In 1917, the State approved plans for a building to mark the Illinois Centennial. The building (now the Howlett Building) was completed in 1923, and the Illinois State Museum moved into 12 rooms on the 5th floor and basement levels. This was the third home for the Museum.

Learn more about the history of the Illinois State Museum at the Story of Illinois State Museum website bit.ly/ISMstory. 

The Illinois State Museum was originally housed in the Illinois Capitol Building. in 1903 it moved to the State Arsenal where it remained until 1923. This was not the arsenal visitors to Springfield see today, but one built in 1903 which burned in 1934.

The Museum occupied the south end of the second floor.

By the 1920′s the exhibits had grown, and the Museum’s curator began looking for a larger dedicated space for the Museum.

Learn more about the history of the Illinois State Museum here: bit.ly/ISMstory 

On December 24, 1830, it began snowing in central Illinois. By Christmas Day, there was a foot of snow on the ground. By New Year’s Day, the snow was three feet deep and still falling. Precipitation fell almost continuously for nine weeks, sometimes as snow, sometimes as sleet or hail that froze into an icy crust. For most of that time, the thermometer hovered around zero degrees, occasionally dropping as low as twenty below, and only climbing to above freezing twice. In some areas, the depth of the snow reached four or five feet. The snowfall threatened the lives of humans and animals alike, as both found their food supplies buried.

Those who survived the “winter of the deep snow” called themselves snow birds and considered themselves the true original settlers of Illinois. In 1882, a group of male snow birds formed a Snow Bird Club for the purpose of calling on elderly settler ladies every New Year’s Day. A copy of this photo, depicting the 23 members of the Club, was given to each lady they visited in 1884.

Amos Henry Worthen was the Illinois State Museum’s first curator from 1877-1888. At that time the Museum was known as the State Historical Library and Natural History Museum and it was housed in the third floor of the State Capitol building.

Visit the Story of the Illinois State Museum site to learn more. #history #museums #StoryofISM

Albert Small was a foreman at the Ottawa Silica Plant; he had no quilt making experience. Nevertheless, he was sure he could create a quilt containing the most pieces of any quilt ever made. After working with dynamite and heavy machinery all day, he picked up his needle and thread at night. The result was this quilt, which has more than 123,000 pieces, each just a quarter of an inch wide. It was featured in Reader’s Digest in 1973, Ripley’s Believe it or Not in 1995, and has been named one of the Top 100 Quilts of the 20th Century.