Join Architectural Historian Rebecca Hunter for a discussion about mail-order homes and discover some hidden treasures in Maywood as well! Author, researcher and lecturer Rebecca Hunter became fascinated with the phenomenon of mail order homes in 1996, and is currently engaged in the study of kit homes and agricultural buildings marketed from 1906-1946 by nine different companies. Hunter has sought these buildings throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and in many other states. She has located mail order buildings in over 400 Illinois municipalities and in 29 other states.
Through funding from the Illinois Humanities Council, Rebecca Hunter recently completed surveys of River Forest, Bellwood, Maywood, and Elmhurst. These findings will be used in the creation of a mail-order home database which will be unveiled early next year.
Select Illinois Humanities Council programs are now available for listening or download at Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) as a part of Chicago Amplified, a web-based audio library of diverse public events recorded throughout the Chicago region.
