McLean County Museum of History awarded Superiority Achievement

Posted on March 24, 2022
The full series can be viewed for free on the museum’s YouTube Channel. (Photo Courtesy of McLean County Museum of History)

By Jake Fogal

BLOOMINGTON-The McLean County Museum of History (MCMH) has been recognized for it’s distinguished work on it’s groundbreaking series, “Breaking Bread in McLean County.” The Illinois Association for Museums awarded MCMH Superior Achievement in Community Partnership.

The 10 part program detailed the shared and differing experiences of local migrant communities from the Kickapoo to Congolese Americans. The full series can be viewed for free on the museum’s YouTube Channel.

The series was a collaboration between MCMH in Downtown Bloomington, BN Welcoming (a coalition of the Immigration Project, Not In Our Town/Not In Our Schools, West Bloomington Revitalization Project, Mennonite Church of Normal, First United Methodist Church), Design Streak at Illinois State University (ISU), and Heartland Community College (HCC).

“I am most impressed with how different community organizations came together to develop this series,” said MCMH Executive Director Julie Emig. 

“Everyone contributed to the success of this program, but none of it would have been possible if not for Hannah Johnson, the Director of Youth & Family Education at the Museum, and her brilliant leadership,”

The full series can be viewed for free on the museum’s YouTube Channel.

Jake Fogal can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…