Norwood Park Historical Society

Norwood Park Historical Society Museum Exhibits

The Museum includes static, growing and changing exhibits. It may also include short-term or traveling exhibits. Current exhibits include:

Exhibit Room One--Margaret’s Room
Margaret Crippen was married in a ceremony and reception held on the front lawn of the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House in 1927. This exhibit, housed in a period-decorated bedroom, includes photographs of Margaret’s wedding to Harvey Howard, excerpts from her journal while a student at Northwestern University and other personal and period items.

Exhibit Room Two--Norwood Park History
This room contains photographs, maps and objects that tell the story of Norwood Park’s growth from a pioneer farming settlement to an independent 19th Century railroad suburb to a city neighborhood. While many items contained in this exhibit remain on permanent display, changing stories are told through the addition of new or infrequently seen items from the NPHS archives.

Exhibit Room Three--Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary (runs to November 2012)
In 2012, the Girl Scouts will be celebrating the 100th anniversary. Did you know the first troop in Chicago started in Norwood Park? To commemorate this event, the Girl Scouts are creating a special exhibit for the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House. It will be on display until November 2012. The exhibit contains uniforms, badges, photographs, camping gear, and many other artifacts and memorabilia. There is even an entire display case dedicated to Troop #1, which started right here in Norwood Park.

Exhibit Room Four--Can You Dig It?
Can You Dig It? is an exhibit that is very popular with children. It is an extensive collection of artifacts dug up from beneath the lawns of the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House. These include coins, toys, animal bones and other treasures. In addition, this room contains recent additions to the NPHS archives.

Exhibit Room Four--Chicago's Century of Progress: 1933-34
A collection of memorabilia from the Century of Progress World's Fair has joined the ever popular "Can You Dig It?" exhibit in Exhibit Room Four. This World's Fair, a fabulous event held in Chicago during the Great Depression, drew visitors from all over our country and beyond. It celebrated the growth of Chicago, modern technology and forecasted the future of American industry. These items, on loan from Michael Boucek, will remain on display until early November. Quiz questions: What large item from the Century of Progress was donated to the NPHS? Who was the Norwood Park resident who exhibited at the fair and what did he do? Hint: Look for the plaque on the front lawn.

Voices of Norwood Park
As has been the procedure for many years, the Voices of Norwood Park exhibit along with all our other exhibits were removed in mid-November to make room for Victoria's Craft Boutique and the Holly Daze Cafe. The items that were loaned to us will be returned in the very immediate future. The NPHS would like to thank all those who participated in the creation of the Voices of Norwood Park. The exhibit was made possible by a great team of interviewers, transcribers, videographers and, most importantly, the interviewees who shared their memories and artifacts. Thank you all!

The biggest lesson learned was that the task of collecting memories is a large one. It has been determined that this endeavor must be an ogoing one. To that end, we will be working to establish additional rounds of interviews. If you would like to participate, as an interviewer or interview subject, give us a call or e-mail us. The more the merrier!

Voices of Norwood Park was made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly. The project was also supported by a "JumpStart the Conversation" grant, part of an Aging in Place Initiative by Partners for Livable Communites and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging with funding provided by the MetLife Foundation.

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