Image credit: "Try Poetry," by Michael Chen via Flickr Creative Commons April 30 is National Poem in Your Pocket Day, a day created to encourage everyone to share a favorite poem with others on the last day of National Poetry Month. This year, we may not be able to share our love of words in… Continue reading It’s National Poem in Your Pocket Day!
An ill man who is being bled by his doctor. Coloured etching by J. Sneyd, 1804, after J. Gillray, 1804. Courtesy of Wellcome Library, London. If a coronavirus pandemic had struck in the 1820s rather than the 2020s, doctors would have treated their patients with “heroic medicine” – that is to say, they would have… Continue reading Heroic Medicine in 7 Objects
by Tracy Pierceall - Librarian, Illinois State Museum When you hear the word quilt, what comes to mind? An old-fashioned pastime borne out of necessity and practicality? A craft to mark an occasion such as a wedding or birth? A hobby to fill down time? Obviously, all of these answers are valid. Quiltmaking is a… Continue reading The Art of Quiltmaking
In the last month, the Museum has installed two new exhibitions: Hats Off: Stylish Selections from the Illinois Legacy Collection and Harvesting the River: Pearl Buttons. Hat's Off contains wide variety of women's hats from the Museum's collection. They include a winter bonnet, a mourning bonnet, and a hat made from an entire barn owl.* Harvesting the… Continue reading New Exhibits on Display
The website dedicated to the history of the Illinois State Museum is up and running. "The Story of Illinois" is a project of the Illinois State Museum Library, which secured a $12,500 Illinois History Digital Imaging grant from the Illinois State Library to begin to digitize the Museum's archives relating to its history. The site… Continue reading Illinois State Museum History Site Live
Three sculptures by Theodore Halkin from the Illinois State Museum’s art collection will be on view in the upcoming exhibition 3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964-1980 at the Tang Museum of Art in Saratoga Springs, NY. The Exhibition will run from September 8, 2018 - January 6, 2019. Featured artist include: Don Baum, Roger… Continue reading Illinois Legacy Collection on the Road
If you have ever wondered how the Illinois State Museum got its start or wished you could find an image of that classic exhibition from your childhood, there is a new resource in the works thanks to a recent grant from the Illinois State Library. The Illinois State Museum Library recently secured a $12,500 Illinois… Continue reading The Story of the Illinois State Museum
The Museum opened its Bicentennial & Beyond! The Illinois Legacy Collection exhibition on Friday, June 29 with a public celebration. Almost 400 people enjoyed music, food, drinks, and one of the largest exhibitions of rarely-seen objects from the Museum's Illinois Legacy Collection of 13.5 million objects. Bicentennial and Beyond! exhibits artifacts from a variety of disciplines,… Continue reading Bicentennial & Beyond! Opens with a Splash
The Illinois State Museum continues to welcome new faces to its staff. We would like to introduce Samantha Comerford, Sarah Davis, and Dannyl Dolder. Samantha Comerford is interning with the Art and History Section for one year. She recently graduated with an art history degree and a history minor from Illinois State University where she worked… Continue reading Welcoming New Faces
In 2018, the State of Illinois is celebrating its 200th birthday. In recognition of the Bicentennial, Illinois museums are sharing the State's rich history through the objects in their care with a new website entitled "The Story of Illinois: Celebrating the Illinois Bicentennial Through Museum Objects" (story.illinoisstatemuseum.org). The website, built by the Illinois State Museum,… Continue reading “Story of Illinois” Website Launch
