History Book Club

Have you enjoyed curling up with a good book during this grey Chicago winter?  If so, join like-minded readers at the new History Book Club each month at OPRF Museum to get out of the house and share lively conversation about literature and history.

Led by Doug Deuchler, the Book Club will meet on the last Thursday of each month at Oak Park River Forest Museum at 7 p.m.  The idea is to schedule a variety of books over the course of the year, including non-fiction history, historical fiction, and books connected to the history of Chicago and the Midwest.   And don't be surprised if we are partial to stories set in or inspired by our home villages!

We hope to appeal to a variety of tastes and also expect that selections will be suggested by group members once they attend a session or two.

The first book scheduled for a discussion on Feb. 23 is Murder in the Park by Jeanne M. Dams, a murder mystery set in a fictionalized Oak Park of the 1920s.  Published in 2022, the author did extensive research on Oak Park, including at OPRF Museum, and was featured in our Summer 2022 issue of History Matters.

The March 30 selection will be City of Scoundrels by Gary Krist, a masterfully told story about twelve volatile days in 1919 Chicago; and the April 27 selection will be Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close, a comedic story about the multi-generational family who run a fictional Oak Park burger joint. 

So mark Feb. 23, March 30 and April 27 on your calendar.  The Book Club is free and open to all members of the Historical Society.  We will be serving light refreshments and may cap the total attendance so the group doesn't get too large for a good discussion, so call us at 708-848-6755 or send us an email to oprfhistorymatters@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in attending Feb. 23, March 30 and/or April 27.

We expect to start an email list of those who want to attend and know that some of you may be interested but not able to attend every session.  Doug is working with the Oak Park Public Library to set aside copies of each book as part of the library's services to local book clubs and we will share details with anyone who signs up.