
Help publish a Black history book on Maywood, IL
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Peggy Moore Alexander, we are asking for financial help to publish a Black history book on Maywood, Illinois.
A group of Maywood lifelong residents is in the process of gathering and documenting family stories for a Maywood Black History book. A remarkable story that has never been told.
The book will focus on Maywood in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and beyond. In the suburb's beginning, Blacks were only allowed to live within four corners from 10th to 14th avenues, and from Madison Street to St. Charles Road. That was the cornerstone of the migration to Maywood.
The book will cover years before and beyond 40, 50 and 60’s. We will be concentrating on the families, the businesses, the professionals and all the hard-working people. Our ancestor came from all parts of the South to River Forest, Melrose Park, La Grange, Oak Park and settled in Maywood. That history is not well known.
This book will feature family stories about growing up in a small black community. Within those four corners we have a rich history of ordinary people.
Our members include Fred Keys, John Cade, Willie Moore, Mae Fowler, Walter Williams, Sharon Howell, Gloria Jackson Clay, Barbara Bailey, Sue Henry, Shirley Lambert, Curtis Montgomery, Gail Hannah, Dorothy Harper Hall, and Peggy Moore Alexander.
It is our goal to publish a book that acknowledges the hard-working Blacks in Maywood, in that small part of the Village of Maywood that have never been talked about or rewarded for the amazing lives we lived.
This publication will tell the family stories of our black fathers and mothers before and beyond the 40,50,60’s in the 4 corners of the Village of Maywood. A love letter to our ancestors and the Village of Maywood.
Within the four corners we had everything: doctors, dentists, optometrists, teachers, stores, beauty & barber shops, restaurants, churches, parks, and pharmacists. It was a small village within a village.
We will use the crowdfunding funds to contribute toward the design and production cost of the book.
Organizer
Peggy Alexander
Organizer
Maywood, IL