Saving History
The Museum is committed to preserving, educating, and collaborating in sharing the diverse history of McLean County. In the 21st Century, the cost to maintain the services of a nationally accredited museum now exceeds membership and admission revenue support. Please contact the Development office for additional information.
Help us save history by supporting one of our four preservation funds:
Experience-Based Engagement
Digital Preservation & Expanding Access
Historic Markers & Preservation Initiatives
Sculpture on the Square & The Livingston Santas
Experience-Based Engagement
We're transforming our programming after three decades of bringing history to life through the Evergreen Cemetery Walk. From live performances in the courtroom to tours throughout McLean County, we are building a robust roster of programming designed to engage your senses, facilitate discovery, cultivate meaningful experiences, connect to your local history, and inspire curiosity. Our goal is to raise at least $25,000 in 2025 to support experience-based learning opportunities, which include:
Hands-on Programming
Whether rediscovering a favorite childhood toy during one of our Senior Reminiscence programs or conducting an archaeological dig during one of our summer learning opportunities for kids, we’re designing an extensive array of programs to ensure that people of all ages can feel and touch history.
Live Music & Performances in the Courtroom
10-minute plays by local and national playwrights, internationally touring musicians, local artists, high school chorales, and community ensembles will set the stage to see and hear history come to life.
Increasingly Interactive Exhibits
Our next temporary exhibit, More Than A Game: A Community History of Baseball & Softball, is set to open in the Spring of 2026 and explores America’s favorite pastime through a local lens, utilizing several multisensory and interactive elements.
Historic Art Initiatives
We’ve added two new public art pieces to Downtown Bloomington this year, Lincoln’s Lost Speech Mural and our inaugural Sculpture on the Square: Herb Eaton’s Star-Crossed Pollinators. These larger-than-life artistic representations share unique historical narratives and create space for dialogue, inspiration, and one-of-a-kind photos.
Guided and Self-Guided Tours
Walk through history with our three free self-guided tours in English, and one in Spanish, on our new mobile tour site, Tourient. We’re working on adding tours, including guided walking tours and area bus tours, too.
If these experiences excite you, please consider supporting experience-based programming by clicking the button below.
Digital Preservation & Expanding Access
The Museum spends over $100,000 annually on digital technologies to make history accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime. From digitizing archival materials such as the Pantagraph Negatives Collection to live-streaming programs as they happen, digital technologies increase our ability to meet our mission of preserving, educating, and collaborating in sharing the diverse stories of the people of McLean County.
Haitham Eid, Director of the MA in Museum Studies Program at Southern University at New Orleans, writes,
“...the effective utilization of digital in the museum context can amplify marginalized voices, disseminate facts and reliable information, cultivate community responses, share lived experiences, and encourage collective actions across diverse groups of people”
American Alliance of Museums, 2022.
Historic Markers & Preservation Initiatives
In 2022, the Museum launched a fundraising campaign to support the refurbishment of existing historic markers and the creation of new ones that share the stories of McLean County and its residents.
Since fundraising initiatives began, we've...
Refurbished the WWII Memorial on the Museum Square with bronze plates
Added Korea & Vietnam War Memorial Markers on the Museum Square
Repaired the Kickapoo Stockade Marker
Saved the Kickapoo Boulder Marker and installed a new State Historical Marker at West Park near LeRoy
Expanded interpretation with a new marker for the Civil War Memorial Remnant in Briarwood Subdivision
Created the Simon Malone State Historical Marker in Normal
Repaired a vandalized Looking for Lincoln Marker in Normal
Created a State Historical Marker to memorialize the Booker T. Washington Home for Colored Children in Bloomington
This fund also supports the ongoing preservation of the oldest building in Downtown Bloomington, the Miller-Davis building. This original brick structure served as a gathering site for 8th Judicial Circuit attorneys, including Abraham Lincoln.
Please consider donating to this fund by clicking the button below to support ongoing and new preservation initiatives.
Sculpture on the Square & The Livingston Santas
Santa started it all! After receiving a donation of two 14-foot iconic fiberglass Santas from Jeffery Alans and the Wandell family in 2023, the Museum put out a call for support that the community answered. $85,000 later, the Santas are saved, and there's now a place for public sculpture on the Museum Square. In May 2024, we dedicated the first of many Sculpture(s) on the Square: Herb Eaton's Star Crossed Pollinators.
To learn more about the history of the Iconic Livingston Santas, click here.
To learn more about Star Crossed Pollinators, click here.
To support future public art to share unique historical narratives, please click the button below.
