On Saturday, October 10 from 1-3 p.m., Bobzbay Books will host Candace Summers, the Museum's Senior Director of Education and author of Mourning in McLean, an exploration of how people mourned, perceived death, and commemorated their loved ones in Central Illinois in the 19th and 20th centuries. You will be able to meet the author and purchase a signed copy of this fascinating piece of local history! Books will be available for purchase at the event, but pre-orders are highly encouraged.
Mourning in McLean - a study in seven chapters illustrated with imagery from the permanent collection of the McLean County Museum of History - explores how people mourned, perceived death, and commemorated their loved ones in Central Illinois in the 19th and 20th centuries. Objects such as postmortem photography, hairwork jewelry and wreaths, mourning ribbons and clothing, memorial cards, and monuments illustrate how the need to honor and memorialize the deceased manifested in a multitude of expressions across cultures and time. From simple rituals to elaborate ceremonies steeped in tradition, intimate family gatherings, and public displays, these acts of remembrance reflect evolving views on death and mourning.
The content within these pages first appeared as a curated display accompanied by a series of associated programming in the fall of 2025. Now it lives on with this compact publication, allowing people to peer into the past at their leisure."
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About the author: "Candace Summers, Senior Director of Education, has worked at the McLean County Museum of History for over 21 years. She was the lead organizer of the Museum’s annual Evergreen Cemetery Walk from 2007-2024. Each year Candace helps to educate over 16,000 people (from pre-K to adult) in Central Illinois through a wide variety of educational programs. She has extensive leadership and training experience and has helped other museums and organizations launch their own cemetery walks. She is a regular contributor to the Museum’s Sunday Pantagraph column, “Pieces From Our Past,” since 2020 and has written dozens of biographies about McLean County citizens. She has a BA in Archaeology from the University of Evansville and an MA in History from Illinois State University. Summers began her career at the Museum in 2005 as an intern in the Education Department and has worked there ever since. She and her husband Joe (and their two cats) live in Wapella, Illinois."
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Learn more about the McLean County Museum of History: https://mchistory.org
See what else is going on at Bobzbay Books: https://bobzbay.square.site/events