A former barbershop in a building lost to time in a small prairie town seems an unlikely place to create a museum dedicated to voting rights. Its founder wouldn’t argue with that premise, given that she herself only stumbled on the idea after moving across half a country to be here. 

An interest in restoring an old building led this West Coast transplant on a surprising path that now finds her in the role of founder and creator of a new museum. The Project XV Museum, at 1 Front Street in El Paso in nearby Woodford County, is still in its infancy, but a relationship with Illinois State University was formed early.

“I was actually looking for some real estate for my family,” said Tabitha Arnold-Nowark, who arrived in the area from the Central Oregon coast a few years ago. Friends of hers who had moved back home to Eureka kept urging her to pack up and follow.

“At first, I was like, ‘No way,’ but we visited the area, and it just felt right,” she said. “We had just moved to the Midwest, and I found the Legacy Opera House in El Paso and thought it would be a really cool building to preserve. Then I learned about David Strother.

“That gave the idea a reason and a purpose and a vision.”

Strother, who lived from 1843-1905, was a barber in the basement of that old building, but he was much more. He made a significant contribution to the history of his town and the state. Strother was the first Black person to vote in Illinois after the passage of the 15th Amendment. Article XV of the United States Constitution was declared law on March 30, 1870. It stated that the right of citizens to vote could not be denied due to their race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Arnold-Nowark’s idea—the Project XV Museum (the Roman numeral XV pays tribute to the 15th Amendment)—is coming to life on the site of Strother’s 1872 barbershop. She bought the building in 2018, and things have grown from there.

“The vision started in about 2019, but the 501(c)(3) was established in 2021,” Arnold-Nowark said. “While I was working to save this building, Michael Melick, who teaches at El Paso/Gridley High School, had the same vision while growing up in El Paso. Unbeknownst to either of us, we had kind of been on the same journey when our paths crossed.”

Melick and his class were researching Strother. Arnold-Nowark, Melick, and his students connected and talked about what a hypothetical museum might look like. It started out as a class project. From there, Arnold-Nowark and Melick decided to try to make it happen for real.

Thus, an idea was born for creating a museum dedicated to Strother’s mostly forgotten—yet historic—moment, a place that could empower future voters.

Krista E. Roberts, Ph.D. ’21, is a board member and director of operations. She said the museum has a lot of Illinois State connections starting with the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) and its director, Dr. Katy Strzepek.

“Katy and Paige Buschman (CCE’s associate director) have helped us so much with connecting interested ISU faculty to our organization,” she said. “All of us at Project XV Museum are deeply indebted to them for their love and labor.”

In addition, professors Mike Hendricks (Politics and Government), Meghan Leonard (Politics and Government), and Lauren Bratslavsky (School of Communication) are contributing to the research for the Voting Rights: Landscape of Today section. Dr. Chris Merrill, professor of technology, has also been involved in designing and programming a 3D map of voting laws.  

“We’re beyond grateful for their generous time and research contributions toward our museum’s goal of rural civics education,” Roberts said.

Other Illinois State connections include: Nikita Richards ’06, M.S. ’15, who is vice-president of the museum; Liyah Williams ’24 is a political science graduate and board member; and Linda Foster, M.S. ’16, current president of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP Branch, is also a board member.

Roberts credits a lot of what she learned at Illinois State with helping her in her current role.  

“My ISU education has allowed me to serve this nonprofit organization, and without it, I wouldn’t have the skill set, knowledge, or bravery to follow what’s inside my heart,” Roberts said.

Another key member of the team is Brandi Montalbano, a local entrepreneur who is the museum’s project manager. Montalbano has been an important liaison with Illinois State, working on the 3D map project and attending internship fairs. Roberts estimates that about 10 interns from Illinois State have put in hours at the museum.

Arnold-Nowark is the engine behind the project. She’s visited classes at Illinois State, including Dr. Chiharu Ishida-Lambert’s (Marketing), Dr. Chang Su-Russell’s (Family and Consumer Sciences), and Roberts’ class when she was teaching as an instructional assistant professor last year.

“Tabitha spoke to my English 128: Gender in the Humanities courses on Election Day about the importance of civic engagement and diversity,” Roberts said. “Many of my students expressed how meaningful her visit was because it offered a specific connection between what we were learning and how we live.” 

The museum’s exhibits are still being curated but should be complete in the next two years or so, Arnold-Nowark said. Currently, progress tours and field trips can be scheduled by appointment. The plan is for the museum to open officially in some capacity later this year.

“My background is in nonprofits. I’ve been doing work that matters trying to make the world better,” Arnold-Nowark said. “This is a place where you can learn about voting rights and the history of voting rights for marginalized populations, including women’s suffrage, Latin Americans, Asian Americans, Black Americans, and how they attained the right to vote.”

On April 4, the museum will celebrate the opening of its first exhibit, David Strother’s Historic Barbershop. That same evening at 7 p.m. is the museum’s Annual Gala, which the public is invited to attend. Tickets to the 2025 Annual Gala are available online.