DuPage County Historical Museum welcomes ‘Three Frenchmen and a Goat’ Sept. 14

Heard the story about “Three Frenchmen and a Goat?” It’s not the start of a bar joke, but it is an entertaining tale that John Goldsmith will share this September at the DuPage County Historical Museum in Wheaton.

“Three Frenchmen and a Goat: The DeMoulin Bros. Story,” will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the museum, 102 E. Wesley St. in downtown Wheaton.

The Illinois Humanities Road Scholar will share the story of three enterprising Illinois brothers who founded a business in 1892 that went on to become one of the biggest manufacturers of marching-band uniforms in the country.

This special event, open to the public, is made possible through an award from the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars program. For free tickets, go to dupagemuseum.org.

The presentation is offered as a complement to one of the museum’s recently opened special exhibits, “Extracurricular: High School Tradition and Culture in DuPage County.”

Goldsmith is a longtime follower of the DeMoulin brothers, with his mother having worked as a seamstress for the DeMoulin Bros. company in the 1950s.

Goldsmith currently is the curator of the DeMoulin Museum in Greenville, Illinois, and is a member of the Illinois Association of Museums’ board of directors. He describes the DeMoulin brothers’ curious journey to success as a tale of “trick chairs, strength testers, graduation caps and gowns, and band uniforms.”

Attendees of “Three Frenchmen and a Goat” will have the chance to explore the traveling trunk of marching-band treasures and company gadgets that Goldsmith has curated over the decades.

The DuPage County Historical Museum, under the direction of Michelle Podkowa, manager and educator, is grateful to the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau for the opportunity to offer the “Three Frenchmen and a Goat” presentation.

The Road Scholars program gives Illinois museums the chance to host guest speakers on a wide range of historical and cultural topics for educational public events.

Built in 1891 as a town library, the DuPage County Historical Museum is owned by DuPage County and operated as a facility of Wheaton Park District. Its principal purposes are to educate the general public through the collection, preservation, interpretation and exhibition of materials that document the history of DuPage County and its relationship to Illinois and the nation and to provide local history services for historical organizations and for scholarly endeavors.

The museum, which is free to the public, is open Tuesday to Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on weekends from noon to 4 p.m.

Details about this and other upcoming special events and programming can be found at dupagemuseum.org.