Supporters


Letters of Support

Click here to read the letters.

  • Mayor Daley
  • Senator Obama
  • Senator Durbin
  • Congressman Davis
  • Congressman Rush
  • Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.
  • State Senator Hendon
  • Cook County Commissioner Robert Steele
  • Alderman Robert Fioretti
  • Alderman Walter Burnett
  • Alderman Pat Dowell
  • Illinois Arts Council
  • Mr. Herb Kent, aka "The Cool Gent"
  • Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
  • Roosevelt University
  • The Field Museum
  • School of Social Service Administration
  • Arne Duncan, Chicago Public Schools
  • National Museum of African American History
  • Alex Kotlowitz
  • Floyd O. May, National Organization of African Americans in Housing (NOAAH)
  • Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA)
  • Henry Cisneros, Cityview

Leadership

Over the past two years, we have formed a Board of Directors and Advisory Committee for the Museum. We continue to seek national representation for both these groups, which are building a wide base of support including current leadership of the CHA's Local Advisory Committees, other CHA residents and alumni from across America, and academics and museum professionals. A Steering Committee is also providing strategic guidance during the Museum's development phase

Board of Directors


Founding Chair
Ms. Deverra Beverly
President
LAC Local Advisory Council

Saul Himelstein
President
The Inspection Group, Inc.
President
Fred L. Bonner
Founder and President
Bonheur Development Corp.

Brad Hunt
Associate Dean
Roosevelt University

Vice President
Crystal Palmer
President
Henry Horner Local Advisory Council


Zenobia Johnson-Black
Retired Housing Official

Secretary
Kate Bensen
Civic Leader


Lisa D. Lenoir

Writer & Educator
Treasurer
Chuck Thurow
Executive Director
Hyde Park Art Center

Lisa Lee
Director
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

Mary Baldwin

Avi Lothan
Design Principal
DeStefano Partners

Willard Dumas
Major Gifts Officer
Lambda Legal
 Mark Schulte


Michelle Duster
Writer, Speaker and Project Manager


Alaka Wali
John Nuveen Curator in Anthropology
Director, Center for Cultural Understanding
and Change, Field Museum

Roberta Feldman
Director, City Design Center
University of Illinois at Chicago

Francine Washington
President
Stateway Gardens Local Advisory Council
Sunny Fischer
Executive Director
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
 
  

Advisory Committee

 
Ruth Abram
Founder & Former Executive Director
Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Herb Kent
V103 Radio Personality


Rolf Achilles
Chair, Landmarks Illinois
Faculty, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Alex Kotlowitz
Author and Journalist


Dr. Carol Adams
Secretary
Illinois Department of Human Services
Rosanna A. Márquez
President
Eleanor Foundation
Dr. Margaret T. G. Burroughs
Founder
DuSable Museum of
African American History
Floyd O. May
Managing Director
National Organization of African Americans in Housing
Henry Cisneros
Executive Chairman
CityView
Former Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development
The Honorable Dawn Clark Netsch
Professor of Law Emerita, Northwestern University
Former State Senator, State of Illinois
Former Comptroller, State of Illinois

Amina Dickerson
Director of Corporate Contributions
Kraft Foods

Diana Palomar Scott
Vice President, Community Services
WLS-TV, ABC7

Edwin Eisendrath
Former Director, Region V Office
U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development
Reginald Robinson
Musician


Graham C. Grady
Partner, K&L Gates LLP
Former Chief Executive
Chicago Housing Authority

Anne Roosevelt
Vice President
Global Corporate Citizenship
Boeing Corportation

Ronne Hartfield
Museum Consultant
Formerly Executive Director of Education
Art Institute of Chicago
Jackie Taylor
Founder and Executive Director
Black Ensemble Theater


Senator Mattie Hunter
3rd District, State of Illinois Senate
 
  

Steering Committee

 
Donna Epstein Barrows
Chairman of the Board
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
Lisa Lee
Director
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

Mrs. Deverra Beverly
President
ABLA Local Advisory Committee

Tracye Matthews
Associate Director
Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture
The University of Chicago

Michelle Boone
Program Officer, Culture
Joyce Foundation

Peter Pero
Teacher, Community Developer and Board Member
Maxwell Street Foundation

Richard Cahan
Program Officer
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Ananias Samuel
Ida B. Wells Housing Development Historian

Susan Campbell
Associate Vice President
Office of Civic Engagement
University of Chicago

Lesley Slavitt
Vice President
Government Relations and University Outreach
Roosevelt University


Sunny Fischer
Executive Director
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation

David M. Thompson
Executive Director
Chicago Center for Urban Ecology

Alison Fisher
Department of Art History
Northwestern University

Hollis Turner
Urban Gardener/Community Builder

Rev. Marshall Hatch
New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church