On December 16, 2020, Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Rob Manfred made big sports news with the announcement that the MLB had “elevated” seven professional Negro Leagues to major league status. “All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations, and triumphs against More
To mark Labor Day and Chicago’s long history of labor activism, CHM assistant curator Brittany Hutchinson recounts how the Pullman Company’s porters formed the first all-Black labor union in the US to address low wages, long hours, and mistreatment from passengers. In August 1925, A. Philip Randolph was elected president the newly formed Brotherhood More
CHM assistant curator Brittany Hutchinson recounts how Provident Hospital, the first African American–owned and operated hospital in the US, created opportunities for Black nurses in Chicago. This blog post is part of a series in which we share the stories of local women who made history in anticipation of CHM’s upcoming online exhibition Democracy Limited: Chicago Women and the Vote. More
In this blog post, CHM curatorial intern Brigid Kennedy recounts the life of Irene McCoy Gaines as part of a series in which we share the stories of local women who made history in anticipation of an exhibition about Chicago women and the vote. Irene McCoy Gaines devoted her career in politics and advocacy to More
CHM curatorial intern Brigid Kennedy recounts the extraordinary life of Elizabeth Lindsay Davis. This blog post is part of a series in which we share the stories of local women who made history in anticipation of CHM’s upcoming exhibition Democracy Limited: Chicago Women and the Vote. Elizabeth Lindsay Davis not only took the motto of More