Events

Be among the first to experience our new walking tour this season! Take a walk through time as we explore the historic area bordered by Lake Street, East Avenue, North Boulevard and Oak Park Avenue. You'll hear the fascinating stories behind familiar landmarks like the Scoville Block anchor buildings and the high school stadium. You’ll also learn about some of Oak Park’s long-lost buildings

Join us for this tour down Lake Street as Historical Society guides tell the stories of women in our community who broke down barriers in the fields of government and civic life, cultural affairs, and social services. You'll meet pioneers in fair housing and civil rights as well as a judge, a symphony conductor, and women on the war memorial in Scoville Park. The tour kicks off at 10 a.m. at the

History lovers and readers unite for the History Book Club. This month the group will be reading and discussing The Dragon from Chicago by Pamela Toler. Copies will be available on loan from the main branch of Oak Park Public Library. Book Club is open to all current members of The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest. Space may be limited. To reserve your place or check your membership

Join us for a presentation by Timothy Sedlacek, board member of the Oak Park Illinois Film Festival, as he discusses the history of movie theaters, past and present, in Oak Park. Timothy Sedlacek loves cinema, history, and Oak Park. He’s excited to bring those things together for the Oak Park community as a board member of the Oak Park Illinois Film Festival. When he’s not watching movies or with

Greater Downtown Oak Park boasts an array of marvelous examples of Art Deco design that are often overlooked. Join our guides on a walk down Lake Street as they point out many of these treasures that we walk past every day without noticing. The tour will start at 10 a.m. in the lobby of the Medical Arts Building, proceed along Lake Street toward Harlem Avenue, and then loop back toward the

Join us at 7pm on Wednesday, September 17 for "Reading the Landscape," a program by naturalist John Elliott. “We are the land and the land is us.” Wendell Berry Ecology, history and economics are based in land. We use maps, written and oral accounts, observation of our built environment and more to learn where we come from and help guide our future. Beneath all is the land, from bedrock to surface

The Street of Dreams: Founding Families and Early Architects of Keystone Avenue. Meet us for a stroll through River Forest history. Learn about the oldest commercial building, the architect of the Methodist Church, the “power couple” who helped bring the Columbian Exposition to Chicago, and much more as we take a sidewalk tour down the stretch of Keystone Avenue known as “The Street of Dreams.”

On Sunday Sept. 21 at 3 p.m. at OPRF Museum, Oak Parker Tom Loebel, Ph.D. will speak about uncovering traces of the earliest Native peoples who lived in Illinois, using evidence found in the Cook County Forest Preserves. Loebel is assistant director of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey and President, Illinois Archaeological Survey 2024-25. September is Illinois Archaeology Awareness Month

History lovers and readers unite for the History Book Club. Watch for more details about which book will be discussed. Book Club is open to all current members of The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest. Space may be limited. To reserve your place or check your membership status, please email oprfhistorymatters@sbcglobal.net or call 708-848-6755. And join us for the next meeting

Exploring the History of Evans Field with this great walking tour. Once the home of the eponymous Wallace Evans Game Farm, history here is shared by Native Americans, early settlers, a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps camp, and now generations of hikers, bicyclists and fans of nature. We’ll walk past a marsh and through woods along the Des Plaines River that are home to diverse flora and fauna