Editor’s note: Morrison High School American Government teacher Brian Bartoz submitted the article and photos.
Students in Morrison High School’s Dual Credit American Government class traveled to Tampico, IL, on Tuesday, December 11, 2018, to visit the Ronald Reagan Birthplace & Museum, in order to make connections between past and present. Students gather around a cardboard figure of Ronald Reagan.
During a tour led by Joan Johnson, who serves as the site’s Curator and Volunteer Coordinator, students learned about Reagan’s two visits to Tampico (1976 and 1992); his parents’ connection to Fulton, IL; some of the defining experiences of his youth in Tampico and Dixon, IL. Johnson explained an entry in the First National Bank ledger showing a $2 withdrawal by Nelle Reagan from the Reagans’ savings account. Molly Neumann, left, and Megan Muur review the ledger.
Johnson distributes copies “passport” guidebooks that allow users to receive passport “stamps” at historic sites and cultural attractions across northern Illinois.
Students also viewed a photograph in which a young Ronald Reagan, who often posed with his chin resting on his hand, stands just a few feet away from an even-younger R. C. Smith, who founded Morrison’s R. C. Smith Transportation Company in 1952. Reagan is pictured in the front row with his chin resting on his hand. In the front row (far right, bottom of photo) is R. C. Smith.
Referencing the recent death and State funeral of former President George H. W. Bush, who earlier served as Reagan’s Vice President, Johnson recalled the June 11, 2004, funeral of President Reagan. Johnson noted that the plane carrying the late President from his State funeral in Washington, D. C. flew low over his birthplace–Tampico–en route to his final resting place, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA.
Particularly memorable was the opportunity to see the actual, 8 ft. by 10 ft. room in which Ronald Wilson Reagan was born, on February 6, 1911.
The visit showed students how hard work, persistence, and determination can propel a person, regardless of his or her modest beginnings, to the highest levels of success in the United States.
During the visit, students presented Johnson with a signed card thanking her for leading Tuesday’s tour. In a post-visit e-mail to teacher Brian Bartoz, Johnson said that the group was “a joy to have visit, and I hope they learned something of the history of the Reagans, as well as how…life was in the early 1900’s….Feel free to visit any time.”
More information about the museum is online at http://www.tampicohistoricalsociety.com/R_Reagan_Birthplace_Museum.html.