Museum Tour Information Packet

We appreciate your interest in our educational programs. This page, including the downloads available at right, has taken the place of the packet we formerly mailed out to schools and other interested groups.

Please contact our office if you have questions.

On Thursdays and Fridays, we offer two hour tours of the museum including our one-room school (the West Harmony School) and an 1843 log cabin. Times: 9 to 11 a.m. or 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. This program is designed for students in third through eight grades. We are able to accommodate up to four classrooms at one time. For groups of more than 90 students, we suggest taking two days.

After an introduction to the museum and exhibits, smaller groups will be able to experience a trip to the past using changing technology as a tool to understanding the exhibits and various objects.

We have prepared two student handouts, (available as PDFs for download, from the box at right) that can be duplicated for each student. A third downloadable PDF details ACTIVITIES, and is designed for docents, teachers or parents. We also suggest post activities such as writing projects, focused group discussions and/or drawing.

Our Traveling History Trunk is currently out for reevaluation and is not available at the present time.

Museum tours and West Harmony programs are free to schools whose townships and/or municipalities join the Society as governmental members. Without a membership connection, the cost is $3 per student, $5 each adult.

Our special exhibit for 2015-2016 (opening May 1) is "Barrels, Bottles & Brews: McHenry County on Tap" (includes a special chldren's exhibit about root beer).

Various program dates are available this fall, starting in October through December, and again in the spring – Februrary through May. A grant from the McHenry County Community Foundation is allowing us to offer transportation subsidies to particpating schools this season.

Please peruse our website for additional programs and/or projects during the year, or call us at 815-923-2267.

Home schooled students, as well as those working on special research projects, may qualify for free admission to the museum. For information or to set up a research appointment contact the office. Our “Life Before Series,” available here under the Research Library menu, provides short accounts of everyday life experiences with a local slant.