HYDE PARK — Jerry Kellman, the community organizer who brought President Barack Obama to Chicago, is wishing he had saved more now that his former employee will have his own museum.
Kellman, who hired the 24-year-old Obama for his first community organizing job in Chicago in 1985, said he wished he had saved a collection of short fiction Obama had written based on his experiences as an organizer in Altgeld Gardens.
“I didn’t save anything,” Kellman said. “If I’d known he was going to be president, I would have saved lots of things.”
The Obama Foundation put out a call on Monday looking for letters, photos, objects and stories that can help tell the story of Obama’s life and career.
As the presidential library and museum gets closer to becoming a reality, with a possible home at one of three sites proposed in Chicago, South Siders are starting to dig through boxes for their own mementos of the president.
The Developing Communities Project, where Obama served as the first executive director in 1986, will dig through its archives for traces of the president.
“Anything from Developing Communities Project that reflects his early days and his early victories in transforming the lives of residents in Altgeld Gardens would go into the library,” said the Rev. Mitchell Johnson, the current executive director.
Timuel Black, 96, who has been chronicling the history of the South Side for much of his life, is sure he’s got plenty about the president in his extensive archive, he’s just not sure what yet.
“I would have to search, and it would take weeks to do it, but I’m pretty sure we have stuff here,” Black said.
Black’s wife, Zenobia, who helps him maintain the archive, said she thought they likely had invitations, cards and other ephemera from the president.
The Obama Foundation on Monday put up a submission form for those wishing to contribute to the museum.
“We are beginning the process of identifying one-of-a-kind photos, souvenirs and stories that capture a historic time in the life of our country,” a spokesman for the foundation said. “We are eager to involve the public in the sourcing of these artifacts because that kind of grassroots collaboration has been a hallmark of Obama's campaigns and presidency.