Lillian Drummond, a prominent activist and advocate for Austin, turned 104 on Oct. 13. Community members and public officials celebrated Drummond’s birthday with her the following day at the Austin Satellite Senior Center, 5071 W. Congress Pkwy — a space she helped create.
Drummond helped build the Austin Satellite Senior Center, which opened in 2004, as a place for seniors to access essential resources and support.
Mary Futrell helped Drummond launch the senior center. At Drummond’s birthday celebration, she told Austin Weekly News how Drummond went to former Mayor Richard Daley’s office to petition for the center and waited hours until he was available to speak with her.
“She wasn’t afraid,” Futrell said. “If you have a problem, talk to her and she’ll know who to call.”
Joyce Gallagher was working as the City of Chicago’s head of aging when, in 2003, she said Drummond marched into her office and demanded a senior center in Austin.
“Everyone said, ‘Watch out, Ms. Drummond’s coming.’ I had no idea who she was,” Gallagher said. “She told me if I did not build a senior center, she was going to march.”
“We’ve been friends ever since,” Gallagher said, adding that her favorite qualities of Drummond include “her tenacity, her willingness to put herself on the line, her colorful language and humility.”
Eileen Lynch, the Chicagoland director for Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, said she met Drummond when the centenarian was working at Austin Senior Satellite Center.
“Every time we came in here, she’d pull us aside into her office and give us our to-do list, always filled with gusto, enthusiasm, and mostly love for her community,” Lynch said. “She’s a profound and deeply committed advocate, full of energy.”
Angela Bailey, associate vice president at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, said she met Drummond because Catholic Charities is contracted through the city to operate some senior centers, like the one in Austin.
One day, Bailey said Drummond told her to come into her office and asked if she knew who she was.
“She told me to sit down, and she handed me several newspaper articles and had me read all about her and all the accomplishments that she made. And that’s how our friendship started,” Bailey said. “She’s very committed to serving the community and ensuring that this is a community that gets the support of the city and all elected officials.”
“She’s just a joy to know,” Bailey added. “She genuinely cares about people and their rights and their environment. She’s a wonderful person.”
“Drummond is a shining example of what it means to be a model citizen. Her commitment to fighting for the rights and needs of others is commendable, and I am proud to celebrate her 104th birthday,” State Representative La Shawn K. Ford said in a statement. “May her legacy inspire future generations to engage in their communities and make a difference.”
Ms. Drummond’s legacy
Drummond has accomplished decades of advocacy work in Austin.
In 1997, Drummond helped found the South Austin Coalition Community Council, which works to assist and unite Austin residents.
Ellen Craig met Drummond 40 years ago through SACCC, when Craig was working for the government.
“We’ve been friends ever since,” Craig said. She added that she and Drummond speak on the phone weekly. “She’s fearless and smart . . . She’s so committed to helping people,” Craig added. “Whoever was the mayor, they knew her.”
Perhaps one of Drummond’s biggest advocacy projects was for utility assistance for seniors and low-income residents — a cause she fought for well into her 90s. SACCC supported the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps people struggling to pay utility bills.
“If you couldn’t pay your light or water bill, you didn’t get your utilities turned off,” said Janice Henry, a community health nurse at Loretto Hospital, who has known Drummond for over 30 years and met her through SACCC.
“The South Austin Coalition has generated a LIHEAP program not just for this community, but for the whole country,” Congressman Danny Davis said at Drummond’s birthday celebration. “A lot of people don’t know that, when you talk about CRA — the Community Reinvestment Act that made banks start putting money in communities where they were located — it was the South Austin Coalition that generated that activity all over the United States of America, not just here.”
Brian Drummond, Lillian’s grandson, said he was inspired to make some lifestyle changes because of his grandmother. Currently, Brian is a statewide program director for medical transitional services, working with the Illinois Department of Corrections to help connect recently released prisoners with care services like those for diabetes, HIV, or gender affirming care.
“My motivation for doing the things that I do stems from a lot of the work that she’s done in the community,” Brian said. He added that he’s proud his grandmother has helped other seniors, worked with politicians in Washington D.C., and stands for social justice. At his grandmother’s 104th birthday celebration, he said he felt “hope, prosperity, and most importantly, having a purpose.”
Drummond’s great granddaughter, Makeitah Pullen, teared up when asked what emotions were coming up for her at Drummond’s birthday celebration.
“It is truly a blessing to be able to say she reached 100, let alone 104, and have her still be able to be in her right mind and know who we are and know who everybody else is,” Pullen said.
Henry said Drummond lives across the street from the senior center and still cooks for herself.
“It’s a testament to her resolve,” Henry said. “She is the mother in this community. She is the matriarch in this community.”
Pullen said one thing she’s most proud of about Drummond is that she has “this many people love her and care for her all of this time. She touches someone with this every year,” Pullen added of the birthday celebration. “I’m grateful for everyone who continues to put these together for her because she enjoys it.”
Recognition for Drummond
When Drummond was 95, the City of Chicago renamed a street after her at the corner of Congress Parkway and Leamington Avenue — a few houses away from where she lives.
In 2023, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution honoring Drummond for her 102nd birthday as “a beacon of light and longtime resident of the Austin community” and “a living example to all for her dedication, sacrifice and advocacy.”
Drummond has also been recognized with the 2006 Edward Bailey Lifetime Community Service Act and the Illinois Senior Citizen Hall of Fame Award.
