Where History Is Happening

Links to some upcoming local events:

Annual Fort De Chartres Rendezvous
Saturday and Sunday
June 4 and 5, 2011
9 am - 5 pm
One of the largest in rendezvous events in the country occurs annually at this historic fort. 18th century crafts, food, music, 1000's of historically dressed participants, flintlock musket and rifle competition, cannon and mortar competition, traders and more.
Small parking fee
For more information call 618-284-7230

Passenger Train Historical Society Spring Picnic
June 10, 11 & 12th, 2011
Illinois Railway Museum in Union
Activities include: Passenger train photographs, slide shows on Friday evening, Picnic lunch Saturday afternoon on Museum grounds, Ride and visit the historical cars, exhibits and displays of passenger train history at the Illinois Railway Museum, Attend Railroadiana Train Show in nearby St. Charles, IL on Saturday and Sunday, Field trip via car pool on Saturday afternoon to the BNSF mainline near Naperville, IL for trackside views of the Amtrak’s Southwest Chiefs, California Zephyrs and Metra commuter trains, Historic discussions about passenger trains throughout the event.
RSVP requested

Midsommer Celebration at Erlander Museum
Saturday, June 18, 2011
9:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Location: Erlander Museum, 404 S. Third Street, Rockford, IL
Midsummer FunCome and enjoy a fun filled day with us as we celebrate the Swedish tradition of Midsummer (Midsommar). You will enjoy great foods like open-face and meatball sandwiches, hotdogs, strawberries and ice cream, coffee cake, Swedish pankakes and more. Numerous vendors will be displaying their talents and selling their wares. Our Swedish Historical park across the street from the museum will have continuous activities for children of all ages, including the game of Kubb throughout the day.

How to Make History Come to Life

When Kate decided to write a book about the founders of Naperville for children, her first thought was to present the history as a narrative, like a DuPage County, Illinois version of “Little House on the Prairie.”

In fiction, character development, dialog, conflict resolution and narrative arc are all important elements of the story. In history, the facts about dates, places, clothing and customs have to be accurate. To create a successful historical narrative, the writer needs both.

Joseph Naper was the organizing force behind Naperville, bringing several families with him from New York and Ohio. One of those families was that of his sister Amy and her husband John. Ruth by Lake and Prairie is the journey as seen through the eyes of their daughter Ruth.

Trying to discover the personalities of Ruth, Amy and John was difficult. No photographs or paintings have been identified of them, nor did they leave any diaries. John, however, was one of the first settlers of Ashtabula, Ohio and so he is mentioned in the earliest histories of the area.

The 1878 History of Ashtabula, Ohio said said he was a “school teacher and hired man.” In the Portrait and Biographical Record of Cook and DuPage Counties, the entry on Robert Nelson Murray talks says his father was a “a talented man, and taught music, as well as school.”

Kate started with these small details to put together a portrait of John Murray and his times. She researched what a school teacher in 1809 would teach and with what sort of materials, as well as what it meant to teach music at that time. While few of the actual facts wound up being relevant in the book, they did help form the description of John’s character.

Particularly interesting to Kate was learning about Shape Note Singing, a practice that was extremely popular in the early 1800’s and most likely the sort of music that John taught. Shape Note Singing was developed to simplify musical notations to make it easier to sight-read music, with the shape of the note indicating the pitch rather than it’s location on a staff.

Entire congregations could then sing the hymns in four-part harmony rather than just listening to a trained choir. Singers sat in a hollow square formation, each side of the square being one of the voice parts, so they could hear each other harmonizing.

Shape Note Singing continues to this day. While it started in New England, Shape Note Singing lives on most strongly in the Appalachians where the English, Scottish and Irish settlers remained relatively isolated. You can go to several online locations to get an idea of how it may have sounded when John Murray was leading the song.

May Is History Month in Naperville and Kate Will Be Speaking at Library Event

During her book research, Kate gathered up many fun facts like the Shape Note Singing information above. She'll share all the neat things she learned on Wednesday, May 11 illustrated with slides of maps, photos, engravings and other visuals. You are invited to this free event to learn a little about DuPage County's early settlers and what the world was like in Illinois in 1831.

From the Naperville Library website:

Meet Naperville author Kate Gingold as she discusses her children’s book Ruth by Lake and Prairie. This is the true story of the families that settled on the land that would become Naperville, Illinois. The story follows Ruth, Joseph Naper’s niece, as she travels from her home in Ohio to her new home in Illinois. For eighteen months, Kate collected facts from sources all over the world via car, mail, and the Internet to learn more about life in 1831 America, Great Lakes sailing ships, and the families who made the journey.

This presentation will walk through the research process, shows how to make a “story” out of history, and gives factual tidbits about our city. The book won an award from the Illinois State Historical Society in 2008.

No registration is required.
This program is presented in partnership with Kate Gingold.
Wednesday, May 11
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Nichols Library
Community Room

Where History Is Happening

Links to Upcoming Local Events

Civil War Days
Sat. & Sun., May 21 & 22, 2011
10 a.m.- 4 p.m

More than 300 Civil War re-enactors camp on site, providing a living historical view of the past. When the bugle sounds each day at 2:30 p.m., troops from the North and the South will charge into battle with rifles at the ready and cannons booming. Afterward, you can see the work of the Civil War surgeons as they demonstrate 19th century medical techniques.
Interact with famous personages of the past who step from the pages of history books, such as President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, the Generals and many more.
The family-friendly event features food, fun and shopping on "Sutler's Row" for traditional Civil War-era reproduction products and in the Museum Store for Civil War books and merchandise.
$12 adults, $8 youth (4-17)
Advance tickets: $10 adults, $7 youth are available beginning May 9.

The Civil War and Du Page County: A Local Perspective
April 16, 2011- September 1, 2012.
Weekdays • 8:30 am-4:30 pm
Weekends • Noon-4 pm

This exhibit commemorates the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War by reflecting on the relationship between the soldiers and their families and friends during this time of dramatic change and hardship. Letters, photos and documents from the Museum’s archives are featured as well as many artifacts from the permanent collection.
View a slideshow of the exhibit opening

Naperville Cemetery Walk
Saturday, May 7
2-3:15 p.m.

Learn about 19th century mourning customs and superstitions from Naper Settlement’s Museum Educators. Then walk through Naperville Cemetery to take a glimpse back in time. Learn about some of the early settlers of Naperville, see their headstones and explore the different symbols and their meanings used in the creation of these unique artifacts and, in some cases, works of art. For ages teen to adult. (Some historical material may be too graphic for younger audiences.) The walk begins at the Naper Settlement Visitor Center, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville. Tickets are $10 per person; $8 for Naperville Heritage Society Sustaining members. Call (630) 420-6010.

Wisconsin Soldiers at Antietam Creek

Kate recently had the opportunity to visit the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison. Not a huge museum, it’s easily viewed in an hour if you’re only mildly interested in military history, but real aficionados will likely spend much more time.

The displays include photos, weapons, and everyday items used by Wisconsin soldiers starting with the Civil War, including a piece of hard tack that escaped being eaten 150 years ago!

Among the tidbits of historical information Kate learned was that the father of General Douglas “I shall return” MacArthur was living in Wisconsin when the Civil War began. Arthur MacArthur, Jr. immediately joined the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. His leadership in battle earned him the nickname of The Boy Colonel.

The museum is well laid out with dramatic life-sized scenes from various conflicts. Particularly interesting is that every single mannequin has a unique face. When asked, the gentleman at the front desk revealed that volunteers were used to create life masks to provide the faces and create these memorable tableaus.

No fee is charged, but donations are accepted. The Veterans Museum is directly across the street from the capitol building and kitty-corner to the Historical Museum, a full day of thrills for the true history buff!