A traveling exhibit entitled “The Deep Roots of the Prairie State,” was installed at the Marion Carnegie Library on August 18th, 2026 and will remain on display until the end of September. To kick off the event, the library requested that WCHS president, Sam Lattuca, come and give an opening talk on the subject which occurred on the opening day of the exhibit at 6 P.M.
The exhibit covers a range of humanity that have occupied the state since the end of the last ice age about 12,500 years ago and tracks all of the periods of indigenous evolution right up to the early pioneer and settlement days. The exhibit is open to the public any time the library is open and is sponsored by the Illinois Prairie Research Institute through the University of Illinois.