Fascinating local history on tap at Oswego museum this spring

Join the Oswegoland Heritage Association and Oswego’s Little White School Museum, 72 Polk St., at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 18, for “From War Plants to Prairie Plants: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and the Joliet Arsenal” presented by Midewin Heritage Program Manager and Archaeologist Joe Wheeler. The program is hosted by the heritage association in partnership with the Oswegoland Park District.

During World War II, Korea, and Vietnam thousands of area residents worked at the Joliet Arsenal to manufacture ammunition for the nation’s Armed Forces. Today, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is 26 years into an ambitious 100 year program to restore 20,000 acres of the former Joliet Arsenal (1940-1996) to its original ecology as a native tallgrass prairie.

Registration is $5, but walk-ins are always welcome the day of the program. To register, call the Oswegoland Park District at 630-554-1010 or visit the park district web site at bit.ly/lwsmwinter.

Enjoy more history this spring

In addition, the museum is hosting more upcoming spring programs that will both inform and entertain participants about Oswego area history.

On Thursday, March 23, from 7 to 8 p.m., come to the museum an enjoy “Beer + History.” History and beer are an even better pairing than wine and cheese. Come hear local brewery expert and glass collector John Bittermann talk about the area’s most historic breweries while sipping on some of your favorite beverages. This is a Bring Your Own Bottle event inside the museum, so no glass bottles will be allowed. All participants must be 21 or older to purchase a ticket. The price for this entertaining program is $10 per person. Pre-registration is required by aiming your web browser at bit.ly/lwsmwinter.

Then on April 15 starting at noon, the museum will host “Oswego History Tour—Industrial Sector.” Where do you think the “industrial section” of Oswego existed from about 1840 until around 1910? Did you even know Oswego HAD a thriving industrial sector during that time? Join members of the Oswegoland Heritage Association and the Oswegoland Park District on a splendid bus tour of the industrial section “way back then.”

The tour will begin and end at the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk St., Oswego, and last for about an hour. Pre-registration is required at $5 per person online through the park district website, bit.ly/lwsmwinter. Join us and find answers for Oswego’s history questions you didn’t know existed.

For more information about the Little White School Museum, the Oswegoland Heritage Association, Oswego area history, or other museum programming, call 630-554-2999 or visit littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.