Elmhurst History Museum welcomes new director

As a kid growing up in Rockford, Dave Oberg didn't think anything was strange about seeing family members dressed and geared up to watch Civil War re-enactors.

"I thought all little boys ran around in knickers watching their dad fire a cannon," said Oberg, a fifth-generation Rockfordian. "Later, when I got a little older, I realized it was a special time for us."

Oberg long has considered an affinity for history and the arts to be a family affair. Now, it's his mission as the new head of the Elmhurst History Museum. Oberg takes over for Lance Tawzer, who left the museum this summer to become the director of innovation and experience at Naper Settlement in Naperville.

Oberg has worked for museums in Rockford, Geneva and Grayslake and is looking forward to mounting interesting and evocative exhibits for Elmhurst and the greater Chicago area.

"This is a chance for me to work on a bigger stage, to try some of the lessons that I've learned over the last 28 years of my career," Oberg said. "I think we're going to have a good time doing it."

Oberg's museum education began when he was growing up in Rockford, the son of a machinist and nurse. Oberg's grandfather was a well-known graphic artist in Rockford. Family vacations always included museum visits.

"I had a Civil War ancestor who was a Swedish immigrant and who's part of a famous artillery battery," said Oberg, who credits that link to the past that hooked him into history. "I can still remember going to Springfield and seeing Lincoln's tomb and Lincoln's home and all those grand things. It certainly stuck."

By the time he was in high school, Oberg knew he wanted a career in history. He thought about being a history teacher and got a degree in history and political science at Rockford University. During the mid-'80s and the age of "perestroika," the Russian reformation movement, Oberg found himself drawn to Russian history and went on to study it at Northern Illinois University.

But it was during his junior year that a part-time summer job changed his life. He worked at the now-closed Time Museum in Rockford. The space showcased a history of timekeeping instruments.

"I really enjoyed it quite a bit. I found out NIU had a good museum studies program, so I turned my attention to that," Oberg said.

After finishing college, Oberg went to work at Rockford's Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum. The historic residence of the famed Tinker family gave Oberg the idea to incorporate the home into walking and architecture tours, as well as after-school programs.

After about four years, he went on to work for the Midway Village museum, described as a living history museum. It's where Oberg says he found his local calling.

"Appealing to people not just through lectures and didactics but using theater, using music, using walking tours, using debates as a way to engage people and get them excited about a topic," Oberg said.

"Not everyone learns in the same way, and you've got to cater to a lot of those different learning styles if you're going to make things relevant."

He left Rockford to take the next step in his museum career, working at the Geneva History Museum, where he was able to further examine and engage in the workings of the community and a museum's role in the area.

"A good museum is a place that preserves our history, shares it and serves almost as a community center, a place for the fair and free exchange of ideas. And I wanted to create an environment where that's really going to happen," Oberg said.

According to Oberg, museums, whether large-scale operations or small local spaces, all have the same challenge: to attract audiences while showcasing history in new ways.

"Maybe we're not going to have all the push buttons that you see at the Museum of Science and Industry. But if you can tell a compelling story in a compelling way, you're going to bring people in again and again," he said.

Oberg comes to the Elmhurst History Museum after a stint at the Grayslake Heritage Museum. He credits his experience with narratives set by local museums to help shape the Elmhurst History Museum into a place where the history of the community is preserved while, at the same time, putting together exhibits that showcase events and pastimes enjoyed by its residents and a broader audience.

Examples include a traveling exhibit on freedom in the United States and the popularity of roller rink culture in the Chicago area.

Working in museums for more than two decades, Oberg has witnessed changes in museum visitor habits and how institutions have to adapt to stay relevant.

"We are a highly programmed society. Social media has changed things in a big way. With all of these things there are challenges and opportunities," he said. "You've got to challenge people to do more than just read about (an exhibit.) You've got to challenge them to get off the couch, come to the museum or do outreach in the community and actually be there."

Oberg credits that second component to be a major role in the success of the museum. Only on the job a short while, Oberg spends a good part of his time meeting with community stakeholders to learn from them what they want in a museum, how it fits into the local economy and how the institution's mission can connect with the modern workings of a city.

"Here's the good news: people really, really like the museum and they recognize it. People are happy to be here and you don't find that necessarily in every community. It's a gift," Oberg said.

"There's a lot more we could do, and will do, in the years to come to work with a lot of the other community organizations so that we're building much stronger bridges and really being as much a museum as we are a community center."