Results 1 to 25 of 153
Josie Brown Childs papers
The Josie Brown Childs papers consist of materials from Childs’ political career. The collection specifically includes her work on the Mayor’s Office of Special Events especially under Mayor Harold Washington; newspaper clippings about Chicago politics, Childs’ professional and personal correspondence, and materials from events she planned, such as the Great Lakes Experience Reunion and the Ellington International Conference. Also included
Alice and Edward "Buzz" Palmer papers
Alice Palmer, an educator and human rights activist, worked in Harold Washington’s campaigns and served as an Illinois State Senator. She was active in Chicago’s civil rights movement of the 1960s, and in international dialogues beginning in the 1980s. Her husband, “Buzz” Palmer, a former police officer, was one of the founders of the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League, and has been
Edward Holmgren papers
Chicago Chapter, Congress of Racial Equality Archives
CORE, a national civil rights organization, began in Chicago in 1942, with protests to force desegregation of restaurants and other public accommodations. The Chicago Chapter of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Archives contain the papers of Chicago CORE, its Southside subchapter, Metropolitan CORE and the National CORE. This collection has been arranged by chapters, and includes constitutions and by-laws, committee
Clementine Skinner papers
Clementine Skinner was a Chicago Public Schools assistant principal, teacher and librarian. She was active during four decades in the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) and served as president of the Chicago branch. She was also active in the YWCA, the NAACP, and in genealogical organizations.
Abdul Alkalimat papers
Abdul Alkalimat is former director of African American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Chamaign.
The Links, Inc., Chicago Chapter archives
Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, the Links, Inc. is a national women’s service organization based on the ideals of combining friendship and community service. The Chicago chapter was founded in 1950 and places a special emphasis on volunteer service in the fields of youth services and promoting African American art.
Reverend Addie Wyatt and Reverend Claude Wyatt Papers
Addie Wyatt was born Addie Loraine Cameron on March 8, 1924, the second child to Ambrose and Maggie Cameron in Brookhaven, Mississippi. Ambrose Cameron, born either in Mississippi or Louisiana, was a tailor in a pressing shop. Her mother Maggie Cameron, a teacher, was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Ambrose’s mother, Adeline Cameron, a mid-wife, also lived with the family and
Chicago Bee Newspaper collection
Mr. Anthony Overton published the Chicago Bee, a Bronzeville community newspaper, which ceased publication in 1940.
Sydonia Brooks / National Association of Negro Musicians papers
Sydonia Brooks is a leader in the Chicago Music Association and in the National Association of Negro Musicians.
Susan Cayton Woodson papers
Art gallery owner Susan Cayton Woodson has been hailed for her work publicizing and preserving the art of the Chicago Renaissance period. Active with the Southside Community Art Center, she is a member of the famed Cayton family, and a descendent of Senator Hiram Revels.
Bennett Johnson papers
Bennett Johnson, a graduate of Roosevelt University with Harold Washington, has been a civil rights and radical activist since the 1940s. He was a leader in the March on Conventions movement, Protest at the Polls, and the NAACP. He was one of the early activists in Harold Washington’s successful campaign for Mayor of Chicago. Johnson was co-founder of Path Press,
Chester Commodore Papers
Chester Commodore was one of the most influential and acclaimed African-American cartoonists of the twentieth century. During the nearly 50 years his cartoons appeared in the Chicago Defender, Commodore used his art to advocate for racial justice, human rights, and equality of opportunity.
Barbara Shepherd papers
Barbara Shepherd worked on the 1940 American Negro Exposition (ANE) held at the Chicago Coliseum. She also served in staff positions in several social service organizations.
Carl E. Smith, Jr. collection
Carl E. Smith was the general and managing editor for several Black magazines in Chicago during the 1950s and 1960s.
Marjorie Stewart Joyner papers
Marjorie Stewart Joyner was National Supervisor of Madame C.J. Walker Beauty Colleges, chair of Chicago’s Bud Billiken Parade and Chicago Defender Charities, benefactor of Bethune-Cookman College, and an activist in the Democratic Party in Chicago.
Laura Bell Shaw papers
Shaw served as president of the Women’s Auxiliary board of Provident Hospital in the early 1980s. She was also an organizer of an early African American women’s golf organization.
Agnes Lattimer papers
A 1954 graduate of Chicago Medical School, Dr. Lattimer was the college’s first African American alumna. After working as Director of Ambulatory Pediatrics at Michael Reese Hospital, she took a similar position at Cook County Hospital. From 1986 to1995 she was Medical Director of Cook County Hospital.
Myrtis Minor papers
As a high school student in Jackson, Mississippi, Myrtis Minor was one of the leaders of a 1949 bus boycott for civil rights.
Herbert Hill papers
Herbert Hill served as the NAACP’s labor director in the 1950s and 1960s, where he was one of the most effective voices raised against racial discrimination by unions. He was later Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin.
Cyrus Colter Papers
Cyrus Colter, a distinguished African-American writer, lawyer and professor, was born on January 8, 1910, in Noblesville, Indiana. Colter was the eldest of two children born to James Alexander Colter and Ethel Marietta Basset Colter, whose families had moved from North Carolina to rural Indiana in the 1830s in search of safe haven. His mother died when he was six
Path Press Archives
Path Press, one of the first black-owned publishing companies in the United States, was founded in Chicago in 1969 and remained in operation from 1969-1972 and then again from 1982-2001. In fact, the press had been in the works since as early as 1961, when Bennett J. Johnson (now the Vice President of Third World Press) and Herman C. Gilbert
Era Bell Thompson papers
Era Bell Thompson, author of American Daughter and Africa, Land of My Fathers, was a pioneering photo-journalist for Ebony and international editor for Johnson Publishing Company for over thirty years. She was also an important figure in the Chicago Renaissance; her ties to the Vivian G. Harsh Collection span nearly 50 years.
Timothy Jackson papers
Chicago Defender editorial cartoonist Tim Jackson is also renowned as the creator of the website “Pioneering Cartoonists of Color,” the most extensive database of information about early African American cartoonists. Jackson also worked for LifeTimes, a publication issued by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.
Michael St. James photograph collection
Michael St. James, a photographer, collected early images produced by Chicago’s pioneering African American photographers.