Joliet will mark "Margie Woods Way"

Joliet will dedicate a section of Dover Street to the late Margie Woods, a longtime member of the Will County Board and a leader in the Black community.

Woods, who died in January, was the first Black woman to serve in a leadership role on the Will County board during 28 years of service. She was the second Black woman elected to the board in 1980.

Joliet will put up signs marking “Margie Woods Way” for a section of Dover Street running between the Spring Creek Canal and Youngs Avenue.

The city resolution authorizing the honorary street name describes Woods as “a trailblazer” who was one of the first women to work at the former Caterpillar factory in Joliet.

She also was the first chairman of the Silver Cross Hospital Healthy Community Commission, which funds scholarships and organizations that benefit the East Side of the city, and a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention that first nominated Barack Obama for president.

“Margie was a true community leader and very approachable,” council member Michael Turk said at the Tuesday council meeting where the street resolution was approved. “She was there for the correct reason, and that was to help the people, not to enhance herself.”

Council member Jan Quillman said Woods “helped me so many times when I was a novice running for council.”

Council member Bettye Gavin also credited Woods with helping her achieve a spot on the City
Council.

“I really thank all of you,” Floyd Woods Sr. told the council concerning the honor for his late wife. “She crossed a lot of paths.”