The historic collections of the Douglas County Museum are a community creation, formed to
save and preserve artifacts pertinent to Douglas County history and that of the counties that surround it.
Before the museum existed, these artifacts were being lost on a regular basis. Immediately after it opened in
1988, the museum received significant collections from individual donors (e.g., the Lena Petry Postcard, Dr.
Elmer S. Allen Medical, Tuscola High School Photographic, Sommer Douglas County Advertising Memorabilia
collections). The museum continues to receive selected materials as confidence in the museum grows. The museum
tends to collect late 19th and 20th century artifacts since the county is very young. Douglas County, formed
in 1859, was one of the last counties to organize in Illinois.The museum collections are as follows:
- Clothing and textiles - ladies' hats and accessories, children's clothes, formal and informal
wear, Scout uniforms, quilts, weaving, embroidery, lace, and crochet samples. Most of these items were
either worn or made by local residents. They reflect social history and draw attention to economic
differences within the community. Mass-produced clothing was available in this area, but the museum's
collection of wearing apparel is 80% homemade. Prairie citizens had to do, redo and make do, and the
museum's collection of clothing and accessories reflects that. The other textiles in this collection are a
sampling of the handiwork made by local residents, and help us understand that the plain cabins and wooden
homes in the county were nevertheless filled with beautiful accent pieces.
- Military - uniforms, weapons, war memorabilia, field radio equipment, chaplain's kit, photographs
associated with Douglas County soldiers, books. Representing World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam
(with emphasis on World War II), this collection reflects the political and social history of several
periods with an emphasis on local servicemen and women's participation in global affairs. The uniforms are
from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, and include both men's and women's military attire. This
collection shows that the gear changed in just two decades, and yet some of it stayed the same or very
similar. While the museum's World War II display was coming down, the museum received permission from photo
owners to copy their pictures, thus adding to the museum's already sizeable military collection.
- Medical - dental equipment, general practitioner artifacts, Douglas County's Jarman Hospital
(now defunct) memorabilia, eye glass salesman's kit. Used by county general practitioners and medical
personnel, these items show the evolution of medical care throughout local history. Significant in this
collection are numerous items used in the office of Dr. Elmer S. Allen, a general practitioner in Arcola.
The doctor died many years ago, but the staff of the Douglas County Museum obtained an oral interview with
his nurse of several decades. She shed a great deal of light on the items in the collection, explaining that
Dr. Allen practiced at a time when physicians ground their own medications with mortar and pestle. Dr.
Allen's collection spans two generations of medical care since his father was also a physician. Another
significant part of the museum's medical collections are items from the county hospital, which ceased
operation several years ago because costs became too great for taxpayers. There is an illustrated
commemorative book which describes the hospital when it was just opening for business. The museum owns some
of the items which can be seen in the pictures, such as the metal rocking chair and cradle stand used in the
nursery. Through the years, the hospital staff kept scrapbooks of changes and events. The museum now owns
them and other items.
- Decorative Arts - furniture, bottles, musical instruments, household furnishings, toys,
paintings, prints and original drawings. Special strength - items relating to Raggedy Ann & Andy and a Duke
Lough (local artist) print collection. Our decorative arts collection, which includes household items from
the homes of the poor as well as the rich, places the economic and cultural history of the community in a
broader context. It features a Raggedy Ann and Andy collection because the dolls' creator was born in
Douglas County. As well as novelties, the museum's collection includes original sketches by Mr. Gruelle's
son, Worth, and grandson, Jim. Worth and Kim illustrated Raggedy Ann and Andy in publications following
creator Johnny Gruelle's death. Once a year, the city of Arcola, which is Gruelle's birthplace, has a
festival in honor of Raggedy Ann and Andy. Johnny Gruelle is one of the few notable historic figures in the
county's history.
- Library, Manuscripts, and Archives - This category contains the largest number of artifacts in
the Douglas County Museum's collections. It includes 7,000 plus items such as reference books, newspapers,
local history books, journals and local telephone directories, postcards, correspondence, radio station
ephemera and photographs, county photographs, the Lida Jane Hunt manuscript collection, Helm Harness Shop
collection, Tuscola High School photographs, etc. Each of these documents gives insight into the geological,
archaeological, economic, geographic, political, architectural, and cultural history of the county. Tuscola
once was the host city for Radio Station WDZ, third radio station in the nation. Ruthie Moore was a radio
personality whose files were given to the museum. The museum also owns many "picture pages" from the Tuscola
Journal newspaper. From the 1940s to 1970s, a popular feature of the Journal was a large insert sheet of
photographs depicting life in the county--people going to Easter Sunday church, special events, weddings,
auctions, etc. Whenever possible, the publisher identified individuals in the picture pages.
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Included in the museum holdings are photographs originally owned by Progress Industries in Arthur.
This 1926 truck tank, sold to the Joe Davis Oil Company, is similar to a 1924 truck tank (Progress Tank
#1) originally sold to J.F. Kettlekemp, but now owned by the Douglas County Museum. The tank had a
capacity to hold 300 gallons in three compartments. Of acetylene-welded construction, the tanks had side
racks for carrying bulk lube oil cans and a bucket box to hold buckets and funnels for unloading fuel.
(Click picture for a larger view)
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Industry - Business correspondence, products, photographs, samples. Special strengths - items from
local printing company and from Progress Industries. Items from some of the county's earliest major
industries reflect the social, economic, and political history of the county. The Progress items in
particular are significant because Progress Industries in Arthur held one of the most intact collections of
industry records in the area until its new owners threw everything in the trash. Preservationists saved as
many of the records, photographs, advertising brochures, etc., as they could, and donated them to the
museum. Progress was t he first major industrial plant in Douglas County. Farm items are also held within
the "industry" category of Douglas County Museum artifacts because agriculture has been the biggest industry
in the county's history. The museum owns small farm implements and tools, as well as farm ledgers and ag-industry
account books. The museum also has a significant collection of hand-operated seeders used to plant crops
manually while walking.
- Education - School annuals, school memorabilia, ephemera, photographs, desks, school books. All
grade levels are represented with country school records, building and class pictures, souvenirs of school
life, etc. The museum is in the process of trying to obtain the annuals from every high school in the
county.
- Business Advertising - Pencils, rulers, fans, plates, novelty items with names, logos, and
slogans of Douglas County businesses. Special strength - items from the Lynnita Sommer (Brown) Collection.
This collection reflects the types of businesses which operated in the county from the late 1800s to date.
The products which were necessary for survival on the prairie changed with new technologies and different
methods of buying. This collection often not only shows what type of businesses were in operation, but also
names the person who headed them.
Although the museum's collections relate to a specialized audience interested in the history of Douglas
County and East Central Illinois, they also appeal to a much wider audience interested in seeing how the
history of this county also reflects the history of the state, nation, and world (example: area soldiers'
participation in a world war).
The ever-changing county causes the significance of the Douglas County Museum's collection to grow. For
instance, when the county hospital closed in 1992, the museum acquired medical artifacts which have local
historic value. An additional example is the local truck tan and funeral casket company, Progress Industries,
which changed from manual to assembly line production. The museum's industry collection reflects the
technological and management changes in Progress, whose history spans more than half a century.
The museum staff currently concentrates on temporary exhibits rather than permanent exhibits to prevent a
"been there, seen that" attitude among visitors. The collections are the heart of the Douglas County Museum,
and when they are on exhibit, they are displayed along with temporarily-loaned items from the public that
reflect the current exhibit theme and complement the artifacts found within the museum's vast collection. |
