Thirty years of Sycamore’s manufacturing history have been condensed into a book written by an NIU alumnus.

The Sycamore History Museum, 1730 N. Main St., held an open panel discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the DeKalb County Community Foundation, 475 DeKalb Ave., for the book “Why Sycamore Works” by Robert Glover. Glover worked in manufacturing for 16 years.

The book documents Sycamore’s manufacturing history between 1950 and 1980. Glover moderated a discussion between Sycamore Mayor Ken Mundy, Dean Copple, Bob Davis and Clint Gittleson. Copple, Davis and Gittleson worked in manufacturing in Sycamore and contributed to the book.

The panelists discussed their contributions to the book and reminisced about past occupations in manufacturing facilities in Sycamore.

“You could change jobs six or seven times and never miss a paycheck,” Mundy said of the abundance of jobs in Sycamore in the ’50s and ’60s.

Glover has been a volunteer archivist at the Sycamore History Museum since he graduated NIU with a master’s degree in history in 2009. He started on “Why Sycamore Works” about one year ago.

Glover said the most rewarding part of writing his book was making relationships with Sycamore residents and creating something with very little sources.

“I thought [the panel] was very good,” said Sycamore resident Warren Young. “Since I worked in the industry here for 40 years, a lot of the things they talked about I was certainly aware of.”