Annual Patent Day Dinner scheduled Nov. 13

     Each fall, members of the Joseph F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center celebrate "The Winner."
     That's the name given to the barbed wire for which Glidden received a patent Nov. 24,1874. The Winner became one of the most widely used types of barbed wire in the nation.   
     Glidden's invention is celebrated with a special Patent Day Dinner that serves as the organization's primary fund-raiser. This year's event is Thursday, Nov. 13, at Best Western Inn & Suites, West Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb. Social time begins at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6:30 p.m.
     Displays are exhibited throughout the evening showing recent restoration work at the Homestead on DeKalb's West Lincoln Highway, in addition to educational materials.
     Entertainment will be provided by Jen Jencks-Conley, featuring music performed in the 1860s-1870s.
     Tickets for the Patent Day Dinner are $50, and include a dinner of carved roast beef, potatoes, herbed green beans salad and dessert.
     Supporters also have the chance to win $500 in a special raffle held that evening. Tickets are $5 each or three for $10, and you do not need to be present to win. All board members will be selling tickets and they will be included with invitations.
     For tickets or information, call board president, Kathy Vance Siebrasse, (815) 751-2995, or email her at kathywrites2@verizon.net. 
     The Glidden Homestead & Historical Center was established in the mid-1990s, to preserve the site where Glidden’s world-changing invention was made. As a not-for-profit corporation, the Homestead is run by a 15-member board, including two members of the Glidden family. Siblings, Sarah Glidden DeMink, board secretary, is great grand niece, and Richard Glidden, is great grand nephew.
     Other board members include: Jim Morel, past president; Gayle Wuori, vice president; Kenda Jeske, treasurer; Steve Johnson, Jeff Marshall, Amy Polzin, Denise Rode, Barry Schrader and Linda Schwarz.
    Joseph Glidden lived in the two-story home at 921 W. Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb, during the late 1860s and early 1870s. It was there during the winter months of 1872-73, that he began experimenting with his wife, Lucinda’s, large wire hairpins. When the weather improved, he purchased a reel of smooth fence wire from Isaac Ellwood’s hardware store and began experimenting in the barnyard or barn, which still stands today.
     Eventually, Joseph worked on his idea with his long-time friend and blacksmith, Phineas Vaughan. Together, they took apart an old coffee mill and reassembled it, utilizing the principle of a moving sleeve and a lug. With a turn of the crank, the machine produced a small uniform-sized coil. Joseph then returned to his experiment of clinching the coils with their tangs and twisting it with another smooth wire on the single strand. Thus, he came to invent the first practical “barbed wire.”
     Support for work at the Homestead today comes from a membership base, local and regional donations, along with some state and regional grants. The buildings at the Homestead are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
    The board has been working hard the past few years to restore the interior and exterior of the house, in addition to completing extensive work on the barn’s exterior. It plans to restore the barn and house as a living exhibit to educate children and adults about the significant contributions of Glidden to the history of the West and the entire nation.
     Four membership levels exist for the Glidden Homestead: Family, $40 (for immediate members of a family in the same house); Single, $25 (for one adult); Student, $5 (for students under age 22); and Heritage, a $100 annual sustaining membership.
     Membership benefits include a quarterly newsletter, special tour considerations, free refreshments when visiting, and free use of the Homestead library. Membership also gives supporters the satisfaction of helping to save a DeKalb landmark and a national historic place.
     Anyone interested in membership, should mail checks payable to the Joseph F. Glidden Homestead to: 921 W. Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb, IL 60115. For more information, call (815) 756-7904 (leave a message).