Underground Railroad Program
2025-10-12 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Community Hall (Volunteer Fire Department), Next to Fire Department, Ogden Dunes, IN, 46368, United States
Dr. Larry McClellan: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Illinois and Northwest Indiana

In the decades before the Civil War, more than 4500 enslaved people escaping from the South traveled across Illinois, with many coming to and through the Chicago region. With maps and images, we explore their stories and those of the people who responded to them and became the Underground Railroad.
After graduate work at the University of Chicago, in 1970, Larry helped create Governors State University south of Chicago and served there for 30 years. He is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Community Studies. In the mid-70s, he was mayor of University Park (then Park Forest South). He spent four years as a senior consultant with the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, and throughout his career, served as a pastor with diverse congregations.
His consulting, research, and writing focus on freedom seekers and the Underground Railroad, and on African American and regional history south of Chicago. Major publications include 25 articles in the Encyclopedia of Chicago [2005]; The Underground Railroad South of Chicago [2019], co-author of To the River, The Remarkable Journey of Caroline Quarlls, a Freedom Seeker on the Underground Railroad [2019]. Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois [2023], published by Southern Illinois University Press. This received the national 2023 Memorial Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge from the Underground Railroad Free Press and a book award from the Newberry Library in 2025. In 2022, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois State Historical Society for his contributions to Illinois history, and in 2024, he served on the Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force reporting to the state legislature.
Larry has spoken at 6 Illinois state history conferences and 3 national conferences of the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. He was the principal researcher for listings on the NPS Network to Freedom national register of Underground Railroad sites in Crete, Lockport, and Chicago. Some of his work will be found at illinoisundergroundrailroad.info
For ten years, he wrote a monthly regional history column for The Southtown/Star newspapers. Larry graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles, with a year at the University of Ghana in West Africa, and additional studies in Great Britain and Jerusalem. He has served on the boards of the Illinois State Historical Society and the Will County Historical Society and has given lectures and programs across Illinois. Currently, he is President of the Midwest Underground Railroad Network (MURN).
Larry McClellan, 3430 W. Oak Hill Drive, Crete, IL 60417 mcclellan.larry@gmail.com

Planting for the Spring
2025-11-09 15:00 | Hour Glass Museum, 8 Lupine Lane, Ogden Dunes, IN, 46368, United States
More info TBA!

HSOD Holiday Tea – December 7, 2025
2025-12-07 | Hour Glass Museum, 8 Lupine Lane, Ogden Dunes, IN, 46368, United States
Join us for a delightful Holiday Tea at the Hour Glass Museum on Sunday, December 7th, hosted by the Historical Society of Ogden Dunes. Choose between two seating times at 12:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. and enjoy a cozy, festive atmosphere.

Sunday, December 7th 2025
The Hour Glass Museum | 115 Hillcrest Road, Ogden Dunes, Indiana 46368
Seatings @ 12 p.m. & 3 p.m.
$30 Adults | $20 Children

Download Ticket Form Here

Walking Chicago's Coast, Presentation by Michael McColly
2026-03-15 15:00 | Community/Fire Hall, Hillcrest Road, Ogden Dunes, IN, 46368, United States

Birds and Local Ecosystems, by Susan Kirt, Ecologist/Photographer
2026-04-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Hour Glass Museum, 8 Lupine Lane, Ogden Dunes, IN, 46368, United States
OD Historical Society Presents

Birds and Local Ecosystems, by Susan Kirt, Ecologist/Photographer

The Hourglass, 8 Lupine Lane
April 19th, 2–3 p.m.
In honor of Ogden Dunes being a member of Bird Town Indiana, The Environmental Advisory Board and The Historical Society have coordinated to bring to you a talk about birds and local ecosystems by Ecologist and Photographer Susan Kirt!
Susan is a photographer/ecologist based in Valparaiso who grew up exploring nature preserves in the Chicago Region with a special interest in prairies. With a formal background in botany and prairie ecology, Susan currently teaches in the biology department at Valparaiso University. She previously taught biology at Chicago State University and in a below ground ecosystem lab at Argonne National Laboratory. Today Susan is a nature photographer involved in creating nature guides with The Field Museum with a current focus on the Indiana Dunes National Park. She has also helped create Living in the Dunes Guides with Save The Dunes, including the recent Bird Conservation Guide for Northwest Indiana.
Susan will be talking about the ecological history of the region and how it is important for the hundreds of bird species that use this region. We will talk about how we can help support the local ecosystems and the animals that depend on our local habitats.
https://www.susankirtphotography.com/

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