Museum Exhibits

Special Exhibit--Coming Soon!

New Exhibit, and Grand Opening -- Saturday, March 17

100 DISCOVERIES: THE NATURE OF THE GRAND PRAIRIE 
Two centuries ago, Illinois served as the start for one of the greatest exploratory endeavors undertaken in North America—the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This expedition generated perhaps the most famous nature journals ever compiled during their two-year exploration of the American West. Today, a new Corps of Discovery has been developed by biologists from the Illinois Natural History Survey. Armed with pencil, paper, and camera, this new corps has set out to rediscover the Grand Prairie in central Illinois as it exists today. Come discover what the prairie has in store today, viewed 100 ways, in this temporary exhibit featuring works by the new Corps.postage stamp showing lewis and clark

Join us for an entertaining multimedia presentation featuring the natural and cultural beauty of Illinois interpreted through artistic expression by members of the Corps of Discovery. This presentation will kick-off the grand opening of the 100 Discoveries temporary exhibit, running from March 1 to December 31, 2012 at the Museum of the Grand Prairie. Free. Forinformation, (217) 586-2612 or bgarvey@ccfpd.org

  Commemorative stamp from the 150th Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Permanent Exhibits

Prairie Stories

Genevieve “History is not the past.
It is a story about the past,
told in the present, and designed to be useful in constructing the future” ....Henry Glassie

Each of us has our own story, a story of living here-- on the verge of the Grand Prairie. Our stories inform our lives and the lives of those around us. Come visit and read, see, listen to, to stories of Native Americans and settlers, farmers and city folk, Irish and Germans and African Americans. Reflect on how the stories of others are similar to, or different from your own.

 



blacksmith shopBlacksmithing on the Prairie

Comes see the family blacksmith shop,
a shop begun by their A.B Chesebro, in Saunemin, Illinois in 1896 brought to the Museum of the Grand Prairie!

In 1993, the museum’s staff walked into
a block and frame shop that Ralph Chesebro, A.B.’s son,  had walked out of for the last time in the 1930's.  Oral history interviews were recorded  with Ralph’s family, the shop itself was tirelessly drawn to scale, photographed and videoed; the contents of the shop have been moved; each of 5500 objects have been marked and accessioned into the museum's collections; research on the Chesebro's, Saunemin and area blacksmiths has been conducted; and –within the walls of the museum-- the shop itself was partially reconstructed. Enjoy the interactives, see the wagon equipment, and view the tools of the blacksmith trade in this comprehensive exhibit.

 

 

Champaign County’s Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

The built environment that Lincoln knew in Champaign County is almost completely gone and the natural environment is vastly altered. Through our exhibit, "Champaign County's Lincoln" we recreate those places, and evoke that lost environment.

Visitors will appreciate the era in which Lincoln made friends, worked and built his political career in our community!

Our visitors can enter the county, the way Lincoln did, in a buggy. They can visit Kelley's tavern, have their photograph taken in Alschuler's studio, and visit the Goose Pond Church where they'll hear neighbors talking about the political issues of 1856 as they wait for Lincoln to arrive. Click here to see a brief video clip of Lincoln's ride!

Click the photo
For more information about the exhibit
and educational resources

  

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