August 15th, 2019
Intern Reflection: Logan Janicki
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 possi...
3 mins read by Logan Janicki
August 13th, 2019
Intern Reflection: Marcel Tworek
Since the end of May, I have been working under my supervisor Emma Meyer to help in Collections by working on biographies of people who are associated with an artifact or document that the museum has in its collection. During my time at the museum, I have learned to work with the Past Perfect sof...
3 mins read by Marcel Tworek
June 14th, 2016
One Dress, Eleven Brides
The beautiful wedding gown pictured here was worn by Miss Alice Myrtle Abbott for her ceremony to Rev. Frances McCarty in Mason City on 30 November 1904. Myrtle’s three daughters, (born in McLean County) Mary Helen, Alice, and Martha Louise, wore the same dress for their weddings in 1933, 1938, a...
4 mins read by Emma Meyer
April 22nd, 2016
Intern Reflection: Heather Evert
What do we keep that will tell our history to others?Scrapbooks, schoolbooks, photos, mementos, letters, documents, awards. We like seeing our name in print (or, today, mentioned in an online post), we love sending photos to friends and family so they can see what we’ve seen. We hang on to heirlo...
3 mins read by Heather Evert
April 22nd, 2016
Intern Reflection: Rachael Laing
The first question everyone asks when they find out that I am attending ISU’s graduate program for history is “What specific era do you study?” That’s a lie, the first question is usually “So you want to be a teacher?” The answer to both is – no. Teachers are incredibly important, and sometimes e...
2 mins read by Rachael Laing
November 3rd, 2015
St. Mary's Church & School Collection
I am Chelsea Pokrzywinski, a first year graduate student at the University of Illinois studying library and information science. With a bachelor’s degree in history from ISU and the goal of working in a library or museum after graduate school, I felt the museum was the best place to learn what ar...
3 mins read by Chelsea Pokrzywinski
September 21st, 2015
Intern Reflection: Jim Gass
The Museum may be a repository for McLean County’s history, but it’s hardly the only place where you can observe the past. The Museum is for studying and analyzing history; to see where it came from, one has to search it out. Walking through Downtown Bloomington on foot lets you see buildings tha...
4 mins read by Jim Gass
July 31st, 2015
Intern Reflection: Chloe Harkins
My Communications degree program at Illinois State University requires an internship.When I started at ISU last fall I was apprehensive about it. Where would I apply? Would I have time to fit it in with my work schedule? What would I like to do? These questions ran through my noggin' over an...
4 mins read by Chloe Harkins
June 15th, 2015
Intern Reflection: Jack Schuld, Limitless Horizons
As a junior history social-science major at Illinois State University, I can attest that one of the most difficult decisions during college is the dilemma of discovering a career path. An ideal occupation needs to fulfill a variety of categories in order to catch my attention, including an intere...
3 mins read by Jack Schuld
June 15th, 2015
Intern Reflection: Jack Schuld, Tri-Valley History Fair
Every spring the Museum hosts some of the projects created for the Tri-Valley History Fair. For their fair, students from Tri-Valley middle school research a topic that interests them, and then they create a presentation of their research. A portion of those projects are brought to the Museum for...
2 mins read by Jack Shuld
June 15th, 2015
Intern Reflection: Jack Schuld
Hello! My name is Jack Schuld and I am a history major and anthropology minor at ISU. History has been a subject of great interest to me since my childhood. That being said, my decision to study history in college came naturally. Even though I knew I wanted to study history, deciding what to do w...
4 mins read by Jack Schuld
April 7th, 2015
Volunteers: Helping the Museum make history every day
It's easy to see how important preserving our community's collective memory is when you watch our dedicated volunteers at work. Over 200+ volunteers contributed 15,668 hours of their time and talents last year. What a staggering statistic! Our volunteers go above and beyond and we simpl...
4 mins read by Tod Eagleton
December 12th, 2014
Volunteer Reflection: Drew Brandau
I started volunteering for the McLean County Museum of History in September and have loved every moment of it. My name is Drew Brandau and volunteering at the Museum has been an amazing experience. I'm a junior majoring in history and anthropology at Illinois State University, and I wanted ...
3 mins read by Drew Brandau
December 11th, 2014
Intern Reflections: Back Room Objects
That had to be my favorite day, as it morphed from handling the objects in the room to having several employees in the museum show me the various archives and vaults that I had yet to see. I clearly didn't understand the scope of the museum collections nor what their accreditation meant for ...
5 mins read by Guest Blogger
August 11th, 2014
A Date with the Museum, by intern Joe Ruskey
I lived in Bloomington-Normal as a college student for three years before I ever visited the McLean County Museum of History. Coming from a big city, and having studied abroad in Europe, the thought never crossed my mind to explore the cultural attractions of my college's locale. Bloomington...
4 mins read by Joe Ruskey
August 8th, 2014
What’s in a Name? Intern reflection by Ashley White
I have spent all of my life in Bloomington so I have
memories of school field trips to the museum. I also have fond memories of
going to the Evergreen Cemetery Walk, which has become a tradition that my
parents and I go to every year. I am currently a senior at Illinois State
University, and am s...
5 mins read by Ashley White
July 31st, 2014
Intern Reflections: Tarra Craig
I cannot believe that it has been eight weeks! Eight weeks since I began my regular visits to the beautiful old courthouse as an intern at the Museum of History, and now it's coming to an end. It is such a hard reality that A) my summer is almost over and classes will soon be needing my atte...
3 mins read by Tarra Craig
July 30th, 2014
Using Technology to Experience History
Arguably, one of the greatest things about the 21st century is the progress we've made with technology. Most Americans over the age of twelve walk around carrying tiny, keyboard-less supercomputers in their pockets, and some may even carry more than one! We can store thousands of songs on de...
6 mins read by Callie VanAntwerp
July 11th, 2014
Important Lessons Learned in a Unique Setting
While conducting a survey in the summer haze of the WGLT concert in downtown Bloomington, I had a conversation with two excited women who had just taken a break from dancing in the street. I asked them, “What would make you visit the McLean County Museum of History again?" They exclaimed, “F...
2 mins read by Guest Blogger
July 3rd, 2014
Recollections of a History Careers Day Camper and Leader
Every year, I come to the McLean County Museum of History for History Careers Day Camp. I started out as a camper and have worked my way up to being a Junior Leader. The experiences with the kids and staff will forever be cherished memories.
My first year, starting as a camper, I was quite nervou...
3 mins read by Guest Blogger
June 27th, 2014
Intern Reflections: Jessie Sterling
Hey there! I'm Jessie Sterling and I have been interning at
the McLean County Museum of History this summer. I grew up right here in
Bloomington-Normal and I can remember coming to the Museum for many field trips
as well as going on the Evergreen Cemetery Walk a few times. As a child, I
neve...
3 mins read by Jessie Sterling
June 5th, 2014
A Short Introduction
Hi! My name is Callie VanAntwerp -- yes, the same last name as Deb VanAntwerp, the McLean County Museum of History's Director of Volunteers and Interns, although I usually just call her “Mom." I'm seventeen years old and gearing up to start my senior year at Normal Community High ...
3 mins read by Callie VanAntwerp