Glencoe Historical Society
at the
Eklund History Center & Garden

Spring 2005 Newsletter

Honoring Sara “Sally” Eklund and Her Family

Plaque on the entry to the Eklund Garden.

On May 21, friends and family of the benefactor of the Glencoe Historical Society, Sara C. “Sally” Eklund, are to gather for a celebratory memorial service in her honor. Sally Eklund was a true supporter of the Society, having donated the workshop of her family’s interior design and furniture building shop and the magnificent garden at 377 Park Ave. in 2000. The workshop today is the Eklund History Center, home of the Glencoe Historical Society. Following Sally’s passing in the fall of 2004, the second building on the property, 375 Park Ave., formerly the home of the Eklund family also will be donated to the society. A plaque marking Sally and her family’s life has been installed on the garden wall at the Eklund Center and a swamp oak tree will be planted in her honor.

Exhibit honoring the Eklund family inside the museum.

Sally Eklund and her family, father Carl and mother Ester and brother Carl Hilding, came to Glencoe in 1917 from Chicago, where they had emigrated to from Sweden. Mr. Eklund set up his shop on Park Avenue in 1918. Sally and her brother Carl Hilding (and later Carl’s son, Carl William) graduated from Northwestern University. Sally studied in Europe – first in Gothenburg, Sweden in a fine antique store, and then in Paris at the Alliance Francais. The 1920s were excellent years for the shop that did upholstering, draperies, wallpaper and interior design. Unfortunately, the Depression was hard and then came World War II. Carl Hilding left Glencoe to join the Navy. It was difficult to get upholstery supplies: no metal and no fabrics were allowed from abroad and the government levied a tax on cotton. Following the war, it was difficult to get skilled craftsmen. Carl C. Eklund died in 1947, but Sally and her brother were able to carry on the business until his death in 1970.

Sally lived at 375 Park Ave. until the late 1990s, when she moved to Covenant Village in Northbrook. Inside the Eklund Center is an exhibit with never-before seen family pictures and artifacts from 375 Park Avenue. We invite you see this exhibit, another way to honor Sally.⇑

It’s the Annual Strawberry Sociable—June 12th

The annual gathering to celebrate the beginning of summer, strawberries and the magnificent Eklund Garden is scheduled for June 12, 2005, 2–4 p.m. Join us for food, fun and the addition of eight new bricks on our commemorative walkway.

The garden is in the center of downtown Glencoe and the second Sunday in June makes it the center for fun. No admission—bring your friends to enjoy the outdoors and the strawberries! Remember: June 12, 2005: 2–4 p.m., rain or shine!⇑

Looking for Information?

Many find it at Historical Society Web site

In the last newsletter, we introduced you to www.GlencoeHistoricalSociety.org, the Glencoe Historical Society’s Web site.

During the past few months we have had numerous questions from a variety of sources, including a Dutch woman’s inquiry about an American town named Glencoe that aided her town in the years following World War II with shipments of shoes and clothing. While we’re still not certain if that was our Glencoe, the Research Center staff has been able to find the answers to many other questions, such as the history of Misner Auditorium—a public subscription built the community auditorium that was later named for long-time Glencoe School Superintendent Paul Misner— as well as artists and art galleries in the community. Most of the questions have to do with house histories or people in Glencoe.

Research Center Director Ellen Paseltiner and her team have been able to answer most of the questions, particularly since we now have the beginning of a computerized index of all the artifacts and archival papers in the society’s collection.

Webmaster and Board Member Nello Lucchesi has done a masterful job in adding information to the site on a regular basis. It now includes information about all our current exhibits—many with accompanying pictures—and the Eklund Garden.

If you have any questions, the Web site is interactive and you can file them there. Nello will respond and send your question on its way to the right researcher. ⇑

Sheridan Road Bus Tour Terrific Success

Tour Guide.

A bus tour along the historic and “most beautiful road in the world” (Chicago Inter Ocean, Sept. 25, 1898), Sheridan Road, April 17, 2005 took 55 interested time travelers on a trip along the spine of the North Shore. Co-sponsored by the seven historical societies of the North Shore, the trip began in Evanston and ended at Lake Bluff’s famous Crab Tree Farm. Along the way, guides/interpreters from each of the societies spoke of the many interesting places in each town. There were stops in Kenilworth at Maloney Park and Wilmette in Gilson Park across from the Ba’hai Temple.

A portion of the Glencoe contingent enjoys a Wilmette stop on the Sheridan Road Bus Tour. From left: Barbara, Scott and Eleanor Javore; Lisa and Ed Goodale; Ellen Paseltiner.

The tour was the first effort of the North Shore History Consortium with participating organizations Evanston, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park and Lake Forest/Lake Bluff historical societies and Wilmette Historical Museum. Ellen Paseltiner, Research Center Director, is Glencoe’s representative to this group of primarily professional staffers of these organizations; she was the guide for the Glencoe portion of the tour.

The tour was extremely successful and unfortunately many people had to be turned away. The group promised that they will consider adding spaces for a planned next year’s tour. They would do any tour in April, before too much foliage is visible that would prevent people seeing the houses and landmarks along the route. ⇑

Eklund Garden Blooms

Ready for Phase II

By Vivian Zahniser, Garden Chairman

Flowers are in bloom at the Eklund Center.

Thanks to the generosity of so many, the Eklund Garden has begun to bloom this spring with many more plant materials than it contained a year ago.

Phase One of the Garden Project has been completed, and Phase Two is to be implemented July 2005.

Phase Two redesigns the front section of the Garden: adding 200 old-fashioned perennials, evergreens, and shrubs to the existing iris. Phase Two also creates a seating area beneath the crabapple tree at the corner of the property.

The new plantings should be a lovely addition to the inner path, towering spruce trees and donor circle plantings installed last summer. The projected Eklund Garden plan can be reviewed through our internet site or by visiting the Glencoe Historical Society.

This May an appeal for continued donations to the Garden Fund is being sent to all Glencoe residents and Historical Society members. It is the hope of the Historical Society Board that sufficient funds will be raised from this campaign so that the Garden’s lighting needs may be addressed. At present there is no lighting that allows visitors safe passage to the Museum after dark. A lighting system that employs a “moonlighting effect” emanating from large trees and also some specimen lighting of plant groups is called for in the Garden’s long-range plan.

The proposed design would address lighting needs for safety, security and aesthetic purposes.

The Glencoe Historical Society’s Eklund Garden Project brings together the volunteer efforts and talents of:

• Village Gardeners of Glencoe,
• Glencoe Garden Club,
• Glencoe Park District,
• Glencoe Village Board, and
• Mariani Landscape.

Please encourage your neighbors to visit this unique green sanctuary in downtown Glencoe, and please ask them to join you in helping us create a beautiful garden in downtown Glencoe for all to enjoy. ⇑

Donations to Garden Renovation Project

We deeply appreciate the contributions of the many donors who generously support our efforts for the Garden and have made contributions since our last newsletter. This is a list of donations made between Oct. 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005. An asterisk (‘*’) indicates donors of $100 or more.

Donations of $1000 to $1999

Florence H. Boone, and Steven and Teri Rosenberg in memory of Barbara Hazelkorn.

Donations of $500 to $999

Jeff and Susan Gumbiner in honor of Andrew Gumbiner’s Eagle Scout Project.

Donations to $500

Steven and Lynn Barron, *Sam and Anne Badger, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Belgrad, Beth and Robert Footlik, and Alice Gross

Donations in memory of Sara C. Eklund

*Lois and Carl Eklund, Jean F. Fisher, Maxine R. Philipsborn, and Maurice P. Wolk
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Archive, Artifact Collections , Are Computerized with PastPerfect

The Glencoe Historical Society is as busy out of sight as with our on-view exhibits.

In the Research Center, volunteer staffers have been working to give an identification number to each item that is donated and register that artifact (a 3-D item) or archive (papers, magazines or books) in a special computer program for museums called PastPerfect. Each item is entered as to its donor information, including who gave it and how that person used it; its condition (looks new, has been ripped, is dirty); and its “provenance,” meaning its history and relationship to Glencoe.

The Historical Society has a policy of collecting items that relate to Glencoe and other items that might have been used by Glencoe residents.

We’re always finding out new things about Glencoe from photos or items people bring over. What do you have in your attic? ⇑

Artifact Donations Increase Interest, Value of Permanent Collection

Visitors to the Eklund Center view with pleasure the exhibits we have on display on the first floor. But a great deal of what makes the museum what it is can be found on the second floor—from the picture binders to the file folders filled with information. On the shelves and in the boxes, we store costumes and hats from the 1870s through the 1980s. On the research shelves we house books about Glencoe, by Glencoe authors, and about the artifacts we own.

We deeply appreciate the contributions made by donors. This acknowledges donors who have made contributions from October 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005:

• Brown velvet wedding dress, 1920s: Mimi Hart
• Autobiography, concert flyer, CD of cello music: Laurien Laufman, cellist
• Assorted Boy Scout items: Sherry Schellenbach
• DVD, history of Lake Shore County Club: Dan Swett
• Collection of women’s clothing, shoes, ceramics, kitchen utensils: Helen Cunningham (Arlington Heights, IL)
• Man’s hat box from Oval Dobb’s 5th Avenue: Betsy Johnston
• Nick (or Al) Funari Landscaper: photo, Army uniform and shovel: Ellen Paseltiner
• Collection of Non-Violent Toys (company based In Glencoe): Phil Siegel, owner
• WW II Civil Defense block captain map : Susie Schreiber
• Illustrated History of Antiques, reference book: Janice Gemp
• Political button collection: John Carothers
• Glencoe Public Safety 50 Year Badge and Voting machine instructional model: Ellen Shubart
• White graduation dress, New Trier High School, 1988: Katie Glicksberg
• The Moses Riddle, by Glencoe author Hunt Kinsbury: Mary Remien, Kenilworth
• Hat box from Dorothy Rutz, milliner, Glencoe, 1950s: Mrs. John Riley
• Brown felt man’s hat, white plastic rotary phone : Alice Glicksberg
• Photographs, Eklund family: Carl & Lois Eklund
• T-shirts, pink plastic piggy bank, sign: Sweet Jenny’s
• Display easel, color reproduction of Tribune cover by Glencoe artist Earl Gross, 1940s: Susan Myrick
• Aerial photo map of North Shore: Dan Spotskey, Image Trader (Flagstaff, AZ)
• Photo of Memorial Day, 1961: Liz Kornblith (Florida)
• Cookbooks from Pioneer Press 1978, 1979, 1980 and 3-inch wooden rule from Landi Paint Co.: Susie Bisgeier

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Donations, Membership Fees Keep Society, Eklund Center, and Garden Moving Forward

The Glencoe Historical Society is a 501(c)3 organization. Our expenses are covered by donations and memberships that we receive. With the advent of the Eklund Center we have, of course, absorbed a number of expenses that we never had before—utilities, upkeep, insurance—while we continue to have expenses for our exhibits, collection storage and programming.

We deeply appreciate the contributions of all the many donors who generously support our efforts. We appreciate the continued support of the Village of Glencoe ($3,000), Glencoe businesses, and residents.

Below, we gratefully acknowledge donors who have made contributions since our last newsletter, October 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005. An asterisk (‘*’) indicates donors of $100 or more.

Government

*Village of Glencoe.

Businesses

*The Art Store Gallery, *North Shore Community Bank.

Corporate Matching Grants

*Household International, and *SBC Telecommunications, Inc..

Sustaining Members ($500 and above)

Theodore Eckert Foundation, Bev and Wade Fetzer, The Handelsman Family Foundation, Henry Pope Foundation, Alan Gordon Rottman Family, and Ellen and Richard Shubart.

Family and Individual Members

American Realty Consultants, Konstantinos and Linda Amriros, Harriet and Fredric Ancel, Sam and Anne Badger, *Susan and Steve Balsamo, Lun Ye Barefield, Wendy Beaver, Ralph P. Beebe, Karen Benn, Joan and Julian Berman, Joan Bernick, Susan Bisgeier, Jennifer S. Black, Marilyn M. Black, Marjorie C. Bourke, Eleanor Coon Briggs, Peter and Joanna Bristol, Stan and Judy Brody, *Rick and Andee Brown, Mary Bucaro, John Burk, Ann and Richard Burnstine, Robert and Cheryl Byron, Leslie and John Carothers, Mike and Karla Cavanagh, Joel and Sandra Dalkin, John and Alice Deimel, James DeWitt, Jody and Larry Dickstein, Russel Dushman, The Edidin Family, Elaine Fiffer, Bob and Carol Foley, Maurice and Muriel Fulton, Barbara and Charles Gately, *Janice Gemp, *Alice Glicksberg, David Golder , Louis and Barbara Goldman, *Arthur and Susie Goldner, *Ed and Lisa Goodale, JoAnn Shrier Gordon, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell Gordon, Dr. and Mrs. Jack Graller, *Steven Greenberg, Alice Gross, Anne Gutmann, Howard and Carolyn Haas , Peter Haback, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hall, Louise Hart, *Gaye Hill, Ann S. Hoenig, Ellen D. Hohlfelder, Neil and Judith Holleb, Mr. and Mrs. J.G. Howland, Cheri Jaffe , Mr. and Mrs. Sidney F. Jarrow, *Kristen and Wesley Jasinski, *Mr. and Mrs. R. Scott Javore , *Mr. and Mrs. Harold A Katz, *Kyle and Jim Kiefer, Heidi Kiesler, Debora and Richard Kotz, Rosanne Kovnat, Carolyn and David Langenbach, *Paul and Virginia Lawless, Lawrence and Debra Levis, Eva and Arnold Levy, *Al Lipton and Kathleen Roseborough, Maynard and Judy Louis, *Ann and Nello Lucchesi, Edward E. Mack III, John Madden Jr., *Fred and Joyce Marcus, Jeremiah McAuliffe , Steven McDonald-Adelfang, *Meegan McMillan, Robert and Lorel McMillan, Barbara and Richard Melcher, John and Shelley Mickevice, *Mr. and Mrs. Michael Mikolajczyk, *Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Morris, Richard and Anne Nathan, The Seymour Nordenberg Family, *Brian Norton and Kathryn S. Grace, Edward and Barbara Olinger, The Stephen Olson Family, *The Paseltiners, Lance and LoAnn Peterson, *Christopher and Sara Pfaff, Michele and Nicolas Porta, David Richter, *Ben and Elaine Rozansky, *Dr. Lawrence H. Rubenstein, Wendy Rubin, Joyce Saffir, Carolyn and Dr. David Saidel, Sherry Schellenbach, Mitch and Jill Schoenfeld, Stan Schuman , *John and Evey Schweig, *Mr. Frederic M. Schweiger, Cynthia Scott, Jeanne and Bill Seabright, *David and Susan Sherman, Laura and Donald Shindler, Susan and Steve Sholl, Barbara Sideman, Robert A. Sideman, Rochelle Sincox, LaVerne N. Smelker, *Chad and Tricia Smith, Christine and Sheldon Smith, Edna Smith , Dr. Herbert Solomon, Grace K. Stearns, *Marcie and Avy Stein, Ireland and Susan Stewart, Lesley and Bob Strauss, Marilyn Straus, Daniel Swett, Ilyce and Sam Tamkin, The tenBrink Family, Howard and Paula Trienens, Elizabeth C. Warren, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wawryzniak , Paul and Helen Weaver, Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Weiss, Susan and Leslie West , Carolyn Winter, Victoria and John Winter, Peter and Tamera Wissinger, Alan Wolf and Margot Weinberg, *Robert and Vivian Zahniser, *Alex and Deann Zoghlin, and Nancy L. Zuraw.

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Visitors Welcome at Eklund Center

In May, the Glencoe Garden Club enjoyed a visit to the Eklund Center for a tour of the garden, the Museum and a discussion.

If your group would like to have a visit, give us a call at 847.835.0040. We’d be delighted to give you a tour of the Museum and/or garden and talk about Glencoe’s history. ⇑