Dominican University, Professor Recognized for Helping Maywood Museum Preserve Community’s Past

River Forest, IL-Dr. Cecilia Salvatore, professor in the School of Information Studies and coordinator of the Archives and Cultural Heritage Program at Dominican University, was recently presented with the Spirit of Uplift Award for the university's impactful work in helping preserve the rich history of Maywood.

Salvatore was among the distinguished guests honored Jan. 17 by the Maywood-based nonprofit Operation Uplift, Inc.

The recognition took place during the organization's 37th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration and Community Awards Gala, which included fellow honorees U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis and music producer Marcos "Kosine" Palacios, among local leaders and citizens.

Salvatore and Dominican University were recognized for work in elevating Maywood's history and heritage through outreach efforts with West Town Museum of Cultural History. Here, under Salvatore's guidance, students in Dominican's Master of Library and Information Science program are putting classroom learning into real-world practice by using culturally responsive archival procedures to document, catalog and preserve written materials, photographs and artifacts connected to the events, places and people of Maywood and Proviso Township. The museum also highlights the history of the Black experience in America.

Notable individuals with roots in the community who are featured in the museum include Fred Hampton, chairman of the national Black Panther Party; NBA coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers; pioneering chemist Dr. Percy Julian; and Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television.

Dominican's archival assistance will allow the museum to more effectively exhibit its collection, educate visiting students about the community's heritage and share resources with the public. Students are also training museum volunteers in archiving and digitizing the collection, which will allow preservation to continue for years to come.

"West Town Cultural Museum wants to tell the story of Maywood, and we have worked with them to strengthen that goal," Salvatore said. "At Dominican, we teach future archivists, but this is also a program that involves outreach in the community. We teach the courses, but we also look at our community to see what their needs are and how we can work together."

This work is made possible through a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Public Knowledge program, which supports the preservation of cultural and scholarly records. The grant also supports additional archival work by Dominican students in other communities that have been traditionally disenfranchised from resources for heritage preservation.

In addition to West Town Museum of Cultural History, Salvatore is overseeing student work with Bethel Church, a 135-year-old church community on Chicago's West Side, and IPIKU, which is building a virtual repository of records focused on indigenous languages and traditions of Guam and Micronesia.

Dr. Anthony Dunbar, associate professor in Dominican's School of Information Studies and co-leader of the grant, is overseeing archival work and the documentation of community voices with Austin Coming Together, a nonprofit support organization, and Southwest Organizing Project, an interfaith community impact organization.