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Mundelein Historical Commission
Quarterly E-Newsletter
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Heritage Museum Now Open for the 2024 Season!
Wednesdays 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Saturdays 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
March 16 thru December 14
Featuring NEW Special Display: Artifacts from the Hynds Collection to Tell and Showcase the History of Diamond Lake.
| From the Commission Chairman | |
The Heritage Museum opened Saturday, March 16 with several new displays, including a cooperative venture with local artifact collector, John Hynds. Known around town as "The Man in the Lake," John has been scouring the waters of Diamond Lake for artifacts for nearly 20 years. He has graciously loaned the Heritage Museum a large trove of his reclaimed treasures. Co-curators of the exhibit, Barb Zander and Wendy Frasier, have done a remarkable job organizing the items to tell the story of 150 years of human activity around Diamond Lake. We are very proud to display what John has provided and trust that you will be amazed by this unique presentation.
One of the Historical Commission's objectives is to take local history from the museum into the community. This year we have already begun, and look forward to, several special events to
meet this objective:
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January 18 Presentation for the Lake County History Symposium about Heritage Museum founder, Leonard Schmitt.
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Spring 2024 "Hands-on History" day at Fremont Elementary School.
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March through April Diamond Lake History Exhibit at Fremont Public Library.
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May "Pop-up museum" at Tighthead Brewery.
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June 15 Book signing event at the Museum with local authors.
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Last Saturday of the month, starting March 30 at 3 pm Classic Old Time Radio at the museum.
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August 24 Historic Cemetery Walk at the Ivanhoe Cemetery in cooperation with the Kirk Players and Ivanhoe Church.
Watch the Village E-newsletter and future editions of the MHC Newsletter for more information about these and other MHC events. Remember to "Keep a Handle on History" - visit the Mundelein Heritage Museum!
Mike Flynn, Chairman
Mundelein Historical Commission
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A Look Back in Time
Ice Harvesting
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Before the age of refrigeration, keeping food cold in the summer required large blocks of ice harvested in the winter from clear, clean-water lakes like Diamond Lake. The Piper Ice Company operated a commercial ice harvesting operation on the north shore of the Lake from the 1880's until the 1920's.
In the late 1880's the Wisconsin Central Railroad built a spur track from the main line a little south of the Courtland Street viaduct through the 80-acre Rouse farm. Rouse leased a portion of his land to the railroad and to the Piper Ice Company.
Piper built a facility of about ten rooms, each approximately 40' x 120', for storing ice. The facility included a barn for horses and bunk house for 100 workers. Ice harvesting paid $1.50 for a 10-hour workday. Workers were given free transportation from Chicago but had to pay their way back.
The photo below shows the ice field on Diamond Lake scored and ready for harvesting, and a three-man cutting crew (photo at top) scoring the ice. The 4-blade saw cut a half-inch of ice with each pass. It was a frigid, painstaking process that required multiple passes to saw through more than 12 inches of lake ice (12" was the minimum desired). Next, men with hand axes and saws cut out the large "cakes" and floated them down runways to the ice house where they were covered in sawdust and stored in the thick-walled iced rooms until loaded on to rail cars and taken to Chicago or Milwaukee.
To learn more about ice harvesting and view harvesting equipment, railroad artifacts, and other items retrieved from Diamond Lake, visit the Heritage Museum this season.
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Did You Know?
The University of Saint Mary of the Lake
has hosted an Annual Invitational
Basketball Tournament for 22 years!
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History is not always about the past. History is made every day, often by normal people, living normal lives. We don't always realize it, but events that occur around us, and the people we see in the course of those events, may one day be considered a relevant historical milestone. A case in point is the annual basketball tournament at the Mundelein Seminary.
The 22nd Annual National Invitational Tournament of Catholic Seminaries took place in the seminary gymnasium (shown above) this year from January 25th-28th. This long-running, Mundelein sporting event began in 2002. In 2013, the tournament was named in honor of Father Patrick O'Malley. There are other Seminary Basketball tournaments around the country, but the Pat O'Malley tourney combines several elements that are distinctive and worthy of historical note.
Holding a nationally focused basketball tournament at a small university of higher education for 22 years is, in itself, no small feat. The competition is spirited, but a strong sense of decorum prevails. Each game ends with the combatants kneeling in a silent prayer-circle together.
The tournament location is truly one-of-a-kind. The USML gymnasium is an architecturally significant facility constructed in the 1920's without built-in seating. It was intended for athletic training and recreation, not competition. The building also houses a swimming pool, 3 bowling lanes, and squash/handball courts.
The tournament's namesake, Father Patrick O'Malley (1932-2013), was a notable Catholic priest in the diocese of Chicago. Father O'Malley, a USML alumni, was ordained in 1957. He served as a Chicago parish priest from 1957-1991. In 1991 he was appointed Vicar of Priests for the Chicago archdiocese. From 1997 until 2013 he was the Spiritual Director for Seminarians at Mundelein Seminary. Father Pat was an avid sports fan and a big supporter of the USML tournament.
The 2024 tournament hosted 10 teams from seminaries around the country. The champion, for the second year in a row was St. Joseph Seminary in Covington, Kentucky. The largest tournament was the 2014 edition which featured 16 teams. All games were live-streamed, with color commentary, on the USML website and featured the Seminary mascot, Larry-the-Laker (shown below). The Pat O'Malley tournament is not as famous as the NIT which started in 1938 or the NCAA in 1939, but it is free to the public, and a piece of Mundelein/American history we can be proud of.
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Monthly Old Time Radio Shows | |
For the past two years, the Commision has hosted two Old Time Radio Shows at the Heritage Museum for Halloween. In 2023, two Christmas-themed shows were added to the schedule. The shows have proved popular with the public, attracting between 15 and 20 attendees per show. This year, we are making the Old Time Radio shows a monthly event.
Programs are selected by Commission member Anne Walker from her extensive collection. They will be presented at the museum on the last Saturday of each month at 3pm. All shows are 30 minutes long and most include the original commercials aired during the show.
The first 2024 presentation on March 30th was "The Shadow", a detective/mystery show. Upcoming shows include:
- April 27th - The Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show, Frankie Wants a Favor, originally aired on December 5, 1948.
- May 25th - Gunsmoke, Disagreement.
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Book Signing at the Museum - June 15
The Historical Commission is hosting a Local Authors Book Signing event at the Heritage Museum on Saturday, June 15th from 1:00pm until 4:00pm. A group of local authors will have their books for sale and will be signing copies for the public. Participants include commission member Shawn Killackey, author of the Arcadia publication "Mundelein"; Gail Kahover, author of the Arcadia publication "Mundelein Seminary"; Christa Lawrence, author of the children's book "Trouble Brewing for Thomas"; and Eric Feinendegen, author of "The FEIN-er Things".
Stop by for a tour of the museum, meet the authors and purchase a signed book.
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Mundelein Roots:
Leonard Schmitt
Amateur Historian, Fremont Township Resident, and Dedicated Community Servant
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Len Schmitt was born in Chicago in 1911. He moved to Libertyville in 1950; then to Fremont Township in 1955, where he lived until his death in 2001 at age 89. He was a salesman by profession, a "regular guy", not a wealthy business man or political leader. He was a man who loved to help others.
Len volunteered for numerous organizations throughout his life. He served Mundelein and Central Lake County for over 50 years and left a legacy few average guys could equal. When he died, the Lakeland Newspaper wrote: "Leonard Schmitt was a person who found time to perform an amazing amount of community service... A restless nature drove him to make every minute of every waking moment count".
Len's list of community accomplishments is remarkable: He started The Carpenter Bulletin at St. Joseph's Parish in Libertyville shortly after moving there in 1950. He was an active member of the Libertyville/Mundelein Knights of Columbus; president of Lake County AARP; a 4H leader for over 20 years, a founding member of the Historical Society of the Fort Hill Country organized in 1956 and its President from 1981 until his death.
From 1959 until 1989 Len was President of the Fremont Library Board. The Library Meeting Room is dedicated in his honor and a gold gavel plaque hangs in the Board Room memorializing his 30 years as President. Len was remembered by a Board colleague as, "...a fiscally responsible president, very much the old time gentleman, extremely polite; a person who dedicated a lot of time and energy to serving the library and the community".
In 1964 Len wrote the history of St. Mary's Church in Fremont Center for its 100th anniversary. In 1980 he led the Historical Society's effort to Save Mundelein's dilapidated Train Depot built in 1926, have it moved out of downtown, and converted into a museum. In 1986 he led a grass-roots campaign to preserve a parcel of land at the NW intersection of Peterson and Allegany Roads, known as "Fort Hill", as a Historical Landmark. That effort eventually failed, but Len gave it a valiant effort, as he always did.
We are proud to recognize
Leonard Schmitt's
Mundelein roots!
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Welcome New
Museum Docents!
| The Historical Commission is pleased to welcome our new museum docents: Ed Kipp, Terry Schaul, Gary and Rita Gunther, and Brendon Ouimet. These five local residents and avid history-lovers have joined our team of 10 other volunteers to greet you when you visit the museum, answer questions, show you around, and impart bits of local lore. If you are interested in serving as a docent, there are still opportunities. Give it a try! Stop by the museum during public hours, or contact our docent coordinator, Shawn Killackey at skillackey@email.mundelein.org. | |
Commission Vacancies
There are two vacant positions on the Historical Commission. We are now looking for volunteers who have an interest in local history. Besides running the Heritage Museum, members serve as museum docents, exhibit curators, and project planners. The MHC is expanding its outreach in the community and planning a number of exciting projects. If this sounds interesting, please consider joining our team. Members are appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Village Board. Applications are made at the Village Hall. For information, contact info@mundelein.org
or Commission Chairman, Mike Flynn at mflynn@email.mundelein.org.
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Preserve the Past, Support the Heritage Museum! | |
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You can help support the Mundelein Heritage Museum by donating to the Mundelein Parks Foundation (MPF), a non-profit 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. The Heritage Museum is one of the Foundation's four "Areas of Focus", considered Preserving Our Past. (The others are: All-Inclusive Playground Construction, Park Improvement, and Capital Projects). Donating is simple -- visit the Mundelein Parks Foundation website, click "donate", and select an amount and the area of focus you would like to support. Donations designated to the Museum will be used for educational program expansion, local historical preservation, and museum enhancements.
Thanks for your Support!
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Artifact Donations
If you want to donate an artifact to the Heritage Museum, please call 847-566-8122 and leave a message or email mflynn@email.mundelein.org. You can also stop by the museum during open hours. The Museum Acquisition Committee reviews all proposed donations and not all items can be accepted.
Collection objectives for the Museum are in part: "To display objects and photographs that depict the daily life of the inhabitants of the Mundelein area throughout history; and, preserve the natural, native and historical culture of the Mundelein area."
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