National Exhibit Opening At Isle A La Cache

ROMEOVILLE, IL — A national exhibit coming to Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville will explore how 20th-century work trends shaped the nation, according to a release from the Forest Preserve District of Will County.

“The Way We Worked: A Traveling Exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution” will be on display from Feb. 12 through May 8. Viewing hours are the same as the museum’s, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.

“This exhibit focuses on the 20th century and the work that Americans and immigrants were doing to build the nation into the country that we know today,” Tina Riley, facility supervisor at Isle a la Cache, said in a release.

“One of the overarching themes of the exhibit is that work has become a pillar of American society, and it is one of the values that is most prominent here," Riley added. "Kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, and they’re taught to work and work hard and to make money and save money. It’s just this part of our culture that isn’t necessarily the same everywhere else.”

The free, all ages exhibit includes display panels, photos, audio, video and children’s activities. Most of the materials come from the National Archives, but there will be local contributions, including photos of the women who worked at Joliet Iron Works Historic Site when it was in operation from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, the preserve said.

The Romeoville Area Historical Society is also loaning the Forest Preserve District artifacts, military uniforms and photos for the exhibit, including pictures of Romeoville businesses that once operated along Romeo Road. One of the businesses is the restaurant/bar that was purchased by the Forest Preserve and converted into Isle a la Cache Museum.

Featuring an exhibit about historic work trends is a good fit for the Forest Preserve District, which preserves cultural as well as natural resources in Will County, Riley said in a release.

“The Forest Preserve District has already been interpreting the history of some of the industries that have been in the area for more than 100 years,” Riley said.

In addition to the displays and activities, the Forest Preserve District will offer 14 complementary programs throughout the exhibit’s three-month run starting with a Zoom webinar about work on the area's rivers set for Feb. 24 and ending with a "Steel and Stone Hike" at Joliet Iron Works on May 8. Program details will be listed in the Event Calendar.

The exhibit also features human stories of the people who shaped the nation’s work experience through the years, Riley said in a release.

"Even if you are a younger person, you may have talked to your parents, grandparents and maybe even your great-grandparents about the work that they did and how they made their livelihood through the years," she said. "You can probably go through this exhibit and find your family members represented somewhere.”

After viewing the exhibit, Riley said she hopes visitors will realize that the America we know today is the product of the work and the work ethic of the people who were so productive in the 1900s.

“The exhibit boils down more than a century of history into a snapshot of what American work life looked like,” she said.

And she hopes people walk away asking themselves how work fits into their own culture and lives and where the trends are taking us for the next 100 years.

“The Way We Worked” was created by the National Archives and is adapted for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services and made possible with the support of the U.S. Congress, according to the preserve. The exhibit is brought to the Forest Preserve through funding by The Nature Foundation of Will County.