On Saturday, August 10th, the Bud Billiken Parade will celebrate its 90th anniversary! The iconic parade has marched down Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard since 1929. It's a celebration of students going back to school and highlights the significance of education. The parade starts at 35th street. It stretches approximately two miles down Dr. Martin…
Chicago Race Riots: The Long Hot Summer of 1919
The sky was a searing hot blue with temperatures in the 90s. Farmers anxiously watched for signs of healing rain for their dry crops. As school was out, teenagers hung out at the beach for relaxation. Eugene Williams and four of his friends were relaxing on a raft at the 27th Street beach when his…
Celebrating 100 Years with Timuel Black, Jr.
On December 7, 2018, one of Chicago's greatest treasures, Timuel Black, Jr., turns 100! Please join us in wishing him the happiest of birthdays! Black was...
Hazel M. Johnson, ‘Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement’
October is National Archives Month. Let's look at one archival collection—the People for Community Recovery Archives and the inspiring story of Hazel M. Johnson—in the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature. Affectionately known as the “mother of the environmental justice movement,” Hazel Johnson was one of Chicago’s own environmental justice warriors from…
Celebrate American Archives Month
October is American Archives Month! Have you ever visited one of Chicago Public Library's special collections to see our archives? Researched black history at the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature at Woodson Regional Library? Gotten chills from discovering a historical document in Special Collections at Harold Washington Library Center? Or…
