Mary Caskey has worked for many years to enrich civic, educational, and artistic life in Rockford. In the early 1960s Ms. Caskey brought arts education into the schools in Rockford. She was also instrumental at that time in directing a city-wide forum promoting public engagement and a dialogue on community issues in Rockford. She later worked to found the first alternative school in Rockford, and served for 13 years as the Program Director of Community Services at Rock Valley College, where she organized numerous seminars and community workshops, and a lecture series that brought activist Coretta Scott King, poet Maya Angelou, and paleontologist, Richard Leakey to campus. Her educational efforts also included teaching young people about nature, as an original member of the Northern Illinois Botanical Society. Ms. Caskey was also instrumental in establishing the education program at the Klehm Arboretum and served as a volunteer in a nearby school to encourage students to create their own stories about their trips to the Arboretum. In addition to her service with the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, Ms. Caskey also served on the Board of the Illinois Humanities Council for six years.
Select Illinois Humanities Council programs are now available for listening or download at Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) as a part of Chicago Amplified, a web-based audio library of diverse public events recorded throughout the Chicago region.
