Des Plaines on YouTube

Des Plaines on YouTube: History Book Author

The author of a new book chronicling Des Plaines history spoke about the work in a video published by the Des Plaines Public Library.

The author of a new book chronicling Des Plaines history spoke about the work in a video published by the Des Plaines Public Library. David Whittingham, readers’ advisor at the Des Plaines library, in cooperation with the Des Plaines History Center authored Images of America: Des Plaines, released in November 2012, and celebrated at a release party in December. Whittingham, speaking at the historical Kinder House, said many people in Northern Illinois think of Des Plaines as being very similar to other suburbs, blending in. “But there’s a lot of very distinctive, special things to Des Plaines, and that’s one of the things I tried to point out in the book is some of those special things,” Whittingham said. Two aspects of the city that have …

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Photos: Historic Figure Robert Kennicott

The naturalist, explorer, Smithsonian founder was son of Dr. John Kennicott, one of the first doctors in the Des Plaines area.

The mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of one of the Des Plaines area’s most prominent historical figures will be discussed at a special fundraising program hosted by the Des Plaines History Center on Oct. 4. Robert Kennicott was a prolific naturalist, explorer and founding member of the Smithsonian Institution when he was found dead on a riverbank in Alaska in 1866, while on an expedition for Western Union to plan for telegraph lines and collect more specimens for the Smithsonian. In these images we see Robert Kennicott dressed in clothes like those worn by French Canadian trappers at the time, the last known photograph of him in his Western Union uniform, a picture of his father, Dr. John Kennicott, one of the first doctors …

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Memorial Service for History Center Director to Celebrate Legacy of Service

Director oversaw the development of Des Plaines Historical Society into one of the best in the suburbs

All are invited to a public memorial service for Joy Matthiessen, former executive director of the Des Plaines History Center, at the Prairie Lakes Community Center, 515 E. Thacker St., at 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Matthiessen was hired in 1989 after completing her Master's Degree in Historic Administration from Eastern Illinois University, but her love for history reached back farther. Growing up in Chicago, Matthiessen would later recall the sense of place from spying the copper dome of the iconic Earle House at the corner of River Road and Miner Street, now the site of the Landmark condominium building. She was an avid Girl Scout, and created a popular exhibit on scouting in Des Plaines. She went on to receive her Bachelor's Degree in History…

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