Dawn Colquitt Anderson, who grew up in Robbins, said she felt dumbfounded, then embarrassed then angry when she took her first tour of the Robbins History Museum in 2018 and realized how little she and her family knew of their town’s history.
She said her 11-year-old niece asked her why she had not learned in school that Robbins, one of the first Black-led municipalities in the U.S., was home to the first Black-owned airport and flight school.
Anderson said that moment inspired her to study Robbins’ history for her doctoral dissertation and now, as the executive director of the Robbins Historical Society, she is working to digitize history to increase its accessibility.
She said passing on history is critical to giving the community roots and said learning her own history grounded her in a way she had never experienced.
“You are helping them to understand their place in society, in the world, in the country, and if they don’t know it then they go out in the world rootless, which means they can be swayed easier, like a boat without an anchor,” she said.
Anderson was appointed in August after director and founder Tyrone Haymore died suddenly in May, leaving the village without a critical advocate for its history.
Haymore was the last living member of the original historical society, which he founded in 1980.
Anderson, who has been on the Robbins Historical Museum board since 2018 and graduated with a doctorate in global inclusion and social development in May 2025, said she worked closely with Haymore for years.
She said he asked her to transition into the director position in 2023, but she was offered a Fulbright scholarship in Canada and had to delay the offer.
Anderson said she now lives in Harvey, where she takes care of her mother, and also Memphis, Tennessee, going back and forth as needed.
Anderson said she chose to honor Haymore this year by starting to digitize his work, which she said would help make the community’s stories more accessible to scholars, educators and content creators.
Anderson launched a website for the historical society, which is still being built out, along with a Facebook account, where she posted some of the society’s archival material and her own interviews with elders.
She also started using social media to encourage residents to interview their own elders and share that with the museum.
Anderson said the response to these historical posts show residents are “hungry” for the village’s history.
“The people who are the keepers of our story, you know, they’re aging, they’re transitioning, memories are waning,” Anderson said. “I’m trying to encourage the generations that are here to participate in the historic preservation efforts of the village.”
Anderson also said she hopes that digitizing the museum content will encourage educators and scholars at institutions to access and teach the village’s history.
She said teaching this local, culturally relevant history is “the key to closing academic gaps.” Students can relate to this history, she said, because it is local, tangible and a part of their community, sometimes even to their homes.
Anderson said she noticed students’ eyes light up when they learn a place they walk past regularly is connected to a national historical event. She observed this after creating a summer workshop focused on helping Robbins teachers share local history.
Anderson is working on establishing a wall dedicated to Haymore at the William Leonard Public Library, where historical information and photos can be displayed year round. She said this is scheduled to open Feb. 3.
She said she also aims to attain historic landmark status for the one-story former S.B. Fuller house at 135th Street and South Kedzie Avenue, which was donated to the historical society in 2015.
Haymore said in 2022 he wanted the move the museum from its storefront at 3644 W. 139th, to the Fuller house.
But fundraising has not been sufficient to pay for renovations to the Fuller home, and Anderson said she hopes establishing landmark status will help the historical society access more state and federal grants.
Anderson also said she is inspired by the “young” energy that Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant brings to the area’s history.
Bryant, who was youngest Black mayor in Illinois when he was elected in 2021, said he plans to honor Haymore’s legacy by continuing to improve the village and dispel negative stigma around Robbins as a low-income community.
Bryant referenced the village’s $30 million flood control and recreation project as part of his success.
He said it has been hard without Haymore, who he referred to as a mentor and “walking encyclopedia,” reminding the village of its own identity.
“If you’re not constantly repeating and looking yourself in the mirror, sometimes you lose a sense of identity or you just need to be reminded of who you really are,” he said.
Bryant said Robbins has been able to maintain its identity as the longest-standing Black community in the south suburbs due to its strong community foundation and religious faith, even through a history of “neglect” and financial instability.
Bryant said he plans a gala event for 2027 to recognize the 110th year since the village was incorporated Dec. 14, 1917.
awright@chicagotribune.com
