Glencoe Historical Society
at the
Eklund History Center & Garden

Autumn 2002 Newsletter

2nd year: Building on Success

Eklund Center, Garden ready for new year’s events

Following a successful first year, the Glencoe Historical Society has scheduled a number of events and exhibits for its second year at the Eklund History Center and Garden, our home that was donated by Sara “Sally” Eklund.

Bringing history home has been a theme for the Society since 1937. This year’s features:

• Publication of a new picture-history book;
• Three exhibits: “80 Years of Glencoe Girl Scouting”, the Eklund family furniture business, early Glencoe;
• Continued organization of the Research Center so it can be accessible to residents interested in researching their houses, their families or other, specific topics.

The full schedule of events this year includes twice-monthly Sunday openings and additional special events – tours, lectures or parties.

Financially, while the Historical Society is solvent, it remains dependent on donations to support the costs of the building and exhibits. The Society raised more than $60,000 in 2001-2002 to install plumbing and roughed in a kitchen, bathroom and office. We are now seeking additional funds to finish the walls, paint the outside and complete our kitchen.

We encourage residents to continue to renew their memberships and tuck in a “ bit more” as for an additional charitable donation. ⇑

Annual Dinner Set For November 18

Following a tradition begun in the 1980s, the Glencoe Historical Society will revive its annual meeting dinner November 18.

John and Leslie Carothers have graciously offered the use of their newly rebuilt house on Greenwood Avenue for the dinner and after-dinner program, a slide show about the Society’s newest book, Images of America Glencoe, Illinois. Authors Ellen Kettler Paseltiner and Ellen Shubart will talk about what was included in the book—and what wasn’t—and why.

Join us for this lovely event—dinner, conversation and a view of a beautiful new home in Glencoe.

Tickets are $30 per person. Send a check made out to the Glencoe Historical Society to Barbara Javore, 740 Greenwood Avenue. ⇑

Calendar 2002-2003

The Historical Society at the Eklund Center will be open the second and fourth Sundays of each month between September and mid-June. Hours are 2-4 p.m. Anyone is welcome to view the current exhibits, explore the collection or do research about your house or genealogy. Members of the Historical Society board will be present to talk about Glencoe History, help you research or just schmooze. No registration is necessary. If you cannot make it on a Sunday, appointments can be made for visiting the museum at other times.

The Eklund Center is handicapped accessible. For information, or set up an appointment, call 847.835.0040 and leave your name and number.

Specific events are below. Clip this page and file it. We’re sure you’ll want to come to many events!

An asterisk (’*‘) indicates that event requires registration and fee. To register call 847.835.0040, leave your name. Fees paid at door. All events at the Eklund Center, 377 Park Avenue, unless otherwise noted.

September

Sept. 8: *Daggitt Cemetery Tour

Sept. 22: 2-4 p.m.: Normal museum hours

Sept. 27, 7:30-9 p.m.: “80 Years of Girl Scouting” Exhibit Opening

October

Oct. 13: 2-4 p.m.: Normal museum hours

Oct. 27: 2-4 p.m.: “Researching Your House”

November

Nov. 10: 2-4 p.m.: Normal museum hours

Nov. 24: 2-4 p.m.: Images of America: Glencoe, Illinois Book Signing

December

Dec. 8: 2-4 p.m.: Donors’ Review of Plaque Installation (Opportunity for capital fund donors to check out spellings/listings for our donation plaque)

Dec. 22 : Closed for the holidays

January

Jan. 12: 2-4 p.m.: “Glencoe’s African American Community” Exhibit Opening

Jan. 26: 2-4 p.m.: Normal museum hours

February

Feb. 9: 2-4 p.m.: Black History Month

Feb. 23: 2-4 p.m., *“Did Glencoe Have an Underground Railroad?” Program

March

March 9: 2-4 p.m.: Normal museum hours

March 14: *Special Event: “Restoring An Historic House:” Visit, dinner at the Javore home, Greenwood Ave.

March 23: 2-4 p.m.: *Happy Birthday, Glencoe! Party

April

April 13: 2-4 p.m.: Normal museum hours

April 27: 2-4 p.m.: *Glencoe Road Show (antiques appraisal)

May

May 4: 2-4 p.m.: *A Program for Children: Victorian Fun and Games

May 18: 2-4 p.m.: Dedication of Plaque for Donors

June

June 8: 2-4 p.m.: *“Strawberry Sociable,” (Garden Party); Brick Walkway Dedication ⇑

Images of America: Glencoe, Illinois

Society produces new photo-history of Glencoe

The Glencoe Historical Society is proud to announce the birth of our newest “baby,” a pictorial history of Glencoe in the Images of America series, published by Arcadia Publishing, Chicago. Written by Research Center Director Ellen Kettler Paseltiner and Society President Ellen Shubart, the book presents more than 200 photographs, most taken from the Society’s collection, that illustrate the history of Glencoe from 1835 to the end of the twentieth century.

Central School, Graduating Class of 1925.
The teacher, 2nd row from the top, 2nd person in from the left, is Clara Deitz, science teacher for whom the Village’s Bird Sanctuary is named.

Images of America: Glencoe, Illinois features ten chapters, highlighting the early history of Glencoe, the business district, village government and services, schools, parks and recreation, village life, celebrations, religious institutions, transportation and architecture. An introduction to each chapter summarizes the history of the topic, but it is the pictures that tell the story.

“The two Ellens” got involved in the project last winter and worked steadily for six months. Ms. Paseltiner, already in the process of unpacking the Society’s collection at the Eklund Center, was a perfect choice to find and identify the photos. She was working with a committee of four—Barb Olinger, Elizabeth Hopper, Dan Goodwin and Beth Berry—that was meeting weekly to unpack boxes from the move from Watts Center and log in photos, artifacts and paper documents in preparation to setting up a full cataloguing system for the Research Center.

In addition to using the photographs already itemized, Ellen Paseltiner sought out more in boxes of artifacts and scrapbooks, unearthing many that most Society members had no idea existed. She then met with “old-timers,” long-time Glencoe residents, and had them identify the photo. Among other work, she sought out organizations active in Glencoe so the Village Life chapter would have a photo from each.

The “two Ellens” met regularly—sometimes it seemed like every night for five months – at the Eklund Center to go over the photos—to select, discard duplicates, and pare down the numbers to what was allotted by the publishers. Captions were then written for each, keeping the words to the maximum allowed under the Images of America format.

The authors and the Research Center committee had numerous “A-ha” moments—when the thrill of finding a photo no one had seen before brought cries of “Look at this!” Everyone hopes readers will have the same experience.

Glencoe, Illinois is now on sale at the Eklund Center, 377 Park Ave., or can be ordered by phone, 847.835.0040. We will deliver.

All proceeds from sales benefit the Historical Society. Cost is $19.99.

Authors’ book signings:

Nov. 18: Historical Society Annual Dinner

Nov. 24: Eklund History Center

Dec. 5: Glencoe Public Library ⇑

Newspapers inventoried

Find 1st ed. Glencoe News

This summer, a member of the national Newspaper Study team inventoried the collection of newspapers held by the Glencoe Historical Society.

Leith Rohr reviewed all of the Society’s newspapers in order to list them in a national database being compiled. She estimated that this national search—funded with federal and state funds—will be the last major national inventory of newspapers ever done.

Illinois and New York are the states with the largest number of published newspapers in America, she said. Rohr is inventorying papers in northern Cook and Lake counties. Other researchers are scouring the files of libraries and historical societies around the state to find all issues of newspapers published in the state’s history. When the search is completed, the materials will be microfilmed, estimated to happen within five years or so.

Among the items Ms. Rohr found that are included in no current database were the first and second editions of the Glencoe News, dated 1896. Not a direct ancestor of today’s Glencoe News, the broadsheet nevertheless was one of the first papers in the north suburban region. Other publications of the same era that the Society also holds include the Glennetka Window, with news of Glencoe and Winnetka, and the North Shore Record. While the Glencoe Public Library holds microfilmed records of the “new” Glencoe News, it does not have the early issues the Society holds.

Newspapers are excellent sources of historical information. Sometimes they are found in attics or family artifact collections. They also have been found in walls of older homes under renovation or restoration. The papers served as insulation or were just “stuffed” in by workmen. In the future, the Historical Society will consider an exhibit of our extensive early newspaper holdings. ⇑

Thanks For Donations Spring–Fall 2002

The Historical Society is always grateful to those who donate funds and/or artifacts for the collection.

Since our last listing, the following people have donated items to the collection. We thank all of them.

Eklund Center Garden

Pope Family Foundation

Funding for resetting of the patio (to create handicapped accessible entrance)

Barbara & Sidney Jarrow

Microwave oven

Sue Lenard

Cups, saucers

Marianne Crosby, Betsy Johnston

Flatware

Scott Javore

Office copier

Glencoe Public Library

Garden furniture

Klaus Schmettig & Co. (landscape firm, Prairie View, IL)

Landscaping materials for the front edging

Village of Glencoe

Sign frame

Museum collection

Gerald Belko (Winnetka)

Glencoe-Kenilworth-Wilmette-Winnetka phone book, April 1945; ice delivery notice sign

The Diettrich family

Family photos

Alice Glicksberg

Ox yoke; man’s bowler hat; metronome; shorthand instruction manual; ration book

Janice Gemp

Exhibition supplies

Mimi Hart

Ink well, tablecloth

Barbara Javore

National Treasury of Cooking book

Ellen Paseltiner

Architecture Pack book

Marguerite Remien

Drawing of Vernon Ave.

Village of Glencoe

Wienecke display case, cash register, railroad light

If you would like to donate photos, the Society will reproduce them and return the originals. Donations are tax deductible. If you have something to donate, bring it over on a Sunday afternoon or call 847.835.0040 to make an appointment to have items picked up. ⇑

September Opens With Girl Scout Exhibit

Almost 40 people came to Eklund Center on Sept. 27 to peruse and enjoy the “80 Years of Glencoe Girl Scouting” an exhibit curated by Alice Glicksberg and Janice Gemp.

The main exhibition room is filled with uniforms—dating from 1917 when Scouts wore khaki instead of today’s familiar green—through 1986. Uniforms for Mariners, Cadets, Seniors, Brownies and Juniors march around the room, while the new display cabinet is filled with camping gear. Cookie sales paraphernalia—boxes, order forms, posters and photos of girls selling them in various years are on an island display in the center of the room.

Many of the artifacts on display are on loan from local Girl Scout troops, the Des Plaines Historical Society Council and others are from the Society’s collection.

Glencoe Scouting began in Glencoe 80 years ago. The initial Scout leaders were Sarah Nohelty, a former Central School teacher, Mrs. James G. McMillan and Ruth L. Goss, a secretary at the Union Church, where the troops met. A 1921 photo of the first troop is on display.

Scouting was extremely popular at various times in Glencoe, but no more so than the 1950s, when there were 40-48 troops, depending on the year, offering Scouting for upwards of 525 girls.

On the opening evening, Scouts from the Shooting Star Troop presented the colors and help serve refreshment for the evening—Girl Scout cookies, of course, and punch.

The Scout exhibit will run at the Elund Center until February. ⇑

Comments

1.  

2. On March 21, 2006 2:39 PM, Rev. Ronald Zoubek said:

   Recently, while clearing out an old Boy Scout closet at our church, I found a placque with the following inscription:
   THE EKLUND SCOUT CENTER
   Dedicated to Dan and Marguerite Eklund
   for their unselfish work on behalf of
   the youth of this community.

   I am trying to find where this belongs. Your site came up on a Google search. If this placque should be at your place, please contact me so I can return it. If it's not your's please let me know as well. Thanks for your help.

   fr. Ron.

3. On March 23, 2006 4:04 PM, Nello Lucchesi said:

   Rev. Ron Zoubek:

   Thank you for inquiring whether the plaque that you found is associated with the Eklund History center: It does not.

   We wish you luck in finding the rightful location for this plaque.