August 25, 2026
The Egyptian Theatre has been around for nearly 100 years, making it a historic landmark in DeKalb County. Throughout that time, the theatre’s story has been preserved in photographs, newspaper articles, programs, and more, but bringing nearly a century of information together into an organized collection is no small task. After the Egyptian was awarded an Illinois Creative Projects Grant in 2025, NIU senior Alisha Loehrl started as the Egyptian’s Archives Intern, helping uncover, organize, and preserve these pieces of history so they can be shared with future generations. To learn more about the Egyptian’s history and the archival process, Marketing Intern AJ Evon spoke with Alisha about her work.
AJ: What initially got you interested in archival work?
Alisha: It’s less that I’m interested in archival work and more that what I’m interested happens to involve archival work. I’ve always loved history and use every means I have to explore it.
AJ: Why the Egyptian Theatre?
Alisha: The Egyptian is well connected to NIU and their nonprofit sector, so I was introduced to the Theatre in spring of 2025 and was aware of their internship opportunities. Come that next fall, I was searching for a hypothetical internship to boost my experience, not really taking it too seriously, and it was one of the first places I checked!
AJ: What is the most surprising piece of Egyptian History you’ve found so far?
Alisha: The most surprising thing I’ve found so far would be that JFK gave a speech on our stage, back in 1959. I reference it often, so it’s easy to forget how surprising I found it at first.
AJ: If you could share one piece of information about the theatre with the entire county, what would you share and why?
Alisha: I’d probably share the story of P.E.T.’s founding and how they saved the theatre. I think it’s an amazing story of the community working together to preserve an entertainment and arts hub. Citizens who didn’t need to come forward and help but they saw the good in having the theatre live on.
AJ: What do you have planned after wrapping up this opportunity?
Alisha: After this opportunity, I’ll be moving onto graduate school with intent to end up working in museums or generally in the history field!
