It's one of the hottest tickets in Chicago, and tens of thousands of people have visited the Obama Presidential Center since it opened in Woodlawn in June, but one young man from Englewood has a very personal connection to the landmark.
Gregory Coleman's work is permanently displayed on the museum tower. A public housing program helped him make history.
On the side of the Obama Presidential Center museum tower features powerful words from our nation's 44th president, created in concrete. Behind those letters is the story of a young man from Englewood.
"Knowing that I contributed to something that's going to stand past me 200 years is just something that I really can't explain, and it allows my name to live forever," Coleman said.
A former defensive lineman at Leo High School and Benedictine University, the 26-year-old carpenter knows the meaning of hard work.
In 2022, while a Chicago Housing Authority resident, he went to the CHA's Trades & Apprenticeships Expo and learned about a career he never imagined.
"When I got into the trades, it gave me a sense of direction," he said.
Coleman entered the CHA Trades and Apprenticeships program. Sheena Brewer is the program's specialist and Coleman's mentor.
"I saw someone that was very driven," she said.
Brewer encouraged Coleman to enter a three-month, paid pre-apprenticeship program. He woke up at 5 a.m. every morning to go to work, always arriving 30 minutes early.
Within days of finishing the program, he landed his first construction job, working with others to create the letters adorning the 225-foot-tall museum tower at the Obama Presidential Center.
"When I see the letters, I tear up, all the time," Brewer said. "I was so happy and intrigued that I helped someone find their way, gain a skill set, and now they have a lifelong historic landmark that they can point at and say, 'Hey, I did that!' "
Coleman spent two years working in South Bend, Indiana, helping to construct the enormous concrete letters recreating words from a speech President Obama gave in 2015.
The words are from the "You Are America" speech Obama gave commemorating the historic Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights marches – words that also inspire Coleman today.
"I want to leave a mark for myself. I want to leave a mark for the Coleman name," he said.
That is included on a wall with the names of each person who built the Obama Presidential Center.
"The hard work paid off," he said after seeing it for the first time.
Coleman is now in his third year of a five-year apprenticeship to become a journeyman carpenter. He's also pursuing certifications in solar technology, welding, and robotics.
"I want to be a role model for people that look like me, and even people that don't look like me," he said.
Coleman said there's one more visit to the Obama Presidential Center that he's really looking forward to – bringing his 12-year-old twin sister and brother, Kailyn and Bryson, to the center.
"It'll make them very proud to know that their brother helped build something, especially for someone so powerful and influential," he said.
He said it will also show them that anything they dream can become a reality.
