DUPAGE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM WINS AWARD FROM ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: November 17, 2015

On September 25, the IAM honored the Museum’s exhibitInheriting DuPage: A Family History with an Award of Excellence, and also recognized the DuPage Society of Model Engineers with a Gold Award for its 50 years of service.

The exhibition consisted of 300 objects from the more than 5,000 artifacts documenting the stories of five of DuPage County’s founding families: the Torodes, the Fullers, the Rodgers, the Plummers, and the Thurstons. These artifacts were preserved by county resident Patricia Torode Vaillancourt Woodstrup and donated after she passed away in 2003.

“A lot of collections and donations to museums do not come in as complete and documented as this one,” Michelle Podkowa, Museum Manager and Educator, said. “They’re not as large, they’re not as all-inclusive for such a large number of family members, and many of them are just a piece here and there of something historically significant.”

Mychal Brown, a volunteer in 2010 when she started documenting and cataloging the collection and now hired on as a Museum Assistant, was responsible for much of the exhibit.

“It’s the largest donation we’ve ever received and a lot of it dates back to the early period of DuPage history, so it’s very exciting,” Brown said.

The exhibit’s display coincided with the 175^th anniversary of the county’s founding.

Reviewers for the IAM “commended the museum on focusing on one family and telling the generational stories using the large collections of artifacts from one of its descendants,” according to a letter announcing the award. “It is a unique way to experience, learn and celebrate the 175^th anniversary of the founding of DuPage County.”

And another anniversary was celebrated: the 50^th of the DuPage Society of Model Engineers (DPSME), a nonprofit group separate from the Museum which maintains and operates the HO gauge model train on the Museum’s lower level.

The DPSME built this display in 1965 and has been its steward since, running the trains for the public every third and fifth Saturday of the month, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Inheriting DuPage: A Family History was a temporary exhibit and recently came down to allow space forWedding Traditions Unveiled, an exploration of 100 years of courtship rituals and wedding traditions in the county. However, the Museum maintains the artifacts of Inheriting DuPage: A Family History in its collections.

The All Aboard train exhibit is on permanent display on the Museum’s lower level. DuPage County Model Railroad: A Closer Look, a photograph-rich book of information about many sections of the model train, is for sale in the Museum Gift Shop.

For more information about the DuPage County Historical Museum and its award-winning exhibits, please visit dupagemuseum.org or stop in at 102 E. Wesley Street, Wheaton.

To learn more about the Illinois Association of Museums and its member institutions, please visit illinoismuseums.org.