April Brown Bag/Local Lore program “Pulled from the Headlines: Ellwood and Glidden stories”

At the turn of the century, DeKalb’s booming barbed wire industry made Joseph Glidden, Isaac Ellwood, and Jacob Haish national figures and local celebrities. From the serious to the sensational, newspaper stories of the time shed light on the development of an industry, and the lives of those who shaped it.

On Thursday, April 4, Rob Glover, Executive Director of Glidden Homestead and Audrey King, Curator of Education & Interpretation at the Ellwood House Museum, will dig deeper into some of the stories behind the headlines, including the Ellwood family’s connection to vaudeville’s “Shooting Showgirls,” and Joseph Glidden’s construction of a 100-room hotel in downtown DeKalb.

The lecture, titled “Pulled from the Headlines,” is part of Brown Bag Lunch/Local Lore, the museum’s free adult lecture series offered in collaboration with the DeKalb County History Center. The one-hour program will take place at noon in the Ellwood House Museum’s Visitor Center at 509 N. First Street in DeKalb. Participants are welcome to bring their own lunch, while coffee and cookies will be provided.

For more information, please contact Audrey King at (815) 756-4609 or king@ellwoodhouse.org. For the complete Brown Bag Lunch/Local Lore schedule, see www.ellwoodhouse.org/learn.

Brown Bag Lunch/Local Lore is funded in part by the Mary E. Stevens Concert and Lecture Fund.