Lewis University Participates In New Joliet Historical Museum Exhibit

ROMEOVILLE, IL — The "38 Miles North and South of Chicago" exhibit will be on display until March 1 at the Joliet Area Historical Museum, according to a release from Lewis University.

The exhibit shows a comparative look at the African American history of Joliet and Lake Forest. The History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff and The Lewis University History Center collaborated to tell the important stories with the help of several partners (Second Baptist Church, Mount Zion Baptist Church, the National Hook-up of Black Women Joliet Inc., and Warren-Sharpe Community Center); grantors (Illinois Humanities, the Grainger Foundation, the American Historical Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities), and student researchers from Lewis University and Lake Forest College, according to the university.

“Joliet and Lake Forest have been home to African Americans since before the cities’ formal incorporations. Despite these deep-rooted histories, the Black communities have often been on the periphery of historical narrative,” Dr. Dennis Cremin, director of The Lewis University History Center said in a release.

"‘38 Miles North and South’ seeks to address this exclusion by highlighting the contributions of African Americans to the region's diversity," Morgan Jennings, Lewis University History alumna and former grant student coordinator, said.

The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation partially funded the exhibit through its “Broadening Narratives" initiative.

"These joint exhibits showcase the troubling history involved in the practices of disenfranchisement and systematic racism," according to the release.

The shared exhibition will be displayed at the Joliet Area Historical Museum from Jan. 12 through March 1 in honor of Black History Month.