Volunteer Millers Host Program About Old Joliet Prison

The Volunteer Millers of de Immigrant Windmill will be hosting a program by Kelly Klobucher about the old Joliet, Illinois, prison on Thursday, April 17 at 6:00pm.

Kelly Klobucher is the Chief Operating Officer for the Joliet Area Historical Museums.  JAHM operates The Joliet Area Historical Museum, Old Joliet Prison, Planinsek Grocery & Meat Market Museum, Joliet Railroad Museum, and the iconic Gemini Giant and Landing Pad Gift Shop in Wilmington, Illinois. JAHM also recently acquired the world’s first Dairy Queen, and they are building a museum-experience there.

The Old Joliet Prison, originally named Illinois State Penitentiary, was an operational prison from 1858-2002. The first inmates at the site were the ones to begin construction on the prison, with structures built from limestone quarried there. Both men and women were housed at the prison until 1933. Because it was not modernized, including no running water or toilets in the cells, the prison was slated to close in 1925. It remained open, however, until 2002. Old Joliet Prison is famous for housing Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, Baby Face Nelson, and John Wayne Gacy. It became part of American pop culture with The Blues Brothers movie, the television show Prison Break, and in music by Bob Dylan and Steve Goodman.

Kelly Klobucher is originally from LaSalle, and she has worked all over the state of Illinois in her former role as Director of the Illinois Association of Museums. In her spare time she is an avid traveler, history nerd, museum geek, nonprofit guru, preservationist, gardener, storyteller, & photographer of people, places, desserts, and her cat.

Please join us on Thursday, April 17 at 6:00pm at the Windmill Cultural Center at 111- 10th Avenue Fulton. Light refreshments will be served following the presentation. The facility is accessible to persons with disabilities. The event is free and open to the public. If you have questions, please contact 563-249-6115.