Peoria Riverfront Museum: Part 2

The main reason I wanted to go to this museum was to see the Dan Fogelberg exhibit, so of course I will save that for last because I'm mean that way.

In the meantime...

Apparently Betty Friedan was born in Peoria. Did you know this? I did not. This display features a letter to Richard Nixon (no, Dick, you don't get a link) and some handwritten notes from the founding meeting of the National Organization for Women .

After the big ol' America Yay exhibit, there was a HUGE tone change when we came around the corner to find a large display of hand-carved decoys . That was a lot of ducks. I only photographed one--a decoy commemorating a agreement between the Peoria community and the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma , in which the museum commissioned a set of display cases--presumably the ones with all the ducks. Quote: "To our knowledge, this is the first meaningful contemporary commerce between the Peoria Tribe and the city that bears its name."

Next comes Preston Jackson 's " Bronzeville to Harlem: An American Story ." From the museum website:

Originally entitled “From Bronzeville to Harlem,” the cityscape is a simultaneously playful and serious contemplation of the individual stories that made up the urban centers from places such as Peoria, Chicago's Bronzeville and the Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan.

Completed in 2020, in conjunction with the centennial of the start of the Harlem Renaissance, Jackson more than doubled the size of the original installation and retitled the piece, “Bronzeville to Harlem: An American Story.”

This display filled a large room, and had so many small details. It was very cool and we didn't have time to look at everything. I think you could have spent the whole day just taking this in.

Next up: Duryea, America's First Car Company . The Duryea brothers, Charles and Frank, co-founded the first company to manufacture gas-powered automobiles. This display features the Peoria Motor Trap, a prototype of one of their early vehicles, which was manufactured in Peoria. According to this article , they were also involved in the world's first automobile race.

All through these displays, I could hear Mr. Fogelberg singing in the background from the room with the exhibit. As I write this blog, I am listening to Dan Fogelberg and crying. You probably didn't want to know that.

Dan Fogelberg was a huge part of my teenage years. The Innocent Age came out when I was in high school and was really the apex of his career, as far as radio play and exposure. I played his songs obsessively on the guitar as I was learning it. And I haven't listened to his music nearly as much since he died. Because sad.

Anyway...

Dan Fogelberg was born in Peoria, and his father, of "Leader of the Band" fame, was a high school and university music teacher/director in Pekin and Peoria. Like me, he was a University of Illinois alum, and made his debut recordings at the Red Herring on campus. He was also a stone-cold hottie, which I'm not sure I appreciated as much as I could have when I was younger...

This case features several of Fogelberg's notebooks, including a set list from a 1985 concert and handwritten lyrics of "Netherlands," "Part of the Plan," and "Same Old Lang Syne."

A portrait of Fogelberg, by the same photographer who took the photo for the cover of his album Souvenirs. Next to it is a placard discussing the photographer, Henry Diltz .

The (slightly creepy) doll from the photograph on the cover of The Innocent Age. Fogelberg took the photograph, posing the doll in a cemetery.

The moonstone ring Fogelberg wore on the cover of Souvenirs.

Sailing logs from Fogelberg's sailing adventures in Maine, where he hid out from his fame.

Art: a portrait of Rudolph Nureyev and a self-portrait.

This video of Fogelberg performing live was playing throughout. He got halfway through "To the Morning," and I lost it and had to go hide in the next exhibit until I stopped leaking.

A selection of Fogelberg's gold records and awards.

Fogelberg's favorite guitar, "Buck," and the chair he preferred to sit in while he performed.

After I recovered from the Emotional Damage, we bought some popcorn and then went to the Dome Planetarium, where we watched Living Worlds , a video about life on other planets narrated by Daveed Diggs. You can watch a trailer at the link.

After the museum, we went to a very mid Irish restaurant, which I won't talk about here because it wasn't great, then we went home and I sat in the dark for a couple of hours. Maybe I hadn't recovered from the Emotional Damage, after all.