Glencoe Historical Society
at the
Eklund History Center & Garden

Docent discusses artifacts from Taylorsport exhibit

For five years, second graders in Glencoe schools have benefited from a unique program for learning about the village’s past and its architectural heritage. This year the program has been nominated for a non-competitive educational award from the Illinois Association of Museums.

The Second Grade History and Architecture Program is presented by the Glencoe Historical Society in conjunction with the District # 35 Glencoe Parent Teacher Organization’s Cultural Arts Committee and the school faculty, and features five activities scheduled during a special history week in June. The program was conceived and designed by historical society board members Ellen Paseltiner and Scott Javore.

Falling this year the first week of June, second graders spend a week immersed in the history and architecture of Glencoe. Over the days of the week, they are presented with a powerpoint presentation on Glencoe’s past, walking tours of downtown Glencoe, a visit to the Glencoe Historical Society’s Eklund History Center and Garden, visits to two homes of different architectural styles, and the use of the historical society’s book, What’s So Great About Glencoe? All of the activities directly relate to the District #35 Second Grade Social Studies Curriculum “How Does My Community Change?”

More than 50 volunteers are involved in the program, including approximately 10 from the historical society and 40 from the PTO. The PTO parents are trained as docents, to lead the children in groups of four to six through downtown Glencoe where they look at pictures at what was before (historical past) and what is there now (present). These are concepts to be stressed under the curriculum guidelines.

At the Eklund History Center museum, the children again learn about Glencoe’s past through a series of exhibits featuring:

• Glencoe’s business district, 1880-1920;
• Eklund Furniture Workshop;
• Taylorsport and old Glencoe, 1835-1900; and
• Glencoe School Days, 1850-1980.

Parent-docents, trained by historical society members, point out objects of interest to the students to teach them about Glencoe and, again, about the concepts of past occupations (farming, blacksmithing), past inhabitants (farmers, visiting Native Americans), and past stores (groceries, butcher shops, etc.) The visits to the two homes are led by home owners, one of a classic Prairie architecture Frank Lloyd Wright home and the other of one of the oldest homes in the village, a Victorian painted lady.

A special exhibit, put up for the visit, is the “touch-me table,” with objects of everyday use that can be touched by the children. One of the more popular items is the rotary phone, which most have not seen and don’t comprehend in this age of push-button cell phones. Another item is the doctor’s bag for home visits – equally unknown to this generation.

Aside from the long-term cost of printing the coloring book, which would have been done even without this program, there are no specific costs associated with the program for either the schools or the society. The program has been highly successful for the five years of its existence and both the PTO and the historical society board look forward to its continuation.

Announcement of whether the program will win the educational award will come in September.