The chance to experience the Roman Empire through the 20th century is part of a third annual event in Lockport.
Will County Historical Society presents A Walk Thru Time from May 21-22 at Will County Heritage Village Open Air Museum.
“All of the re-enactors will have their camps set up and will be there talking to people coming through,” said Brian Conroy, vice president and living history coordinator for Will County Historical Museum and Research Center.
“All of our original buildings will be open for visitors to walk through.”
Heritage Village includes an 1881 two-cell calaboose from Mokena, the 1856 Wells Corner one-room schoolhouse from Homer Glen, the 1863 Greenho farmhouse from Crest Hill, the 1881 Wabash railroad depot from Symerton and a Lockport smokehouse.
Other buildings include the Visitors Center, a privy reproduction and the Medicine Wheel Garden established by Midwest Save Our Ancestors Remains & Resources Indigeneous Network Group Foundation.
“All of our buildings that are on-site were saved from demolition back in the 1970s and 1980s,” said Conroy of Joliet.
“We have a concrete patio so we’ll have the different groups come up one at a time. They’ll give a presentation on who they are and what they do and give a firing demonstration as well.”
Groups that participated in previous A Walk Thru Time living history weekends included Legion XIIII Gemina, Vikings of Vinland, French Metis, 1750s Privateers, American Longhunter, 6eme regiment d’infanterie legere, General U.S. Grant and 17th Medical Corps, U.S.
Other participants have included the 100th Illinois Infantry; 114th Pennsylvania Zouaves; Missouri Guerrillas, C.S.; British Machine Gun Guards; 90th Infantry Division; 1st Battalion Guard Epizkh/369th Soviet Marine Battalion and Hotel Company 2/5 Marines.
“What’s nice about living history is it’s a way for people to experience history without reading it from a book,” said Conroy, who started with Will County Historical Museum and Research Center in 2010 as a docent and guide.
“Growing up, most people have history and social studies in school but they teach you names and dates and a lot of people — and I was the same way — get bored by that. What’s good about living history and reenacting it is you get a hands-on experience, a personal experience.
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“You talk with the participants and just learn about history that you would never learn from a book.”
Conroy is vice president of the Will County Historical Society board, which also includes executive director and president Sandy Vasko of Peotone, historian emeritus John Lamb of Lockport, secretary Ralph Sporck of Minooka and treasurer Ron Strahanoski of Lockport.
“We need to preserve history because if we don’t preserve history and look at it, we don’t know where we come from,” Conroy said.
“I’ve done family research myself and I’ve found three Civil War ancestors, two Revolutionary War ancestors and family that goes all the way back to the 1400s to England. It’s a good way to keep track of your family and know where you come from.
“We get research requests from people across the country. We need to know history to actually know where we come from and really to learn from it so we hopefully do not make the same mistakes again.”
Admission for A Walk Thru Time is free but donations will be accepted to help support Heritage Village, which is run by the Will County Historical Society, which also operates Will County Historical Museum and Research Center.
“We do not charge admission fees. Our entire organization survives on donations and grants,” Conroy said.
“Donations will go toward preservation of the buildings, repair and just upkeep of the buildings themselves. Even though we’re the Will County Historical Museum, we get no government funding.”
A Walk Thru Time also includes a Catholic Mass at 6 p.m. May 21. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs.
A Walk Thru Time
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 21; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 22
Where: Will County Heritage Village Open Air Museum, 249 W. 2nd St., Lockport
Tickets: free
Information: 815-838-5080; facebook.com/willcountyheritagevillage
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.