Latest news with #DavidStrother
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Project XV Museum honors David Strother Day with gala
EL PASO, Ill. (WMBD) — April 4 is David Strother Day, commemorating the first African-American man to vote in Illinois after the passing of the 15th amendment. On Friday evening the Project XV Museum is hosting its annual gala and a ribbon cutting to honor this milestone. 'To be able to see the exhibit that honors David Strother. It means everything,' said Project XV historian Barb Lancaster. Strother was a barber, husband and father. On April 4, 1870 he voted in El Paso. The Project XV Museum is a nonpartisan comprehensive voting rights museum created in Strother's honor. The site of the museum is his barbershop from 1872. The annual gala is held as close as possible to the voting date. This year, it fell on the 155th anniversary of Strother's historical vote. 'I hope that people will be inspired when they come to our museum and realize that their vote is their voice. And we don't care who you vote for, we just want you to vote,' said Lancaster. At the museum is a newspaper clipping mentioning David Strother was a pallbearer at the funeral of Thomas H. Lindsay. He was a wealthy Peoria pioneer. Coming to the city before he was 10 years old, Lindsay was one of the River City's first Black citizens. The museum also hosts a block party in August to celebrate David Strother's birthday. The museum board hopes to raise enough money from Friday night's gala to install an elevator to make the museum accessible to all visitors. You can contact the museum to schedule a progress tour before the official opening. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New El Paso museum highlights Illinois' first Black voter
PEORIA, Ill (WMBD) — Normally, when you go to a barber shop, you ask them to take some hair off the top. Now, a new El Paso museum, looking to honor and remember the first Black voter in Illinois, hopes to add a little to the top of people's minds. Michael Melick, the board president for Project XV Museum, and a teacher at El Paso Gridley High School, stopped by WMBD This Morning to explain the meaning and importance of the Project XV Museum, and this week's special event. Project XV refers to the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which is the one that gave all people the right to vote, regardless of their race or creed. The museum sits on the spot where the barber shop of David Strother once was. That's important, says Melick, because Strother 'was the first black voter after the 15th Amendment' went into effect. His first vote was for the El Paso municipal election in 1870. The museum's name is a play on the Amendment's number, 15. But the Project XV Museum goes even further. It even delves into ways that area indigenous people picked leaders. On Jan. 30, the museum will host award winning author Derrick Barnes for a special presentation on one of his books, 'Crown an Ode to The Fresh Cut,' which takes a look at the Black-owned barber shops and how they affect young boys getting their first cuts. So, for a little off the top, stop by a barber shop, but for a little ON the top (of your mind), stop by the Project XV Museum in El Paso. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
