MEMBERSHIP

Events & Exhibits

Nov
1

Highland Park 150 History Prize – Adult Deadline

An initiative to contribute to high quality education in Highland Park and environs while stimulating interest in the City's history and use of archives and historical collections at the Library and beyond. With local history and collections as an educational tool, the Highland Park History Prize aims to encourage original research. Although this effort is intended to reach all and cover a broad spectrum of local history topics, the prize will encourage new study of historical events, actors and groups in Highland Park previously under documented or studied. Examples may include farming and immigrant populations in the 19th centuries; or 21st century newcomers. This prize takes its inspiration from the Chicago History Fair and National History Day. Prizes will be given at 3 age levels: primary-middle, high school and adult. The participants current grade will determine level.Judging will be blind.
Nov
1

Highland Park 150 History Prize – Adult Deadline

An initiative to contribute to high quality education in Highland Park and environs while stimulating interest in the City’s history and use of archives and historical collections at the Library and beyond. With local history and collections as an educational tool, the Highland Park History Prize aims to encourage original research.Although this effort is intended to reach all and cover a broad spectrum of local history topics, the prize will encourage new study of historical events, actors and groups in Highland Park previously under documented or studied. Examples may include farming and immigrant populations in the 19th centuries; or 21st century newcomers.This prize takes its inspiration from the Chicago History Fair and National History Day. Prizes will be given at 3 age levels: primary-middle, high school and adult. The participants current grade will determine level.Judging will be blind.
Oct
14

Sears Homes of Chicagoland

Do you love old homes? On October 14, come explore the Sears Homes of Chicagoland. From 1908 to 1942, Sears Roebuck and Company sold ready-to-build kit homes through catalogs. Despite the rash of teardowns in the Chicago area, some of these houses have managed to survive.  Learn about the Sears homes still standing in Highland Park and neighboring communities, and how to identify them. Lara Solonickne is the creator of the Sears Homes of Chicagoland website (sears-homes.com). She is an architecture enthusiast who enjoys uncovering the hidden stories behind old houses. She holds a degree from Northwestern University. Her research and blog have been featured by FOX 32 News, Curbed, McMansion Hell, the Chicago Tribune, Yale University Press, The Birmingham News, and more.
July
26

Big Boy Rolls Through Highland Park Today!

 The Big Boy No. 4014, a one-million pound steam locomotive, is estimated to be crossing Gurnee at 10:45 am on July 25th and perhaps through Highland Park about 30 minutes later (but get there a little earlier).  The train will pass on the freight railroad tracks west of 41. You can track the engine via the internet for the latest information here: https://www.up.com/forms/steam-trace.cfm This train is on a tour celebrating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railway will be in West Chicago, IL until Monday.
July
24

Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s Completion

The Big Boy No. 4014, a one-million pound steam locomotive, will be touring the Union Pacific system, taking it through Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Wyoming.  On Friday July 26th sometime between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. one the largest steam locomotive ever built is going to be passing through Highland Park on the railroad tracks west of route 41.  The trip is part of a nationwide tour celebrating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad.  In honor of the event the HP Historical Society is presenting a program on the building of the transcontinental RR and the history of passenger rail through Highland Park.
Jun
25

A History of Preservation in Lake County

Lake County has a rich history of preservation. Join Lake County’s Dunn Museum curator, Diana Dretske, for an introduction to individuals whose efforts preserved the county's historical and natural heritage, including Bess Bower Dunn, Edward DeWolf, Jesse Lowe Smith, Robert Vogel and Ethel Untermyer. Diana Dretske is the Curator and Lake County historian for the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County. Dretske is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois State Historical Society for making outstanding contributions in promoting, preserving and commemorating Illinois history. Primary areas of expertise for research and programming include the history of Lake County, Illinois.