Postcard Book Tells Des Plaines History
By Karen Henrikson, City of Des Plaines, Public Relations Coordinator
Historians throughout the State may be interested
in learning that the Des Plaines Historical Society recently published a postcard book which takes a nostalgic look at the community from the turn of the century through the 1950s. Authored by the Historical
Society's Special Projects Coordinator Angela "Angie"
Whitmal, Greetings From Des Plaines is the first book
to be published by the Des Plaines Historical Society.
(Pictured above left to right) Des Plaines Historical Society
Special Project Coordinator Angie Whitmal (left) and Museum
Director Joy Matthiessen display Greetings From Des Plaines. a
post card book which takes a nostalgic look at the community
through historic pictures. The book is the first of its kind to be
published by the Des Plaines Historical Society.
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The Historical Society book is the result of countless hours of research, writing, editing and compiling
postcards, cutlines and community information. "It
was an ongoing project for 18 months and was truly a
team effort," said Special Projects Coordinator Angie
Whitmal.
Museum personnel credit the Illinois Heritage
Association for the inspiration to develop the book. In
1993, the Association published a postcard book on
the history of the Champaign/Urbana area. The Des
Plaines Historical Society was considering topics for a
publishing project when this unique idea caught their
eye. Museum staff hired Patricia Miller, of the
Association, as a consultant for a day, to learn about
how the Association approached the project. That insight helped Des Plaines Historical Society staff set a
production schedule, and off they went.
Over 90 postcards (many of which are in color)
from the Historical Society's collection were selected
for the publication, a monumental task in itself as
there are over 350 cards in the collection! Many of the
cards were identified by the donors, but the captions
needed to be written.
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Postcard cutlines were based on extensive research. Information for each cutline had to be verified
to assure that it was accurate.
"We learned a great deal from this project," said
Whitmal. "One of the first lessons involved the
amount of work required to research each card. We exposed a few longstanding myths and began questioning our sources in new ways. For example, for many
years one photograph had been identified as a windmill built by early settlers in the 1840s. The photograph may have been of a mill on the same property,
however, research has proven it unlikely to be of the
original mill. While oral history interviews are excel-
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The above photograph is one of 90 pictures featured in the
Greetings From Des Plaines book. It shows Ellinwood St., one of
the City's main downtown streets, in 1923.
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June 1996 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 9
The above picture, featured in
Greetings From Des Plaines.
depicts the Suburban A.C. Football Team. "Beginning in 1906, the
Suburban Athletic Club organized a league of football, basketball
and baseball teams. In 1915 the football team boasted that no
team had been able to score against it for two complete seasons. In
addition to sports, club members also planned social events and
attended bi-weekly meetings. A circa 1915 article about the group
of fifteen young men stated that they hoped to grow in order to,
'Give Des Plaines what it really needs ... a live young spirit and
element to help advertise a growing City'." (from Greetings From
Des Plaines).
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lent sources of information, the memory can be faulty.
We try to find a second source of information as double verification," she said.
Funding for the book was derived from sponsors
in the following categories: Platinum, $2500+; Gold,
$1000-$2400; Silver, $500-$999; Bronze, $250-$499;
and Friends (under $250). The museum director, treasurer, and several board members were primarily responsible for the fundraising aspect of the project.
Thanks to their efforts the book has paid for itself and
has raised additional money for the Society.
"The Des Plaines Historical Society was extremely
pleased with the publication of the postcard book," according to Museum Director Joy Matthiessen. "It is an
excellent means of visually depicting the community's
history. While it did require a great deal of time and
effort, it was worth the work," she said.
For details regarding purchases or for additional
information on the project, call the Des Plaines
Historical Museum at 847-391-5399. •
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Page 10 / Illinois Municipal Review / June 1996
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