Professor, Director of History Center
Credentials:
1999 Ph.D., Loyola University-Chicago
1989 M.A., Midwestern State University
1986 B.A., Humboldt State University
Expertise:
Chicago history, Will County history, Lockport history, Starved Rock State Park, The National Heritage Area Movement, I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, History of landscapes
Celebration of Scholarship Mentor:
Beneath the Ashes: Herculaneum and Material Culture
Undergraduate Student Project in Humanities
Associations:
Board of Directors of the Joliet Area Historical Museum
Board of Directors of the Will County Historical Society
Council Member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Gaylord Building Historic Site
Port Lecturer for Princess Cruise Line Awards
Media Clippings:
WTTW’s Chicago Tonight “Grant Park’s Storied History” – June 30, 2013
Museum of Broadcast Communications – Media Coverage Voter Impact – November 10, 2020
The Great Debates – Inauguration & Insurrection – January 13, 2021
Publications:
“Chicago: A Pictorial Celebration,” Photographs by Elan Penn (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006).
Co-authored with Charlene Giardina, “Starved Rock State Park: The Work of the CCC Along the I&M Canal” (Great Britain: Arcadia Publishing, 2002).
He is also author of several articles and encyclopedia entries including: “From Heartland to Nation: The National Heritage Area Movement at Twenty. ” History News American Association of State and Local History 59: 2 (Spring 2004): 11-15.
He directed the creation of the interpretive elements for the Lincoln Landing in Lockport, Ill.
He was a curator of “Illinois Passage: Connecting the Continent” at the Gaylord Building, Lockport, Illinois (October 1999 to the Present). He also co-curated with Mark Harmon, “Celebrating 20 Years of the Gaylord Building on the Public Landing” at the Gaylord Building Historic Site (October 25, 2007 to August 2008). He also co-coordinated a team of university faculty and staff that conceptualized, fabricated, and installed “Lewis University: Heritage, Growth and Vision” at the Joliet Area Historical Museum (January 20-March 18, 2007).
Scholarly Publications:
Cremin, D. (2017). Shifting the narrative: De La Salle at Parmenie. AXIS: Journal of Lasallian Higher Education, 8(3)
Presentations:
Cremin, D. H., Tawzer, L., & Torres, K., curators. Woodrow Wilson and the Great War Exhibit (2018)
“Sustainable Exhibition Development – Students, Collections, and the Mid-Sized Museum.” The National Council on Public History Annual Conference in Monterrey, California. March 20, 2014.
Awards:
Illinois State Historical Society award for the exhibit and booklet of, “The Emergence of Modern Joliet: Art, Industry, and Urbanization.”
Illinois Historical Society, super achievement award for “Envisioning Joliet: Burnham, Bennett, and Beyond.“