As the Glenview History Center nears completion of renovations, repairs and upgrades to its historic 160-year-old farm house, its board of directors announced it hired its first full-time museum curator with backing from the village of Glenview and the Glenview Public Library.
Riley Ellison was hired as the history center’s curator and began the job on May 5, according to Susan Johns, president of the Glenview History Center Board of Directors.
Ellison’s hire is part of a series of intergovernmental agreements between the village, library and history center, as the village has budgeted over $800,000 to revitalize the historic 160-year-old Hutchings Farmhouse.
“(Ellison) will be working on exhibits and curating our collection, which is a never ending task. We are always taking in new things and needing to inventory things that we acquired in the past that makes us very busy,” said Johns.
As the history center’s curator, Ellison will also represent the history center in outreach efforts, provide reference services to patrons and oversee collection and storage priorities.
Ellison is a graduate of Marquette University and has worked as a museum educator for the Midway Village and Museum, according to the History Center, and also has experience working at Naper Settlement and the Pabst Mansion.
Johns said most of the restoration was construction-related work that is finishing up.
“Riley will be working on the farmhouse reopening,” Johns said. “…A curator wears many hats.”
Founded in the 1960’s, the Glenview History Center has operated as a not-for-profit group made up of volunteers dedicated to preserving and highlighting Glenview and its history as a hub for the Kraft Heinz Company, the Glenview Naval Air Station and other interesting places, according to Johns.
Nearly 60 years after the history center was founded, Johns said it became clear that the history center would need more resources than the non-profit could bring together, which led the group to reach out to the village to get help to revitalize Hutchings Farmhouse and Hibbard Library.
In 2024, the Glenview Village Board approved spending up to $680,000 in repairs to the farmhouse, including driveway, parking lot and walkway restorations, replacing the west porch, repairing the farmhouse’s sunroom, replacing windows and repairing the farmhouse’s foundation.
The village board also approved spending up to $78,000 in utility repairs and $54,000 in design services to revitalize the farmhouse and library. After the repairs are completed, the farmhouse will be open to the public once again, Johns said.
Though Ellison will be the museum’s curator, through an intergovernmental agreement she is a library employee and reports to Kimberly Schlarman, the Genealogy and Local History supervisor of the Glenview Public Library.
“It can be a niche concept to some, but most local municipalities have some form of a historical society or history center to tell people about how we got to where we are today,” Johns said. “And we are as much tied to the communities around us as they are to us.”