Events & Exhibits

Destination Heartland

The history of the Midwest is remarkable and often surprising. Fortunately, people realized early on that it was worth preserving. Cynthia Clampitt will take us on a tour of destinations and events across the Greater Midwest that reveal how a region famed for supplying food actually supplied so much more, including iconic images, legendary individuals, and inventions that would change the world. From prehistory to present, Wild West to Wright Brothers, hear the tales and “visit” the museums, living-history venues, archaeological sites, historic towns, vintage farms, reenactments, and even restaurants that make the Midwest’s past accessible—and fun.

Highland Park’s Contributions to Lake County History Symposium, 2022

Highland Park Historical Society will host Highland Park-centric presentations from ‘The Built Environment: Architecture and Landscape in Lake County’, on Wednesday March 9, 2022 at 7:00 pm via Zoom. Daughters of the American Revolution’s late 19th century project to document log cabins and where was Inventor Elijah Gray’s Factory really located?

The Inky Sea: Tattoos and the Navy

Naval history is rich in the culture and tradition of tattoos. Tattoos have been a part of the Navy for centuries and each one tells a story. Sailors get them for different reasons, at different places on their bodies, and done in different styles. In this presentation, we will discuss the ways in which tattoos and Navy culture intertwine, how they are part of Navy traditions, and view the many styles of Navy tattoos.

Women, Philanthropy, Recipes, and Social Progress: A Reexamination of Primary Resources

These presentations were made at the Illinois History Conference at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in October, 2021. Since this is ongoing research, there will be additional information learned after this event.

Crofton Cook Book Club: Manuscript Cook Book from Fort Sheridan, 1895

Dive into the Dunn Museum’s collection to explore an 1895 cookbook that was used at Fort Sheridan with guest speaker Catherine Lambrecht and Museum Educator Nicole Stocker. Participants are invited to test out recipes from the cookbook prior to the program to then share their experiences along with the presenters, though it is not required to join the program.

Pearl Harbor – A Day of Infamy – via ZOOM not at the library

It was a day that our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles would never forget. It was a day that would live in infamy forever more - December 7, 1941. That morning Japanese warplanes appeared over the Hawaiian Islands to launch a surprise aerial bombardment of American air and naval installations. It was the event that propelled the United States into the Second World War. Battlefield expert Robert Mueller reviews the why and how the Japanese almost wiped out the American Pacific Fleet in one fell swoop. Using individual stories the men who responded to the attack, Mr. Mueller presents the tactics and the consequences of the most treacherous assault ever launched upon American soil. The program ends with a review of the surviving relics and, appropriately, a visit to National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

The Pilgrim Kitchen & The Harvest Celebration of 1621: Plimoth Patuxet Museum, Plymouth Massachusetts

As part of the research for his book, The Kitchen, John Ota travelled to Plymouth, Massachusetts where he cooked a meal over an open fire with Pilgrim Foodways historian Kathleen Wall. On the 400th anniversary of the Harvest Feast between the New England colonists and the Wampanoag people, John will share his experiences of the culinary history, architecture, cooking methods and the dishes from the first Thanksgiving of 1621. John’s presentation will include multiple images, 1621 recipes as well as truths and misconceptions about this favorite holiday occasion. Yes, there was turkey - but it was not the main event!

Chicago’s Second Greatest Fire: Union Stock Yards Fire of 1934

HPHS Board Member Jeff Stern, also on the Board of the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago, tells how a fast-moving fire in cattle pens, fed by dry conditions and strong winds, destroyed a significant portion of the Union Stock Yards, and required the efforts of 1,600 firemen and 100 of the city's 121 pumpers to control.

This Land is Your Land: The Folksongs of Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) is America’s most legendary folksong writer. His music continues to uplift and excite musicians and audiences around the world. Inspired by Guthrie’s most famous song, This Land Is Your Land features the performance (guitar and vocal) of several Guthrie songs, as well as commentary on the time period and each song. The program also places Guthrie and his music in a larger historical context while also offering details on his life.

Viennese Cuisine Prior to 1938 with Susan Belovari, Archivist

The famous Wiener Küche had long been a collective culinary tradition of Jews and non-Jews alike. It was perhaps the perfect example, in an imperfect and Anti-Semitic city, of two formerly distinct groups moving towards each other and integrating while daily creating, cooking, and eating one cuisine. This is to be expected of people who lived so long and close to each other, when there still was an ‘us’ in Vienna before 1938, as fragile as it may have been. Any knowledge of this shared history was wiped out by genocide and mass flight – after 1945, there were almost no Viennese Jews left in Vienna to remind us. It required the memories and cookbooks of Jewish refugees and survivors across the world to rediscover the contributions of Viennese Jews to the famous Viennese Cuisine.