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- Lockport Gallery
Exhibitions
The Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery offers more than just a quiet retreat to contemplate critically noted exhibitions highlighting the art and visual culture of Illinois. Special events, talks, guided tours, and informative presentations provide background information and insight, bringing each installation alive.
In the Middle: Growing up in the Middle of America, in the Middle Class, in the Middle of the 20th Century
Now open!
When Sybil Stern Mervis was a child, she planted a Victory Garden with her father. She got her milk from the milkman. She worried about scary polio outbreaks in the summer. She listened to radio programs for fun. These were common activities in the 1940s but may be hard to imagine for kids growing up today.
In the Middle explores what it was like to grow up during World War II through the lens of Mervis’s experience as a child in Bloomington, Illinois. Visitors to the exhibition will learn about what everyday life was like for children in 1940s, including school days, summertime activities, chores, and the types of “electronic entertainment” available at the time (hint – no screens!). Additionally, the exhibition highlights how children of the 1940s contributed to the home front efforts to win World War II by planting Victory Gardens, participating in scrap drives, living with rationing, and buying war bonds.
