Spurlock Sunday: “Candyland, Monopoly, and Paper Bag Puppets: Celebrating Women Inventors”

• Event Date: Sunday, March 13, 2022
• Time: 1:00 pm (CST)
• Location: Collaboration and Community Gallery, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free

• Hands-on
• Family-Friendly tag

In honor of National Women's Month, the Spurlock Museum is joining with other members of the Champaign County Museums Network to hold a month-long series of events this March. The events focus on the theme of women inventors and innovators. The Spurlock's event is “Candyland, Monopoly, and Paper Bag Puppets: Celebrating Women Inventors.” During this free, family-friendly event, visitors will be invited to play the board game Candy Land, invented by retired schoolteacher Eleanor Abbott, join a game of Monopoly (originally The Landlord's Game), created by stenographer Elizabeth Magie, or create a paper bag puppet, inspired by Margaret Knight's patented machine that produced flat-bottom bags.

Sponsored by:

• Spurlock Museum
• Members of the Champaign County Museums Network

Exhibitions and Programs in March

Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College

The Planetarium will post videos featuring women whose inventions relate to the Planetarium, astronomy, and space exploration.

Krannert Art Museum at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

KAM is hosting the exhibition To Know the Fire: Pueblo Women Potters and the Shaping of History (external link), focused on Native women potters in the Southwest.

Museum of the Grand Prairie, Champaign County Forest Preserve District

Join the Museum of the Grand Prairie as we celebrate Women’s History Month with the Making a Change: Women Who Matter Facebook Series, which recognizes the groundbreaking work that many African American women of Champaign County have done. Watch the Museum of the Grand Prairie Facebook (Museum of the Grand Prairie Facebook (external link)) or Blog (Museum of the Grand Prairie Blog (external link)) weekly, starting March 3 to hear excerpts from oral histories done in the summer of 2021 with local black women. We’ll highlight how these exceptional women have, with new ideas, projects that innovate, and hard work, improved our communities.

Events in March

Presentation in the Kaler Science Lecture Series: “Ceramics that Breathe: New Materials Development for Sustainable Energy”

• Friday, March 4 • 6:30 pm
• Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College
• Speaker: Nicola Perr
• Admission: $2 public. Free for Staerkel Planetarium members.
• Location: Staerkel Planetarium, Parkland College, 2400 West Bradley Avenue, Champaign
• Information: planetarium@parkland.edu (email link)

Presentation in the Women in Science Lecture Series: “Tropical Meteorology

• Friday, March 9 • 12:00–1:00 pm
• llinois Distributed Museum at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Speaker: Dr. Deanna Hence
• Admission: Free
• Location: Zoom presentation.
• Registration: Women in Science - March Lecture Registration (external link)

Presentation: “Inspired by Two Remarkable Aunts”

• Thursday, March 24 • 7:00 pm
• Champaign County History Museum
• Speaker: Delora Noble Siebrecht
• Location: Zoom presentation. Link can be found on the Museum’s website.
• Information: Champaign County History Museum (external link)

Who was Anita Purves?”

• Saturday March 26 • 3:00–4:30 pm
• Anita Purves Nature Center
• Speaker: Nicola Perr
• All ages program: “Who was Anita Purves?” Busey Woods exists today due to the concerted efforts of local community members. Learn about the history of Busey Woods and Anita Parker Purves’s role in preserving this diverse local woodland with a short educator talk followed by a guided hike.
• Location: Anita Purves Nature Center and Busey Woods. 1505 N Broadway Avenue, Urbana IL 61801
• Admission: Free
• Information: dasubers@urbanaparks.org (email link); 217-384-4062 (phone)

Panel Presentation: “Reflecting on the Film Picture a Scientist”

• Thursday March 31 • 2:00 pm
• University of Illinois Archives/Illinois Distributed Museum
• Panelists: Dr. Brenda Molano-Flores, Senior Plant Ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey; Erin Kerby, Veterinary Medicine Life Sciences Librarian; Janis Shearer, Public Services and Engagement Librarian; Bethany Anderson, Natural and Applied Sciences Archivist; Teri Chettiar, Assistant Professor of History
• Moderated by Cindy Ingold, Gender & Multicultural Services Librarian
• Location: Zoom presentation.
• Registration: Picture Scientist Panel Registration (external link)
• Information: Women in Science Lecture Series (external link)

Scavenger Hunt: Art by Women at KAM

• Saturdays in March
• Krannert Art Museum at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Admission: Free
• Location: Materials available at the front desk
• Information: kam-info@illinois.edu (email link)

Caption/credit for the image: Detail of "The Landlord's Game." Courtesy of Thomas Forsyth, LandlordsGame.Info