Watch CBS News

Someone You Should Know: DuSable Museum And Its Staff

(CBS) -- The DuSable Museum has played an important role in Chicago's cultural life for more than 50 years and now it's experiencing something new: a gubernatorial debate.

CBS 2's Harry Porterfield says museum president and CEO Carol Adams and her staff are all someone you should know.

Since it was founded in 1961 by Dr. Margaret Burroughs and her husband, Charles, the DuSable Museum of African American History has set the pace for more than 200 others like it.

The latest exhibit is called "The Spirit of the Passage."

It's the history of the transatlantic slave trade featuring, among other things, artifacts salvaged from a shipwrecked slave ship.

She says the exhibit will offer context about the slave trade, such as the economics that underpinned the practice.

The museum will be celebrating a highlight in its  history this coming Tuesday when CBS 2 will telecast the gubernatorial debate between Gov. Pat Quinn and Bruce Rauner.

"This is a hotly contested election and we know people are going to be very interested in hearing what the candidates have to say," Adams says.

The museum is named for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, a Haitian of African and French descent who established a trading post at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1779. He is considered the city's first resident.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.