McKendree History Professor Appointed to Mother Jones Museum Board
Dr. Shelly Lemons, associate professor of history at McKendree University, is one of two new board members recently seated on the Mother
Jones Museum Board of Directors. Lemons teaches American history, women’s history
and “invisible populations” history and has a keen interest in labor history. As an
organizer of the Mid-America Conference on History, she invited the Mother Jones Museum
and Heritage Project in Mt. Olive, Ill., to participate in the event hosted at the
university last September.
The museum board is currently working to raise funds to complete and to operate the
Mother Jones Museum, adjacent to the Mt. Olive City Hall. Set to open officially in
Oct. 12, it will honor and interpret the legacy of labor leader Mary Harris “Mother”
Jones and the impact of the labor movement on American culture. Jones was buried in
Mt. Olive in 1930 in the country’s only union-owned cemetery.
Lemons is on the planning committee for a May Day event, tentatively set for April
30 in Mt. Olive, which will highlight Mother Jones’ work and the theme “Solidarity.”
Joining her on the museum board is Devin Hunter, a history professor at the University
of Illinois in Springfield. “Our new board members bring expertise in history and
museum development,” said Mother Jones Museum Board President Nelson Grman. “We are
excited to have them on board.”
-McK-
