Seventy-six years later, a piece of shrapnel remains lodged inside a ration heater used by Capt. Thomas E. Bennett of the 16th Infantry Regiment during World War II.
“While that it is unique in itself that it has survived and in our collection,” the story behind the “hot box” is just as interesting, said Megan Wozniak, collections manager at First Division Museum at Cantigny Park.
“He was more upset that the shrapnel hit an unopened bottle of gin,” Wozniak said. “It’s such a great story that goes along with the piece.”
The 1944 artifact is just one of many from the museum’s collection that have recently been added to its website for visitors to browse online at fdmuseum.org/collection/#results.
While museums remain closed during this unprecedented time in our country, many have remain engaged with patrons virtually, allowing them to learn about history at home while also living it.
“We do have an extensive amount of our collection online. Right now it’s over 100 artifacts, we’re hoping to add more,” Wozniak said. “And some of those artifacts online are things you can see in our galleries and others are in our collection storage spaces and in our vault.”
The initiative to create online access to collection items is one that had been on the books for more than a year, with staff working out how to implement it, she said. Now, it’s become a top priority.
“It really is more of response to being closed, but it has been something that we have been working with our website developer for quite a while,” Wozniak said.
Working from home, the staff has been posting collection items and exhibits to the web. Online exhibits include photos and descriptions of for each piece in the museum’s historical vehicle fleet and its tank park. The exhibit “Unspoken Heroes” at fdmuseum.org/exhibits/c/temporary-exhibit/ displays a student-created exhibit featuring pieces inspired by veterans’ interviews conducted by seventh-graders from Carleton W. Washburne Middle School in Winnetka.
The museum also recently held a virtual V-E Day celebration, asking patrons to share thoughts on social media and offering links to WWII educational materials.
“I have been spending a lot of my time on our YouTube page (youtube.com/user/FirstDivisionMuseum), which has great Date with History talks,” Wozniak said. “It’s free, there’s not a subscription that is needed, you don’t have to be a member. There are a lot of things online that we keep posting and I hope that the public is appreciating it. I know I am.”
Aurora Historical Society is another area organization utilizing social media to keep visitors engaged in local history. Information is posted regularly on its website and social media pages.
The most recent addition to the the museum’s website (aurorahistory.net/february-15-one-year-later-exhibit-video/) is a video of the exhibit on the one-year anniversary of the Henry Pratt Co. mass shooting. On Feb. 15, 2019, five people were killed in a workplace shooting in Aurora.
“When the one-year anniversary came around, we did another exhibit of the crosses (created by the late Greg Zanis) and a lot of other things — stuffed toys, votive lights, newspaper clippings,” said Mary Ormond, president of the Aurora Historical Society. “We made a video of the exhibit. It’s the first time that we’ve done that, where we’ve taken an exhibit and walked through and recorded it … We have in effect preserved an exhibit.”
“It’s not an ambitious effort to record Aurora history, it’s more random things that we do or can do,” Ormond said of the historical society’s YouTube channel.
On the Historical Society’s website itself, nearly three dozen short documentaries are posted on the history of organizations and residents from Aurora and the surrounding area at aurorahistory.net/videos. Topics include the history of the Paramount Theatre, Fox Valley Orchestra and the history of St. Charles.
The videos were made by Aurora resident Sharon Stredde, past president of the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, Ormond said.
“Sharon is history buff and so is her sister. The two of them worked together to make various histories on topics — people, organizations — that they felt were important to Aurora,” Ormond said.
Made by the foundation over a period of about 10 years by the Foundation, the Historical Society was asked to link to the videos to give them wider view, she said.
“You can access them through out website because they’re so good and (have) really good, solid research,” Ormond said. “You can trust what you see in those videos.”
Elgin History Museum’s website gives visitors a chance to browse through the museum’s collections at elginhistory.org/research/museum-collections by linking to the Gylleck Photo Collection Database. The photo collection was digitized after the museum received a grant in 2016.
Visitors to the EHM’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/channel/UCqFtxziwfNBD0i0sZEj2KNQ) can watch a 43-minute walking tour of the city’s Holy Hill area, as well as the award-winning documentary “Project 2-3-1: Two Boxcars, Three Blocks, One City,” which tells the story of Elgin’s African American heritage. The 75-minute video (split into three parts on YouTube) features in-depth interviews and photos.
At the website of Naperille’s outdoor history museum, Naper Settlement, visitors can see photos and read about each building on the grounds at napersettlement.org/183/Tour-the-Buildings. Collections that can viewed online include historic postcards of Naperville (napersettlement.org/320/Postcard-Images-of-Naperville) and Les Schrader’s paintings, which chronicled the development of Naperville and are on permanent exhibit at the museum, can be viewed at napersettlement.org/gallery.aspx?AID=2.
At the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Wozniak said the current pandemic situation has pushed her to think about presenting information differently.
“Looking forward, our collections website is going to keep building and growing and we’re thinking about more ways to get traffic virtually,” she said.
“Even though everything’s kind of uncertain, it’s definitely a really great time for us to kind of step up to the plate and show you what we have and why we’re so important and integral to community building and just history and preservation of culture,” Wozniak said.
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
