Growing up in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood, Maria Pojeta Hibbs often would head over to nearby Pullman and hang out with friends who lived there.
As her high school tenure wrapped up, she received a George M. Pullman Educational Foundation Scholarship, a need and merit based award that fueled her desire for further education.
“My father died very prematurely and we had a big family, so I didn’t even think I would be able to go to college,” Hibbs said.
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Instead, she finished her undergraduate courses in three years and went on to get a master’s degree in journalism and doctorate in public policy analysis.
In 2020, the education made possible by that Pullman scholarship gave her the tools to become a board member of the Historic Pullman Foundation. The board was so impressed with her breadth of knowledge and passion for the neighborhood that they recently named her to be the foundation’s president.
Hibbs takes over from Joseph C. Szabo, who led the organization for the past three years and will remain on the board as president emeritus.
“I just grew to love Pullman’s place in American history, as well as the excitement of the Pullman Historic District being a National Monument and then a National Park,” Hibbs said.
Her experiences include being a founding executive director of the nonprofit Chicago Learning Exchange and executive director of three civic collaboratives with the Chicago Community Trust. She has also been on various nonprofit boards.
The foundation she now leads is the private, nonprofit partner of the Pullman National Historic Park, a government entity. The foundation raises funds for marketing, volunteer recruitment and programming at Pullman.
“Ultimately I have to make sure everyone else is contributing and we’re bringing our experience and expertise to the board and partner well with other partners and Pullman to ensure we have strong visitorship to the park,” Hibbs said.
Hibbs’ goals include expanding marketing to reach people several target markets, including those interested in urban planning, railway innovation, labor history and Pullman porters and civil rights. She’ll also be working to raise funds for preserving historic buildings in the area.
“There are market segments who are really interested in each one of those stories — people who are railroad buffs, architects and historic preservationists and urban planners,” she said. “Then we have all the labor history, and so unions and labor historians are interested. Overlapping is the story of immigration because so many workers in the Pullman factory were immigrants.
“When we say America’s stories live here, we really mean it.”
It doesn’t hurt that one of her favorite pastimes is hiking in National Parks.
“I love National Parks, and I love preserving these beautiful places and experiencing them,” Hibbs said.
Teri Gage, superintendent of the Pullman National Historical Park, said she’s thrilled with the new president and eager to work alongside her.
“She is a great fit and will build on the great work of her predecessor,” Gage said. “She has the education, the work experience and fabulous people skills and communication skills. I think her experience in building partnerships and leading education programs will be especially valuable.”
The HPF board also welcomed three new members: Colleen Callahan, former director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Founder and owner of Colleen Callahan Consultancy; Angela Manning-Hardimon, vice president for Finance, chief financial officer and treasurer, Illinois Institute of Technology; and Kelwin Harris, Pullman resident and director of Outreach and Engagement, Cook County assessor’s office.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.