200 North Main St | Bloomington, Illinois | 309-827-0428
The Museum is open, please check "Plan Your Visit" page for latest covid info and latest hours
200 North Main St | Bloomington, Illinois | 309-827-0428
During their over five decades in Bloomington-Normal, Bob and Marilyn Sutherland participated in many ways to help make this a better community for everyone, particularly for those who often cannot make their own voices heard.
Barbara served for several years as president of the Normal Public Library Board and became the first president of the Friends of the Normal Public Library.
Jerry and Carole’s shared passion for the arts is well-known in the community. Carole says, “(Art) helps to define the quality of life. Even if you are well able to put food on the table, culture is needed for the soul, mind, and spirit.”
At a time when box offices are shuttered, stages and seats remain uncharacteristically empty, and bright lights of marquees across the country and the world remain dark, the Museum feels compelled to highlight the rich partnerships it has had over the years with local theaters such as Heartland Theatre Company, Community Players Theatre, and Illinois Voices Theatre.
In the interest of the safety of our patrons, volunteers, and staff in light of the developing COVID-19 situation regionally and nationally, the McLean County Museum of History and Cruisin’ with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center will be closed to the public beginning Saturday, March 14. Should conditions allow, the Museum will reopen to the public on Monday, April 6.
The McLean County Museum of History welcomes and values all visitors. We are committed to representing the entire community by sharing your history, your story. In fact, it is part of our mission to “reflect the diversity of McLean County,” and we take that mission seriously. As an educational institution, the Museum’s job is to illuminate stories and foster opportunities for dialogue so people can learn from the experiences of one another—whether they lived 1,000 years ago or today. These stories must serve both as mirrors that reflect ourselves and as windows that allow us to view the wider world.
For my internship this summer, I researched and wrote biographies of the historical figures to be featured in this year’s Evergreen Cemetery Walk. Other museum staff had already decided who was to be featured and done preliminary research, finding as much material on each person as possible, as well as information about their family and organizations they belonged to. From there.......
During my time at the museum, I have learned to work with the Past Perfect software that many museums across the country use to help establish a database for their collections....
What happens when you mix a Chicago Irish Democrat with a small-town Illinois Baptist Republican? - The amazing community servant duo of Richard and Judy Buchanan.
In 1988, a group of local activists became exploring a “Sister City” relationship with a Russian community, hoping to lessen Cold War tensions. Jana and Orlyn were in the delegation to the Soviet Union and eventually decided upon Vladimir as Bloomington-Normal’s sister city. Locally, she was called a “communist, unpatriotic” and threatened, including anonymous phone calls: “We know you are home alone right now.”
It’s a rough road from the Louisiana cotton fields to Bloomington-Normal, with obstacles every step of the way. Henry Gay Sr. completed that journey with dignity and standing up for human rights.