A Tuskegee Airman, along with descendants of local leaders, a few trustees and dozens of residents gathered Saturday to collectively grieve the man who unearthed and preserved the Black history of Robbins for decades, Tyrone Haymore.
Haymore, the founder of Robbins Historical Society, died in May 2025, and community leaders said they aim to keep his passion for local history alive, even as community elders age and families move away.
More than 60 people shared testimonies of Black local history and memories of Haymore to mark the village’s first dedicated Haymore Day.
Dawn Colquitt Anderson, director of the Robbins Historical Society, said the event was needed, as shown by the number of people who continued to speak about Haymore, even after the list of planned speakers ended.
“It was an indication that we needed to make space and time for community members to share their experience with him,” she said. “I felt like Saturday represented coming together to fill the void, to commit in whatever capacity we can to make sure that his work continues.”
Colquitt Anderson said several community elders said they were concerned about continuing Haymore’s legacy and said his knowledge and passion for local history might be lost.
She said she intends to promote that history in several ways, including an exhibit at the William Leonard Library called the Haymore Wall.
She said it provides a way for the community to interact with the historical society while the society’s museum, at 3644 W. 139th St., is closed for the winter.
The exhibit, still a work in progress as Colquitt Anderson solicits community feedback, showcases a map of a confirmed Potawatomi burial ground on the northeast side of Robbins, along with history on community entrepreneur Jennie Smith and other documents on early village administrators.
She said the burial ground map is especially important as an example of verified oral history. Community elders grew up with stories of the grounds but did not have any proof of their existence until Colquitt Anderson recently found the Potawatomi maps.
“That added huge validity to the community lore,” she said. “It was only oral history, and this map pinpointed the exact location that elders were pointing to.”
Also featured is the legacy of historical figure Jennie Smith, who lived in Robbins in the late 1800s and died by 1940, according to Colquitt Anderson. Smith’s granddaughter, Delores Brady, attended Saturday’s event.
Colquitt Anderson said Smith established many community institutions, such as the village’s first hotel, built for Black men who helped dig the Cal-Sag Channel, along with several homes, stores and a “tea room” for talent performances.
Colquitt Anderson said Smith also helped bring the first fire truck to Robbins, helped establish the train stop on 139th Street so stores could receive supplies and had a few run-ins with Al Capone, who had ties in the area.
She said she plans more exhibits to showcase middle and late Robbins history. She said the middle history includes the Tuskegee airmen and Robbins being a cultural hub for Black Chicago talents and musicians to perform in the 1940s.
“It was a place where people came to party, even though they sort of teased Robbins about being poor looking,” She said.
Robbins boasted the first Black-owned airport and flight school, built in 1931 by two Black auto mechanics turned aviators. While the airport was destroyed by a windstorm in 1933, it has been associated with the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American combat pilots in the U.S. military.
The president of the Chicago “DODO” Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., attended Saturday and also honored Haymore at his funeral in May 2025.
Colquitt Anderson said the history includes the S.B. Fuller house, donated to the Robbins Historical Society in 2015. Late history also includes the population boom in the 1970s and the steel mill that was shuddered and sapped more than 4,000 jobs from the area, she said.
Crystal Williams, library executive director, said it’s empowering for people to know their history because it strengthens them to accomplish more.
She knew Haymore growing up, as he worked with her father, and learned a lot about her town history, which she passed on to her students in 34 years as an educator.
“Because your forefathers were able to do great things, you are also able to do great things,” she said. “I think it’s important to teach our children that there’s greatness. I used to tell my students that all the time. There’s greatness in you.”
When thinking about memories of Haymore’s legacy, she reminisced on the color book he published to engage young children in history, and his joyful presence as a musician who would play piano at churches.
She said she loves the tight knit community of Robbins, where people know her as her father’s daughter, but said she worries the community might move on, as elders age to more than 90 years old and new families move to the area.
She created a template at the library for seniors to document their own memoirs.
Colquitt Anderson said she hopes upcoming initiatives will keep people engaged. The society will host a screening of the documentary “Against the Current” from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 13800 S Trumbull Ave.
She said the Robbins Block Club will host a Black History Month celebration Saturday, where she plans to give a presentation on Robbins history, and Larry McClellan will present on the Underground Railroad.
Colquitt Anderson said if people want to get involved with the Robbins Historical Society, they can visit its website and Facebook page, which changed names to the “Robbins IL Historical Society & Museum – RIHSM.”
awright@chicagotribune.com
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