The Past Lives On at the ELMHURST HISTORY MUSEUM

BY CHUCK FIELDMAN | PHOTOS BY VICTOR HILITSKI

Dave Oberg sounds a bit like a proud parent when he talks about the Elmhurst History Museum.

The museum’s executive director arrived there just over five years ago and has a total of 33 years experience working in museums on his resume.

“I’ve always been a big fan of this museum. It punches well above its weight,” Oberg said of the Elmhurst History Museum. “It definitely has a strong following, and not just from Elmhurst. We get people coming from many different towns. There’s definitely an Elmhurst hook, but we have a lot of very popular exhibits that get into broader topics, such as pop culture. Our summer exhibit of Iconic Chicagoland Food was very popular, as an example.”

The stated mission of the Elmhurst History Museum is to engage people with history through thoughtful collection, enlightening exhibits, and diverse educational experiences.

THE MUSEUM FULFILLS ITS MISSION BY ACCOMPLISHING THE FOLLOWING:

• Presenting historical concepts and museum collections to the public through exhibits, educational programs, tours, and publications.

• Acquiring and caring for locally significant artifacts, records, documents, photographs, audio-visual materials, and publications related to Elmhurst history.

• Offering cultural, social, and learning opportunities related to the history and heritage of the regional community and the world at large.

• Providing research services to enable an understanding of local history and to make the museum’s collections available to the public.

• Maintaining two historically and architecturally significant buildings: the Glos Mansion and the Churchville Schoolhouse.

“The Museum fills an essential role in the life of the community by revealing the quality of life in years past and providing a basis on which community pride can grow and endure,” Oberg said.

The Museum connects people with history by presenting an eclectic mix of changing exhibits on a broad range of history-related topics, an engaging interactive exhibit on Elmhurst’s own history, plus a wide array of public programs, exhibit tours, school and scout programs, and spe- cial community events, he said.

“We always are trying to explore new topics,” Oberg said. “Sometimes, we try to align those topics with the school curriculum. We do get a lot of field trips at the museum.”

Oberg said museum officials continuously look for ways to appeal to various age groups. “We look for ways to connect with as many people as we can, and that means so many different age groups,” he said.

Oberg said the museum makes an effort to collect oral history from those who have something to offer.

“There’s a little more history each year,” he said. “Typically, our calendars is planned out at least two years in advance, and it takes a lot of work to do that.”

THE ELMHURST HISTORY MUSEUM’S EXHIBITS INCLUDE:

• An award-winning interactive exhibit, By All Accounts: The Story of Elmhurst, examining the city’s 165-plus-year history.

• An array of temporary exhibits developed from the museum collection and other regional history-related topics.

• Traveling exhibits created by the Museum staff that are rented and loaned to other institutions.

• A rotating schedule of national touring exhibits from other museums and sources.

• Collection

The Museum’s collection includes a permanent accumulation of more than 15,000 three-dimensional artifacts, archives featuring letters, manuscripts and more than 10,000 historic photographs, more than 300 linear feet of personal, business, and City of Elmhurst records, a library of more than 500 books, microfilm copies of Elmhurst newspapers, censuses, and Sanborn Fire Insurance maps.

The museum offers extensive resources for authors, researchers, residents and students to discover more about the city’s history.

The Elmhurst History Museum was founded in 1957 and is operated by the City of Elmhurst.

The museum is located at 120 E. Park Ave., in the Glos Mansion, which was built about 1892 and is the former home of Elmhurst’s first Village President, Henry Glos, and his wife, Lucy.

Along with the museum, staff also operates the Churchville Schoolhouse, a restored National Register of Historic Places property located at 3N784 Church Road in Bensenville. It was built about 1850 and is one of the only remaining one-room schoolhouses on its original site. The schoolhouse was reopened for public use in 2010 after an extensive restoration process.

The Churchville Schoolhouse provides visiting schoolchildren and other groups with an authentic living history experience and is available to visit by reservation. Group tours are available and occasional public programs and events for both families and adults are planned.

Both the Elmhurst History Museum and the Churchville Schoolhouse are supported by the non-profit Elmhurst Heritage Foundation. Museum Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday-Friday, 1-5 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The museum is usually closed on Mondays and holidays, including Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Day. General Admission is free; there are nominal fees for tours and select programs.

For more information, call the museum, (630) 833-1457. ■