Mount Prospect Historical Society

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Events

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New Programs this Year

The Mount Prospect Historical Society campus at 101 S. Maple Street, Mount Prospect, will be bustling with unique and interesting historic programs during 2020.

The Society is excited to launch a new program series called “Five Dollar Fives” beginning in February.  The ‘Fives’ series will take place in months with a fifth Saturday and feature local speakers and history-themed topics.  The first program on Feb. 29 will feature Mary Arvidson, Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Eli Skinner Chapter.  Arvidson will speak on the DAR, its mission and how to qualify to be a member.  The program will be held in Central School (103 S. Maple) at 10 a.m. and the cost is $5.

Other Five Dollar Five programs are scheduled for May, August and October and will feature a local crafter, a Civil War reenactor and a local history author. 

The Society will also offer three afternoon teas during the year.  Each tea will feature a historic interpreter or lecture.  These teas were very well received last year.

“I so enjoyed the presentation of the Ladies’ Hats,” said Society member Marlene Peterson.  “The presenter was so knowledgeable and had a sense of humor.  The tea in beautiful tea cups was wonderful, as were the cookies,” Peterson added. 

The first tea will be held at 2 p.m. on March 14 in Central School.  Historic interpreter Lynn Rymarz will present “Julia Child: Her Life in France”.  Hear Julia’s own words as she describes her love of French food and how she became determined to learn how to cook it.  Follow her journey into the French culture, including her visits to the local markets and into her cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu.  Tea and light refreshments will be served.  Tickets are $12.

Ellie Carlson of Ellie Presents and Martina Mathisen, who both spoke at teas last year, will return to the Society in June and September, respectively.

Tickets for the first Five Dollar Five on Feb. 29 and the Julia Child tea on March 14 are now available.  Registration is required and space is limited.  The teas were all sellouts last year.  To register, click below or contact the Society at 847-392-9006.

Click here for “Five Dollar Five” Programs or click here for “Teas”

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The Art of Soap Making

 

May 30, 2020 —
Wendy Lambel 

Join Wendy as she lets us in on her hand-made soap-making secrets.

 

Location: Central School (103 S. Maple) 
Time: 10 a.m.
Program Fee: $5 per person per session

Name(s) of Attendees:

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John Conrad Moehling

CANCELED DUE TO COVID RESTRICTIONS

 October 31, 2020 – 
Heather Francek-Galloucis, Local Author and Moehling Founding Family Member 

 Heather will discuss how she used the resources of regional historical societies, interviews, oral histories, and original documents to tell the story of the indelible legacy of her great-grandfather, Mount Prospect Founding Father John Conrad Moehling. The program will conclude with an author signing. Copies of Heather’s book will be available for purchase. 

Location: Central School (103 S. Maple) 
Time: 10 a.m.
Program Fee: $5 per person per session

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Women’s History Year: Hindsight is 2020

June 13, 2020 – Ellie Carlson of Ellie Presents

Ellie Carlson

A talk by Ellie focusing on the influence of trade and teacher’s unions, women in higher education, fundraising through cookbooks and bazaars, marches, songs, letter writing campaigns and how women’s influence over the voting men in their lives brought about the reform.

CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS

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Tea with Julia Child

November 7, 2020 – Julia Child — Her Life in France
Lynn Rymarz

Lynn Rymarz

 Join me as I explore how Julia Child discovered her passion for cooking French food in her late thirties after she married Paul Child and moved to Paris in 1948. Hear Julia’s own words as she describes her love of French food and how she be-came determined to learn how to cook it. Follow her journey into the French cul-ture, including her visits to the local markets and into her cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu. She will share her struggles and her successes, including her own cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her television show The French Chef. She will tell you herself she never would have had any of this without meeting the love of her life, Paul Child.

Location: Central School (103 S. Maple) 
Time: 1 p.m.
Program Fee: $12 per person per session

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Mary Arvidson, DAR

Mary is the Regent of the Eli Skinner Chapter of the NSDAR. She’ll be on hand to tell you all about this organization: Its history, its mission, and how you qualify to be a member. 

Location: Central School (103 S. Maple) 
Time: 10 a.m.
Program Fee: $5 per person per session

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MPHS To Open New Blacksmith Exhibit

Justin Stech will demonstrate his trade for the public on Oct. 5.

The Mount Prospect Historical Society is adding another exhibit to its bustling downtown Mount Prospect campus this fall.

Following the dedication ceremony, which will involve numerous descendants of Mount Prospect Blacksmith John Meyn, Justin Stech, a modern-day blacksmith, will spend several hours (from noon to 3 p.m.) just outside of the exhibit, demonstrating the trade for members of the public who want to stop by.

A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend and cut. Blacksmiths had a general knowledge of how to make and repair many things, from the most complex weapons and armor to simple things like nails or lengths of chain. Most produce objects such as gates, grilles, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils and weapons. 

A common misconception, according to Stech, is that blacksmiths made horseshoes and attached them to horses’ hooves, as well as making other metal items. But farriers were actually the ones who dealt with horses. Based on stories and photos, however, it appears that the Meyns were both blacksmiths and farriers.

The new Mount Prospect Historical Society exhibit will be an unchanging replica of the late 19th century Meyn shop. In fact, a replica of John Meyn’s Blacksmith Shop sign has adorning the outside of the carriage house, just above the door, since last spring, as a harbinger of things to come.

The blacksmith played a very important role in his community. He was a metal smith, a farrier, a mechanic, a handyman, a neighbor and a friend. This exhibit will educate people of all ages what a blacksmith did, why he was important, and what made John Meyn such a special man. 

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Extraordinary Memorial Day Ceremony Planned

May 28, Lions Park, Mount Prospect, IL

Members of Mount Prospect’s VFW Post 1337 and American Legion Post 525 have a special Memorial Day remembrance planned this year.

In addition to the annual Lions Park ceremony, they will dedicate a new section of the Lions Park Veteran’s Memorial to 15 Mount Prospect service people who lost their lives while serving in the United States military.  The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday, May 28.

Representatives of the Mt. Prospect Park District, the Mount Prospect Historical Society and the Mount Prospect Public Library, worked alongside the veterans this winter and spring to locate the names and stories of Mount Prospect residents who were lost over the years while serving in the military so they could be commemorated with their names added to the Veterans Memorial at Lions Park.  The memorial is adjacent to the Veterans Memorial Band Shell in Lions Memorial Park.  It has been designed as a tranquil, contemplative setting featuring a fountain and columns for engraved bricks. 

To kick off the project, the Mt. Prospect Parks Foundation, the Mount Prospect Lions Club as well as the VFW Post 1337 and American Legion Post 525, have donated to the veterans’ memorial.  “We are very grateful to the Parks Foundation and Lions Club for their generous contributions to the memorial,” stated Dutch DeGroot, chairman of the project.  “Veterans and their families will have a place to visit and honor their Mount Prospect service members for years to come.”

 The search revealed that Mount Prospect lost residents to World War II and the Vietnam War, as well as during peacetime service, but as far as known, none were lost during World War I, Korea, the two Persian Gulf Wars or Afghanistan.  There is space remaining on the memorial, however, to include at future ceremonies the names of those who might inadvertently have been missed, according to DeGroot. 

Mount Prospect’s residents have long and faithfully served the United States as members of the nation’s military, protecting its shores and interests, a service that inevitably brings with it loss.

That is why the veteran organizations of Mount Prospect this year will permanently memorialize those from Mount Prospect who made the ultimate sacrifice while in service to the United States.

The veterans to be memorialized on May 28 are:

  • World War II – Arthur W. Flesch, Robert W. Haake, Herman J. Heide, Phillip Winston Kaiser, Elmer Henry Piepenbrink, Victor William Sander and Frank F. Schott Jr. 
  • Vietnam War – William Daley, Frank F. Gagliano and David William Skibbe. 
  • Peacetime – Barry Richard Chumbley, Glen Edward Miller, Michael John Keane and Ronald Dean Odom.

DeGroot asks that if anyone can get in touch with members of any of these veterans’ families who may no longer reside in Mount Prospect, that they please do so and let them know about the upcoming remembrance ceremony and permanent memorial.  Those who do not wish to contact the families personally, but have information about their whereabouts, may email DeGroot at service_officer@vfw1337.us.