McHenry lecture looks at the farm movement

Submitted by McHenry County Historical Society

The McHenry County Historical Society Museum, 6422 Main St. in Union, will be the site for the second in its four-part local history “Sampler Lecture” series.

The program will begin at 2 p.m. Monday, March 19. This program features area historian and public speaker Craig Pfannkuche.

Beginning in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and continuing into the 1950s, prominent Chicago area public figures and business leaders began a back-to-the-farm movement.

With land prices relatively low, with hard roads and rail service for easy access and with picturesque landscapes in such areas as Bull Valley, the Chicago Farmer Movement took hold.

Pfannkuche’s talk will identify who many of those famous farmer movement individuals were, why they came and where they settled.

Attendance at this lecture is a prerequisite for the Tuesday, April 3, tour of the home and property of Ronald and Barbara Parrish in Bull Valley. The farm once belonged to well known Chicago attorney Kenneth Morton Fiske, a partner in the law firm of Defrees and Fiske for more than 50 years.

Individual lectures are $10 each. Reservations may be made by calling the museum office at (815) 923-2267. Tickets for available seating may be purchased at the door.

Craig Pfannkuche, the genealogical archivist for the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Historical Society since 1984, is on the board of directors of both the McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society and the Chicago Genealogical Society.

He has presented numerous workshops in history, historical and genealogical research, and archaeological techniques.