Community and Outreach Projects

The Lucille Sampson Junior Historian Jamboree

In 1992, the Lucille Sampson Junior Historian Jamboree was founded by N. Lucille Sampson, and co-sponsored by the William Butterworth Memorial Trust. Activities are held in the Rock Island County Historical Society Library, Butterworth Center, and the Deere Wiman House.
In Lucille Sampson Junior Historian Jamboree, 4th, 5th and 6th graders in East Moline schools, and to Moline schools learn about the history of our community. Student attend four workshops using historical material from the Rock Island County Historical Society's Library and Archives.   The content of the workshops changes from year to year, revolving around a unifying theme. Past themes have included the beginnings of Moline and East Moline, looking back on the 20th century, immigrants and their contributions, Moline's 150th birthday, East Moline's 100th birthday, the Grand Excursion and Native Americans in our area. In 2011, the theme of Lucille Sampson Junior Historian Jamboree was the Civil War in Rock Island County.

If you would like a closer look at a very unique event for grade school students, or if you are a parent or teacher interested in having your school participate, please call RICHS at (309) 764-8590 for further information.

Photo Archive Project

Since March 2004, we have been involved in a photo archive project, UMVDIA with the Davenport Iowa Public Library, Galesburg (Illinois) Public Library, Musser Public Library in Muscatine, Iowa, and the Putnam Museum in Davenport, Iowa. This is a regional, collaborative, grant-funded project to digitize historic photographs, glass plate negatives, and catalog the digital images for inclusion in a searchable database that is available to the general public via the internet. Please go to http://www.umvphotoarchive.org/ for more information.

Among the glass slides from RICHS are those from the Beder Wood collection, taken in the late 1900 and early 20th century. The slides depict life along the Mississippi River in the greater Quad-City area of Iowa and Illinois.

RICHS Open Houses

The Rock Island County Hosts two open house throughout the calender year, our Spring Open House is held on the last Sunday of June, and our Winter Open House is held on the first Sunday in December.   Each open house features new displays in the Library & Archives, and tours of the Library & Archives, Atkinson-Peek House, and Clothes Loft & Carriage House.  Addmission and refreshments are free, and anyone interested in history is invited to attend. 

Please contact us for more information, or if you are interested in volunteering at one of our Open Houses at (309) 764-8590 or at richs@richs.cc.