New CEO, new start for DuSable Museum

My friend Deborah Harrington called and left a message. Then another. And another. Sometimes she got a live body. Other times, a machine. One thing was consistent: No response.

Harrington had a simple request. She wanted to renew her membership at the DuSable Museum of African American History. Harrington, president of the Woods Fund, a Chicago foundation, says she is a "lifelong friend" of the museum, the oldest and largest of its kind in the nation.

"I was never able to find anyone who was able or willing to process my membership," she recalled the other day. Eventually, she "gave up" and let her membership lapse.

It's a small thing, but it speaks volumes.

Margaret T. Burroughs, the renowned black artist, art historian and educator, founded the museum in her South Side home in 1961. In the 1970s, Burroughs persuaded the Chicago Park District to donate the land for the current location, 57th Street and South Cottage Grove in Washington Park. It became a haven for the nation's rich black history and culture. "Through the years, the museum has served as nerve center for political fund-raisers, community festivals, and social and civic events serving the black community," according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago.

The museum showcased icons including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, African Americans in the Vietnam era and black-owned family farms. In 2003, then-Illinois Senate President Emil Jones muscled a $10 million state grant to expand the museum's campus.

Yet Harrington is one of many DuSable supporters who fear the museum is moribund. They are questioning the scarce traffic, poor communications and lackluster marketing. They wonder why the 48-year-old institution still does not have accreditation from the American Association of Museums.

Cheryl Blackwell Bryson, a Chicago attorney and chairman of DuSable's board of trustees, says accreditation is "absolutely" a top priority. That's why, she says, the trustees have hired Carol Adams, former chief of the Illinois Department of Human Services, as DuSable's new CEO.

Adams starts today, replacing Antoinette D. Wright, who is stepping down after 12 years at the helm. Wright also claimed accreditation as a priority. In 2004, the Chicago Community Trust awarded the museum, which has an annual budget of $3.5 million, two grants totaling $120,000 "to continue support of the museum's plan to meet the prerequisites of accreditation."

Bryson doesn't want to dwell on that kind of history. She would only say that Wright is leaving after a "restructuring." The board wanted to "identify the best person for the job to lead us to that next level," and that person is Adams. "The board is very excited about her leadership."

The move ends a professional merry-go-round for Adams. In 2003, she was appointed secretary of the state's Department of Human Services by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. After Pat Quinn took over in January, it appeared Adams' days in that high-profile post were numbered.

Last spring, she was a finalist in the search for a new president at Chicago State University, but failed to get that job.

Then on Oct. 11, Quinn tapped Adams to lead an expanded Illinois' trade office in Johannesburg. On Oct. 30, she reneged on the job in a letter to Quinn, citing "pressing family medical issues."

Bryson says the DuSable board hired Adams on Oct. 19. Adams' resume is deep in education and social service administration, but she appears to have no experience as a museum administrator or curator. Still, DuSable desperately needs a forceful and resourceful leader. Her fans say she fits that profile.

The museum has "tremendous untapped potential," Harrington says. "The change in leadership presents a tremendous opportunity."

Answering the phone would be a good start.