Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World
Schedule events
Today, Sept. 3
7 p.m. — Retired Urbana University history professor discusses Ohio in 1776.
Sept. 8
noon — Brown bag lunch discussion on the Franklin Stove with Dan Bauer, owner Bauer Stoves
7 p.m. — Magic tricks of the 18th century with Robert Olson
Sept. 12
9 to 11 a.m. — Kite making at Champaign County Library, kite flying at Urbana University
Sept. 14
6 p.m. — Movie “1776” and discussion with Ryan Enlow, Urbana University assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences.
Sept. 15
6 p.m. — Sheila Pena talks about lead poisoning, a topic of several Franklin essays
Sept. 16 — Candle making with CandleMoms.
Sept. 17 and 20
Champaign County Barn Quilt Tour.
Sept. 21
6 p.m. — “The Elusive Franklin” with Wittenberg University history professor Thomas Taylor
Sept. 22
noon — Brown bag discussion about gout
Sept. 29
noon — Freedom of the press and Franklin with Urbana University faculty members Art Barnes, Sylvia Bryant and Judith Wherry.
7 p.m. Oct. 2 and 2 p.m. Oct. 3 — Urbana University theatre department presents selections from “The Contrast,” America’s first romantic comedy.
URBANA — Robert Ickes is a big Ben Franklin fan, but even he was surprised to learn that the founding father was the original “storm chaser.”
“I didn’t know he rode around on a horse with a lightening rod,” Ickes said. “Probably not the smartest thing, knowing what we know now, but he was always searching for the truth.”
Ickes, an adjunct instructor at the Urbana University, learned that little tidbit about his favorite signer of the Declaration of Independence at the Benjamin Franklin Traveling Exhibit on loan to Urbana University until Oct. 7.
“It’s even more interesting than you expected. It’s not extensive but I think what they have is very good,” Ickes said of the text and photo panels that make up the center of the exhibit. Videos, interactive computer programs and local artifacts with ties to Franklin, border the exhibit room in the university’s Student Center on College Way.
From his invention of the first bifocal glasses, to his role in America’s struggle for independence, to his late-in-life writings against slavery, Franklin’s philosophies, inventions, wit and wisdom, will likely strike a familiar chord with every visitor, said Jamie Lattimer, coordinator of cataloging services at the Swedenborg Memorial Library.
“Ben Franklin, just in general, is one of the most recognizable of the founding fathers,” she said. “And his interests are so varied, we knew from a classroom standpoint, he could be worked into any classroom setting.”
Teachers and parents, however, might cringe as they learn one little fact: “He actually failed twice at mathematics and didn’t stay in school very long,” Lattimer said as she began to laugh. “It’s amazing when you think about so many things this one man accomplished.”
In addition to the exhibit which is open Saturday through Thursday, the university will host lectures, kite-flying adventures and a candle-making class during the month.
For more information visit benfranklin@urbana.edu or call (937) 484-1041
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