Local Lore program to focus on transportation

The last Brown Bag/Local Lore program of the year will feature Norm Moline, a retired professor from Augusta College, who will present “Binding Our State Together: 200 Years of Canals, Railroads, Postal Service, Interurbans, and Roads” on Dec. 2.

Moline, an Illinois Humanities Roads Scholar speaker, will explore Illinois’ fascinating transportation history.

“When Illinois became a state in 1818, it was a sparsely settled and minimally connected place,” Moline said in a news release. “Over the next 200 years, it was transformed to a place with an amazing set of linkages.”

Moline will review the contributions of different forms of transportation, adding points which may not be familiar even to history enthusiasts, but the key is the important cumulative effect of these connections in our history. Attendees will receive detailed timeline handouts.

The talk will complement the History Center’s current exhibit, “History of DeKalb County in 100 Objects,” which features information about the impact of the railroad in DeKalb County.

The Brown Bag/Local Lore program is sponsored by the Mary E. Stevens Concert and Lecture Fund. Moline’s talk is also made possible by an Illinois Humanities Road Scholar grant.

This program will be held at noon Thursday, Dec. 2. Visitors can participate in-person or remotely. To register, visit dekalbcountyhistory.org and click on the link at the bottom of the homepage.

The History Center is located at 1730 N. Main St. in Sycamore. For more information, email info@dekalbcountyhistory.org or call 815-895-5762.