In downtown El Paso, in the basement of the Legacy Building, is a small, work-in-progress non-profit founded by Tabitha Nowark and Michael Melick called the Project XV Museum. It is dedicated to telling the story of David Strother, the first African American man to vote in Illinois. It also aims to teach about voting rights in general. In this article, I spoke to Ms. Lancaster, the historian of the board, and asked her a few questions people might have about the museum.
The first question I asked her was how the idea for the museum started. Ms. Lancaster explained, “When Tabitha bought the building, she found out that David Strothers’ barber shop was downstairs, and at the same time, Mr. Melick’s class was working on a local history project. They contacted Tabitha and asked if they could go see the barbershop. The class came up with the idea to make it into a voting rights museum.” When asked about the goal the museum set out to accomplish, she had this to say: “We want to educate people about the history of voting rights in America, starting out with El Paso’s own David Strother, and to show the struggles that still go on today when it comes to voting rights, and to show how important it is to vote.”
According to Ms. Lancaster, the name Project XV was chosen due to the Fifteenth Amendment giving African American men the right to vote, which allowed David Strother to vote a few days after the amendment was ratified. You can also get an internship at the museum as well, and Ms. Lancaster cited that “Interns get experience researching, get behind the scenes of a museum, or what they need to build exhibits. They get to network with people from all over the state, and of course, community service hours.”
The museum is non-profit, which means that any money the museum gets through donors and tours goes right into the museum. Since Project XV isn’t fully completed yet, the main way the museum gets funds is through the gala they host yearly. Overall, the museum is doing well. It’s received large donations and has even had award-winning author, Derrick Barnes, come to the Legacy Building and talk about his books. Even though the museum isn’t finished yet, it is open to visitors on Mondays from 12-4 or by appointment.
Overall, it is quite amazing for a small town like El Paso to have such an important part of Illinois history in it, and, even better, that there is a dedicated group of people to celebrate that history and tell people the story of David Strother.
