A New Exhibit Shows How Food Brings People Together

Evy at a new exhibit at the DeKalb County History Center with Michelle Donahoe, executive director

Food is often celebrated for bringing families and friends together. It offers clues about who we are and where we live. Sharing meals helps shape the cultures of people around the world.

The DeKalb County History Center in Sycamore, Illinois, is spotlighting this phenomenon in a new exhibit. It’s called “Food: Gathering Around the Table.”

DeKalb County has a population of just over 100,000 people. It is home to several well-known food companies, including Del Monte and Nestlé. 

The History Center spotlights key events and people in the county’s past through exhibits, programs, and research. Its new “Food” exhibit was made possible through a program called Museum on Main Street (MoMS, for short). Started in 1994, MoMS offers a way for cities and towns across the United States to access resources from the Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex.

The History Center is one of only five organizations in the U.S. selected to participate in the “Food” exhibit. “The Smithsonian provided the exhibit script, which is all the text at the national level,” explained Michelle Donahoe, the center’s executive director. “We identified local examples and objects to tell those stories.” 

“Food brings people together,” Donahoe told Evy. 

INTRODUCING MICROWAVE OVENS

The exhibit features aprons, menus, utensils, and more. It also explores ethnic histories, food insecurity, and even etiquette. 

A wooden table on display is from the DeKalb County Jail. It was used to prepare meals for inmates until 1986.

Menus dating back to the 1920s reveal shifts in prices and food choices over time. A recipe for “tres leches cake” from a Guatemalan student spotlights a favorite Latin American dessert. The sponge cake is made with three different types of milk.

Recipes for “Microwave Fried Pork Chops” and “Microwave Pineapple Upside-Down Cake” show how changes in technology have affected the preparation of food, for better and worse. Microwave ovens, which heat food relatively quickly, first became popular in the U.S. in the 1970s. 

“Food brings people together, and I love that about this exhibit,” Donahoe said. “We really hope the exhibit will . . . help them realize that we have a lot more in common than we think.” 

“Food: Gathering Around the Table” will be open through early 2026. It includes more than 10 auxiliary sites at history societies and museums throughout DeKalb County.