2007-2008 OFFICERS

PRESIDENT -- Jerry Shnay

VICE-PRESIDENT -- Elizabeth Brecher

SECRETARY -- Suzanne Brown

TREASURER -- Jim Silvia

ARCHIVIST -- Jane Nicoll

BOARD MEMBERS:

Therese Goodrich

Gretchen Falk

Larrie Kerestes
Myrtle Martin

Vivian Purnell
Julia Randolph

WEBSITE:  http://www.parkforesthistory.org

Website originally created by Elaine Brownlee

We're Growing! We're Changing!

Join now and start celebrating Park Forest's next 50 years. . .

The 50th Anniversary of the Village in 1999 marked still another milestone in Park Forest's impressive history as thousands came together from all parts of the country to help celebrate this community's Golden Anniversary. It was a tribute to 50 years of excellence.

The village has changed and is changing. So, too, is the Park Forest Historical Society. We have a new Board of Directors and a new vision of our goals as we move into the 21st century. We have exciting new programs in mind, drawing on both the visions of our pioneer residents and Park Forest's plans for the future. We have more membership options, more ways for us to celebrate our heritage and more reasons for us to add more pages to Park Forest's proud history.

Because we know you are interested in Park Forest, we invite you to become a member or renew your membership in the Park Forest Historical Society. We are an independent not-for-profit corporation that operates the 1950s Park Forest House Museum, reopened in November 2007 at 141 Forest Blvd.  We are striving to get the Park Forest Local History Collection and Archive out of storage and into a permanent home, in our possession and care.   Each year we present a number of programs involving our mutual recollections and future plans. And each year we induct some of our most honored and productive citizens, both former and current residents, into the Park Forest Hall of Fame.

As we move further into this new century our mission becomes even more important. We truly need the support of members around the country.  Membership has no geographic limits.  Please make this the year you join the Park Forest Historical Society or renew your membership so we may continue to preserve, commemorate and celebrate the history of our unique community, and can move ahead with plans for a permanent home for it.
                                         -- Jerry Shnay, President of the Park Forest Historical Society
Jane Nicoll, Jerry Shnay, Therese Goodrich, Jane Steinmetz, Garry L. Barnett (past treasurer), Mark Messersmith. ca. 2003-4.

See also, the Report from Jane Nicoll, Archivist
 

Please click here for the membership form. Print it out and mail it to us!

Past President Magne Olson's Prologue: A message from ca.1999.

Welcome to the Park Forest Historical Society. It is a truism that the past is prologue to the future. We in the PFHS are engaged in the preservation, commemoration, and celebration of our town's past, but, like all Park Foresters, we have our eyes on the future as well. All of us, naturally, are interested in Park Forest's road ahead, we all have some hopes and ideas for the village, and we all need to look to the future with an understanding of the part. You can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been, and if you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there?

The Society centers most of its activities in the Park Forest Public Library. Judge Henry Dietch, and others, in 1985, initiated the establishment of the Society. Since then, we've become an independent not-for-profit organization. We maintain close ties to the Library Board, to the outstanding Library staff, and to the Friends of the Library. We're enviably well-housed, served and treated.

For those of you new to us, we've been busy building up and maintaining what is turning out to be a first-rate archival collection, and presenting public programs on important aspects of the village's past. We're also engaged in strengthening our connections to other area historical groups.

1989 was a year of celebration for Park Foresters and for the society. While people began moving into this new town in August of 1948, it was in early February, 1949, that the municipality was officially incorporated. The 40th Anniversary theme was a prominent part of our Independence Day parade. The Society initiated the Park Forest Historical Hall of Fame in July, 1989. Life doesn't begin at 40, it begins to get good. The Park Forest Hall of Fame has held annual inductions since 1994. We are now beginning preparations for the 50^th Anniversary of Park Forest which will kick-off in August of 1998.

Now I want to remind you of three ways you can help The Society:

First, do us the honor of joining us or renewing your membership. Complete and return the application form that's included in this Website (with your check, of course). We need you.

Second, donate your documents, photos, or other memorabilia to our archives; contact Jane Nicoll through the Historical Society at 708-679-1950. And finally, please give us the benefit (in writing or in person) of your advice, suggestions and comments--both with regard to the Society and its activities, and about items or ideas for inclusion in this Website. 
                                                                 Magne Olson, Past President, Park Forest Historical Society