Bess Bower Dunn Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Location | 1899 W Winchester Rd, Libertyville, IL 60048 |
| Type | History Museum |
| Visitors | 45,000 per year |
| Nearest car park | On site (no charge) |
The Bess Bower Dunn Museum is a cool place to explore history, art, and culture. It's located in Libertyville, Illinois. This museum used to be called the Lake County Discovery Museum.
It first opened in 1976 in Wauconda, IL. It was part of the Lake County Forest Preserve District. Later, the museum moved to Libertyville and got its new name. The Dunn Museum helps people learn about the history of Lake County, Illinois. It shares stories about people, events, and nature through its exhibits and programs.
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Museum History
The land where the museum first started in Wauconda was once a farm. Before the American Civil War, it was a group of farm properties. After 1937, a Chicago builder named Malcolm Boyle bought the land. He created a large estate called Lakewood Farms.
Over time, Boyle built seventeen structures on the farm. These buildings were briefly used as a dairy farm. Later, they became offices, libraries, and exhibit spaces for the museum.
People started gathering support for the museum in 1971. After the farm complex was bought, the museum officially opened in 1976. A few years later, the museum received a huge gift. It was the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. This collection arrived in five large semi-truck trailers! As the museum's collections grew, it needed more space. So, it moved to a bigger building in Libertyville. This new building is shared with the Forest Preserve District offices.
Amazing Collections
The Dunn Museum has nearly 20,000 artifacts. It also has about 1,000 feet of archival materials. These important items are kept safe in a special storage facility. This facility controls temperature and humidity. It also has security and fire safety systems. This helps protect Lake County's history for everyone to enjoy.
You can visit the museum to see some of these artifacts. Researchers and history fans can also make an appointment. This lets them look at the archival materials. Many items from the collections are shown in the museum's exhibits. They are also used in educational programs.
Lake County History Archives
The museum is home to the Lake County History Archives. This includes records from other conservation areas like Ryerson Woods. There's also a collection about Fort Sheridan. This was a former U.S. Army base nearby.
The archives also hold records of a local American Civil War group. This was the 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Another cool collection is the Amet/Essany Studios Collection. It covers the work of Edward Amet from Waukegan. He was a pioneer in early motion picture projection. The museum also keeps stories from Lake County's old one-room schools. Plus, it has materials about the Booker T. Washington Club. This was a social group for minorities in Zion, Illinois.
Curt Teich Postcard Archives
When the museum was in Wauconda, it had the biggest public collection of postcards in the U.S. This was the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. Curt Teich and Company was a company in Chicago. They printed postcards, posters, and maps. They started in 1898 and sold the business in 1978.
The company made millions of postcards. They kept copies of every image they made. They also saved their original notes and materials. During World War II, Curt Teich and Company made over three million maps. They even made all the invasion maps for the U.S. Army map service.
After the business was sold, Curt Teich's son, Ralph Teich, donated the entire collection. It filled five semi-truck trailers! In 2016, this huge postcard collection moved to the Newberry Library.
Exciting Exhibitions
The Dunn Museum has many permanent exhibitions. It also often hosts special exhibits.
- One gallery shows the fossil life of Liberty County. You can see mammoth fossils there. There's also a life-sized model of a Dryptosaurus. A Chicago artist named Tyler Keillor created it.
- Another gallery is about the native cultures of the area. It has a replica of a wigwam.
- Recently, the museum has shown photography by Ansel Adams. It has also featured exhibits on the Blues music style.
