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Howard Peters - Governor Jim Edgar Project

Born in Arkansas and raised in Tennessee, Howard Peters moved to Illinois in 1969 to attend Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. In 1971, he began working at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles, Illinois, and over the next twenty years stayed with the IL Department of Corrections, steadily moving up the ranks. In 1990, while serving as warden at the Pontiac Maximum Security Prison, newly elected Governor Jim Edgar selected him as the Director of the Department of Corrections. He later served as Edgar’s Deputy Chief of Staff and became the first Secretary of Human Services.

Interview Links

Feature Excerpt

Second grade teacher changed his life

Abstract

Interview Session 01 (Audio)

Early life thru joining IL Dept. of Corrections

Interview Session 02 (Audio)

Dept of Corrections thru Flood of 1993

Interview Session 03 (Audio)

Dept. of Corrections and Dept. of Human Services years

Transcript

Videos



Photos

Caption
Howard Peters, at age 2, while the family lived in Memphis, Tennessee.

Where:
Memphis, Tennessee

When:
1947

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Howard Peters.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1957

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
A teacher and Howard Peters.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1961

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Howard Peters was selected as Mr. Yearbook for Mitchell Road High School.

Where:
Memphis, Tennessee

When:
1964

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

 

Caption
Howard Peters and Delois Mills were chosen by their classmates as "Most Talented" in the Mitchell Road High School class of 1964.

Where:
Mitchell Road High School

When:
1964

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
The Peters family poses at a 1986 school function for one of the boys while at Sheridan. From the left are Beverly, Halton, Howard IV and Howard.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1986

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Peters, while serving as Regional Director of the Department of Children and Family Services, plays Santa Claus for the children at a daycare center.

Where:
Chicago IL

When:
1987

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Director Peters works out the first week after being appointed Director of the Department of Corrections.

Where:
Pontiac IL

When:
1991

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Governor Edgar announcing his first term cabinet; Directors Brent Manning for Department of Natural Resources, Jan Grayson for the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, and Howard Peters as director for the Department of Corrections.

Where:
Unknown

When:
March 26, 1991

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters speaking to the Vandalia Chamber of Commerce. The town had a minimum security prison.

Where:
Vandalia Chamber of Commerce

When:
September 4, 1991

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters, Governor Edgar and the 1992 Correctional Officer of the Year Pedro Mata.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1992

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Peters makes a hiring announcement for the new high-medium Big Muddy Correctional Center.

Where:
Big Muddy Correctional Center

When:
October 1, 1992

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters touring sandbagging efforts of Corrections' inmates during flooding along the Mississippi River.

Where:
Banks of the Mississippi, River

When:
summer of 1993

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters, Governor Edgar and Warden Welborn tour flooding at Menard Correctional Center.

Where:
Menard Correctional Center

When:
August 10, 1993

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Ribbon cutting at Big Muddy Correctional Center.

Where:
Big Muddy Correctional Center

When:
March, 1993

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters with youth at the Springfield Boys

Where:
Springfield Boys

When:
circa 1993

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters, Nic Howell, Nancy DeMarco and Doris Davidson arrive at the Big Muddy Correctional Center.

Where:
Big Muddy Correctional Center

When:
March, 1993

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters and Secretary of State George Ryan.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1993

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Mayor Gordon Bush, Director Peters, and Governor Edgar tour the Illinois Correctional Industries tire recycling program the site of the Southwestern Correctional Center (former Assumption High School). Tires were recycled into chips for playgrounds.

Where:
East St. Louis, IL

When:
circa 1994

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Governor Edgar and Director Peters celebrate the Tamms Correctional Center groundbreaking.

Where:
site of Timms Correctional Center

When:
June 1, 1994

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Governor Edgar with recipients of the African American History Maker award.

Where:
Unknown

When:
February 28, 1994

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Jack Kemp visiting Illinois during the 1996 Presidential campaign.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1996

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Governor Edgar, clockwise around the table, Chief Legal Counsel Bill Roberts, Deputy Chief of Staff Peters, two of Attorney General Burris' staff members, Exec Dir of IAMG (Ill Assoc of Minorities in Government) and John Lambert in Governor's Office.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1996

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Secretary Peters, Governor Edgar, and Mrs. Brenda Edgar at a Kid Care announcement.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1997

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
being interviewed upon becoming Secretary of the state's newly established Department of Human Services.

Where:
Unknown

When:
July 1997

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Governor Edgar announces a partnership with UPS to hire welfare-to-work clients.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1997

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Governor Edgar and Secretary Peters.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1997

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Secretary Peters made the cover of Newsbreak Magazine upon becoming DHS Secretary.

Where:
Unknown

When:
July 1997

Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
Secretary of the Department of Human Services Howard Peters reads to youth during an African American History Month event.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1998

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
President Clinton at a welfare-to-work town hall meeting in Chicago. Peters appears in the right rear of the photo.

Where:
Chicago, Illinois

When:
August, 1999

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Howard Peters attends a Senate hearing with Senator Walter Dudycz to his right, and DCFS director Jess McDonald on his left.

Where:
Illinois Senate chamber, Springfield, Illinois

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Governor Edgar presents Peters, then director of the Department of Corrections, with an African American History Maker award.

Where:
Unknown

When:
February 29, 1994

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Director Peters, Laura Gaines, President, Correctional Healthcare Solutions (CHS), Walter Lomax, Owner, CHS, and Governor Edgar after signing of a health care contract for the Department of Corrections, the first for a African American owned company.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.



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