Growth of the 'burbs post-World War II

Roosevelt University Professor Margaret Rung speaks on "Putting the 'Burbs into Context," tracing the development of suburbia, locally and nationally, in a free lecture at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at the Elmhurst History Museum's Education Center, 120 E. Park Ave.

The talk is presented in conjunction with the Elmhurst History Museum's traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian, "Patios, Pools & the Invention of the American Backyard," which is open through May 29.

The exhibit takes visitors on a journey to the midcentury backyard of the 1950s and '60s - from the rise of the suburbs and tract houses and the beauty of postwar garden design to the birth of the environmental movement.

Rung is an associate professor of history and chairwoman of the Arts and Sciences Department at Roosevelt, with a doctorate in history from The Johns Hopkins University.

She will examine the growth of consumer culture, shifting gender roles, race relations, and the often invisible legacies and traumas of the Great Depression and World War II that shaped American domestic life in the 1950s.

Participants in the lecture are encouraged to view the "American Backyard" exhibit in the Elmhurst History Museum's first floor gallery before or after the 2 p.m. program. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 9 and admission to the exhibit is free.

For more exhibit and program information, like the museum's Facebook page, visit www.elmhursthistory.org, or call (630) 833-1457.