Wilmette turns 150 years old this year and officials have planned a year filled with many celebrations, starting with the introduction in January of a book about the village that featured an appearance by its author.
The Wilmette Historical Society kicked-off the sesquicentennial anniversary at its annual meeting Jan. 30 and featured the book “Wilmette at 150? and author John Jacoby.
Jacoby, who is also a former village president, presented excerpts from the book, which is a collection of essays that detail the village’s history.
“Jacoby’s book is a great lead-off to our subsequent celebration. It’s filled with stories about the village that look back at many different eras,” said Kathy Hussey-Arnston, director of the Wilmette Historical Museum.
The annual meeting was a free event held via the Zoom video-sharing application and included some 200 registered participants.
“Wilmette at 150? was published in spring 2021 by Northfield-based Amika Press.
“The book is a collage of human-interest stories that I have written, that together provide a characterization of the town rather than a full history,” Jacoby said. “It is a collection of stories about regular people revealing what it was like to live in Wilmette during various points in time.”
Jacoby has been a longtime resident of Wilmette, holding the position of village president from 1989 to 1997 and serving as a columnist for the “Wilmette Beacon” from 2010 to 2020.
According to Jacoby, the 200 stories featured in his book were researched and edited from over 500 stories he had written while at the newspaper.
The book jacket describes “Wilmette at 150? as a collection of illuminating stories that feature and celebrate the people, places and events that have shaped the village and created its unique character over the last century and a half.
The stories present the grandeur of the lakefront, the turmoil of No Man’s Land, the devastation wrought by a Palm Sunday tornado, the beauty of a tree memorial built for blind Judge Kolman, the final moments of notorious gangster Baby Face Nelson, the inspirational visit by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to promote racial justice and unity and more.
Jacoby says he wanted to put these stories into one collection because together they can tell a lot about the community.
“My hope for the reader is that the book will inspire a greater love for Wilmette, and provide a way for our community to connect to their shared history,” Jacoby said.
The stories are presented with photographs and news references.
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“There are not many books on Wilmette history, and I believe “Wilmette at 150? will hold up as a valuable historic resource in the future, as an accessible resource with broad appeal,” Hussey-Arntson said.
Gina Grillo is a freelancer.