BRONZEVILLE HISTORY

In the first half of the 20th century, Bronzeville was one of the most important destinations of the “Great Migration”, becoming the home to hundreds of thousands of Blacks fleeing oppression in the South. Confronted with residential segregation and a culture of commercial exclusion, Blacks created the Black Metropolis, a "city-within-a-city" that provided all of the essentials for day-to-day living and put Black Chicago on the map. Commerce flourished, jobs were abundant, and innovations in music, literature, theater and beyond attracted people from across Chicago and defined America. They gave rise to a Black Arts Movement, created gospel and electrified blues, built hundreds of businesses, and created a political base that eventually would give birth to the nation’s first Black president.

Unfortunately, the vibrant Bronzeville economy collapsed at the end of the 20th century, declining in the 1960’s and 1970s. Newly won civil liberties triggered an exodus of residents held back by decades of corporate disinvestment and financial redlining, suffering from overcrowding and municipal neglect. By the turn of the 21st century, Bronzeville had lost three quarters of its population and the vast majority of its commerce. Thousands of homes had become vacant and were demolished. Retail districts that had been the envy of other communities became marked by vacancy, blight, and crime. And the City of Chicago lost a key engine of growth as well as a million residents across all ethnicities.

In 2003 we formed Urban Juncture, Inc. and began developing a plan for bringing commerce back to our community—specifically the culturally-rich but financially-poor community that is Bronzeville. These efforts later became Build Bronzeville, a series of connected initiatives that utilize Bronzeville’s unique assets to restore commercial activity and revitalize our historic neighborhood.

A TIMELINE OF BRONZEVILLE HISTORY

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