On the Square Blog
August 14th, 2019
McHistory: Bloomington-Normal’s Last Switchboard Girls
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
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
July 25th, 2019
McHistory: Illinois’ First Female State Senator
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
July 25th, 2019
McHistory: Bloomington’s Favorite Son
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard periodical...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
June 11th, 2019
McHistory: Civil Rights Before The Movement
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard per...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 28th, 2019
McHistory: The Roots of Feminism
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard periodically o...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
May 23rd, 2019
0 mins read by Susan Hartzold
May 10th, 2019
McHistory: When Local Abolitionists Risked Their Lives
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can b...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
March 19th, 2019
Henry Gay Named 2019 History Maker Honoree
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.Born outside Shreveport, Louisiana on August 5, 1924, Henry grew up in the segregated South. ...
4 mins read by Divah Griffin
March 19th, 2019
Jana Edge named 2019 History Maker Honoree
How does a small-town girl from Wisconsin find herself in a C5A Air Force transport, directing Russian soldiers unloading relief supplies?Jana Edge did not plan to enter nursing, but looking at the limited options open to an educated woman in the 1950s – secretarial, nursing or education –...
6 mins read by Divah Griffin
March 19th, 2019
Richard and Judy Buchanan Named 2019 History Maker Honorees
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.Judy grew up on Chicago’s southside and in the Englewood neighborhood. her father and mother were both first generation Irish-...
6 mins read by Divah Griffin
March 15th, 2019
McHistory: Bloomington’s War on Dogs
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard period...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
March 8th, 2019
0 mins read by Susan Hartzold
February 28th, 2019
McHistory: Passing the Civil Rights Act
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard pe...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
February 26th, 2019
McHistory: Bloomington-Normal Under Jim Crow Law
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 1st, 2018
0 mins read by Susan Hartzold
September 26th, 2018
0 mins read by Susan Hartzold
May 16th, 2018
0 mins read by Susan Hartzold
March 19th, 2018
Don Munson Named 2018 History Maker Honoree
Donald G. Munson was born September 26, 1941, in Gibson City and attended Gibson City schools. Growing up an only child, Don spent a lot of time listening to music, reading, and listening to the radio, a seemingly very metropolitan source of news and entertainment. 'When I graduated I had ne...
10 mins read by Lauren Lacy
March 19th, 2018
Paul and Sandra Harmon Named 2018 History Maker Honorees
Paul and Sandra Harmon shake their heads when they’re referred to as a “power couple,” but that’s how many people in the community describe them. This reluctant “power couple” first met during their freshman year at the University of Dubuque in Iowa, marrying shortly after they graduated in 1964....
11 mins read by Lauren Lacy
March 19th, 2018
Ronn Morehead Named 2018 History Maker Honoree
Ronn grew up in Normal, Illinois. Working in his father’s tavern as a young man, Ronn feels, shaped him and helped prepare him for the workforce. On Sundays, Ronn would go to church, then head to his father’s tavern on Front Street. If he got his work done in time, he could play shuffleboard with...
8 mins read by Lauren Lacy
March 15th, 2018
Lovell Named Executive Director
Adam Lovell, of Reedsville Wisconsin, has been named the new Executive Director at the McLean County Museum of History.
Lovell has over 18 years’ experience in museum operations. Most recently he spent two years as Assistant Director and Curator at the Rahr-West Art Museum in Manitowoc, Wi...
1 mins read by Torii Moré
March 14th, 2018
2018 History Makers Announced
The McLean County Museum of History announced on Tuesday four recipients of the 2018 History Makers award to be presented during the Museum’s sixth annual History Makers Gala on Thursday, June 28 at the DoubleTree by Hilton.
Each year, the History Makers Gala recognizes senior citizens who...
2 mins read by Lauren Lacy
March 9th, 2018
0 mins read by Susan Hartzold
December 19th, 2017
Pages from the Past Available Now
“A Page from Our Past,” a weekly look at Central Illinois and McLean County history, debuted in the Sunday Pantagraph on December 18, 2005. Since first appearing in Bloomington’s longtime daily paper, there have been more than 600 original columns in this award-winning series.
This highly anticip...
3 mins read by Lauren Lacy
December 14th, 2017
A message from our Museum director
Dear Museum members and friends,
You have likely heard the news that I will be leaving the McLean County Museum of History next year for a new opportunity with the Town of Normal. I wish I could have personally delivered the news to each of you in person, and perhaps I am in this moment. I...
2 mins read by Beth Whisman
December 4th, 2017
Illinois Bicentennial flag raising kicks off year of programs
The State of Illinois will celebrate its 200th birthday on Dec. 3, 2018. To help kick off a yearlong celebration of the Illinois Bicentennial, communities across the state hosted a simultaneous Illinois Bicentennial Flag Raising Ceremony at noon on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017.The County of McLean hosted...
2 mins read by Jeffery Woodard
November 21st, 2017
Collection Storage Improvement Fund Drive Underway
This holiday season, the McLean County Museum of History is raising $5,500 to upgrade our collections storage space to further meet museum and archival standards and ensure our collections are preserved for future generations. Our collection contains more than 20,000 objects donated from local re...
3 mins read by Lauren Lacy
November 21st, 2017
0 mins read by Torii Moré
November 3rd, 2017
CIADA Makes Donation to FiHC
In celebration of the organization's 100th anniversary, the Central Illinois Antique Dealers Association (CIADA) presented a generous donation of $825.00 to be used towards scholarships and expenses for Futures in History Camp 2018. CIADA webmaster and vendor Mary Lynn Edwards presented Muse...
1 mins read by Hannah Johnson