Dave Humphreys to receive Downers Grove Historical Society’s 2021 Dunham Award

For being attuned to the needs of others, Dave Humphreys will receive the Downers Grove Historical Society’s 2021 Montrew Dunham Award, which was established in 2019 to honor those whose significant service and contributions to the village of Downers Grove have earned them a place in its history.

The award is named for teacher, author, historian and community volunteer Montrew Dunham.

A native of Downers Grove and lifelong resident, Humphreys is being honored for a lifetime of contributions to musical, civic and humanitarian causes and events.

The Downers Grove Historical Society will present the award to Humphreys at a ceremony planned from 10 to 11 a.m. Sept. 18 at the Montrew Dunham History Center on the Downers Grove Museum campus. For information on the event and how to register for it, go to downersgrovehistory.org or the DGHS Facebook page or email info@downersgrovehistory.org.

Humphreys said his involvement in music began early in his life. Both he and his sister, who became a music teacher, were encouraged to be musical. By age 5, he was taking piano lessons. He studied cello in grade school, moved to string bass, and added percussion in high school. He and his musician friends played local gigs in high school, joining the musicians’ union as teens. Humphreys was able to pay for most of his expenses at Oberlin College by using his musical gifts.

Right out of college, Humphreys was offered a position at IBM. He retired after 27 years of leading marketing activities for technical sales to large corporate customers (1965-91). During that time, he continued playing music professionally and began producing concerts and festivals.

A self-described “music enabler,” Humphreys also had been immersed in the wider world of music at an early age. His mother, Mary Ann Humphreys, was involved in the Downers Grove Music Club, and, along with Donald Drew and Thelma Roe Milnes (the mother of famed opera star Sherrill Milnes), co-founded the Downers Grove Oratorio (now Choral) Society.

A lifelong member of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, Humphreys said his passion for both music and humanitarian causes melded in 1970 with his founding of the Two Way Street Coffee House in a room in the basement of the Downers Grove church.

Its start overlapped the Vietnam War, a period in which he saw the need for a place where teens and young people could go for music and socializing with a live-and-let-live vibe, and where communication would be a “two-way street.”

When it was founded, it was more than just a place to play or hear music, Humphreys said, noting “it provided human services, such as counseling, plus legal, medical and financial assistance [to youth].”

The venue would become nationally recognized for fostering folk music, a genre he embraced after what he described as a “life-changing experience” when he went to a Pete Seeger concert and then jammed on string bass with Seeger at the reception that followed.

At Two Way Street Coffee House, Humphreys was both booking agent and master of ceremonies for 47 years until he turned over the running of the venue to his successor in 2017.

In the world of music, Humphreys has been involved in music ministry work at his church and at events such as Heritage Festival and Rotary GroveFest in Downers Grove. Additionally, he is an independent music producer of concerts, festivals and events all over the U.S. and in Canada.

His music activities have included participation in groups such as Folk Alliance International and the Plank Road Folk Music Society, and his work was recognized with FAI awards and the 1st Woody Award given out at the Woodstock Folk Festival in 2018.

His participation in civic matters includes having served as president on the Mental Health Advisory Committee of DuPage County and later as president on the DuPage County Board of Health, plus roles as a longtime library trustee, member of the Rotary Club and past member of the Community Events Commission. He has been a member of the Grants Commission and many other groups.

His humanitarian efforts cover mission trips and other mission and justice activities. Humphreys cited “an emphasis on peace, farm worker and immigration justice, anti-racism, and support and justice for marginalized and underserved persons.”

He is supportive of LGBTQ+ rights with involvement in PFLAG and EQDG groups, which “creates an accepting and equitable environment for LGBTQ+ people through education, support, social action and advocacy,” Humphreys said. He is helping to establish a Youth Outlook Drop-in Center for LGBTQ+ youth.

Humphreys helps represent his church in the activities of DuPage United, “a nonpartisan group which engages in democratic action in such public initiatives as seeking justice for mentally ill offenders, reducing gun violence and increasing the availability of low-income housing,” he said.

Some of the recognition he has received for his civic and humanitarian work includes the Citizen of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce (1997), the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award (1999) and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Downers Grove North High School (2009).

His advice to others wanting to get involved is, “Just do something. Don’t limit yourself. When you see repression, depression or opportunity, it is time to act. All those are great reasons to get involved, [and] if people don’t volunteer, a lot of very important work will not be done,” Humphreys said.

He is a perfect example of being successful at what he describes as “weaving history and humanities, including music, community service and social activism, into the civic fabric of Downers Grove” – a situation he is happy about, along with “planting seeds of creativity to help others.”

He still finds time to jam occasionally, as well as camp and hike in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Humphreys also enjoys watching Cubs games, and had a coincidental gift from them when they won the World Series in 2016 on his 75th birthday.