We are proud to announce the opening of our new permanent exhibit, "You're in the Army Now: Camp Grant, Rockford's Legacy!"
We are excited to cut the ribbon on our new permanent exhibit on Camp Grant and share this important story in Rockford's history.
Camp Grant supported the Rockford economy, provided thousands of jobs, served as the rallying point for local support of war efforts, and forever impacted the community population.
Midway Village Museum, 6799 Guilford Rd., Rockford, IL 61107
Sponsored by:
Exhibit donors: Kjellstrom Family Foundation, Blazer Foundation, Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, Karen Schiller, Mark Tomlinson, Brubaker Charitable Trust, Gloyd Family Foundation, Smith Charitable Foundation, Mary Rose Fillip, Dean A. Olson Foundation, Tom and Britta Peterson, Robert Carlson and Nancy Hoffmann, John & Shannon Kim, Jim & Lucy Pirages, Coni & Brad Keyes, Paul & Jody Logli, James Stadermann, Cosmopolitan Club, Emerson Charity - Greenlee, Mike & Karin Schablaske, Collins Aerospace, First Evangelical Free Church, Judy Gambrel, Chad Anderson, Barb Nozzi, Karl & Carol Jacobs, Ben Harding Family Foundation, Mike & Kathy Crandall, Curtis Kleckler, Heath Sorenson, Lisa Ippolito in Memory of Carl Lind, Terry & Gretchen Poffinbarger, Mary Jo & Charles Hare
Touring the New Exhibit
Telling the Camp Grant Story
Central to the museum’s mission to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of the Rockford region is to comprehensively tell the story of Camp Grant. As the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, Rockford community leaders successfully campaigned the federal government to build an Army Infantry Training Camp on the land where today’s Chicago-Rockford International Airport now operates.
During World War I, tens of thousands of recruits trained at Camp Grant, and thousands more were discharged through the camp. Particularly notable was the arrival of over 13,000 African American soldiers, a dramatic demographic shift for a community with only 200 black residents before the war. The camp had simulated trenches for training, medical facilities, recreation buildings, and hundreds of barracks.
Camp Grant soon became a significant driver of the city’s growth, as new roads and public services were developed and hundreds of buildings were built with local labor and supplies. The onset of World War II saw a dramatic expansion of Camp Grant, during which 300,000 soldiers came through its gates. Camp Grant also became a center for the training of medical personnel and the housing of prisoners of war. It served as a rallying point for local war efforts, a source of job growth and economic development, and forever changed the demographics of the community’s population.
Our new permanent exhibit, "You're in the Army Now: Camp Grant, Rockford's Legacy," uses a timeline-based approach with artifacts and stories to vividly recount the history of the camp. Of particular importance will be the lasting impact on the Rockford community, including how African American soldiers who trained at Camp Grant brought a new diversity to the region.
