Glidden Homestead receives four museum association awards

DeKALB – The Joseph F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center recently received four awards from the Illinois Association of Museums.

The association annually celebrates the best museums across the state of Illinois.

The homestead was recognized in three categories at the April awards event. The categories include volunteer service, innovation and building-site preservation.

The Innovation Award recognizes museums for breaking the ground. The homestead earned the award for its Barb City’s Barbed Wire Weekend event which was held in September. The event celebrated Joseph F. Glidden’s “The Winner” barbed wire patent’s 150th anniversary. The celebration featured a DeKalb barbed wire sites bus tour, homestead dinner, and two-day barbed wire expo.

“This was an ambitious new undertaking for this small museum,” Illinois Association of Museums award committee chair Debbie Fandrei said in a news release. “Judges were impressed by the range of activities, the new partnerships created and the energy that creating such an event brought to the organization and the town.”

The Award of Merit was presented to the homestead for building-site preservation. The homestead completed masonry and foundation repairs to its house, barn and blacksmith shop. The repairs were funded by donors, a DeKalb County Community Foundation community needs grant and an Eleanor Pasquale estate bequest.

“Preservation work is the foundation of all that we do,” Glidden Homestead executive director Jessi Haish LaRue said. “We are grateful for our donors who contribute to these projects so that we can continue to share these buildings and their stories with the public. Restoration work allows us to share these buildings for at least another 150 years.”

The volunteer service awards were presented to homestead volunteers Roger Keys and Jim Morel for over 25 years of service. Keys serves as a museum barn restoration committee volunteer. He also is the homestead’s annual Open Barn Day docent, offers restoration consultations, and assists with barn and house projects.

Morel retired from the homestead’s board of directors in 2024. He led a project to remodel the homestead’s welcome center into a program space and gift shop. Morel also led the restoration of the millhouse building into a living history blacksmith shop.

For information, visit GliddenHomestead.org, call 815-756-7904 or email jessi@gliddenhomestead.org.