The Museum of the Grand Prairie is Golden!

[April 30, 2018] 

MAHOMET 

The Museum of the Grand Prairie is golden, that is…we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2018! From the first peoples who lived in the county to today’s first graders, we have told the stories of Champaign County through exhibits, collections, school field trips, public programs and events, publications and social media since 1968! Begun as the Early American Museum as a facility of the Champaign County Forest Preserve District with donations by William Redhed, we’ve grown into a highly-respected community resource that serves over 20,000 people every year.

To celebrate we’re getting the party started on May 6, 2018, by opening our exhibit about our founding year, “1968: A Time for Every Purpose.” We’ll explore the tumultuous events, enjoy a trip down memory lane into the pop culture and seek to understand the need to preserve our history in that critical year. The exhibit opening - a free extravaganza, 1:00-5:00 p.m. will feature tours of the new exhibit, snacks from 1968, live music with the Live Juxebox Show with David Howie and a mini car show in the museum parking lot, and other activities for all ages!

That’s just the beginning! We’ve got 1968-themed programs all year long! Keep your eyes open as there will be programs on the movies, modern architecture, the Vietnam War, and Civil Rights throughout the 2018 year.
After the opening, the next 1968-themed program is a joint venture with the Rantoul Historical Society called “Fighting with No Front Lines.” It will be an engaging roundtable discussion with local Vietnam veterans Stephen Douglas and Jim Cheek and is to be held at the Rantoul Public Library on May 20th from 2 to 4 pm.

And that’s not all, we’re looking forward 50 years too! The museum needs to replace our aging collections care area for large artifacts. Over the course of this year, we’ll unveil plans to renovate that space so that generations to come can continue to learn not only about preservation and collections care, but also the history of Champaign County and East Central Illinois.

[LISA SPRINKLE
Marketing Coordinator
Champaign County Forest Preserve District]