Less than a week after wrapping up our celebrations of Women’s History Month, let's salute the magic of Peggy Montes, the Chicago legend who helped make the month an institution in Chicago.
According to a recent feature story in the Chicago Sun-Times, Mrs. Montes is a native of Bronzeville and former educator and counselor who transitioned into politics, notably working to elect Harold Washington as Chicago's first Black Mayor. After the election, she advocated for and helped establish the Chicago Commission on Women’s Affairs in 1984, then in March 1986 she played a crucial role in the establishment of Chicago’s Women’s History Month. She was also the driving force behind the very first Unsung Heroine Award for the women of Cook County, which was renamed in Montes’ honor in 2010.
Montes is chairwoman emerita at DuSable Museum, member of the Black Creativity Program at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and co-founder of the Leadership Advisory Council at the Art Institute of Chicago, just to name a few things she’s accomplished.
And at 88, she continues her commitment to empowering women and educating children through the Bronzeville Children’s Museum dedicated to African American culture and history that she opened in 1998.
& Remember to always celebrate your magic! xo