2026 ANNUAL MEETING (Virtual) - October 21, 2026

The BMRC invites to you its 2026 Annual Meeting to join us in celebrating all that we were able to accomplish during our 20th anniversary year. The editors and contributors to the new book, Return to the Black Metropolis: New Histories of Black Chicago will be our special guests.

Return to the Black Metropolis: New Histories of Black Chicago. is a unique collaboration between the Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) and The University of Illinois Press. Edited by Simon Balto and Erik S. Gellman, this 2027 collection will feature new historical work by twelve scholars who benefitted from BMRC research fellowships to conduct novel research in our members' archives.

Collectively, this volume looks anew at the social, cultural, political, protest, and community history of Black Chicago across the 20th century. Through their skillful analysis of BMRC member archives, the authors speak truth to ignorance and provide new historical insight about survival and power in the Windy City, making the idea of the Black Metropolis a living, breathing concept for the past and present.

REGISTER for the meeting here.