generalmuseum

Father Edward J. Vattmann was a retired U.S. Army chaplain who lived at 1733 Lake Avenue in Wilmette. Active in local affairs, he was a familiar and well-loved figure around the village.  His close friend, Theodore Roosevelt, was known to pay a visit to him at that house on occasion. During World War I, Father Vattmann came out of retirement to serve at Fort Sheridan. When the news came to [...]

A guest blog post by Jane Textor, the Museum's Costume Curator: Our past exhibit on the 1960s gave me the opportunity to display one of my favorite pieces housed here at the museum; a dress made of paper! It has vivid colors, a psychedelic print, and it was worn right here in Wilmette. Mid-sixties dressing was all about youth and fun; from mini-skirts, to body paints, to go-go boots, [...]

For 100 years and more, the Woman's Club of Wilmette at Tenth and Greenleaf has been a center of community life. On February 17, 2015, our village sustained a terrible loss when fire destroyed much of that historic and still vital building. The clubhouse, with its distinctive facing of Lannon limestone from Wisconsin, was built in 1929, incorporating a smaller building erected in 1912. But it isn't only the [...]

The earliest Wilmette blizzard for which we have good records hit the village on Saturday, January 5, 1918, and even old-timers couldn't remember a worse one.  Snow fell for thirty continuous hours, as powerful winds whipped up huge eight-foot snowdrifts that blanketed the whole community.  All traffic shut down, and most people had no choice but to stay home.  An emergency call went out for men and horses to help [...]

A Wilmette native and old friend of the WHM, Harold Lundberg, Jr., stopped by the other day with some snapshots that had belonged to his dad.  This one in particular caught our eye.  On the back, in pencil, is the note, "Photo by Waldo. The garage fire in 1922."  We don't know who "Waldo" was, but we'd run across mention of the 1922 garage fire, which made the front page [...]

On April 7, 1916, the Annual Meeting of Ye Olde Towne Folkes welcomed Asceneth “Carrie” Stolp as guest speaker. In the speech she gave that night, Stolp recalled a history of Wilmette from the days of the Ouilmette reservation to the founding of Ye Olde Towne Folkes in 1892. Throughout the presentation, which was transcribed and is available to us at the Museum, life in early Wilmette is described [...]