Preserving the documents which record Oak Park’s 1901 incorporation
Fatima has spent the last decade covering the arts scene in Illinois, with previous stints at the Chicago Reader and WTTW. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is passionate about highlighting local artists and cultural events.
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When the village of Oak Park celebrates the 125th anniversary of its incorporation this December, an important document from December 1, 1901, will be a part of the celebration. The Oak Park River Forest Museum, 129 Lake St., has in its possession the original minutes from the meeting of incorporation. Frank Lipo, executive director of the museum, notes the minutes were gifted by George M. Ambrose, the first village clerk, to then-Village President Willis McFeely in 1929. McFeely framed the minutes at Grables, a shop on Oak Park Avenue, and loaned them to the Oak Park Public Library. In 1973, the framed minutes were donated to the Historical Society, then just five years old. While the minutes have been kept in a frame for much of their history, the paper was in poor shape. Enter Graphic Conservation Company (GCC.) Originally part of R.R. Donnelly Sons, GCC was incorporated in 1982 and has been based in Oak Park since 2020, with workspace in the historic Fifth/Third Bank buil