Black Chicago Commemorates the 85th Annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic




Everyone who is anyone is said to have participated in the Bud Billiken parade -- from Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Barack Obama. Photo: Joe Lewis in Bud Billiken Parade.

August 9, 2014 marks the 85th annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic celebration -- commencing from 35th to 55th & Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Held in Chicago, Illinois annually, the parade is the oldest running African American parade in the United States of America. It is also the second largest parade in the country. Effectively, the parade, kicks off the traditional start of the school year. It marks the end of summer vacation for the young people in the Chicago, which hosts among the largest communities of people of African descent in the USA.



Portion of the Bud Billiken Day Parade, August 1948.

Portion of the Bud Billiken Day Parade, August 1973.



South Shore Drill Team performs at the 2011 Bud Billiken parade in Chicago's Bronzeville. (Photo: Kalle Eko)

The fictional character Bud Billiken was created in 1923 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the founder of the Chicago Defender newspaper. Before the parade began in 1929, there was a long-running Billiken newspaper column written by the famed African-American novelist Willard Motley. Embodying the hope of the African American community, for a time the Bud Billiken character also emerged into a popular comic strip in the Chicago Defender newspaper. Abbott also founded a Bud Billiken Club which continues to provide youth scholarships and training opportunities.


Chicago Defender's Bud Billiken Parade float hosts the annual King, Queen and Royal Court winners from its annual Bud Billiken youth contest. Contest winners are based on a results of a subscription drive and oral and written essay contest.



Dancers Perform at the 2012 Bud Billiken Parade (Photo: Kalle Eko)

The Bud Billiken parade was developed in 1929 and is always held the second Saturday in August to kick off the back-to-school year. It draws numerous community booths and parade floats hosted by community organizations, local businesses and government agencies -- using the gathering to distribute information and donate school supplies and other goodies to young people.

The parade occurs in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's south side, the traditional settlement of African Americans to the region during the Great Migration from southern states. The parade is now the largest parade celebration in the city of Chicago, drawing an annual local production of costumes and parade floats. It features youth marching bands, drummers, step shows, acrobats, youth dancers and more.



Photographs of Children Along Bud Billiken's Parade Route (Photo: Kalle Eko)

At the end of the parade, families and friends gather in the city's Washington Park to end the festivities with a community-wide picnic. The collective coordination of the community to bring wide youth participation in the parade is displayed by the proud shouts of encouragement supporting the creative showcase of Black Chicago from family and friends lining the miles of covered terrain. 

The Soul of Bronzeville: The Regal, Club DeLisa and The Blues Exhibit

The DuSable Museum of African American History presents the exhibition “The Soul of Bronzeville: The Regal, Club DeLisa and The Blues." Through instruments, original photographs, personal memorabilia, concert collectibles, music and moving footage, this exhibition, curated by Gregg Parker, salutes Chicago as the home of many legendary Blues musicians. The exhibit runs through June 27, 2010 at the DuSable Museum in Chicago, Illinois (http://www.dusablemuseum.org/).

Black Media Mogul: Oprah Winfrey

Photo: Oprah Winfrey on the U.S. Presidential campaign trail

with Chicagoans Barack and Michelle Obama

Originally named "Orpah" Gail Winfrey on January 29, 1954 in Mississippi, Ms. Winfrey would go on to become a leading television talk show host, film actress, producer and philanthropist. She is the first Black woman and only the third woman in history, behind Mary Pickford and Lucille Ball, to own a film production studio. Harpo Studios, located in Chicago, serves as a testament to Winfrey's historic legacy.

Photo: Harpo Studios is located on the Westside of Chicago, Illinois

at 1058 W. Washington Boulevard

Entrance way into The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago

on the production campus of Harpo Studios

The building structure that now houses the Harpo Studio production facilities was originally built in the early 1900s. In 1952 the 88,000 square foot complex was converted into a production studio. In 1988, Winfrey purchased it and completely renovated it into a state-of-the-art, Hollywood-quality film production and post-production facility.

Trailblazing Black Media Professional

The Oprah Winfrey show began with a record-breaking launch in more than 130 markets in September 1986. She was the first Black woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show in the United States. It is currently seen in more than 99% of the country and in more than 100 foreign markets by millions of viewers. The studio receives several thousand letters weekly from fans around the globe.

Photo: O, The Oprah Magazine

In addition to producing a monthly print magazine, "O, The Oprah Magazine," Oprah has committed herself to bringing high quality production to both the big and little screen. Harpo Studios produces "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and has produced movie productions. This includes the ABC Theater Presentation of "There Are No Children Here" (1993), and the mini-series "The Women of Brewster Place" (1989), based on the book by author Gloria Naylor. In 2005, the television film movie "There Eyes Were Watching God," based on the book of the same name by American anthropologist, writer, and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, was also produced by Harpo Studios.

Photo: Oprah Gaile Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) at her

50th birthday party at Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles (2004)

Championing Education Among Black South Africans

In January 2007, Winfrey investment of time and $40 million resulted in the opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg, South Africa. At the boarding school's opening, Nelson Mandela praised Winfrey for investing in the future of South Africa. Oprah was born in poverty in rural Mississippi. Nelson Mandela praised Winfrey for overcoming her challenging conditions and growing to be of service to others.

The Black Church as Civil Rights Headquarter and Community Center: Chicago's Quinn Chapel AME Church and Olivet Baptist Church

Photo: Quinn Chapel Church in Chicago

QUINN CHAPEL A.M.E. CHURCH

Founded in 1844, the Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church is Chicago's oldest Black religious congregation. The church was named after Bishop William Paul Quinn, a central figure in the westward expansion of African Methodism.

In 1850, the U.S. Congress passed a more severe Fugitive Slave Law which said that any white person with no more than a sworn witness could claim a Black person as his escaped slave and legally secure the individual to petition before a federal commissioner. In its swift reaction, Quinn Chapel passed a resolution stating “We who have tasted freedom are ready to exclaim, in the language of Patrick Henry: 'Give us liberty, or give us death.'” The congregation immediately mobilized its forces to watch for slave hunters.

Quinn Chapel's pulpit has been graced with Black leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Quinn Chapel helped found the Bethel A.M.E. Church, Wabash Avenue YMCA, and Provident Hospital, the first Black-owned hospital in the nation. The current gray-stone brick building of this Black institution is designed in a Romanesque architectural style that was erected in 1892. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church is located at 2401 S. Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.

Photo: Olivet Baptist Church

OLIVET BAPTIST CHURCH

Olivet Baptist Church is one of the oldest Baptist churches in Chicago. Founded April 6, 1850, this congregation was an active station on the Underground Railroad. Its pastor was a leading member of the Vigilance Committee which was organized to help runaway slaves and fight the Fugitive Slave Law.

By the 1920s, under the leadership of Lacy Kirk Williams, who became pastor of the church in 1915, Olivet Baptist Church became one of the most prominent Black churches in the nation. From 1915 to 1920, the church's membership more than doubled. Under the leadership of Williams, Olivet was not only a religious center but a community center. During this time, a full-time staff of 16 operated a program that included a labor bureau, nursery, kindergarten, a private welfare department, in addition to a community club house and athletic facilities. Olivet Baptist Church is located at 401 E. 31st Street in Chicago, Illinois.

Anthony Overton: A Black Manufacturer, Banker, Lawyer and Publisher

Photo: Anthony Overton (b. March 21, 1865 - d. July 2, 1946)

On March 21, 1865, Anthony Overton was born into slavery in Monroe, Louisiana. It was not until December 18, 1865 that slavery legally ended in the United States. Overton became a pioneering manufacturer, banker, lawyer and businessman. Much of his business operations arose among the African American community in Chicago.

ANTHONY OVERTON

The son of Anthony and Martha (Deberry) Overton, Anthony Overton was educated at Washburn College and would also graduate from the University of Kansas where he earned a Bachelor of Laws. He graduated from the University of Kansas law school. He practiced law for a time and even served as a judge before concentrating on developing his business operations.

In 1898, Overton established the Hygienic Manufacturing Company in Kansas City. In 1911, he moved operations to Chicago where he manufactured baking powder, toilet preparations, and other extract products. He soon launched the High-Brown Products label where he produced a full-line of ladies fine cosmetics and perfumes in Chicago.

 
OVERTON HYGIENIC BUILDING

Photo: The Overton Building (photograph from Commission on

Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks)

Photo: Overton Hygienic Building in Chicago Today

Anthony Overton developed a major business conglomerate in Chicago that began its operations from this Overton Hygienic Building. In 1922, Overton commissioned architect Z. Erol Smith to design and build the Overton Hygienic Building. In addition to hygienic care products, Overton would operate the Chicago Bee newspaper franchise, Victory Life Insurance Company, Douglass National Bank, and Northern Realty Company from this business facility and his second building, The Chicago Bee Building. 

The Overton Hygienic Building was later known in history as the Palace Hotel. The building is now owned by the Mid-South Planning and Development Commission, which announced plans to use the building as an incubator for small businesses within the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District neighborhood. The Overton Hygienic Building is a Chicago Landmark and part of the historic Bronzeville District in the Douglas community area of Chicago, Illinois. It is located at 3619-3627 State Street.

THE CHICAGO BEE BUILDING

Photo: The Chicago Bee Building

Photo: The Bee Building, now known as The Bee Branch Library

In 1926, The Chicago Bee newspaper publishing business was founded as one of Chicago's African American newspapers. Overton affirmed his confidence in the viability of the Black Metropolis of Bronzeville Chicago by commissioning architect Z. Erol Smith again to design a new three-story building to operate his new newspaper publishing business in a separate facility as his research and development, and manufacturing operations.

The Chicago Bee Building features a richly ornamented facade executed entirely in terra cotta. It was one of the most picturesque of the historic buildings in Bronzeville -- at the time the only one designed in the Art Deco style of the late 1920s.

Photo: Librarian Jo Willis poses in front of the Art Deco doors of the Chicago Bee Building

Although construction started at the beginning of the Great Depression, the building was ready for occupancy by 1931. In addition to the Chicago Bee newspaper, the building would house the offices of the Overton Hygienic Company after the Douglass National Bank closed in 1932. The newspaper closed in the early 1940s. The Anthony Overton Elementary School on Chicago's South Side was later named in honor of this great African-American businessman.

Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. and the Operation PUSH Organization

Photo: Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. (b. October 8, 1941)

On December 25, 1971, the young Jesse Jackson along with 70 other prominent Black leaders founded Operation PUSH, a social change organization headquartered in Chicago.

JACKSON STARTS OPERATION PUSH IN CHICAGO

Now with more than 70 affiliates across the nation, Operation PUSH focuses on Black political empowerment as well as encouraging increased connections between Blacks and American industry. The community organization has successfully negotiated agreements with large and small businesses across the nation to increase fair employment practices in hiring, promotions, franchising, and sub-contracting opportunities for all Americans.

Photo: A young Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. with Martin Luther King, Jr.

and others on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged the youthful Jackson to become a strong community activist in Chicago and in the nation. Jesse Jackson, Sr. launched his national political career from the Operation PUSH headquarters. The organization served as the base where Jackson launched his U.S. presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988.

THE RAINBOW PUSH COALITION BUILDING

Photo: Operation Push National Headquarters

The national headquarters for Operation PUSH was built in 1923. It was originally built for the Kehilath Anshe Ma'arive (K.A.M.) congregation, the oldest Jewish congregation in Chicago. Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. and other community organizers purchased the building in 1971. The Rainbow Coalition was founded by Jackson in 1985 and was housed in the building at 930 E. 50th Street. 

Surrounding the Operation PUSH headquarters are older generation mansions lining Drexel Boulevard in the Bronzeville community of Chicago's South Side. In his classic work Native Son, writer Richard Wright chronicles the life of a young Black man from the community where the picturesque building stood.

Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition was subsequently merged and renamed The Rainbow PUSH Coalition. It advocates in both U.S. civil rights and international human rights efforts. This historic building continues has served as a voter registration center and labor mediation site for many years.

Video: Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2) continues his father's legacy
of political activism. Here he speaks in the Operation PUSH building in 2006
where he launched his political campaign for the Chicago Mayor post.

Black Politics: Oscar Stanton DePriest and Unity Hall

Photo: Oscar Stanton DePriest (b. March 9, 1871 - d. May 12, 1951)

In 1915, Oscar Stanton DePriest was elected the first African American City Council person in Chicago. Two years later he established the People's Movement Club as a political base outside of party politics channels in the racially polarized city. The Unity Hall building housed DePriest's People's Movement Club and would become the community headquarters for other prominent Chicago politicians such as William Dawson.

Image: Early Political Campaign Button for Oscar Stanton DePriest

Oscar De Priest's successful election campaign in Chicago's Lakeshore led the trend toward an increase in Black political representation in the north. In 1928, De Priest became the first African American outside the South elected to Congress. His representation led to significant federal anti-discrimination legislation.

DePriest was particularly interested in mobilizing voters of the rapidly growing Black Belt of Chicago's Second Ward. The community where Unity Hall is located was a bustling strip of Chicago's South Side that was noted for its cabarets and limited housing. Unity Hall would serve as a community house to various organizations throughout the years.

From 1916 to 1919, approximately a half a million Blacks moved to Chicago's Bronzeville community. The housing squeeze was due to the rise of industrialization and factory jobs in northern cities like Chicago. This resulted in an influx of Blacks from the South. Couple this with apartheid-style housing restrictions and the powder keg of racial tension in Chicago would lead to the infamous Chicago Race Riots of 1919.

UNITY HALL

Photo: Unity Hall, 3140 S. Indiana, Chicago

Photo: Unity Hall, Moorish Science Convention of 1928

Unity Hall was built in 1887 by architect L.B. Dixon. The red brick and terracotta building located at 3140 S. Indiana Avenue was originally built for a Jewish Social Organization called the Lakeside Club. This building is among the rare surviving 19th-century club-house architectural structures surviving in Chicago. This building structure is among the National Historic Landmarks.

Dr. Theodore Kenneth Lawless: Dermatologist, Businessman, and Philanthropist

Photo: Dr. Theodore K. Lawless (b. Dec. 6, 1892 - d. May 1, 1971)

Dr. Theodore Kenneth "T.K." Lawless had an extensive knowledge of dermatology that made him one of the leading international skin specialists of his time.

EARLY LIFE AND TRAINING

He was born to Rev. Alfred Lawless and Harriet Dunn Lawless in Thibodeaux, Louisiana in 1892. Lawless became a committed philanthropist after completing extensive academic studies and achieving worldwide success in his medical practice.

He attended Talladega College in 1914 where he earned his B.A. In 1919, he obtained an M.D. from Northwestern University School of Medicine, and an M.A. in 1920 from Northwestern University. He studied dermatology at Columbia University in 1920 and attended Harvard University in 1921.

From 1921-22, Lawless studied at the University of Paris. From 1922-23, he studied at the University of Freiburg, and from 1923-24 he studied at the University of Vienna. He became a noted lecturer in the Department of Dermatology at Northwestern University in Chicago. He was also once a professor of physiology at Howard Medical School.

MEDICAL PRACTICE

Dr. Lawless created Chicago's largest and most respected dermatology clinics in the heart of the African American community. Patients came from across the nation for his coveted services. The clinics where located in the T.K. Lawless Professional Building, located at 4300 S. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.

Photo: T.K. Lawless Professional Buiding in Chicago at 4300 S. King Drive

His medical research contributed greatly towards establishing a cure to leprosy. His knowledge in dermatology and in the treatment of syphilis were used by both U.S. and European physicians. He served as a consultant to the U.S. Chemical Warfare Board. During World War II, he served on the Advisory Committee on venereal disease.

Dr. Lawless donated a research laboratory to Provident Hospital on the South Side of Chicago. A clinic in Israel was named after him to honor his $160,000 financial donations toward establishing a dermatology clinic (Lawless Department of Dermatology) at the Beilinson Hospital in Tel-Aviv, Israel. In 1954, Lawless was awarded the Spingarn Medal, the highest ranking NAACP award. By the 1960s, Ebony magazine listed Dr. Lawless among America's 35 Negro millionaires.

Black Chicago and the Regal Theater

Photo of Regal Theater: "Movie theater, Southside, Chicago, Illinois"

(1941, Library of Congress)

It is hard for many young people to imagine the kind of vibrant and bustling community life that surrounded the former site of the Regal Theater. The Savoy Ballroom complex, which would included the Regal Theater, opened on Thanksgiving night in 1927 at 4719 S. South Parkway (later known as 4719 S. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive). The Regal Theater opened on February 24, 1928, giving birth to a new Black Chicago nightlife.

Photo: The Regal Theater: "In front of the movie theater, Chicago, Illinois"

(1941, Library of Congress)

Photo: An Exterior View of Chicago's Regal Theater

(ca. 1941, Library of Congress)

Built by the National Theater Corporation, the Regal Theater was one of the first theater halls that was built specifically for the African American community's entertainment. From 1928-1971, the Regal Theater offered patrons live performances and films.

Regal Theater acts included Louis Armstrong, County Baise, Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Lena Horne, the Ink Spots, Moms Mabley, the Mills Brothers, and Bessie Smith. The great historical acts of the theater is commemorated by the community with a mural at the northeast corner of the intersection of 47th Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.

 

Photo: "Crowd coming out of Regal movie theater, Southside of Chicago, Illinois"

(1941, Library of Congress)

Built in 1926-27, the Regal Theater architect was John Eberson. Its architecture was the talk of the town. Its Spanish Baroque-revival facade and interior was based on the Moorish designs of North Africa and Spain. The auditorium ceiling was designed to affect the underside of an Arabian tent. The sky and distant castles were painted into the interior facade.

The theater featured act was typically a 22-piece jazz band, the "Regalettes" chorus line, and a Barton House organist. Chicago's Bronzeville community is fond of noting that the history of its community theater predated New York's Apollo Theater and held twice its capacity.

"Art exhibit in the lobby of the Regal Theater, Chicago, Illinois"

(Library of Congress, 1941)

THE NEW REGAL THEATER

In 1973, the Regal Theater, located at 4719 S. King Dr. Street, was demolished. the New Regal Theater, originally named the Avalon, was opened by a group of community investors in 1985. The project was spearheaded by Edward and Bettiann Gardner, founders of the Soft Sheen Products Company in Chicago.

The New Regal Theater Building

New Regal Theater Interior

The New Regal Theater sought to recall the Moorish architectural legacy of the Regal Theater in its close to $10 million dollar renovation. The restored theater was designed with a grand "Persian courtyard" to showcase theater and musical concerts. This South Side entertainment center is located in the South Shore community of Chicago at 1641 E. 79th Street.

Etta Moten Barnett: African American Singer and Actress

Photo: Etta Moten Barnett (b. Nov. 5, 1901 – d. Jan. 2, 2004) 

in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

Etta Moten Barnett has been a tireless pioneer in her career as a musical performer, actress, and community activist.

THE EARLY LIFE OF ETTA MOTEN BARNETT

Etta Moten Barnett was born in Weimer, Texas on November 5, 1901. The only child of Rev. Freeman F. Moten, an African Methodist Episcopal minister, and school teacher Ida Moten, she remembers her childhood fondly as a time of singing with the choir in her father's church. It was at Paul Quinn College in Texas that the quality of her singing voice was first rewarded with an educational scholarship.

Moten went on to attend Western University, an Historically Black University (HBU) in Kansas. Her professional singing career took off once she joined the Jackson Jubilee Singers and went on to sing with the renowned Eva Jessye Choir.

EARLY BLACK ACTRESSES

Moten was discovered as an actress by a talent scout for the 1931 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers classic movie Flying Down to Rio. She is best remembered, however, for her role as the incarnate heroine Bess in the original George Gershwin production of the popular musical Porgy and Bess. Gershwin chose Eva Jessye as the choral director for the 1935 opera production of Porgy and Bess.

Photo: 1935 Cast of Porgy and Bess

(photographer Richard Tucker. Oct. 10, 1935.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

A pioneering Black musical performer, Etta Moten Barnett broke the film industry's color barrier as the first Black performer to play in a film role that was not a domestic role, when she performed in The Gold Diggers in 1933.

As a Chicago resident, Moten was active in promoting the arts through the South Side Community Art Center and DuSable Museum of African American History. Moten was appointed by the U.S. federal government as a cultural ambassador to ten African countries. In shaped this role as an opportunity to led cultural exchange missions between African Americans and Africans. Moten was an active member of the National Council of Negro Women in Chicago.

Photo: The late Etta Moten Barnett's home in Chicago

3619 S. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive

John H. Johnson: The Johnson Publishing Company of Chicago

Photo: John Harold Johnson (b. Jan. 19, 1918 – d. Aug. 8, 2005)

The Johnson Publishing Company, started by Johnson H. Johnson, is among the largest Black-owned businesses in the United States.

THE EARLY LIFE OF JOHN H. JOHNSON

John H. Johnson, founder of Johnson Publishing, was born in Arkansas City, Arkansas in 1918. In 1933, he and his mother migrated to Chicago seeking a better education for the young John Johnson. After graduating from DuSable High School, Johnson worked for Henry H. Pace, then president of Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company.

Johnson was eventually given the task to find news items about Blacks and compile them with news of Supreme Life employee activities for an in-house publication. Johnson developed the idea of collecting articles into a monthly magazine to be called Negro Digest.

In 1942, Johnson used his mother's new furniture as collateral for a $500 loan to mail 20,000 letters to Supreme Life insurance policy-holders offering a $2 charter subscription to the Negro Digest. The overwhelming reply marked the beginning of the Black media dynasty. Other publications launched by Johnson was Tan magazine, a true confessions style publication, as well as Ebony Man, Ebony Jr., and African American Stars.

EBONY AND JET MAGAZINES

Ebony and Jet magazines have been published from Chicago since 1945 and 1951, respectively. In its 40th year of publication, Ebony magazine had reached a circulation of 2,300,000. After which, Johnson began making the list of the richest individuals in the United States. In 1996, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom was bestowed on Johnson by President Bill Clinton.

The company's subsidiaries include Fashion Fair Cosmetics and the Ebony Fashion Fair Show.

Johnson Publishing Company celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2002. The publishing company is headquartered in a free standing building in the South Loop of Chicago at 820 S. Michigan Avenue.

Photo: Entryway to Johnson Publishing Company building in Chicago

Joe Louis: The "Brown Bomber" World Heavyweight Boxing Champion

Photo: Joseph Louis Barrow (b. May 13, 1914 – d. April 12, 1981)

(Photo by Carl Van Vechten)

Joe Louis Barrow will always top the list of truly great boxers. Better known as Joe Louis or the Brown Bomber, Louis was World Heavyweight Boxing Champion from 1937-1949.

THE CHILDHOOD OF JOE LOUIS

Born inside a sharecropper's shack in 1914 in Lexington, Alabama, the young Louis later moved to Detroit with his family. Hauling blocks of ice for a living as a young man, Louis developed a muscular build from hauling blocks of ice for a living as a young man.

Louis' teachers told his parents that he would have to make a living with his hands because he developed a stammer and became withdrawn in his youth. This turned out to be a prophetic statement since Louis would defend his heavyweight title 25 times, knocking out his opponents in 21 of those fighting matches.

JOE LOUIS FIGHTS MAX SCHMELING

Of his 68 victories in professional boxing, Louis only lost three times. He became the most famous Black man in the world after winning a fight with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938. This was a major victory for Louis' career. For Black people, his was was a mighty blow struck at racial injustice.

Louis died in 1981 at the age of 66. His late wife renovated the building where they resided at 4326 S. Michigan in Chicago. The building has become a historical landmark in African American history.

1982 U.S. Congressional Gold Medals Honor Joe Louis

The Harold Washington Library: A Library in Honor of Chicago's First Black Mayor

Photo: Chicago Mayor Harold Lee Washington (b. April 15, 1922 – d. Nov. 25, 1987)

Born in Chicago on April 15, 1922, Harold Lee Washington would graduate from Roosevelt University and later Northwestern University Law School, both in Chicago. His political career included serving as a Illinois State Representative and a member of the U.S. House of Representative. Washington served the City of Chicago from 1983 until his death in 1987. He was among the earliest of Chicago's political advocates for the revitalization of the historic Bronzeville community on the South Side of Chicago.

THE HAROLD WASHINGTON LIBRARY CENTER IN CHICAGO

The 10-story Harold Washington Library Center is the largest public library in the United States in collection volume. It opened October 1991 and was named in honor of the late mayor Harold Washington, the city's first Black mayor.

The Harold Washington Library Center provides full library services, exhibitions and lectures, a fully equipped video theater and television studio, a winter garden and coffee shop. It hosts the Harold Washington Archives and Collections, a "Chicago Blues" archive, and an art collection with representation dozens of Black artists.

Photo: "Events in the Life of Harold Washington,"

mosaic mural by Jacob Lawrence (Chicago, 1991)

In the Harold Washington Archives and Collection there is a permanent exhibition that documents Washington's political career. A mural-size mosaic by the late Black artist Jacob Lawrence titled "Events in the Life of Harold Washington" is located on the central lobby's north wall.

Photo: 9th Floor of The Harold Washington Library

Image: 4th Floor of The Harold Washington Library

Photo: Lobby of The Harold Washington Library

Across from the Jacob Lawrence work is "DuSable's Journey," a "cakewalk cosmogram" that traces the water routes taken by Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable from his native Haiti to to his new home in what is now known as Chicago. The map is encircled by a ring of excerpts taken from Harold Washington's first inaugural address. The Harold Washington Library Center is located at 400 S. State Street.