Saturday, March 12, 2022

Dr. John Low Elected Board Member of the Chicago History Museum!

Dr. John Low speaking at the World Heritage Celebration, 2013. Image courtesy of Tim Black.

We are pleased to share that Dr. John Low has been elected to the Chicago History Museum (CHM) Board of Trustees for a four-year term. Dr. Low is the first American Indian to have been invited to serve on the Board since its founding in 1856. Dr. Low says he will make sure that he won't be the last. Congratulations, Dr. John Low!

Founded in 1856 and incorporated as a nonprofit organization under the laws of the state of Illinois in 1857, the Chicago Historical Society (CHS) is the city’s oldest cultural institution and home to millions of historical objects, images, and documents. Nationally recognized for its holdings, CHS is devoted to collecting, interpreting, and presenting the rich multicultural history of Chicago, as well as selected areas of American history. In 2006, following an extensive building renovation and rebranding initiative, CHS created a new public identity for itself as the Chicago History Museum (CHM), which operates as the building and institutional public presence under the auspices and legal oversight of CHS.

The Museum’s collection of more than 23 million objects, images, and documents records the evolution of Chicago, one of the nation’s most significant cities, from fur-trading outpost to modern metropolis. The collection reflects their commitment to share Chicago’s stories by serving as a hub of scholarship and learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. The collection also includes historical materials that document the rise of America from colonial possession to independent nation to divided country engulfed in civil war.

As a cultural institution dedicated to community, civic engagement, and storytelling, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We are committing ourselves to create a more inclusive, representative, and equitable institution, which includes sharing authority for the documentation and interpretation of the city’s history. We recognize the importance of developing relationships, adding value, and creating trust in communities we have previously under- or misrepresented and know that this work takes time. We are dedicating ourselves to creating a practice in which we are continually learning how to become a better resource for our community by actively inviting them into our process and welcoming an open dialogue on how to best represent our city.

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