Bronzeville is a neighborhood famous for its Black heritage. Filled with artists of African American culture, it has had its glory days. With sites like the South Side Community Arts Center, Bronzeville is still proven to be a hub of Black culture. Unfortunately, this neighborhood has seen better days, which is clearly seen by its abundance of vacant lots and boarded up buildings. With its violent history that comes out of racial segregation, Bronzeville is branded as dangerous, worsening the state of dilapidation. Surprisingly and gratefully, the citizens of Bronzeville are fighting effortlessly to preserve its history while welcoming new generations.
Victory Monument
The first site I visited was the Victory Monument spiring out of the intersection of 35th Street and Martin Luther King Drive. Green, oxidized bronze sculptures evolve out of the stone base on four sides, three of them featuring a human figure, one with the eagle on the south face. On the very top of the stone base is an armed soldier facing south.
This monument was built in 1926, with the statue above added on in 1936. The monument honors the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard who served in France during World War I (1). It is now a designated Chicago Landmark and greets travelers driving north towards the towers of downtown.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett House
Martin Luther King Drive is a beautiful throughway which features a tree-lined boulevard with historic mansions from the late nineteenth century to present. Out of the sea of three-story town homes rises a red roofed turret, marking the house of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an African-American journalist and activist famous for her anti-lynching campaign, starting in 1892 (2). Wells’s work in Chicago included the founding of the Negro Fellowship League, a home for freed settlers from the south, the Alpha Suffrage Club for black woman, as well as helping the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP for short. (3)
As I visited this house, it was surprising to see a family leaving the front door towards their car parked in front. I wonder what the feeling is, honor or pressure, that is bestowed upon new residents of homes of famous figures. Without the Chicago Landmark signage, the house would not be as noticeable, even with its well kept color scheme. Ida B. Wells only had residency in Chicago from 1919-1929 (4), only two years before she passed away, which begs the question, how did the house and Bronzeville have a vital role in Wells’s life?
Mariano’s Supermarket
One of the newest businesses in the Bronzeville neighborhood is the shining Mariano’s at the corner of Pershing and MLK Drive. Inside of the store is a wide variety of food options of all types of customers. Visitors to the store are greeted by fresh produce, where the company proudly flaunts its variety of goods. Next, a cafeteria offers hot food, salads, cakes, donuts, etc. The hot food bar features food of southern cuisine, like fried okra, fried chicken, white cod and beans, evidence of Mariano’s efforts to serve the community. Entering the grocery store portion, customers are flashed with the signs of a wealthier lifestyle, with shelves of wine, cheese, salmon and other delicacies relating to the exclusive class. The rest of the store stocks common goods like canned foods and cereals. In it’s famous International Marketplace section, hundreds of products from across the globe become available to the Bronzeville community. Here, I found some Polish and Israeli chocolates that I can enjoy for a dollar fifty each.
Bronzeville’s Mariano’s is an example of a new effort to feed the Southside with fresh produce, removing the term “food desert” from the area. (5) Unfortunately, the store’s presence has not revitalized the surrounding neighborhood as much as expected, where vacant lots or abandoned buildings have not become occupied, contradicting claims that the new store would encourage new construction (5). Like an alien ship, the store feels extremely foreign to the neighborhood, despite the efforts to bring community interactions into the design and business. The cultural wall that lines the west edge of the parking lot feels like a bullet point of a presentation that to meet a checklist. It is appropriate to be critical of these new developments that, despite good intentions, fail to integrate themselves into the community.
South Side Community Arts Center
The most interactive location I visited in Bronzeville was the South Side Community Arts Center (SSCAC). Within the brick walls, over 75 years of history is presented with pieces from famous African American artists like SSCA founder Dr. Margaret Burroughs. The center is in a renovated Chicago mansion on Michigan Avenue, adopting the Bahaus style which is very evident in its white staircase. The walls in the main gallery space showcase the museums history by being true to the events that have taken place within. A piano played by the famous Nat Cole sits in the bay window of the west side while the wood paneling is dotted with holes from countless pinups over the decades. (6) The art that fills every square foot of wall space is created by African American artists working along the SSCAC to enrich the southern art style in Bronzeville.
I found that places like the SSCAC truly fulfill what needs to be done to give a neighborhood its identity. Aspiring artists in the neighborhood can dream and become inspired by the works of great artists before. The work inside the building is proudly eccentric, with each artist defining their emotions and styles through various mediums of sculpting and painting. On the top floor of the building, there is a community space where classes occur and meetings are held. The SSCAC is one of many art galleries in the neighborhood, like Gallery Guichard, that strive to bring an artistic identity to the new generations of Bronzeville residents.
Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles
A famous eating establishment in Bronzeville is the Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles. At the intersection of Oakwood Boulevard and MLK drive, the restaurant sits in a brick-construction block, with its entrance right at the corner. As you enter the restaurant, murals can be seen on the abandoned train tracks down the road. The interior of the restaurant was surprisingly homey, with dark wood lining the walls and ornate tiles covering the ceiling. There was controlled low light creating a very comfortable environment for guests. The other customers consisted of primarily Blacks, although towards the end of the meal, a diverse group of students from IIT sat down to eat.
I will begin to describe the food with the waffle. Unlike the crispy, thick waffles that I am used to, the waffle of Chicago’s Home was soft and thin. The syrup was sweet and complimented the waffle greatly. The main dish was the chicken sausage omelette, which was exquisite to say the least. Egg blankets a bed of cheesy “yumminess” filled with small pieces of chicken sausage, onions and bell peppers. The sausage is also different from the normal pork sausages I get at home; the taste is lighter and the texture is more chewy while pork sausages burst when bitten. I chose this omelette over their famous fried chicken to try a different item than their usual. At a total cost of $11.25, the omelette and waffle combo seemed to be a better deal than the fried chicken meal. After the meal, my friends and I left nothing the plates and exited the restaurant happy and satisfied.
Peach’s Restaurant
On a second, slightly warmer visit to the Bronzeville neighborhood, I ate at Peach’s Restaurant, a lunch and breakfast place down south in Grand Boulevard. Unlike the homey-feeling of the Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles restaurant, Peach’s has a very open, modern interior to it. Solid colored walls with artistic signage completes this modern, hip look, allowing for the attention of guests to focus on the food. The customers were composed entirely of African Americans, adding to the “validation” of the food of the restaurant.
The food was delicious and I highly recommend it. I had the duck bowl, which was composed of potatoes, cheese, spinach and duck bacon, all topped with a sunny-side egg. Served with a side of hot-sauce, the dish was the perfect balance of starch, meat and vegetables. The bacon was very interesting, taking on a texture more of a thinly sliced sausage, similar to the chewier turkey bacon that I have tried before. The taste is also similar to turkey more that pork of beef. My friend ordered a waffle and a coffee, which fancied a peach flavor relating it to the restaurant’s name.
Chicago Defender
The Chicago Defender building is located along MLK Drive, and sits atop a small driveway hill. The building has an art deco facade decorated with awnings along with the word DEFENDER on the vertical elements. Despite its authentic appearance, the Defender was actually housed in a building more north on Indiana Avenue. (7) As I visited the building, a women working inside greeted me with a smile and wondered about my business. Surprised and thankful for her concern, I told her about my travel blog, then she wished me luck and retreated back into the virtuous fortress.
The Chicago Defender is a news organization that arduously fights to spread the African-American voices across the nation. Founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott, the Chicago Defender became the primary source of news for Blacks, with weekly prints rallying communities to fight against the racial discrimination of American. The paper would be distributed via Pullman cars worked by African American porters, who would sneak the prints on trains headed to southern establishments. (8) These southern establishments, motivated by the rhetoric of the papers, began to leave the southern states to seek a new life in the north. The Chicago Defender not only help bring Blacks from the south, it also provided a platform where African-Americans could support one another to establish new living conditions, including housing and job listings, social organizations and even the rules and laws to prevent any further conflict with the “migrants.” (9) This mass movement of African-Americans became known as the Great Migration.
Overton Hygienics Building
Bronzeville’s historic role as the center of Black culture and commerce in Chicago is evident in the old buildings constructed to house small, Black-owned businesses. One of these remaining buildings is the Overton Hygienics Building on State street. Founded by Anthony Overton and constructed in 1922 by architect Z. Erol Smith, this building housed Overton’s cosmetics business as well as numerous Black-owned businesses (11). Overton’s cosmetics became a worldwide company as the business grew with its place in Chicago, with business deals coming from Europe and the Middle East.
The decoration of the building is ornate with white accents on top of a red-brick construction bringing out the windows and openings. The layout of the exterior is purely symmetrical, with the main entrance at the middle, highlighted by a white post-lintel decoration. This decoration, along with the sign towards the top of the building, is relieved with OVERTON, acknowledging the man who built the business area.
Currently, this building is used as an incubator space for small businesses, much like how it was intentionally built in 1922 (11). When looking on Google Maps, I found out that one of the architecture professors at Illinois Tech has established himself in the historic building (Marshall Brown Projects). Other than this one tenant, however, the building is covered with “space available” signs, with the first floor being entirely empty. I am surprised about how empty the building seems, especially because of the up-and coming site it is at, which overlooks the new housing developments that stand where the Robert Taylor Homes once existed (12). The building also has a close proximity to Illinois Tech and the train station, making it what I believe an ideal place for a startup space for new Bronzeville businesses.
Chicago Bee Building
Another business venture of Anthony Overton was the founding of the Chicago Bee newspaper, a black-focused publication that aim to compete with the Chicago Defender. Overton’s idea of the Chicago Bee was to give a more honest and professional publication over the exaggerated views of the Chicago Defender(13). Unfortunately, after being completed in 1926, the paper company closed in 1946 due to the low readership and long term effects of the great depression. Thankfully, this beautiful gem of Bronzeville architecture is protected by the Nation Register of Historic Places.
Overton hired Z. Erol Smith again for the designing of the Chicago Bee Building, changing the style into a more art-deco theme, be noted that this was the first art-deco styled building in the neighborhood (11). This style is defined by its vertical bands that line up the windows as well as the gold elements that pop out from the more uniform green/black facade. Today, due to the renovation process, the actual tenants of the building is unclear. When I first walked by, the Chicago Bee Library branch was being gutted. When I walked by for the second time, the windows were boarded up, making the actual interior activities illegible. Once the entire renovation is complete, I plan to visit the library and possibly see who the new tenants of the Chicago Bee Building are and what they plan to bring to Bronzeville.
- Fig 10.2
Bronzeville, a Recovering World
Like every neighborhood centered around a specific ethnic group, Bronzeville feels rich and prosperous whenever people are gathered. At major intersections, restaurants and train stops, the lingo and noises of the African American community enliven the neighborhood. With new murals, community gardens and historic landmarks, Bronzeville is finding its flame again as the cultural hub for Blacks in Chicago. After decades of neglect, with the failed housing projects of old, Bronzeville is seeing growth with new housing and restaurants stitching back the community.
Images
Fig 1.1 Bronzeville highlighted in red. (Google Maps)
Fig 2.1Victory Monument viewed from south
Fig 3.1 Ida B. Wells-Barnett House
Fig 3.2 Landmark Plaque for Wells-Barnett House
Fig 4.1 Mariano’s viewed from north on MLK Drive
Fig 4.2 Produce section sign showing off variety
Fig 4.3 Hot bar featuring southern cuisine
Fig 4.4 Israeli and Polish chocolate bars from International Marketplace
Fig 5.1 Exterior of South Side Art Community Center
Fig 5.2 Wall showing important artists and founders
Fig 5.3 Main gallery space
Fig 5.4 Bahaus-style staircase
Fig 5.5 Third-floor community space
Fig 6.1 Menu of Chicago’s Home of Chicago and Waffles
Fig 6.2 Chicken sausage omelette and waffle
Fig 7.1 Peach’s Restaurant exterior
Fig 7.2 Duck Bowl
Fig 7.3 Interior decoration, old stove and aesthetic text
Fig 8.1 Chicago Defender present-day building
Fig 8.2 Newspaper dispenser in front of Chicago Defender building
Fig 9.1 Front view of Overton Building
Fig 9.2 Anthony Overton (http://interactive.wttw.com/a/main.taf-p=76,4,2,2&content=overton-beauty-products.html)
Fig 9.3 Chicago Landmark plaque
Fig 9.4 White terrra-cotta entrance of Overton Building
Fig 10.1 Front of Chicago Bee Building
Fig 10.2 Perspective of the green facade, note: the modern building in the background
Fig 10.3 Golden art-deco entrance
Fig 10.4 Entrance to the Chicago Bee Library Branch on the adjacent building
References
(1)”Victory Monument.” Chicago Landmarks – Landmark Details. Accessed February 23, 2018. http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/landmarksweb/web/landmarkdetails.htm?lanId=1444.
(2) “Ida B. Wells.” Biography.com. January 19, 2018. Accessed February 22, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/ida-b-wells-9527635.
(3) McBride, Jennifer. “Ida B. Wells: Crusade for Justice.” Ida B. Wells. Accessed February 23, 2018. http://faculty.webster.edu/woolflm/idabwells.html.
(4) “We Shall Overcome — Ida B. Wells Barnett House.” National Parks Service. Accessed February 23, 2018. https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/il2.htm.
(5) Ihejirika, Maudlyne. “Bronzeville Mariano’s brings relief to food desert.” Chicago Sun-Times. October 08, 2016. Accessed February 22, 2018. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/bronzeville-marianos-brings-relief-to-food-desert/.
(6) “About.” Art Center – Art Gallery. Accessed February 23, 2018. http://www.sscartcenter.org/about.html.
(7) Jyoti. “Chicago Defender Building.” Chicago – Architecture & Cityscape. March 23, 2010. Accessed February 23, 2018. http://chicago-architecture-jyoti.blogspot.com/2010/03/chicago-defender-building.html.
(8) Spinney, Robert G. City of big shoulders: a history of Chicago. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2000.
(9) “Early Chicago: The Great Migration.” The Great Migration Early Chicago DuSable to Obama: Chicago’s Black Metropolis. Accessed March 03, 2018. http://interactive.wttw.com/a/dusable-to-obama-explore-early-chicago-great-migration.
(10) “Anthony Overton: A Black Manufacturer, Banker, Lawyer and Publisher.” Black History Heroes. Accessed March 04, 2018. http://www.blackhistoryheroes.com/2010/02/anthony-overton-black-manufacturer.html.
(12) “Robert R. Taylor Homes.” The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Accessed March 04, 2018. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/robert-taylor-homes-chicago-illinois-1959-2005.
(13) “The Chicago Bee.” The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Accessed March 04, 2018. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/chicago-bee-1926-1946.
Sam From Hawaii 