Entry 3: Unfamiliar Territory
This is a full map of Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. 1
Field Trip to Bronzeville 2/22/19 Michael Cardiff
Revised 3/13/19
In the previous trip to Chinatown, I was visiting a place I had already been to before. I was able to plan the day of the places I would be able to go to and how quickly I was able to move through them. Going into the Bronzeville trip with this mentality was a mistake. Bronzeville, in general, had way more things to see. This is due to the time period in which the African Americans came to Chicago when compared to the Chinese. The Chinese came much earlier, starting in California in the 1850s eventually moving to Chicago after their work on the railroads in California. The majority of African Americans came during the great migration; a mass exodus of the southern African American population to the northern states from 1910 to 1970. Such a large movement of people exploded the African American population of so many states, Chicago, for example, rose from a mere 30,000 black people to an astounding 120,000 in only the years from 1910 to 19202.
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| The Chicago defender building 4 |
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| A Chicago defender Article 5 |
I did not personally have the time to visit the Chicago Defender building, but I would've loved to. Its history was one of the most intriguing to me, it is where the paper that informed the masses about the good parts of Chicago was made. This paper allowed for many southern African Americans to get an insider look into what was happening in Chicago and acted as a driving force for the large population increase in Chicago specifically.
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The Perspective Charter School
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Ida B Wells Preparatory Academy
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| The Chicago Military Academy |
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Instead of taking the train anywhere, I was able to walk from my dorm on campus to 35th street and then down to King Drive. Along the way to King Drive, I encountered quite a few different shops, some were big franchises and others were single restaurants opened by Bronzeville locals. This contrasted heavily with Chinatown, as there were very few large chain stores, let alone restaurants in Chinatown. These places were definitely not around in the early 1900s, but their current existence can tell us something about the assimilation of the African Americans as compared to the Chinese. Chinese immigrants tend to stay in Chinatown, work in Chinese restaurants (in Chinatown or outside it) and hence will work with other Chinese. In other words, the Chinese tend to come from China to interact with their own people, while African Americans tended to work more alongside a greater mix of people.
Images from the Former 8th Regiment Armory
While on my journey to King Drive, I passed by the grand building that once was the Eighth Regiment Armory. The eighth regiment was the first all-black regiment to have its own armory. It was amazing for the African American population as a whole. The building is not on a Main Street, its entrance is off of 35th, on Giles Ave. The building stands out fantastically despite this. The three flags of the US, Illinois, and Chicago catching your attention despite being far away. and you move in closer to see the seal of the US Army, and then a tall monument dedicated to the history of the Eighth Regiment, The Chicago Military academy (Which is what the building is called now), and even African American Soldiers as a whole. Even though this building is somewhat covered by trees while walking along 35th, it is hard to miss as long as you walk right beside it. As soon as I crossed Giles and happened to look right, I knew I had been in the right place. After learning about Chicago's military history, I moved on to King Drive and the Bronzeville Walk of Fame.
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| The victory Monument facing north |
The first thing you see when you get to King Drive from 35th is the very large and tall standing Victory Monument. The victory monument is very tightly related to the armory seen above. It stands in the middle of the Boulevard, so no matter what side of the street you are on, it is visible in all of its glory. It consists of a marble structure that houses 4 panels, 1 of text, 3 more that have statues on them. It is a World War I monument, as that is when the armory on Giles and 35th opened (1914)(See image above). On top is a WWI soldier, in his direction is the first panel, which is an African American Soldier who was in the Eighth Infantry, the eagle below him representing the country he is fighting for, the US. Looking on the panel to the right of the soldier on top is a woman draped in more classical clothes, she is holding a similarly classical sign of victory, a branch. The final side to the left is another classically draped woman holding a tablet with inscriptions of the names of battles that African American Soldiers fought in. This is a very important monument, it wraps up in one place with three separate images the beautiful history of the eighth regiment, most importantly, what they did in battle and the legacy they now leave behind to the future generation.
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| The former Supreme Life Building |
An unexpected building I did not realize I was near initially was the Supreme Life building. This building seems so quaint and unimportant, being on the corner of 35th and King Drive. The building was built after the initial wave of the Great Migration in 1921 and is most well known for being the first black-owned insurance company not in Chicago, not even in Illinois, but in the whole United States. I can see how this building would become a very important place for Bronzeville, as there would most likely be segregation in insurance companies during the 1920s even in the north. This building still standing shows the pride that Bronzeville has for its long-lasting history
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| The Ida B. Wells Preparatory Academy |
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| The Ida B. Wells House |
Much later in my trip (in fact near the end of it), I had walked along King Drive to look at the Ida B. Wells house. At first glance, I had not been sure which house was the correct house, as I had only seen the sign that was in front of it, and had to resort to the address code to find the specific house. It looked similar to the rest of the houses near it, even the gates between the houses were connected. Nothing about the house really stood out to me. Ida B. Wells, on the other hand, stood out greatly (hence why her house is special). She mostly lived in the south and acted against racism and sexism as she raised her 3 sisters and 4 brothers alone after her parents died. She helped form many organizations that led to advancements in racial rights as well as woman's rights(The NAACP and National Association of Colored Women's Club respectively). In the early 1890s, she was forced to move from Memphis to Chicago where much of this work took place. She focused on Urban Development in Chicago during the later years of her life. This last point is the reason there exists the Ida B Wells Preparatory Elementary Academy and Ida B. Wells Housing Project in the city today, she was a very important person in the development of civil and gender-based rights
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| A few examples of plaques on the Bronzeville Walk of Fame |
Perhaps the longest part of my trip was the walk down the Bronzeville Walk of Fame. This was simply due to the fact that most of the trip was spent walking down King Drive. I would see the plaques every so often and decide to read it. They gave short descriptions of what these people were known for and generally were either socially or politically involved. These people included anyone from ragtime or blues musicians and librarians to recording artists and representatives to the UN and NATO. The people along the Walk of Fame represent the accomplishments of Bronzeville, the people who made Bronzeville what it is today. Some of these plaques (as seen in the above images) are quite tarnished and almost appear green. This is what happens to copper over time, it oxidizes and turns green, but this can be counteracted by cleaning and sanding. The second image is in pristine condition, this can mean anything. At the time, I thought of two possibilities, 1 is that this person is just especially beloved, which would explain why the cleaned ones are so erratically placed, or 2, that someone is just happening to clean some at random points, from the general sense of pride in the history of Bronzeville, I would like for it to be the 2nd option.
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Pictures that were taken near Pilgrim Baptist church
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Church plays a big role in the life of people on the south side in general as was seen in the in-class video about Beverly. Bronzeville was formerly a Jewish neighborhood, meaning that there were pre-existing synagogues and temples, the Christian people of Bronzeville converted these into churches without hesitation, as they felt there was nothing wrong with worshipping a Jewish man (Jesus) in a temple or synagogue. The old Pilgrim Baptist church (future Museum of Gospel music) has Hebrew writing and Hebrew dates on it, fully displaying to the public its former status. Not only was the faith of the people uniting them, but their casual enjoyments as well. Ministers and priests would introduce music into their Sunday mass, as a way to get people more involved. The gospel music that is so often portrayed in films started in the old Pilgrim Baptist Church. This seems quite ironic to me, as the street where you may find Pilgrim Baptist is one of the quietest streets I encountered on this trip. It was hard for me to imagine any precession happening inside the building where Pilgrim Baptist stands.
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| Tomb of Stephan A. Douglas |
One of the longest deviations from King Drive that I went on was from 35th and King Drive to the Tomb of Stephen A. Douglas. Sadly at the time, I was unable to enter the proper site for his tomb but I captured some nice pictures from the outside. Douglas was a big political figure and was known for his time in the Senate, where he introduced legislation that helped western expansion. He ran for president multiple times and lost despite having support from the Democratic party. Douglas argued in favor of the popular sovereignty view of Slavery, that it was up to the people of the state to decide whether or not they were a slave state, instead of it being a governmental option
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| Dunbar Statue |
One of the places I had visited after I went to Pilgrim Baptist was Paul Dunbar Park. I did not intend to go here at first, in fact, I hadn't even seen it on the list of places to go at first, so it was an intriguing find, to say the least. Paul Dunbar was a poet from Ohio, but he had befriended people such as Fredrick Douglass, his poetry was representative of life during the turn of the century for African Americans. Frederick Douglass convinced him to read it at the Colombian Exposition.
My trip to Bronzeville overall was very different from Chinatown. I found that in Bronzeville there was overall a bigger sense of pride in the history of the neighborhood, with there being a lot more monuments than in Chinatown. However, both communities I began to see in a different light. With Chinatown, I began to see it as more of a cultural hub rather than a place to get bubble tea, and now with Bronzeville, I see of it less like "The hood" and more like a community with a great sense of pride.
References and Notes
Unless otherwise specified here, all photos are taken by me
Bibliography
- Editors, History.com. “Stephen A. Douglas.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-politics/stephen-a-douglas.
- Frank, Michael. “Chicago Blues Musicians.” Earwig Music, Earwig Music, 2019, www.earwigmusic.com/chicago-blues-musicians.
- Library of Congress. “President Harry Truman Wipes Out Military Segregation.” Planning D-Day (April 2003) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin, Victor, 10 Dec. 1998, www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/educate/truman.html.
- Maidenberg, Micah. “Former Chicago Defender Building Gets New Owner, Tenant.” Crain's Chicago Business, 19 Mar. 2014, www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140319/CRED03/140319697/former-chicago-defender-building-on-motor-row-sold.
- Norwood, Arlisha R. “Ida B. Wells-Barnett.” National Women's History Museum, National Women's History Museum, 2017, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-b-wells-barnett.
- Spinney, Robert Guy. City of Big Shoulders: a History of Chicago. Northern Illinois Univ. Press, 2000.
- Spinney Chapters 9 and 10 are referenced, see above for specific pages
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