EVENTS

Western Illinois Museum 

WHAT: January Artifact of the Month is a wooden goat

WHEN: Feb.1- 29, 2012

WHERE:  Western Illinois Museum, 201 S. Lafayette St., Macomb, IL

Western Illinois Museum

Saturday, February 11th from 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Opening Reception for exhibit: Home Front: Life During the Civil War
Exhibit on view through May 5, 2011

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McDonough County Genealogical Society

Feb. 20, 2012 7pm

ABE LINCOLN 1831-1842

SOME DEFINING MOMENTS

DR. LARRY BALSAMO, SPEAKER

AT THE WESTERN ILLINOIS MUSEUM

MACOMB, IL

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Western Illinois Museum

Saturday, February 25th at 1:00 p.m.

Lecture: Fifty Miles to Slave Country: Slavery in Missouri and Why It Matters

With Katie Benson, WIU History Graduate Student and Intern at the Western Illinois Museum

For Immediate Release

February 18, 2012

The Western Illinois Museum announces

schedule of programs to accompany current exhibit,Home Front: Life During the Civil War

The Western Illinois Museum has a full line up of programs to accompany the newest exhibit, Home Front: Life During the Civil War.  There is something for everyone: lectures, book discussions, and even genealogy.  The programs center around the themes in the exhibit which looks at the impact the Civil War had on our region. 

Programs are free and open to the public. Additional information can be found on the museum’s facebook page, web site at www.westernillinoismuseum.org or by phone at 309.837.2750.

Fifty Miles to Slave Country: Slavery in Missouri and Why It Matters

Saturday, February 25th at 1:00 p.m.

Katie Benson, WIU History Graduate Student and Intern at the Western Illinois Museum, will share her research on the uniqueness of slavery in Missouri, who these slaves were and what they were doing.  Missouri, being only fifty miles from Macomb, brings the issue close to home and the lecture will show its impact on the freed Missouri slaves who settled in Macomb.

Find your Civil War Relative

Saturday, March 17 at 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

The West-Central Illinois Civil War Round Table and the McDonough County Genealogical Research Center in partnership with the Western Illinois Museum will hold a program to help participants explore their own Civil War heritage.  The program will be held on Saturday, March 17, from 1:00 – 4:00 at the museum. Participants will have a one-on-one session with a Round Table member to search for their Civil War relatives using various internet resources, an introduction to the Genealogical Society's Research Center and what it offers, and a tour of the current exhibit, Home Front: Life During the Civil War, with the museum’s curator.

Participants are encouraged to bring what information they have about the family member they are interested in researching.

Please RSVP for the program at 309.837.2750 or info@westernillinoismuseum.org.

Let’s Talk About It, Making Sense of the Civil War

Thursday, March 1 and April 5 at 7:00 p.m.

Join us for a reading and discussion about the Civil War, led by WIU History Professor Tim Roberts. The program will be held at the Malpass Library on the WIU campus.  Copies of the books can be checked out from the museum.  Find more information on the museum’s web site: www.westernillinoismuseum.org.

Civil War Letter between Thomas and

Lovinia Woof with Peggy and Wilbur Meyer

Saturday, May 5th at 1:00 p.m.

Married on July 4, 1854, Thomas and Lovinia Woof settled in Concord, Illinois, and started a family.  With the onset of the Civil War, Thomas enlisted with the 101st Illinois Infantry and their lives changed dramatically.  Peggy and Wilbur Meyer found a collection of the couple’s letters in their attic and have done significant research into their relatives’ lives.  This program is full of history, a lesson in genealogy and a captivating love story.

The current exhibit is on view through May 26, 2012.  Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The museum is located at 201 South Lafayette Street, one block south of Macomb’s Courthouse Square.

Colchester Area Historical Society will not be meeting

for the month of Feb. 2012.

Colchester Area Historical Society will meet

 March 26, 2012

at 7 P.M.

at Colchester City Hall Community Room in Friendway Park. 

Program for meeting is

"Show and Tell of Historical Items".