The Robbins,IL

      Airport

Robbins' historic all-black, built,

owned, and operated AIRPORT

was built in 1931. Becoming the first black Airport in the U.S.A.

 

Robbins

  History

    Museum

       Robbins, IL

      "The most historic black town in America "

 

What do Dwyane Wade, Lt. Uhura, Mr. T and actress Keke Palmer have in

common? Answer They are all from Robbins,IL and all are featured in the 

Robbins,IL History Museum.

The 40 by 40 square foot facility was opened in August 2010  by  Co-Founder,

Director/Curator/Historian Tyrone Haymore.

Some of the museum’s unsung heroes included pioneer aviators Cornelius R.

Coffey and John C. Robinson who in 1931 in Robbins,IL built the first black

owned/Operated airport in the U.S. The pair trained pilots who later became

Tuskegee Airmen, African-American aviators who fought in World War II. Ten of

the original Tuskegee Airmen who Coffey and Robinson trained, are all from Robbins,IL. according to Haymore who also said:

“I was inspired by the Robbins airport, this is what  motivated me to create the

Robbins Museum to tell the true beginnings of the Tuskegee Airmen.”

Robbins,IL is the sixth-oldest African-American community in the U.S. founded in

1892 by former slaves and descendants of slaves and Mulattos who had

problems after slavery living in areas of Chicago bought cheap farm land south-

west of Chicago's border. They later  incorporated farm area through the State of

Illinois and named it Robbins,IL on December 14,1917.

Actress Nichelle Nichols’ grandfather, Samuel G. Nichols,was one of the village’s

original settlers.Nichols,who portrayed Lt.Uhura in Star Trek,was born in Robbins 

in a two-story frame house built by her grandfather. Her father Samuel E. Nichols

was Robbins mayor from 1929-31.

“I remember the stories my father told me of Al Capone’s brothers and henchmen

who came to kill him because one of his police officers without him knowing it

raided one of Al Capone’s gin mills in Robbins, IL at the corner  of 137th &

Lawndale Av. said Nichelle from her home in Los Angeles, CA. by phone"

Nichols said she was honored to be included in the museum, which displays her

original Lt. Uhura uniform and boots. Nichols said ironically she met some of the

Tuskegee Airmen in 1979 while serving as a special recruiter for NASA, helping

the space agency to attract its first women and minority astronauts.Other notable

Robbins residents included in the museum: S.B. Fuller, the late multimillionaire

businessman; Chris Hinton, Joe Montgomery,Darrell Robinsons all NFL  football

players.  Delores Washington, a singer along with Albertina Walker in the group,

the Gospel Caravans.

During the 1920s, Haymore said even Black nationalist Marcus Garvey came to

visit Robbins to set up a chapter of his organization,the Universal Negro Improve-

ment Association (UNIA) “He was so impressed that Blacks were governing a

town,” Haymore said. “He’d never heard of a town with all black elected officials.”

Operating the museum hasn’t been easy for Haymore, a retired CTA a bus driver

and clerk.Haymore said he provided most of the $20,000 used to open the facility. 

He added, “We have been beaten down in almost everything in Robbins

economically. One of the only things we have left is our history  There is no black

town in America like Robbins.”  Robbins can also lay claim to  two Olympic

Dwyane Wade Gold medal winner in 2008 in China in basketball and Willie May,

a 1960 Olympic silver medalist in track and field.Two Original Harlem Globtrotters

of Robbins are  Lee Collins, and Fred Marberry who retired to Robbins,IL.

 Visit the Robbins History Musem,3644 W. 139th St. Robbins, IL 60472. Open 

every Saturday 12noon to 5pm. Open all other days by appointment call

(708)359-8701 or 389-5393. Admission is FREE. Donations are Welcome.

 

 

 

 

    ROBBINS HISTORY MUSEUM

   3644 W. 139th St.  Robbins, IL

              HOURS OPEN

                  Saturdays 12noon-5pm

Open All Other Days by Appointment when you  call:  (708)359-8701

           Admission  Is  FREE

 

Col. John C. Robinson, is one of the two men who built the

historic 1931 Robbins, IL Airport, He also built/trained  the Ethiopian Air Force. In 2015 Robinson was named "Father of the Ethiopian Airlines. This book about him was released

 in 2015 and is available at the Robbins History Museum

 Cost: $29.95

  S.B. Fuller of Robbins, IL  America's  First  self-made

  Black Multi-Millionaire who started with only a 6th grade education and $25 in his pocket. His biography is

on sell at the Robbins History Museum for $29.95

  The Autobiography of

  Mayor Irene Brodie  is now on

  sale at the Robbins History

  Museum cost $24.95