County Museum of History participates in Clothesline Project

Posted on April 21, 2018
The T-shirts, designed by sexual assault survivors, will hang in the rotunda of the McLean County Museum of History from April 23-28. (Photo courtesy McLean County Museum of History)

By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – The YWCA and the McLean County Museum of History will be displaying the testimonies of sexual assault survivors next week through the Clothesline Project.

T-shirts with designs made by the survivors will hang in the museum’s rotunda for all to see. Museum registrar Emma Meyer explained the shirts are a way for survivors to tell their stories.

“Some of them kind of range from being extremely hopeful about being a survivor and what they have seen, and then it also has some of the more tragic stories, and some of them are just heartbreaking to read,” said Meyer.

The project continues the county’s Sexual Assault Awareness month activities. Meyer said the shirts give survivors a chance to say what happened to them while maintaining a level of anonymity.

“It’s their opportunity to express what happened to them at-large, without necessarily having a platform or speaking at a public forum,” said Meyer.

The display will be free to view at the museum starting on Monday.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].

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