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 October 24 - December 6, 2009.

The remains of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico are preserved in Illinois, just 8 miles from modern-day St. Louis. This slide presentation features an overview of the Native American cultures leading up to the time of Cahokia, then a specific discussion of Cahokia's culture and primary features, such as Monks Mound, Mound 72, the Stockade Wall, and Woodhenge. The presentation will also cover the site's current facilities, exhibits and programs, and will include views of mounds, excavations, reconstructions, artifacts, maps, and artists' renderings of Cahokia Mounds.

At the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, Mary Florence Potts' cold-handled sad iron was the toast of the fair. She spent the next two decades touring the country with a promotional lecture. Mrs. Potts will visit your group as a stop on her tour to promote her invention. She will discuss domestic life in the 19th Century, the science and technology behind the development of her invention, and what it means for a woman to hold a US Patent and manage her own affairs. Mrs. Potts can appear at your event in 1885, or if you prefer, in 1893 when she was in Chicago for the Columbian Exposition. Mrs. Potts arrives costumed in the preferred year, with examples of her invention and period appropriate promotional materials.

Illinois has rich and diverse folk music traditions that are little known outside a small circle of scholars. From the beginning of the 19th century through the folk revival of the 1950s, the many peoples who made Illinois their home produced a huge body of folk music, including historical ballads, labor anthems, early country songs, and dance tunes as well as a large body of music from ethnic communities in the state.

Nine out of ten Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving, and most do so around a family table. Food and tradition are the heart and soul of this most-loved, most-observed holiday. Thanksgiving has become the origin myth of America and the expression of deeply held American cultural ideals. As it considers the evolution of Thanksgiving, from the "First Thanksgiving" in 1621 to the present day, this program invites the audience to think about what this holiday and its food traditions mean for American culture and identity.

This program encourages everyone to record and save his or her family's history and stories. Jeff Bockman explains how to use basic forms to record family data, as well as basics for identifying people in photographs, basic preservation, and how to record unique family stories. He discusses personal examples from his family, including ways to handle difficult situations like a parent leaving the family or learning of a disabling disease.

The remains of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico are preserved in Illinois, just 8 miles from modern-day St. Louis. This slide presentation features an overview of the Native American cultures leading up to the time of Cahokia, then a specific discussion of Cahokia's culture and primary features, such as Monks Mound, Mound 72, the Stockade Wall, and Woodhenge. The presentation will also cover the site's current facilities, exhibits and programs, and will include views of mounds, excavations, reconstructions, artifacts, maps, and artists' renderings of Cahokia Mounds.