The grand opening festivities will include presentations by city officials and community leaders.
In addition, guided tours, family activities, and group demonstrations will be held throughout the afternoon.
Admission:
- $5/person
- Free for Kids 14 and under
Journey Stories Exhibit:
Journey Stories tells how we and our ancestors came to America. From Native Americans to new American citizens and regardless of our ethnic or racial background, everyone has a story to tell.
Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.
Many chose to move, searching for something better in a new land. Others had no choice, like enslaved Africans captured and relocated to a strange land and bravely asserting their own cultures, or like Native Americans already here, who were often violently removed by newcomers.
The first European culture to establish roots in Illinois, French Creoles along the Illinois, Wabash, and Mississippi Rivers would in many places be supplanted by later Anglo and German American settlers. Instrumental in winning Illinois for the United States during the American Revolution and important to the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Illinois Creoles have a strong cultural history that opens a door to their effect in the Midwest. This presentation will explore what brought the French here, their fiddle music, a few of their exploits, and their lasting influence on the Illinois Country.
We live between fences. We may hardly notice them, but they are dominant features in our lives and in our history. Built of hedge, concrete, wood and metal, the fence skirts our properties and is central to the American landscape. We use them to enclose our houses and neighborhoods. They are decorative structures that are as much part of the landscape as trees and flowers. Industry and agriculture without fences would be difficult to imagine. Private ownership of land would be an abstract concept.
But fences are more than functional objects. They are powerful symbols. The way we define ourselves as individuals and as a nation becomes concrete in how we build fences.
Through an examination of boundaries, place, and space, Between Fences will explore how neighbors and nations divide, protect, offend, and defend through the boundaries they build.
This exhibit runs from April 25, 2009 - June 7, 2009
Lake Lawrence: photo 0947 at stevehardesty.comIn spring 2008, the Governor of Illinois declared twenty-four Illinois counties to be disaster areas and another twenty-five as "impacted" by flooding of the Mississippi, Illinois, Vermilion, and other rivers. Losses to agriculture alone stood at $1.3 billion and some Illinois communities were almost completely evacuated. Heritage and cultural organizations such as public libraries, historical and genealogical societies, and small museums need professional assistance in planning for water emergencies such as the flooding in Illinois brought on by severe weather.
To help cope with the dangers created by raging rivers and disastrous acts of nature, the Illinois Humanities Council is collaborating with Illinois Heritage association to present "Coping with H2O Emergencies," a series of one-day technical assistance workshops across Illinois.
Have you ever played the dozens? In the game, two competitors take turns improvising comedic insults and trash talk, cracking jokes about each other until one of them has no comeback. And although this form of play is mostly good natured, it has been known to start as many fist fights as fits of laughter. Which begs the question, is one person's wound another's guffaw?
Aundre M. Herron of racewire.org writes: "Put to its highest and best use, comedy has the power to transform by pushing us to the edge of our comfort zones and beyond. It helps us to face ourselves squarely-our fears, our failings, our prejudices and lapses of character, decency, and common sense. "
American comedians have a long history of pushing boundaries, using edgy humor to fight the status quo and promote progressive issues. Pioneer comedian Moms Mabley challenged conventional ideas of race and gender and, before it was canceled in 1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was one of the most influential and controversial American television shows of its time. The show paid homage to the growing counter-culture movements springing up around the country and also derided the Vietnam War.
This exhibit runs from May 23, 2009 - July 11, 2009.
Journey Stories tells how we and our ancestors came to America. From Native Americans to new American citizens and regardless of our ethnic or racial background, everyone has a story to tell.
Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.
Many chose to move, searching for something better in a new land. Others had no choice, like enslaved Africans captured and relocated to a strange land and bravely asserting their own cultures, or like Native Americans already here, who were often violently removed by newcomers.
This exhibition runs from May 30, 2009 - July 11, 2009, at the Engh Farm at 1730 North Main Street in Sycamore.
This exhibit runs from May 23, 2009 - July 11, 2009.
Have you ever played the dozens? In the game, two competitors take turns improvising comedic insults and trash talk, cracking jokes about each other until one of them has no comeback. And although this form of play is mostly good natured, it has been known to start as many fist fights as fits of laughter. Which begs the question, is one person's wound another's guffaw?
Aundre M. Herron of racewire.org writes: "Put to its highest and best use, comedy has the power to transform by pushing us to the edge of our comfort zones and beyond. It helps us to face ourselves squarely-our fears, our failings, our prejudices and lapses of character, decency, and common sense. "
American comedians have a long history of pushing boundaries, using edgy humor to fight the status quo and promote progressive issues. Pioneer comedian Moms Mabley challenged conventional ideas of race and gender and, before it was canceled in 1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was one of the most influential and controversial American television shows of its time. The show paid homage to the growing counter-culture movements springing up around the country and also derided the Vietnam War.
The first European culture to establish roots in Illinois, French Creoles along the Illinois, Wabash, and Mississippi Rivers would in many places be supplanted by later Anglo and German American settlers. Instrumental in winning Illinois for the United States during the American Revolution and important to the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Illinois Creoles have a strong cultural history that opens a door to their effect in the Midwest. This presentation will explore what brought the French here, their fiddle music, a few of their exploits, and their lasting influence on the Illinois Country.
Have you ever played the dozens? In the game, two competitors take turns improvising comedic insults and trash talk, cracking jokes about each other until one of them has no comeback. And although this form of play is mostly good natured, it has been known to start as many fist fights as fits of laughter. Which begs the question, is one person's wound another's guffaw?
Aundre M. Herron of racewire.org writes: "Put to its highest and best use, comedy has the power to transform by pushing us to the edge of our comfort zones and beyond. It helps us to face ourselves squarely-our fears, our failings, our prejudices and lapses of character, decency, and common sense. "
American comedians have a long history of pushing boundaries, using edgy humor to fight the status quo and promote progressive issues. Pioneer comedian Moms Mabley challenged conventional ideas of race and gender and, before it was canceled in 1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was one of the most influential and controversial American television shows of its time. The show paid homage to the growing counter-culture movements springing up around the country and also derided the Vietnam War.
Have you ever played the dozens? In the game, two competitors take turns improvising comedic insults and trash talk, cracking jokes about each other until one of them has no comeback. And although this form of play is mostly good natured, it has been known to start as many fist fights as fits of laughter. Which begs the question, is one person's wound another's guffaw?
Aundre M. Herron of racewire.org writes: "Put to its highest and best use, comedy has the power to transform by pushing us to the edge of our comfort zones and beyond. It helps us to face ourselves squarely-our fears, our failings, our prejudices and lapses of character, decency, and common sense. "
American comedians have a long history of pushing boundaries, using edgy humor to fight the status quo and promote progressive issues. Pioneer comedian Moms Mabley challenged conventional ideas of race and gender and, before it was canceled in 1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was one of the most influential and controversial American television shows of its time. The show paid homage to the growing counter-culture movements springing up around the country and also derided the Vietnam War.
PLEASE NOTE: Registration for this workshop is now closed.
If you are interested in upcoming IHC Community Grant Application workshops in Chicago and other parts of Illinois, please call 312.422.5580 or send us an email.
The Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) invites grant applicants to attend a free public Community Grant Application workshop. Any nonprofit organization or institution is eligible to apply to IHC for financial support of a public project in the humanities.
IHC Program Officer Ryan Lewis will field questions about guidelines for major and mini grants, as well as about grant support for various kinds of projects -- local and community history projects, oral history projects, documentary film projects, and reading/discussion programs, for example.
Have you ever played the dozens? In the game, two competitors take turns improvising comedic insults and trash talk, cracking jokes about each other until one of them has no comeback. And although this form of play is mostly good natured, it has been known to start as many fist fights as fits of laughter. Which begs the question, is one person's wound another's guffaw?
Aundre M. Herron of racewire.org writes: "Put to its highest and best use, comedy has the power to transform by pushing us to the edge of our comfort zones and beyond. It helps us to face ourselves squarely-our fears, our failings, our prejudices and lapses of character, decency, and common sense. "
American comedians have a long history of pushing boundaries, using edgy humor to fight the status quo and promote progressive issues. Pioneer comedian Moms Mabley challenged conventional ideas of race and gender and, before it was canceled in 1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was one of the most influential and controversial American television shows of its time. The show paid homage to the growing counter-culture movements springing up around the country and also derided the Vietnam War.
We live between fences. We may hardly notice them, but they are dominant features in our lives and in our history. Built of hedge, concrete, wood and metal, the fence skirts our properties and is central to the American landscape. We use them to enclose our houses and neighborhoods. They are decorative structures that are as much part of the landscape as trees and flowers. Industry and agriculture without fences would be difficult to imagine. Private ownership of land would be an abstract concept.
But fences are more than functional objects. They are powerful symbols. The way we define ourselves as individuals and as a nation becomes concrete in how we build fences.
Through an examination of boundaries, place, and space, Between Fences will explore how neighbors and nations divide, protect, offend, and defend through the boundaries they build.
This exhibit runs from April 25, 2009 - June 7, 2009
This exhibit runs from May 23, 2009 - July 11, 2009.
This exhibit runs from May 23, 2009 - July 11, 2009.
Dr. Dennis Cremin, Assistant Professor and Director of the History Center at Lewis University, will be the guest speaker for the opening of Journey Stories in Sycamore.
Dr. Cremin, one of the State Scholars for this Museum on Main Street project, will take a closer look at these national themes, and see how they relate to the state and local level during his presentation, "Journey Stories: From Our Backyard to the Nation."
Journey Stories Exhibit:
Journey Stories tells how we and our ancestors came to America. From Native Americans to new American citizens and regardless of our ethnic or racial background, everyone has a story to tell.
Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.
Journey Stories tells how we and our ancestors came to America. From Native Americans to new American citizens and regardless of our ethnic or racial background, everyone has a story to tell.
Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.
Many chose to move, searching for something better in a new land. Others had no choice, like enslaved Africans captured and relocated to a strange land and bravely asserting their own cultures, or like Native Americans already here, who were often violently removed by newcomers.
This exhibition runs from May 30, 2009 - July 11, 2009, at the Engh Farm at 1730 North Main Street in Sycamore.
