Daily Herald opinion: An opportunity: Pausing revamp of DuPage Heritage Gallery could have positive result

A history exhibit that honored nationally recognized individuals with ties to DuPage County has been removed from its longtime spot in Wheaton.

While the removal of the DuPage Heritage Gallery is supposed to be temporary, it’s unclear when and in what form the exhibit will return.

Until earlier this year, the exhibit had been located in a first-floor atrium hallway at DuPage’s government administration building in Wheaton.

The gallery, which was first established in 1980, highlighted the accomplishments of 12 individuals, including football great Harold “Red” Grange, astronomer Edwin Hubble, and Joy Morton, the entrepreneur who founded Morton Salt and created the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

However, there were concerns that the gallery had become dated. The last time it was updated was in the 1990s.

Others have said the exhibit did not reflect the diversity of the residents who make up DuPage. Of the dozen individuals featured in the gallery, 11 were white men and one was a white woman.

So county officials decided to revamp the gallery. They even conducted an online survey seeking resident feedback on what the exhibit should feature.

But members of the DuPage County Board’s public works committee have since paused the project.

In the meantime, the gallery has been removed and its artifacts have been placed in storage. Some items have been returned to family members. Now, a few tables and chairs occupy the space where the exhibit was.

Correspondent Alicia Fabbre reported last week that the public works committee is expected to revisit the topic later this year.

“For me and the committee, it’s more important to do it right than to do it fast just to say we did something,” DuPage County Board member Michael Childress, who heads the public works committee, told Fabbre.

The delay can be viewed as an opportunity. It could result in an updated exhibit that better educates the public and engages more visitors.

But with the original space cleared, we hope the project to revamp the exhibit doesn’t get abandoned. The county has an obligation to both past and future residents to ensure history is preserved and shared.

It would also be unfortunate to exclude the names of people who were included in the original exhibit.

A dedicated group of volunteers, including local historians, put a great deal of work into creating the gallery decades ago. They then selected and added inductees over a period of years.

County officials should update the gallery to include the contributions of women, people of color, and Indigenous people. However, the goal should be to add more individuals to the exhibit without removing others who were part of it.