Board & Staff

Officers

President Emeritus
Larry Spivack

Larry Spivack worked in the labor movement for nearly 40 years before he retired in 2017 as Regional Director for AFSCME Council 31 in Illinois. Since 1984 at AFSCME he served as an organizer, staff representative, and collective bargaining supervisor. While teaching high school at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute residential facility he joined his AFSCME local, elected as Vice-President. Larry joined the ILHS Board in the late 1990s and has served as President since 2006. He loves labor history so much, that the most fun he has is being part of the Illinois Labor History Society. Larry says that giving labor history tours inspires him to keep on learning and teaching labor history.

President
Mike Matejka

Mike Matejka, of Normal, Illinois, is retired from the Great Plains Laborers District Council staff and a LIUNA Local 362 member. For 40 years he edited the Bloomington & Normal Trades & Labor Assembly’s Grand Prairie Union News. He’s a McLean County Historical Society board member and has been guest curator for five exhibits at this nationally accredited museum, most recently Challenges, Choices & Change: Working for a Living. He’s the author of Fiery Struggle, (2000) documenting Illinois fire fighter unionization and co-author of Bloomington C&A Shops, (1984) about railroad shop workers. He has written dramatic performances on labor history and speaks frequently on the topic, particularly to community college job training efforts. His specialties within labor history include downstate Illinois, transit, construction, fire fighter, mining, railroad and general Illinois labor history.

Vice President
Debby Pope

Debby Pope has been a social justice activist since high school and a union fighter since the 1980’s when she helped organize a union and negotiate a first contract in her federal government agency (USDA/FNS). She became a teacher and served as a school delegate from both Schurz and Gage Park High Schools and more recently as a retiree delegate. She has been active in CTU for many years, serving over the years, as member, chair and liaison for the women’s rights committee, high school functional vice president and as CUT Editor and Director of Education and Labor Outreach. Debby joined the ILHS in 2002 and has served as Secretary to the Board for many years. She believes that ILHS’ mission is a vital and integral part of the labor movement today. Debby says, “I’m a retiree who is not ‘really’ retired. My happiest moments are on a picket line, bullhorn in hand. I believe it’s vital to have a strong CTU to help members in the fight for better working conditions and educational justice for all.”

Vice President
Liesl Orenic

Liesl Miller Orenic is a professor of American history at Dominican University. Before teaching at Dominican, she worked in the airline industry and as a higher education union organizer. She's the author of On the Ground: Labor Struggle in the American Airline Industry (2009) and is currently writing about Chicago's Teamsters Local 743.

Recording Secretary
Bleue Benton

Bleue worked in public libraries in Chicago and the suburbs for 39 years, and finished her career as Collection Manager of Oak Park Public Library. A proud AFSCME retiree, she’s an enthusiastic tour guide and researcher, and her special interest is the history of the Haymarket Martyrs Monument in Forest Home Cemetery. Bleue discovered forgotten information about the inspiration for the Monument, and that a time capsule was buried under the cornerstone. She contributed extensively to the ILHS publications The Day Will Come and Touring Pullman. Bleue believes very strongly that the world can improve if more people read more labor history books.

Treasurer
Peter Fosco

Peter A. Fosco is the Regional Director of the Great Lakes Region Organizing Committee (GROC) and Secretary-Treasurer of Laborers’ Local Union 1. Peter also has served in various positions with LiUNA from International Representative to Training Director/Instructor over the past twenty-seven years. He is extremely involved in community activities, various youth sports programs and religious education.

Trustees

Krystle Able

She brings to the Labor History Society passion and practical experience. As the Executive Director of a statewide, AFL-CIO affiliated organization that advocates for seniors, retirees, and working families, she spends every day organizing people, amplifying their voices, and connecting policy debates to lived experience. She knows how to run campaigns on limited resources, build coalitions, and translate history and policy into messages that resonate with broad audiences.

On the ILHS Board, she contributes her skills in communications, event planning, and outreach to help ensure labor history is accessible, relevant, and inspiring to all generations. She is especially committed to bridging the gap between retirees who carry decades of knowledge and younger activists who are reigniting the labor movement today.

Krystle helps advance the mission of the Illinois Labor History Society to keep the memory of our struggles alive and to ensure those lessons fuel the fights of tomorrow. She believes it is of vital importance that the knowledge and history of this organization is passed down to younger generations and across the state from Rockford to Vienna, St Charles to Danville, and everywhere in between so the lessons are also preserved for generations to come.

Tim Drea

Tim Drea, currently President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, was elected to office in 2019. Before his election he served as the Secretary Treasurer Illinois AFL-CIO, and he was past Legislative and Political Director for Local 881 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). The son of a coal miner in Central Illinois, Tim followed his father and worked as a coal miner for eleven years as a member of UMWA Local 9819. After being laid off in 1990, he finished his education and earned a BA in Political Studies at Sangamon State University joining the Senate Democratic Staff as the Executive Committee staff person for Senator Emil Jones, Jr. Mr. Drea is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and currently serves the state of Illinois on the Employment Security Advisory Board.

Lynn FIELDS

Lynn Fields was raised in a union household and has been a vocal and loyal member of AFSCME since the beginning of her career with the Illinois Department of Corrections in 2001. She started union activism in 2015 as the Recording Secretary for AFSCME Local 3654 (Southwestern IL Correctional Center) in E St Louis, Illinois. In Oct 2021 she was elected President of the Local thereby making her the first Black female President of a male correctional facility in the state of Illinois. Lynn has served as the AFSCME PEOPLE Chair for District 9, covering the most populous counties in Southern Illinois.

She has served as a subject matter expert and representative for new organizing of non-union workers both in and out of state, as well as activism like lobbying lawmakers and community outreach. She was appointed to serve on the state contract bargaining committee for negotiations affecting some 37,000 Illinois AFSCME members. She was also appointed to the subcommittee that implemented mail scanning policy and procedures in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

In April 2024, after 23 years in the Department of Corrections and three terms as union president, Lynn separated from her role as Lieutenant. She answered the call to serve her union in the role of Staff Representative for AFSCME Council 31 where she represents and upholds the contractual rights of both state and private sector members. She is currently a member of the United Council Staff Union.

Lynn’s extensive Union training includes: AFSCME Women’s Leadership Academy, United Association for Labor Educators Women’s Southern Summer School, United for a Fair Economy training, Regina V Polk Women’s Leadership School (2017 alumni), Certificate of Labor Studies University of Illinois, Regina V Polk Women In Power, and the AFSCME Summer Leadership School.

Lynn is honored to serve as a facilitator for the Regina V Polk School for Women Labor Leaders every spring. She is also the hostess of Resolved Labor Podcast, where she tells the stories of labor leaders that we should have learned about in school.

Lynn is a proud veteran of the United States Army Miliary Police Corps. When she is not organizing and advocating for social justice and liberation, she enjoys traveling and reading.

KIMBERLY GOLDBAUM

Kimberly Goldbaum is a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union Local 1, its international, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Her activism awakened within the union after joining the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), and she held a place on the CTU executive board from 2011 through 2018. She helped to organize her work sites during the strikes of 2012, 2016, and 2019 and served on the Big Bargaining Team for the contract that was ratified in 2016, casting a dissenting vote. She has served as a school delegate and has also served as a steering committee officer in the AFT Black Caucus, Chicago Chapter from 2015 through the present. Ever aware of the influence of personal history, both grandfathers, as well as her mother, were members of unions.

Kimberly taught middle school general education Reading, Language Arts, English and Social Studies, 6-9th grades, for 28 years, and special education English and History in high school for 5 years, with endorsements in Bilingual, English as a Second Language, English Language Learners, and English as a new language. She holds a National Board Certificate in Early Adolescent/Young Adult Social Studies (2007-2027).

Kimberly is a strong believer in the power of unions and the value of labor. Supporting workers, respecting their rights, and presenting the history of collective movements in order to secure both, are some of her interests. A longtime Illinois Labor History Society member, she joins the Board of Trustees ready to learn, teach, and spread the word of how workers' past struggles and their intersection with capital can inform and change Illinoisans' march through modernity.

Ed Green

Edward L.W. Green, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Criminal Justice department of Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Green focuses on the sociology of punishment, criminological theory, and corrections. He is actively engaged in prison research and the study of both the social and human consequences of mass incarceration. An emerging focus is examining the history of social control through crime and labor.

ANGELA HARKLESS

Katie Jordan

Katie Jordan has been a member of the Workers United union for over 52 years, where she served as shop steward, Secretary and Vice President, and president of her local. She is currently serving her union as International GEB and President/Coordinator of the Retiree Association. She was a single, working mother of three children. Her activism is vast and varied. She has been part of: the Policy Council of Citizen Action/Illinois; the Chicago Labor for Peace, Prosperity and Justice; the national U.S. Labor against the War (USLAW) Steering Committee; the Steering Committee of Jobs with Justice; delegate to the Chicago Federation of Labor; and has been with WWHP since its inception. She has been on the boards of: the Chicago Chapter of CLUW (president); the National Executive Board of CLUW; the Minority Women Issues and Affirmative Action Committee (Co-chair); and the Sergeant at arms Committee (Co-chair).

RENEE NESTLER

David A. Peterson Jr.

David Peterson was appointed as president of the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum in 2009, the World's first and only Black Labor History Museum. A Chicago native born and raised on the southeast side, Peterson attended the University of Chicago's Laboratory school, William H. Ray Elementary, and Kenwood Academy High school. After graduating from Kenwood, he attended Florida A & M University (FAMU) graduating with a BS in Political Science with a concentrating in Urban Planning and Economic Development. While Peterson did not go through a museum studies program in college, he is no stranger to the NAPRPP Museum. Peterson’s family moved to Pullman when he was in middle school and when he was in high school, he often volunteered at the museum. Peterson was also a member of St. Sabina Church where he was active at a very young age. After graduating from FAMU in 2007 Peterson Volunteered with Saving Our Seeds ex offender re-entry program, an organization where one of his mentors the late Joseph Watkins was Founder. This grounded him with the understanding of the needs and issues concerning low income and very low-income people in the Grand Boulevard Community. For several years while in college during the summer, he worked at the museum. From 2008-2010 he toured nationally for the NAPRPP museum with Amtrak as the coordinator for the museum's traveling exhibit. Peterson credits his mindset and approach to the cultural arena, framed through the environment that exists at DePaul University's School of New Learning where he worked on his Master's degree in Applied Professional Studies (MAAPS) with a focus area in Facilitating the design and development of business and entrepreneurial endeavors in the urban setting.

As President, Peterson is poised and ready to continue the mission of preserving and showcasing the history of the Black Labor Union Movement that impacted the modern-day civil rights movement. That story is captured in the NAPRPP Museum. His words eloquently underscore his commitment to the Museum’s continued mission. While preparing to take on the role as president, he established a youth and young adult program division, within the museum's framework. It is called MUSEUM 44, in honor of the 44th President Barack Obama. Because growing up He was influenced by the Culture of Hip Hop, following and looking up to Artists like Common while being a Member of the Chi Rock Nation in the "Euphonics" Chapter it was only right he gave that same love back to the next generation. "My goal is to Preserve, Rebuild and Move forward, with a fresh mindset." He believes this approach will assist in creating an environment that is inviting to the younger demographic and contributes to the sustainability of the Museum. This platform landed him on stage at the Obama Foundation's first international Leadership Summit on a Panel discussion about youth engagement with Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments and Prince Harry. After becoming President and Executive Director, Peterson also established a Green Initiatives Program Division to create an environmental education component to empower Blacks with the information needed to be aware of the new developments taking place in the south lake front region also known as the ͞Calumet Collaborative. After studying the works of A. Philip Randolph as a youth and fine tuning that story under the leadership and Mentorship of Dr. Lyn Hughes, founder of the Museum, Peterson decided to take his influence even further in 2015 by founding Randolph's Dream Community Development Corporation to foster the use of ͞Cultural Economic Development in Pullman National Monument to be used as a model for Blacks
Globally. He also is a product and success story of the Chicago Housing Authority/ Central Advisory Council entrepreneurship pilot program which gave him the foundation to start and Co found Eat II Live Restaurant Group, LLC.

DAVID RATHKE

Dave Rathke was an Organizer and Representstive for the Illinois Education Association for 34 years starting in 1984 with the new collective bargaining law. He previously worked for the Clothing and Textile Workers Union and United Farm Workers. Currently, he is Treasurer of the Mother Jones Heritage Project, Vice President of the Eugene V Debs Foundation and a Board member of the Illinois Labor History Society.

Keith M. Richardson

Keith M. Richardson is currently the President of American Postal Workers Union, Chicago Local 0001. He is a lifelong resident of Chicago, a second-generation union Activist following in his mother Betty’s footsteps who was an officer with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 743 Chicago, and he is an activist for young workers. Keith currently serves on several boards within his Union, as well as, being recently elected to serve on the national board of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists as a member at large.

Basil Salem

Stephanie Seawell Fortado

Stephanie Seawell Fortado received her doctoral degree in history from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She is a former Treasurer and President of the Graduate Employees Organization, a local of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. She spends a lot of her time thinking, researching and writing about working people and parks and public space.

Judy Simpson

Judy Simpson is a 16-year member of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 773, the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister and a CWA member, the granddaughter of a Teamster, an Avon Lady, a well driller, and a domestic servant. Prior to becoming a Business Representative at Local 773, Judy help organize Southern Illinois University Libraries and served as Chief Steward. She currently serves on the Board of the Mother Jones Heritage Project and the Regina V. Polk Women’s Labor Leadership Advisory Board. In 2016 she was awarded the Polk School’s Alumna of the Year award.

Tom Suhrbur

Tom Suhrbur grew up in a union family in Cicero, Illinois. He received a BA and MA in U.S. history at the University of Illinois Chicago and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in labor history from NIU. He co-authored a book "Union Brotherhood, Union Town: The History of the Chicago Carpenters' Union, 1863-1987" with Richard Schneirov, Indiana State University. He taught social studies for 17 years, and his last teaching job was at Geneva High School. (Illinois). He retired in 2011 after 26 years as a union organizer for the Illinois Education Association. He is currently researching and writing a history of the Illinois Education Association and public education.

DON VILLAR

Don Villar was born into the labor movement and spirit of social justice. His father was on strike, fighting for better wages and benefits for bank workers in the Philippines, when he was born. Like many seeking a better life for their young children, his parents and three siblings immigrated to the U.S. They first moved to Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood before settling in Lakeview. His mother was a proud member of UNITE-HERE, working at a flight kitchen at O’Hare Airport to put her children through parochial school. Don attended St. Andrew’s Elementary School and Quigley North Preparatory Seminary High School.

Thanks to a SEIU represented security guard job at a Loop office building, Don attended UIC and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications. In 1991, Don became a member of NABET-CWA Local 41 – a union representing broadcast news and TV production workers in Chicago. During his nearly 25-year broadcast journalism career at WLS-TV (ABC) Chicago, Don won an Emmy Award for breaking news coverage.

In 2007, Don participated in his first negotiations with ABC. It was during the tense bargaining that he was inspired to go to Law School to be a better advocate for his coworkers. He would earn his Juris Doctorate at Loyola Law School within three years while still working fulltime at WLS-TV.

In 2010, Don was elected Vice President of NABET-CWA Local 41 and then President in 2015. In this role, he focused on organizing, movement building and collective bargaining. NABET-CWA Local 41’s membership grew under his leadership, with the successful efforts to organize employees at CAN TV and Big Shoulders. He also worked hard to engage the members and build solidarity.

In addition, Don is President of the CWA Illinois Unified Council, is on the Campaign Cabinet of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, and is a licensed attorney.

Alma Washington

A longtime union member of SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). Presently serves on the Chicago Local Board and has been a delegate to the past four National Conventions. Demonstrating her strong advocacy for Women's Rights, she is a member of CLUW, (Coalition of Labor Union Women) Working Women's History Project and is an inductee in the Illinois Labor History Society’s Union Hall of Honor. She is a recipient of the Nelson Algren Award given, in part, for her activism and her one-woman show which features the life of Lucy Parsons who fought for the 8-Hour workday, and freedom of speech. Her latest honor was the Olga Madar Award presented by the Chicago Chapter of CLUW.

Ex Officio Members

Robert G. Reiter, Jr.

Bob Reiter is the President of the Chicago Federation of Labor, the third largest central labor council of the national AFL-CIO. He previously served two terms as Secretary-Treasurer of the CFL from July 2010 to May 2018. Bob’s appreciation for the history of labor informs his understanding of the need to reposition the labor movement in light of its history. He is a third-generation member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. Throughout his career, he has worked as a labor attorney, an organizer, a negotiator and a lobbyist. Bob’s role as President allows him to be the voice of every CFL-affiliated union, representing the interests of labor throughout Chicago and Cook County. Bob holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in political science from Eastern Illinois University, and a Juris Doctor degree from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.