It’s an experience that you can’t get anywhere else, a history you won’t find in any other history book, and testament to what it took to maintain Sycamore’s manufacturing might and keep improving the city. Sycamore History Museum will be hosting a book release event, including a panel discussion, this Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at the DeKalb County Community Foundation, 475 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore, at 7:00 p.m. to highlight the release of the book Why Sycamore Works. Mayor Ken Mundy praised the book, saying, “This work goes a long way to personify and document the challenges and opportunities which provided the fire in the belly to perfect and purify that which was, is, and will be Sycamore, a great place to live, work, learn, worship, and play.”
Invited to attend the panel are Mayor Ken Mundy and the Sycamore business leaders featured in the book: Harold Engh, Jr., Bob Boey, Dean Copple, Bob Davis, and Clint Gittleson. William Swedberg, who also contributed his recollections to the book, passed away early this year. The group will discuss Sycamore’s past, the city’s manufacturing history, and the men who gave their time and experiences to this book project.
The book Why Sycamore Works collects the oral histories of six Sycamore business leaders selected for their in-depth-knowledge and involvement in the ways that their companies functioned in town and cooperated within the Sycamore community. The book focuses on Turner Corporation, Anaconda Wire and Cable, and DuPlex Products, Inc, from the 1950s to the 1980s, a crucial period in the development of Sycamore. According to Mundy, the book “is part of the evidence in real people’s lives who ‘walked the talk’ especially after WWII when so many successful hard working folks returned home to Sycamore and rolled up their sleeves and used self-reliance, persistence, financial acumen, and ‘gettin’ after it’ every day.”
Why Sycamore Works author Robert A. Glover, volunteer archivist for the Sycamore History Museum, conducted the Illinois Humanities Council and the Illinois Association of Museums funded project. “The book complements the 2010-2011 award-winning Sycamore History Museum exhibit and helps develop the historical themes and trends that arose in the transformation of local manufacturing,” said Glover. “We wanted to hear more about these men and their experiences in their words and others will too,” Glover said.
The event is free and open to the public. You can purchase a copy of Why Sycamore Works at the event or at Sycamore History Museum for $10. For more information about the program call 815-895-5762 or visit sycamorehistory.org
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story