Save the Date
Find your Civil War Relative
March 17, 2012
Upcoming Events
Thursday, March 1 and April 5
7:00 p.m.
Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War reading and discussion series
The Western Illinois Museum is pleased to serve as the community partner to the Western Illinois University Libraries and the Department of History who will host a free five-part reading and discussion series called Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War. University Libraries is one of 65 libraries nationwide receiving grants to host the series developed by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Saturday, February 25th
1:00 p.m.
Lecture: Fifty Miles to Slave Country: Slavery in Missouri and Why It Matters
Katie Benson, WIU History Graduate Student and Intern at the Western Illinois Museum, will share her research on the uniqueness of slavery in Missouri, who these slaves were and what they were doing. Missouri, being only fifty miles from Macomb, brings the issue close to home and the lecture will show its impact on the freed Missouri slaves who settled in Macomb.
Saturday, March 17th
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Find your Civil War Relative
The West-Central Illinois Civil War Round Table and the McDonough County Genealogical Research Center in partnership with the Western Illinois Museum will hold a program to help participants explore their own Civil War heritage. The program will be held on Saturday, March 17, from 1:00 – 4:00 at the museum. Participants will have a one-on-one session with a Round Table member to search for their Civil War relatives using various internet resources, an introduction to the Genealogical Society's Research Center and what it offers, and a tour of the current exhibit, Home Front: Life During the Civil War, with the museum’s curator.
Participants are encouraged to bring what information they have about the family member they are interested in researching.
Please RSVP for the program at 309.837.2750 or info@westernillinoismuseum.org.
Saturday, May 5th
1:00 p.m.
Civil War Letter between Thomas and
Lovinia Woof
Married on July 4, 1854, Thomas and Lovinia Woof settled in Concord, Illinois, and started a family. With the onset of the Civil War, Thomas enlisted with the 101st Illinois Infantry and their lives changed dramatically. Peggy and Wilbur Meyer found a collection of the couple’s letters in their attic and have done significant research into their relatives’ lives. This program is full of history, a lesson in genealogy and a captivating love story.