The Chicago Race Riots of 1919 were the most violent week in the city's history. What happened, and why? Join us on January 26th at 2 p.m. for a conversation about this poorly understood and often forgotten moment in Chicago's history with D. Bradford Hunt, Chicago historian and Vice President for Research and Academic Programs at the Newberry Library. He and the Newberry have led a year-long set of public programming across the city reflecting on the violence of 1919 and how its legacies help us understand the divides of our present day. Dr. Hunt’s lecture will be preceded by a brief Annual Meeting of the Wilmette Historical Society. All are welcome to this free lecture, but seating is limited. Please email museum@wilmette.com or call (847) 853-7666 to reserve tickets.
Stop by to see our exciting new exhibit which explores a century of photographs of Wilmette people and places. Antique cameras, glass photographic plates, tintypes, stereo cards, and other unusual artifacts from the Museum’s collection join dozens of rarely seen photos in the main gallery to illustrate how developments in camera technology, and the emergence of fads like the “real photo postcard” craze, resulted in a treasure trove of images that have forever captured the look of everyday life in one small Midwestern town.
Thank you to everyone who submitted photos for our Photo Challenge! We received some great photos capturing Wilmette in 2019 from a refreshing summer drink at Hibbard Park's Play Lot water fountain to the Wilmette Beach during last winter's frigid polar vortex. We have added some of these photos to our collection so they can be enjoyed by future generations. You can also see some of them on digital display if you stop by our gift shop.
Looking for a special holiday gift? The Museum's gift shop is the place to come. Stop by Sundays through Thursdays, 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. to shop for such Wilmette-essential items as a Teddy bear sporting a Wilmette t-shirt, lovely glass ornaments with images of the Wilmette harbor or Wilmette depot, a custom-designed Wilmette coffee mug, or a pack of notecards featuring Wilmette scenes. A variety of books on Wilmette history, featuring rare historic photographs, can be purchased at the Museum gift shop or online.
