 835-0040
web site: www.glencoehistoricalsociety.org
gle n c o e ch a m b e r of co m m e r c e | 2011 co m m u n i t y gu i d e
Founded in 1937, the Glencoe Historical Society has developed from
a small collection kept and maintained at the Glencoe Public Library to
today’s three-pronged campus: 375 Park Avenue with our interactive
Images of Glencoe exhibit; the Eklund History Center museum at 377
Park Ave. with its rotating exhibits, and the fabulous Eklund Garden
in bloom from spring to fall. Our full-service research center also is
located at 377 Park Avenue.
Through the years, the collection has expanded significantly as
residents donated artifacts: letters, pictures, newspapers, tools and
artifacts, including the sign from Glencoe’s first structure, the LaPier
Inn. The museum and research center, together with the Eklund
Garden, were generously donated by Sara C. “Sally” Eklund and
opened in 2001.
The award winning exhibit, Images of Glencoe, is a computerized,
digitized interactive exhibit about Glencoe. Using a touch-screen
computer terminal, visitors can identify any of 51 photos with a fingertip
and see in-depth information about the picture: who is in it, what is
the date, and what is the significance for Glencoe’s history.
The Museum and Research Center are visited by more than
2,000 persons annually, including those visiting the exhibits and
those looking for information about Glencoe residents (mostly for
genealogical purposes) or about their homes. The Research Center
holds, not only files on Glencoe history, but information on current and
former residents, real estate sales, newspapers, a large collection of
photographs from early Glencoe through today and the excellent Bea
and Barney Berlin Postcard Collection. The Museum also includes a
collection of books by Glencoe authors.
The museum is home to a number of textile collections: The Helen
Sharpe Collection from the wife of a former trustee who wore designer
and haute couture clothing from the 1920s to the 1980s; the Marianne
Crosby Collection, dresses and clothes from a former emeritus board
member; wedding dresses from the late 1880s through the 1930s;
Laura Ashley dresses from the 1950s through the 1970s, and
other, assorted clothing for men, women and children from
various periods. The clothes are used both for research and
exhibition purposes.
The Eklund Center is home, too, to the workbench, furniture and
tools of Carl Eklund, who ran a furniture building and upholstery
business in the 377 Park Avenue building from 1917 until his
death.
Currently on display at the Eklund Center is the media exhibit
“Stop the Presses.” The media tour explores the history of
newspapers, many from the archives of the historical society,
highlights with the Golden Age of Radio with excerpts from
famous radio broadcasts, and addresses the role of television,
with an opportunity to actually become a WGHS reporter.
Additionally, a large display features “Gasoline Alley,” the comic
strip created in 1918 by Glencoe resident Frank King for the
Chicago Tribune.
Later this year, Glencoe veterans of the Civil War will be part of a
new exhibit and lecture program in conjunction with the Glencoe
Library.
A series of events are held throughout the year. Watch for
announcements of talks at the Glencoe Public Library, the annual
June Strawberry Sociable, the Garden Gala each summer, and
Ghosts of the Garden at Halloween.
The Society is supported through membership, contributions,
and the sales of books it has published on Glencoe history:
* “Images of America: Glencoe, Illinois” by Ellen Kettler Paseltiner
and Ellen Shubart, a picture-book history of the village; $19.95;
* “African Americans in Glencoe: The Little Migration” by Bob
Sideman, $19.95;
* “What’s So Great About Glencoe?” Award-winning coloring and
activity book for elementary school children; $7.50
Also available are stationery with historic postcard photos,
coffee mugs and paper cubes.
The Eklund Center is open Wednesdays, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
and Sundays, 1-4 p.m. except August and by appointment.
For information on research, purchasing items or books or to
volunteer, call 847 835-0040 and leave a message, or contact us
through the web site,
www.glencoehistoricalsociety.org.
v i l l a g e of gl e n c o e ch a m b e r of co m m e r c e , p.o. b o x 575, 847 835 3333, w w w .gl e n c o e c h a m b e r.or g