The Western Illinois Museum’s oral history collection currently includes more than 70 audio recordings of local veterans, educators, and business owners. For this project, the museum is interested in recording memories of the automobile and how it impacted everyday life. Over the next year, the museum staff invites the community to share their experiences working in automobile service and sales businesses, as well as how owning or having a car impacted their life. The museum is especially interested in memories about its current home, the long-time location of Macomb Motors located at 201 S. Lafayette Street.

The video recorded interviews will become part of the museum’s collection and will be used in exhibits and programs. In addition, the museum staff is exploring ways to make the videos available online as a resource tool for understanding the changes the automobile had on rural life.