Minow, Josephine (Jo) Baskin

Josephine (Jo) Baskin Minow had a lifetime love affair with Chicago and Chicago history, spawned by her family’s presence in the city for five generations. She served on the boards of many of the city’s most significant civic organizations including the Chicago History Museum, Ravinia, and Know Your Chicago and served as President of the Juvenile Protective Association (JPA) originally founded by Jane Addams. When she became the JPA president, board meetings were held at the University Club which did not allow women to enter through the front door. She moved the meetings to another location that allowed all members to enter through the front door. She was a founding member of the Northwestern University Women’s Board in 1978 and a member of the Women’s’ Boards of the University of Chicago and the Field Museum, and a governing member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In her 80th year, she became a member of the Board of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. She served both as a director and executive committee member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She was the author of three children’s books including Marty the BrokenHearted Artichoke. For fun, she played the role of Henry Fonda’s assistant in the four-star movie “Advise and Consent.”

In 2021 she celebrated 72 years of marriage to Northwestern classmate Newton N. Minow, senior counsel at Sidley Austin and former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. She is survived by him and by their three daughters, Nell, Martha, and Mary, (all lawyers she called “the three Portias”) and grandchildren Ben and Rachel Apatoff and Mira Singer. There will be a memorial at the Chicago History Museum in the spring. Services are private. In lieu of flowers, memorials in her memory to a charity of your choice would be appreciated. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www. cjfinfo.com.

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