Marie Wilkinson Child Development Center

Do you need transportation to & from Allen School we have availability in our school age programs & in our preschool programs 🚌📚

This is the day which the Lord has made; (I) we will rejoice & be glad in it. 4 more days 🎂🥳🎂

Happy birthday to our local hero: Marie Wilkinson! Wilkinson was a civil rights activist and one of the founders of the Quad County Urban League in 1975. Her name still rings throughout our community as a reminder to serve and show up for one another!

Thankful for the Life & Legacy of Mrs Marie Wilkinson

THE MATRIARCH OF AURORA, Marie Wilkinson spent most of her 101 years giving back to the city she called home. Whether it was feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, convincing politicians to enact fair laws, or fighting for equal rights for everyone, wherever there was a need, Wilkinson was there.

Wilkinson was born Marie LeBeau in New Orleans on May 6, 1909. She moved to Aurora in 1929 and married auto mechanic Charles Wilkinson three years later. Her charitable works started small — she opened her home at 648 N. View St. to anyone who needed anything, and donors would drop off clothes and food for her to distribute.

In 1961, she started the St. Vincent DePaul Center on Sard Avenue with the help of St. Peter’s Church. That was merely the first of dozens of organizations she founded or helped to organize, including the Quad County Urban League, the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, the Marie Wilkinson Child Development Center, and the city’s Human Relations Commission, which she chaired for 40 years.

On a larger stage, Wilkinson was a strong crusader for civil rights. She worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and met Rosa Parks and Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of Emmett Till.
In 2001, she received the Lumen Christi Award, the Catholic Church’s highest international honor for missionary work.

She passed at 101 years of age on Thursday, August 12, 2010.

Marie Wilkinson’s statue sits at the entrance of the Santori Public Library, 101 S. River Street, in honor of her perpetual legacy and impact in the City of Lights.

‼️Winter Coats and clothing drive!!! Donate Donate Donate!! Let’s help others who are not as fortunate!!

We thank you in advance for your donations!!

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