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Friday, October 10, 2008 8:36 PM CDT
Historians seek skeletons, ghosts from local attics
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Halloween has created many bone-chilling images ranging from glowing Jack-o-Lanterns and rattling skeletons to perforated sheets that transform children into tiny ghosts.
On Halloween Night the Coles County Historical Society and the Eastern Illinois Univeristy historical administration class will host “Trick-or-Treat Traditions” in the Gannaway House, 1316 Lafayette Ave. It will be a goodies stop for children and also a chance to learn about Halloween history, said Lori Henderson, a historical administration student.
The organizers are asking Coles residents to help with the history lesson by sharing old photographs, decortions or costumes from past Halloweens.
“We’ve looking at a 100-year period for our exhibits. People can phone or e-mail to offer items. Then we can contact them and collect them for this exhibit,”said Henderson.
She can be contacted by e-mail at lahenderson@eiu.edu or contact Debra Reid, an Eastern history instructor and history society member, at 581-7272 over the next two weeks. The event is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 31 in the Gannaway House.
Henderson said the exhibits will be divided into different eras, ranging from pre-World War II then the 1940s and 50s and the past 48 years up to today.
“We’re asking for good samples of costumes because this is our way of exhibiting local traditions through the years for celebrating Halloween,” Henderson said.
The exhibit will be educational or nostalgic depending on the age of the visitors to the Gannaway House. It will also offer some traditional crafts and games for the children.
“And the children will receive treats while the parents or grandparents look over the exhibits. It can be fun for everyone,” Henderson said.
The exhibit will review some of the highlights of Halloween’s history, which has evolved from a harvest festival to a much-anticipated holiday for children.
“Through history it has evolved from a celebration of the harvest and then concentrated on superstition and divinations and then into an excuse for mischief and vandalism. Then society turned the holiday over to small children to discourage the mischief. That was meant to create a fun and harmless celebration,” Henderson said.
Ironically, the budget ax falling on the Harvest Frolic at Lincoln Log Cabin Historic Site this year helped inspire the design for the event, Henderson said.
“This graduate class concentrates on local history. So without the Harvest Frolic we were looking for something else to do this year. The Historical Society approached (EIU) on this program idea,” she explained.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
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