Stuck at home during COVID-19? Check out Elgin's history online

Even though the Elgin History Museum is closed, you can get a dose of history while at home during the COVID-19 outbreak.

• A large part of the museum's collection of photos and objects are available to browse online. That includes the Gylleck Photo Collection of about 3,500 black and white images of Elgin from 1847 to the 1960s. Visit elginhistory.org/research/museum-collections.

• The museum's bimonthly member newsletter, the Cracker Barrel, is online at elginhistory.org/crackerbarrel-newsletter.

• The documentary Project 2-3-1 is available in three parts on the museum's YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UCqFtxziwfNBD0i0sZEj2KNQ. The film was produced in partnership with Grindstone Productions, Elgin resident Ernie Broadnax and the Elgin Area Historical Society. The 75-minute documentary contains interviews and photos that bring to life the history of Elgin's African American community.

• The Gail Borden Public Library has a collection of Elgin images on the Illinois Digital Archives website at idaillinois.org/digital/collection/newgailbord01

• The Elgin American collection on the Illinois Digital Archives website includes newsletters, catalogs, and photographs from the Elgin American Manufacturing company, which was a division of the Illinois Watch Case Company. Elgin American became famous for producing women's compacts, cigarette lighters and makeup vanities. Most of the collection is from the 1940s and 1950s. View at idaillinois.org/digital/collection/p16614coll60/search