Deconstructing Origin Stories in Northern Illinois

Join us April 17 for the first installment in a series on

Deconstructing Origin Stories in Northern Illinois

Most of the communities in northern Illinois share a similar origin story. The formula includes a mention of the Black Hawk War, departure of Native Americans, and then a wave of Euro-American settlers pre-empting the land in the 1830s. This simplified and narrow telling lacks the perspectives and voices of people who were removed.  In reflection of the nation’s 250th commemoration, community-based historical museums and societies in northern Illinois are invited to a series of presentations, workshops and charrettes to rethink the ways in which we tell our communities’ founding stories to share a more whole history of our origins.

The first installment of the series will be hosted by the Kane-DuPage Regional Museum Association on Thursday, April 17 at the Geneva History Museum and features Dr. Ann Durkin Keating. 

Networking begins at 9:30am, program runs from 10am-11am.  KDRMA and IAM members are free, nonmembers are $50 per person.  RSVP: kdrma1@gmail.com

Ann Durkin Keating is Dr. C. Frederick Toenniges Professor of History at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and author of The World of Juliette Kinzie and Rising Up from Indian Country:

The Battle of Fort Dearborn and the Birth of Chicago