Exhibits

Visitors at Building Naperville Exhibit

Building Naperville: Tallgrass Prairie to Today

 Included in museum admission  | Lower-level of the Pre-Emption House Visitors Center

Building Naperville: Tallgrass Prairie to Today takes a fresh look at Naperville’s storied past with an update on the lower level permanent exhibit space. Building Naperville touches on various themes including people and places and engages the visitor with stories, artifacts, and questions which have the power to educate and inspire. Sections of the exhibit that were updated include adding Prairie Band Potawatomi voices, a spotlight on the Naperville Lyceum, a new focus on transportation changes, and the City’s story of suburbanization.


Infrastructure Exhibit

Infrastructure: Creating 19th Century Clothing Then and Now

May 2, 2023- November 3, 2023 | Pre-Emption House Main and Lower-Level Galleries | Included in Museum Admission 
Infrastructure: Creating 19th Century Clothing Then and Now begins with the fabric scrapbook of Hannah Ditzler Alspaugh. Her memories of almost 50 years of clothing she made and remade over time inspired this look at how the clothing styles of the 19th century were created then and now. The connection of clothing to memory and the importance of what we wear as a social and personal statement continues to this day, as seen in the overwhelming popularity of period costume dramas today. Infrastructure also highlights the recreation of period garments, with all the challenges and triumphs it entails.

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