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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CELEBRATING HAL TYRRELL TRAILSIDE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY'S 90TH ANNIVERSARY
WHEREAS, on May 22, 1932, the Forest Preserves District of Cook County opened its first nature education facility at the building at the corner of Thatcher and Chicago Ave, in River Forest; and was given the name "Trailside Museum of Natural History," modeled after the New York Bear Mountain State Park's "Trailside Museum and Zoo"; and
WHEREAS, the 16 room Victorian Italian Villa style mansion was originally built in 1876, by Abraham J. Hoffman and his wife, who purchased the land from the Thatcher family where Mrs. Hoffman established two private schools in the home, and was both a teacher and the principal. The "River Forest Young Ladies Institute" opened in 1878, and "The River Forest Institute," a boy's boarding school, opened in 1881; and
WHEREAS, the young ladies' school taught the girls "all the higher branches, including German, French, Latin, Greek and Music". The "River Forest Institute" was a primary grade boarding school for "lads under 13." The boys slept dormitory-style in the attic, and took classes in a separate building from the young ladies; and
WHEREAS, the boarding school was later closed and the building subsequently sold to a wealthy carriage maker, Mr. Hugh McFarlane, where he lived with his family until he sold the house and land to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1919, when the building became the first headquarters of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County; and
WHEREAS, later, in 1932 the Trailside Museum of Natural History was created with the mission to educate the public about and to exhibit plants and animals found in Cook County; and
WHEREAS, Mary Cooper Black became the first curator of Trailside Museum and she created the first educational displays, collections, and animal mounts in the museum, with assistance from the Field Museum and the Chicago Academy of Sciences; and
WHEREAS, the Field Museum's artist...
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