The Glencoe Historical Society’s exhibit chronicling the lives of Black citizens in the village has won an award from a national organization.
The American Association for State and Local History announced July 15 the GHS exhibit “Glencoe’s Black Heritage” received a 2024 Leadership in History Award of Excellence.
“This is a significant award and we are honored to be recipients,” GHS Co-President Karen Ettelson said.
After years of research, GHS opened the exhibit in September 2022 at its Park Avenue location. The exhibit tells the story of the village’s Black population in the mostly white suburb going back over 140 years through text and visuals.
The GHS details the history of Black residents becoming active in the greater community starting in the late 1880s. However, after World War I, restrictive covenants and eminent domain polices were used to diminish the Black population. Those policies stayed in effect for many years, according to GHS.
“As a small nonprofit and all volunteer team, this project certainly was a stretch for the Glencoe Historical Society,” AASLH Vice President Bethany Hawkins wrote in an email. “They conducted extensive primary research by expertly combing through thousands of purchase agreements, deeds, court records, census records and private family archives to document an elaborate land scheme that began in the late 1910s to limit the Black population in Glencoe and to prevent future revitalizations for many decades to come. The research has also been incorporated into an exhibit that, in part, recognizes and celebrates the contributions of Black residents, past and present. The project appears to have started community conversations and has been regarded as a step in community healing.”
Glencoe Historical Society co-presidents Vanessa Zorb (left) and Karen Ettelson prepare for Glencoe’s Black Heritage, the latest Glencoe Historical Society exhibit.
The exhibit also features prominent members of Glencoe’s Black community including military members and James Webb, who became the first and only Black village president in 1993.
The AASLH awarded 45 Leadership in History Awards nationwide this year with three being in Illinois, according to an organization spokesman. Other statewide recipients include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Illinois State Museum.
“For our little volunteer organization, it is a great honor to be included with some of the largest and prestigious organizations in Illinois,” Ettelson said.
Ettelson noted attendance has been strong and plans are for the exhibit to remain open until sometime in early 2025.
“We have had and continue to have a steady stream of visitors to the exhibit,” she said. “It is more than just people in Glencoe, it has attracted people from all over the Chicago area.”
A GHS representative is scheduled to receive the award at the AASLH conference in September in Mobile, AL.
GHS will host a celebration of the St. Paul AME Church’s 140th anniversary on August 3. St. Paul AME is the second oldest religious organization and has drawn a predominantly Black membership from throughout the North Shore.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
