Events

Oak Park River Forest Museum, Downtown Oak Park and Classic Cinemas are celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tarzan creator and former Oak Park resident Edgar Rice Burroughs’ birth by showing the 1984 film, “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes,” at Lake Theatre Saturday, Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. The movie is based on Burroughs’ 1912 novel, “Tarzan of the Apes.” The movie, nominated for

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.”

The Archaeology of Cook County: From the Ice Age to the Atomic Age; 12,000 years of Human History in the Cook County Forest Preserves. 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. Dr. Loebel is the Assistant Director for the

History lovers and readers unite for the History Book Club. This month we will discuss "The Pioneers" by David McCullough. 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

Jews have been an integral part of Oak Park and River Forest since before the villages had their names. Learn about how these first Jewish pioneers of the Western Suburbs paved the way for an organized community that established itself in Oak Park in the early decades of the 20th century among ‘the Village of Churches.’ Beginning in the 1930s, these Jews faced community antisemitism and