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Who we are
The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) is an expanding consortium of Chicago-based archives, libraries, and museums. Its mission is to connect all who seek to document, share, understand and preserve Black experiences. Through archival processing initiatives, research fellowships for scholars and artists, archival internships for students, and diverse public programming, the BMRC facilitates increased awareness of the experiences of African American and other African diaspora communities through expanding access to its members’ holdings of materials that document African American and African diaspora culture, history, and politics, with a specific focus on materials relating to Chicago.
Learn more about usWhat does the Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) do?
DISCOVER COLLECTIONS ON BLACK EXPERIENCES
Find out about many of Chicago's rich primary resources related to Black history and culture now made accessible in one place!
Explore our Archives CollectionRecent News

Awardees of BMRC Scholarship for History of Black Librarianship Course Announced
The BMRC awarded six scholarships for awardees to take the History of Black Librarianship course.

Original Sins: The (Mis)Education of Black and Native Children- May 20, 2025
The BMRC is honored to co-sponsor Dr. Eve Ewing's discussion of her new book, "Original Sins: the (Mis) education of Black and Native Children"

“Danc(ing) the Archive: Colored Bodies and the Afro-fabulation of Black Representation” May 15
Colorism as a concept was coined and first used by Alice Walker in her 1982 book "In Search of Our Mothers Gardens" to describe the unconscious hostility that exists between light-skinned and dark-skinned black women within the African-American community. She defines colorism as "the prejudicial and
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