Chicago in Depth - Chicago 2005 - page 293

Morton, King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong; Native Son author Richard
Wright; John H. Johnson, publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines and
one of Chicago's wealthiest residents; blues musicians Willie Dixon,
Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf; Thomas A. Dorsey, the “father of
gospel music,” and his greatest disciple, singer Mahalia Jackson; Robert
Taylor, head of the Chicago Housing Authority, after whom the CHA's
most notorious buildings are named; and Ralph Metcalfe, the Olympic
gold-medalist sprinter who turned to politics once he got to Chicago,
eventually succeeding Dawson in Congress.
When open-housing legislation enabled blacks to live in any neigh-
borhood, the flight of many Bronzeville residents to less crowded areas
took a toll on the community. Through the 1950s, almost a third of the
housing became vacant, and, by the 1960s, the great social experiment
of urban renewal through wholesale land clearance and the creation of
large tracts of public housing gutted this once-thriving neighborhood.
In recent years, however, community and civic leaders appear commit-
ted to restoring the neighborhood to a semblance of its former glory.
Landmark status has been secured for several historic buildings in
Bronzeville, including the Liberty Life/Supreme Insurance Company, 3501
S. King Dr., the first African American-owned insurance company in the
northern United States, and the Eighth Regiment Armory, which, when
completed in 1915, was the only armory in the United States controlled by
an African-American regiment. The former home of the legendary Chess
Records at 2120 S. Michigan Ave.—where Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, and
Bo Diddley gave birth to the blues and helped define rock 'n' roll—now
houses a museum and music education center, Blues Heaven Foundation
( & 312/808-1286 ), set up by Willie Dixon's widow, Marie Dixon, with
financial assistance from rock musician John Mellencamp. Along Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Drive, between 24th and 35th streets, several public-art
installations now celebrate Bronzeville's heritage as well. The most
poignant of them is sculptor Alison Saar's Great Northern Migration
bronze monument, at King Drive and 26th Street, depicting a suitcase-tot-
ing African-American traveler standing atop a mound of worn shoe soles.
For tours of Bronzeville, contact the Chicago Office of Tourism's Chicago
Neighborhood Tours ( & 312/742-1190; www.chgocitytours.com); Tour
Black Chicago ( & 312/332-2323; www.tourblackchicago.com); or the Black
Metropolis Convention and Tourism Council ( & 773/548-2579 ).
campaign worker. Mayor Daley's top lieutenant, Alderman Pat Huels, used his
city position to drum up business for his security firm and was later forced to
resign. Even “reform mayor” Harold Washington, an alleged ghost payroller
himself during his early days in politics, once went to jail for repeatedly failing
to file his income taxes.
The voters forgave Harold for his ethical lapses, although they almost didn't
forgive him for the ethnical “lapse” of being black. White voters and aldermen