Community members warn that Chicago History Museum cuts could impact scholarship of city history

Community members and former employees are calling for new leadership at the Chicago History Museum to repair relationships with workers and mend fences with Chicago scholars after the Jan. 7 exit of CEO Donald Lassere.

They are also asking the museum to restore hours at the Abakanowicz Research Center, which were limited following a decision to reduce its staffers to part-time status in July. Advocates say reversing that decision will help strengthen the museum’s identity as a prestigious institution that informs visitors from all over the world about the history of Chicago and America.

The board announced a nationwide search for Lassere’s replacement, as well as the appointment of Michael Anderson, former president of external engagement and development, as interim president and CEO. But leadership is remaining tight-lipped about next steps.

“As you can imagine, it is a busy time and there is much to do in this period of transition and stabilization for the museum,” Anderson said in an email to the Sun-Times. “In the coming weeks and months there will be much more to say about the future of the museum.”

Board chair Warren Chapman also told the Sun-Times via email that the trustees would consider discussing the vision for the institution “in the months ahead.”

“The history museum has tremendous assets,” said John Russick, the organization’s former senior vice president, who left in 2022. “It's got an incredible reputation. I think that they will be able to recruit a stellar leader, and there's nothing stopping them from being one of the most important history museums in the country.”

Russick also said, “That doesn’t mean that I'm not clear-eyed about the challenges that might be ahead for them.”

Like other museums across the country, the Chicago History Museum is grappling with economic pressures. More than half of U.S. museums saw fewer visitors in 2025 than in 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic — according to a November report by the American Alliance of Museums. About half reported that their financial performance has stalled or declined.

Between fiscal years 2023 and 2024, the organization saw its annual revenue drop from $15.2 million to $13.4 million — about a 12% decrease — due to “inflationary cost increases,” according to annual reports. And Lassere cited financial strain as a reason for eliminating five positions and reducing the research center staffers’ hours in a July 29 email to employees that was shared with the Sun-Times.

“For the past five years, the Chicago History Museum has worked to close a $1.5 million deficit, manage rising costs, and prioritize critical investments in our collection’s facilities,” Lassere wrote. “While we’ve made some progress, we now need to reorganize our staff to meet future needs.”

But some employees say additional positions were eliminated as retaliation for their efforts to unionize with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME Council 31. Following a vote in favor of unionization in April, workers allege that museum management fired four members and threatened five others, including former development events manager Nell McKeown.

A member of the union organizing committee, McKeown said she was disciplined and warned that her job was at risk for termination because she allowed an elderly donor to come inside the museum before an event, in order to escape the cold. Believing she was being targeted for unionizing, McKeown decided to leave the museum in November.

“It was a hard decision for me, since I do dearly love the museum and my former colleagues,” said McKeown, of Rogers Park. “But it was a very challenging thing to go through for all of us.”

McKeown said she hopes the museum will move quickly to finalize contract negotiations with the union. She also described Lassere’s departure as an “important” and “necessary” step.

“My former colleagues are hopeful that the museum will begin to right the ship,” she said. “There is a lot of work that needs to be done to rebuild trust between upper-level management and the hardworking staff that bring their talents to the museum every day to keep it running.”

Tensions between leadership and the staff appear to be ongoing. This week, employees told the Sun-Times that management recently admitted to overcharging them for dental insurance and would be issuing refunds. They were reportedly paying twice the agreed-upon rate for years.

Navigating financial challenges while accommodating the needs of staff is a tough balancing act for arts institutions, Russick said.

“We're living in an unusual time,” he said. “It's challenging for people to raise the money necessary to run these organizations. There's a lot of nonprofits looking for support from an increasingly small donor base. That creates pressure to find the resources to appease the wants and desires of all of their constituents.”

Russick, of Wilmette, said it is important for the Chicago History Museum to consistently communicate to the public that its collection belongs to them and has value in their lives.

“The greatest challenge for all these cultural institutions is to remind people that they're there for them, to invite them in and make their facilities accessible to everyone, so that nobody feels excluded,” he said.

The museum’s collection features millions of objects, including photographs, diaries, paintings and clothing. Scholars and students can sift through these items to learn about a host of local and national topics, from railroad expansion and the Civil Rights Movement to immigration and LGBTQ studies.

But research has been severely limited at the Abakanowicz Research Center, which, at press time, had temporary hours of noon to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Friday, by appointment only. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the center was open to the public for longer periods over more days. A few months ago, its public access was cut to just 15 hours per week, with six hours being appointment-only.

Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller said the reductions could limit vital research on the city’s architectural history. For example, his organization relies on the center’s photographs and sketches to compile the annual “most endangered buildings list” and identify sites for landmark status.

Such efforts help people around the world understand why Chicago’s architecture has historical significance, he said. 

“That’s something that suffers if you don't have the staff and the leadership to make sure that these resources are available, and not just sitting in a drawer or on a shelf,” he said. “So we would really like to see the history museum continue to flourish.”

Dominic Pacyga, a local historian, author and professor, said the research center’s lack of accessibility has impacted the museum’s reputation.

“I'm afraid that it's become much more of a tourist attraction and a wedding venue,” said Pacyga, of Beverly, who holds positions at Columbia College Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is the curator of the South Side’s Packingtown Museum, dedicated to the history of Chicago’s Union Stockyards, on the South Side. “It's losing its touch as a center for intellectual pursuits in the history of Chicago.”

He suggested that the museum consider partnering with a university or other institution to make the collection more accessible.

The changes at the organization are happening amid President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Smithsonian for “divisive, race-centered ideology” and cuts to federal arts funding for nonprofits that fail to prohibit programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. Pacyga said the limitation on research at the museum is another threat to the humanities.

“Right now, the humanities are under attack all over the country,” he said. “History programs are being cut at universities. This is part of a larger erosion of something that I think is very important for humans – to understand their history and their society.”