LIBERTYVILLE-MUNDELEIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Activities of the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical
Society:
- 1. Publishing a monthly newsletter.
- 2. Holding a board of directors meetings on
the first Tuesday of every month.
- 3. Conducting field trips to historic places
in the area and to special programs of interest to the
members.
- 4. Refurbishing and restoring the Ansel B.
Cook home, and maintaining it as a museum and historical site.
This house is open to the public every Sunday afternoon from 2 to
4 P.M. during June, July, and August. The society also conducts
tours by appointment.
- 5. Maintaining a local history information
file that is used by the press and public. The archives of the
society receive new information and are updated constantly. The
society actively encourages residents of the area to donate
historical memorabilia, old newspaper clippings, diaries, and
other documents to the archives.
- 6. Present programs on local history on the
3rd Monday of the following months at the Libertyville Village
Hall (September, October, November, January, March, April, and
May). The Libertyville Hall is located on the West Cook Avenue in
the middle of the 1st block west of Milwaukee Avenue, directly
north of the Cook Memorial Library. Programs begin at 7:30 P.M.in
the meeting room of the trustees on the 2nd floor. The location is
wheel chair accessible.
- 7. A Victorian Christmas Open House is held
each year during the first 2 weekends in December. The public is
welcome to a home as it would have been decorated for Christmas in
Victorian times.
- 8. The purpose of the Libertyville-Mundelein
Historical Society is to collect and preserve historical material
and information relative to Libertyville, Mundelein, and
surrounding areas in Lake County, Illinois.
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1860 Wide Awake
Banner
On October 2, 1860, the Libertyville Wide
Awakes won the prize banner from the
Chicago Wide Awakes. The Wide Awakes are credited with helping
Abraham
Lincoln win the nomination for President
of the United States at the Wigwam convention Hall in Chicago. They
also helped bring the Republican
party to national attention with issues
such as the stand against slavery.
The banner is proudly displayed on the seconded
floor of the Ansel B. Cook Museum in downtown Libertyville. It is
thought to be the largest and most elegant of the Wide Awakes
banners. The banner is 72 inches wide and 81 inches tall. It is made
of leaded dark blue silk and has fancy gold leaf lettering. At the
bottom is a row of long fringe, and in the center is an oval
painting, 30 by 42 inches.
The painting shows the torch light parade in
Chicago in which the Libertyville Wide Awakes carried a banner
promoting Lincoln and Hamlin as candidates for the Presidency and
Vice Presidency of the United States. On the banner, the Libertyville
Wide Awakes are shown carrying coal oil torches and wearing oil cloth
capes to protect their clothing from soot spilled coal oil and
sparks. The officers carry crystal lanterns. Two of the Wide Awakes
torches carried in that parade are displayed in the Cook
House.
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- If you have any
questions for the historical society,
- please E-mail Frank
Underbrink
-
413 N. Milwaukee Ave.
- Libertyville, IL 60048
- (847) 362-2330
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