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
By HS Board
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
By HS Board
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
By HS Board
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
By HS Board
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
By HS Board
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
By HS Board
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.
By HS Board
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:
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.
By HS Board
Approximately 100 history-lovers gathered at the Rob Roy Country Club in Prospect Heights Saturday night for the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s seventh annual History in the Headlines dinner dubbed the “Guys and Dolls Speakeasy Soirée.”
Many of the partygoers wore clothing of the 1920s or 1930s to help the Mount Prospect Historical Society re-imagine the atmosphere enjoyed in area speakeasies during Prohibition.
After dinner they were entertained by Bill Hazelgrove, author of “Al Capone and the 1933 World’s Fair,” who talked about Capone’s gangster life and how worried World’s Fair organizers got him out of the picture during the event, as well as about little-known aspects of the fair itself.
The MPHS added exhibits on Mount Prospect’s brief brushes with gangsters over the years to add a local touch to the evening. There was also a challenging 1920s and 30s trivia competition with a wide range of small prizes.
Proceeds from the event have been directed to the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s Operating Fund.
Mount Prospect Historical Society
101 South Maple Street
Mount Prospect, IL 60056
847.392.9006
info@mtphistory.org
The Mount Prospect Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to preserving the history of Mount Prospect, IL, through artifacts, photographs and both oral and written memories of current and former residents and businesspeople. On its campus in the heart of the Village, the Society maintains the 1906 Dietrich Friedrichs house museum, the ADA-accessible Dolores Haugh Education Center and the 1896 one-room Central School, which was moved to the museum campus in 2008, renovated and opened to the public in 2017, the 100-year anniversary of the Village.