Glencoe Historical Society
at the
Eklund History Center & Garden

The Eklund History Center museum, owned and operated by the Glencoe Historical Society, is closed for the next two months in order to have construction and heating and air conditioning work done.

Following completion of the work, which involves installing a new air conditioning unit to protect the Society’s collection of archives and artifacts, the museum will reopen at its location at 377 Park Ave. The work is estimated to take two months.

Other work that will be done includes installing new shelving to hold the collection, sealing the floors and installing wallboard in two-thirds of the attic. The latter will help maintain the temperature in the area that functions as the collection storage area. The rooms already have filters on the windows to keep harmful sunlight out.

While the museum exhibitions have been dismantled, the Research Center will continue to be open for visits and research needs. The center is open Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment.

Regular Eklund Sunday opening hours will be eliminated until the museum re-opens.

For more information or questions, call the Eklund Center at 847.835.0040.

Comments

1.  

2. On November 8, 2007 3:14 PM, Mari Connors said:

   My father told me long ago, that Black people had lived along Green Bay Road, and that the reason there is a parkway along the area near Hubbard woods, is because there was racial unrest, and people sent blacks away and burned their houses." I would like to know, if anything like this actually occured. Thanks.

3. On December 13, 2007 4:13 PM, Laura (Novak) Rusch said:

   My grandmother, Hulda Radig, worked in Glencoe as a domestic servant for the R.W. Stevens family in 1906 and 1907. I am wondering if the R. W. Stevens family house is still standing. I am also wondering if there is any published information about domestic servants from this time period. My grandmother's sisters, Emma, Mary, and Dora also worked as domestic servants. They were farm girls from Iowa.

4. On February 7, 2008 9:54 AM, Ellen Shubart, GHS Board Member said:

   Dear Mari,
   The fact is that Black people lived along Vernon Avenue along with many Italian families. In the 1920s, a group of white men, acting as an ad hoc zoning commission, used their eminent domain powers to take over and raze homes in the area. They said the homes that were destroyed were blighted, delapidated and unsuited for Glencoe. The historical society has the scrapbook that the Syndicate, which is what the men called themselves, put together showing the old homes and what replaced them. There were no burnings that we know of. The Historical Society has an exhibit, Celebrating Black History, now up at the Glencoe Public Library through the month of February 2008. We invite you and everyone to visit and read about the history of this movement that provided the swath of green space in our community. The exhibit is open whenever the library is open. We also are sponsoring a panel discussion about growing up in Glencoe featuring a number of black residents. It will be held on Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the library, 320 Park Ave. (Activites of the historical society will be held at the library until construction is completed at the Eklund History Center.)

5. On February 7, 2008 9:59 AM, Ellen Shubart, GHS Board Member said:

   We are delighted to hear about your grandmother, Hulda Radig from Iowa, who worked in Glencoe as a domestic servant in 1906 and 1907. At this time we are unable to document where the R.W. Stevenhs home is because our collection of phone books and other information are boxed up as we complete work on the museum building. We will be delighted to look that up when the museum is put to right, hopefully by April 1. In the meantime, we urge you to contact the Winnetka Historical Society, which would have similar phone books and perhaps you can find the information there. However, we hope to keep in touch as the category "domestic servants" is one about which we have little information. We hope you'll provide a copy of your book on your family once you complete it so we can have such valuable information in our collection. Thanks for writing.