Shorefront is governed by a working Board of Directors. Additional support comes from the Board of Advisors and Honorary Board. As a nonprofit historical organization, Shorefront activities are supported by generous contributions, memberships and grants.
Board of Directors
Herman “Chip” Ratliff
President
Genie Lemieux-Jordan
Treasurer
Margo E. Robinson
Secretary
Steven Frost
Rich Foreman
Skyla Hearn
Geneva Hallen
Steve Lemieux-Jordan
Nicole Parker
Board of Advisors
Angela Ford
Shawna Cooper-Gibson, Ed.D.
Horace “Kris” Graves
Parneshia Jones
Debi Chess-Mabie
Don D. Patterson
Morris E. Robinson, Sr.
Mary A. Trujillo, Ph.D.
Honorary Board
George Dotson
Alderman Delores Holmes
Rose Johnson
William Logan, Jr.
Oliver Ruff
Geri Sizemore
Founder
Dino Robinson
Past Directors
Debi Chess Mabie, 2004-2007
Joi-Anissa Russell, 2008-2012
Historical list of interns
Volunteer at the Legacy Center! Shorefront is an active acquisition center with over 170 cubic feet of documents and other tangible, many in need of further processing. Enhance your education with hands-on projects in reporting, scanning, preserving, research and cataloging both for individual credit fulfillment or long-termed classroom projects.
BMRC Interns
Dustin Wistman, 2012
Angelique Schuler, 2013
BMRC Fellows
Dr. Mary Barr, 2012 Summer
Doria Johnson, 2012 Summer
College
Tracy Francis, 2010-11
Oakton Community College
Syndhia Javier, Spring 2011
Lake Forest College
Talia M. Shambee, Summer 2011
Lake Forest College
Cassandra Harlan, 2011-14
Dominican University/Intern, Volunteer
Elizabeth Sanderson, Fall 2014
Dominican University/Intern
Nicole Gibby Munguia, Fall 2015
Dominican University/Intern
Katherine DAntico, Winter 2018
Dominican University/Practicum
Ana Rozado, Spring 2018
Northwestern University/Practicum
Celia Buckman, Summer 2018
Georgetown University/Intern
Raven Morris, Spring 2019
Northwestern University/Practicum
Ashley Whyte, Spring 2020
University of Illinois/Intern
High School
Laura Baker, Spring 2010
Evanston Township High School
Shoshanna Marie, Summer 2012
St. Scholastica
Taylor Avery, Summer 2012
Evanston Township High School
Past Volunteers
Andy Brommel
Serena Brommel
Lee Cabot
Lelia Lemieux-Jordan
Lilly Lemieux-Jordan
Lauren Robinson
Historical list of grantors and major contributors
Consider supporting Shorefront so that we can continue the programs, activities and outreach that benefit the entire North Shore communities. Thank you to the following entities and people for your support over the years.
Major Grantors
- PepsiCo
- Evanston Community Foundation’s Root2Fruit Grant Program
- Broad Foundation
- Francis Beidler Foundation
- Evanston Community Development Block Grant
- Leon Robinson Jr.
- Allegra FootPrint
- Evanston Cultural Fund in association with the Illinois Arts Fund
- Chicago Tribune Foundation
- Evanston Roundtable
- The Robi Fund of the Chicago Community Trust
- The North Shore Chapter of the Links, Inc.
- The Mammel Foundation
- The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
- The Frank B. Foster Charitable Trust
- Illinois Humanities Council
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
Major Supporters
- Evanston Community Foundation
- Evanston History Center
- Evanston Photographic Studio
- State Rep. Robyn Gable
- Robinson Design
And from the hundreds of members supporting Shorefront over the years.
DINO ROBINSON
Dino Robinson’s independent research in 1995 led to the establishment of the Shorefront Legacy Center in 2002 to further the work in the collection and preservation of historic Black communities in Chicago’s northern suburbs. He is a past board president of the Evanston History Center and a founding board member of the Organization of Black Designers, Chicago (now Osmosis). Dino holds a degree in Advertising design with a minor in African American studies from Loyola University, Chicago. He has held creative positions in advertising, operated his own design firm and currently is at Northwestern University Press.
Within Shorefront, his avocation, Dino has written three books, produced the quarterly Shorefront Journal for ten years and its later transition to an online journal, designed and assembled multiple exhibits, lectured in multiple venues and established a growing archive of more than 120 linear feet of archival material related to the local Black communities.
Dino is the recipient of several awards including: The Community Leadership Association “Distinguished Leadership Award” (2002), Sappi “Ideas that Matter” (2004), the Mayors Award for the Arts (2008), and the Evanston NAACP Education award (2010). He has appeared on WTTW Chicago Tonight, Channel 7, local Cable Access TV, Chicago Tribune Magazine, The Chicago Reader and various local North Shore Publications.
In Memory of DORIA JOHNSON
An Evanston native, Ms. Johnson is a PhD Candidate in History, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a University of Chicago, Black Metropolis Research Consortium Summer Fellow recipient and is doing her work at the Shorefront Legacy Center.
Ms. Johnson’s research examines the community, businesses, institutions and society our ancestors created. Specifically, she is studying the migration of African Americans from the South to Evanston, Illinois, a “domestic service suburb,” from 1910 to 1945.
Ms. Johnson routinely posts to her blog, Negro Scholar, on and about her experience as Black woman, a PhD candidate, life in Evanston, opinion, observations and critical though.
Ms. Johnson’s work “I Am Not What You Think I Am: African American Women in Evanston, Illinois” explores women’s life between 1920 and 1950, specifically those who worked as maids.