Millennium City: Richard M. Daley & Global Chicago

Maggie Daley

Chicago's First Lady

Key to Mayor Daley's efforts to make Chicago a livable city were the contributions of his wife, Margaret "Maggie" C. Daley. Richard and Maggie married in 1972, inaugurating a lifelong partnership. For twenty-two years, Maggie served as Chicago's First Lady during her husband's tenure as mayor.

Scenes from Maggie Daley's public service:
Terry Newman, a personal friend of the Daley family, remembers the Mayor and Mrs. Daley's close relationship.

After School Matters

Maggie Daley worked with a number of charitable and not-for-profit organizations. One of her most significant public contributions was After School Matters, a program for which she served as chair. It had its start in 1991, with the Gallery 37 initiative. That initiative was a summer program that offered apprenticeships for about 200 Chicago high school students. Under the guidance of artist mentors, the students created artwork that such public sites as Navy Pier, City Hall, and O'Hare and Midway Airports put on display. Over the years, this initiative expanded to reach thousands of students each year.
By the early 2000s, the program assumed the name After School Matters. It expanded the Gallery 37 apprentice model to train students in other fields in addition to the arts, such as technology, communications, science, and sports and fitness. By 2004, After School Matters had a budget of more than 19 million dollars, with as much as one-fourth of the funding coming from private partners.

In Maggie Daley's words, After School Matters offered

teens valuable job-training skills in the arts, technology, sports, and communications and have the opportunity to interact with adults who have achieved their dreams. Through these programs, Chicago's teens are learning to value themselves, their ideas, and their time more deeply. These teens never cease to impress me with their enthusiasm, dedication, and energy.

Interviewees remember Maggie Daley's contributions to the arts and After School Matters:

In Memory

Maggie Daley passed away on November 24, 2011 after a long battle with breast cancer. Upon learning of her death, one cancer survivor told a Chicago Tribune reporter:

She inspired me because she kept on going. When you would see her in a wheelchair or with a walker, you knew the disease was progressing. But ... what keeps you going is having good things to do for other people.

In 2012, the City of Chicago announced it would name a new park in her honor. Maggie Daley Park, which opened a few years later, features picnic groves, a "play garden," a climbing wall, a mini-golf course, and an "ice ribbon" skating rink. When he announced the decision to name the park after Maggie Daley, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said,

The beauty of this park and the number of amenities for children and families are a fitting tribute to a woman who gave so much of her own time to beautifying our City and improving the lives of children and young people.

Arne Duncan remembers Mrs. Daley as a "field of dreams" person who was passionate about education and who offered him advice when he became CEO of Chicago Public Schools in 2001:

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