People shape the history of Cook County. Our biggest asset is our community— so the safety of our patrons, volunteers, supporters, and staff is our priority. Throughout this health emergency, we are still committed to the collection, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge about the history of Cook County. With our mission guiding our work, we wanted to share the latest updates on Historic Cook County’s activities.
In compliance with ongoing health emergency executive orders from both state and county officials, as well as general concerns over public social distancing, the five Historic Cook County sites (History Museum, JHP Art Gallery, Chippewa City Church, Bally Blacksmith Shop, and fish house replica and fishing tug “Neegee”) will be temporarily closed to all non-essential staff and the public at least through June 25.
While we are closed we invite you to explore our online resources. We have staff working remotely behind the scenes to provide and update content and information through our different channels. Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram or our website. We are still able to accommodate research requests (email katie@cookcountyhistory.org) or explore our online searchable database.
When the time comes, we hope to open our sites in some capacity while still keeping everyone healthy. As socially distanced activities are permitted, we will be looking to the community for support. Since we don’t want to put our senior citizen volunteers at risk, we are seeking other community members interested in helping us safely share our sites with the public. Additionally, we have other volunteer opportunities for those interested in preserving Cook County’s past. If you feel you are capable and interested – please contact Carrie at history@boreal.org.
We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through these changes and thank you in advance for your contributions and continued membership support. If you are not yet a supporter and would like to help us further our mission, you can find more information at our website on our Membership or Donate pages.
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