(Photographer: Robert K. O’Daniell)

L-R Alice Hu, sophomore strings popcorn and Sally Pennacchi and George Pennacchi, both sophomores make Orange Pomanders at the Champaign County Historical Museum in Champaign, IL. on Saturday, December 8, 2012. University High School students were adding Victorian accents and making holiday foods of the period. The Museum is open from noon to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

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The first and most ambitious phase involved the Museum’s collections. Subcategories in this phase included learning what constitutes a museum collection, how the collection is maintained and stored, how to determine what segments of the collection may be exhibited to the public, and procedures for handling the collection items. Also included was guidance on how to take down and store the items of an exhibit already on display, how to prepare for and set up a new exhibit for display, and the need for proper documentation and labeling of exhibit items.

Fortunately, we have in our midst in Champaign-Urbana an expert who is knowledgeable in all of these categories. Mrs. Patricia Miller, Executive Director of the Illinois Heritage Association and an adjunct professor of museum administration at East Illinois University, willingly undertook a series of training sessions for the students. Grant funds provided the honoraria for Mrs. Miller’s participation. Grant funds also provided the many additional items needed for setting up the new displays: book shelves, mannequins of the correct size (people during the late 1800s and early 1900s were smaller than we are today; so many of the clothing items in the collection could not be displayed on present-day mannequins), a new display case for our recently acquired Civil War sword and scabbard, stands and racks for supporting many of the smaller items, new shelving for the new displays, and other needs that the student “trainees” brought to our attention.

The Museum contains five rooms that are used for displays. One, the turn-of-the-century grocery store, is a permanent display that does not need more than occasional adjustment. Student inputs here were restricted to cleaning and rearranging, and addition of a few appropriate items found in our storage area. The students focused their attention on the creation of new or revised exhibits for three rooms, one on the ground floor and two on the second floor of the 1857 Cattle Bank building. In progress right now are the documentation of the items on display and the preparation of appropriate signs and labels.

The second-floor exhibit room that was previously devoted to the Museum’s Louise Woodroofe collection has been converted into what is being referred to as the Toy Room. This means that it now houses turn-of-the-century dolls, toys, and other children’s amenities, including books, puzzles, period clothing, a cradle, and a rocking horse.

The ground-floor room now called the Ballroom previously contained typical medical and communication equipment used in Champaign County during its earlier years. This room houses a display of turn-of-the-century ball gowns, men’s formal wear, women’s hats, gloves, shoes, fans, musical instruments, and even a silver service, as well as other items that might be typical of festive occasions.

The second-floor room traditionally referred to as the Military Room retains both that designation and much of the material previously on display there, though rearranged. A number of items have been added, including some recently acquired uniforms, our Civil War officer’s sword, and more photographs.

The ground-floor room that we refer to as the Victorian Room was not included in the initial student project plans, but the students have taken over at least partial responsibility for that room. It still needs much work, but is showing promise. One of our newer Board of Trustees members, Kathleen Carroll, who has had considerable experience in museum management, especially with regard to clothing collections, has started working with the students. While she has helped tie up loose ends in the other exhibit rooms, she is eagerly tutoring the students as they continue to work in this room.

The second phase of the student involvement project entailed the preparation of a brochure for the Museum. For many years the CCHM has been included among the area museums covered in the “Museums at the Crossroads” brochure. In terms of public relations, that brochure has served us well, but we felt it was time for us to present our story ourselves. Using recommendations submitted by the CCHM Board of Trustees and drawing on comparisons with brochures from other institutions, several of Mrs. Suslick’s ninth-grade students at Uni High initiated the plans for the brochure and carried it through several revisions. This required the efforts of several students for about three months. The basic content of the student-developed brochure was studied by the Board in early June and then transferred to T.J. Blakeman of the Champaign City Planning Department for conversion into a more graphically professional version. Mr. Blakeman serves as a consultant to the Board.

The first printing of the brochure was completed in the second week of June, and the first copies were handed out at the annual Taste of Champaign-Urbana event at West Side Park during the third weekend of June. Since then, copies have been distributed to all Museum members, to city and township libraries, and to all area school libraries. When the Museum is again open to the public, copies of the brochure will be distributed to area businesses, such as the Chamber of Commerce, and other places that might have an interest in the Museum.

The final phase of the project is the redesign and redevelopment of the Museum’s website at www.champaignmuseum.org. The Uni High students have made substantial progress in these two areas, and have included many new features such as an online photo gallery of the exhibit rooms, an events calendar, and information about the Museum’s 1919 Cretor popcorn wagon. Uni’s Kedar Vaidya initiated these projects with the help of Max Li, Nathan Beauchamp, and Shawn Lu. There are plans to include a virtual museum where viewers may see many of the items in our collections. This effort, while progressing nicely, still has a way to go before it achieves the professionalism that is necessary for a public-accessible entity such as a museum.

Mrs. Suslick’s 2010–2011 ninth-grade class that was originally involved in the project has moved on to tenth grade, but almost all of those students involved as ninth graders have continued to maintain an interest in the operation and improvement of the Museum. And now Mrs. Suslick’s current (2011–2012) ninth-grade class is joining the ranks of this learning endeavor.

As a separate note, the Museum has been closed for many months due to several factors, including construction projects and change of displays, but more recently by damage caused by several instances of window breakage and one attempted break-in. Fortunately, there has been no actual entry and no losses due to theft. We have recently received concurrence from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency architect to install Plexiglas® panels over our first-floor windows; this would not appreciably change the outer appearance of the building, but it would certainly make it more resistant to the window breakage. Because the 1857 Cattle Bank building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there is only a limited amount of exterior change we can make and still retain our listing. Once the four almost-complete exhibit rooms are finished, we will be ready to open our doors again to the general public.

Again, we are thankful for the funding from the Faith Vidoni and Marian Van Dyke Educational Grant program to help make this project a gratifying learning experience.

Sue Wood
Board Co-President