This week is all about MOMS at the Arlington Heights
Historical Museum. It’s not Throwback Thursday, or Flashback Friday, but we’d
like to take the time to highlight some mothers from the history of Arlington
Heights.
The first mother we want to showcase is Mrs. Wilhelmina
(Boeger) Redeker. Mrs. Redeker is pictured below, year unknown, with her
husband Fred and her two children. The Redeker family came to
Arlington Heights from Germany. In 1893, they opened the Redeker General Store,
which until recently was Harry’s Restaurant in downtown Arlington Heights.
The next photo features five generations of Kennicott women.
The Kennicotts were an influential family all over this area. This photo was
taken in 1911, when the family matriarch, Mary Kennicott, was ninety years old.
Mary saw a lot in her life. She was born in 1821 and raised her family in
Arlington Heights. Her son Warren Kennicott was killed in the Civil War at the
Battle of Gettysburg.
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| 1st row L to R: Mary Kennicott, Eva M. Little, Grace Little Herbst Back row L to R: Eva K. Williams, May Allison |
Last, but not least, we have Martha Mills. Martha Mills was born
in Indiana in 1893 and moved to Arlington Heights in 1930. While in Arlington
Heights, her contagious passion for dolls came to fruition. Martha grew up with
a strict mother who only allowed her to have two dolls. While recuperating from
an illness in 1949, Martha began to make to make dolls. She made them out of
any material she could find; soap, wood, wax, clay, etc. Her apple head dolls
won her multiple awards all over the country. In addition to making dolls, she
collected them. She collected dolls for all of her adult life and then donated
these to the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. Some of these dolls are on
display in the Museum’s Banta House.
