Chicago and the Civil Rights Movement
Linda Zabors
Timeline of slavery in the United States and in Illinois
1619 Indentured Servitude is initiated in the Jamestown colony by the Virginia Company. Laborers immigrating to the United States pay off the cost of their passage and room and board by working for several years under harsh conditions. They are afforded some rights and sometimes are granted land or property when their time is up.
The downstate Illinois Salt Mines use indentured servants, many of which are freed or runaway slaves.
Slavery increases in popularity as a source of cheap labor
Mid-1700s Slavery is practiced by the French in the Louisianna Territory which includes what is now the midwest.
1818 Illinois enters the United States as a Free State
1819-1965. Illinois Black Laws prohibit free blacks from voting, taking legal action against whites, or bearing arms. Blacks in Illinois are assumed to be slaves unless they hold a Certificate of Freedom
1850 The Fugitive Slave Law is passed. Escaped slaves are denied a trial by jury; it becomes illegal to help a slave escape capture.
Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States.
The American Civil War begins
1862 Lincoln Signs the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the United States
1865 The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is passed, outlawing slavery in the United States
Jim Crow Laws instituted.
Martin Luther King, Jr. in Chicago
1963
August 28, 1963. March on Washington
Many Chicagoans participated locally or traveled to Washington D.C. for this event. Washington D.C. is where Dr. King deliver his famous “I have a Dream” speech.
There is a traveling exhibit which features a virtual reality experience of the March on Washington “I Have a Dream” speech. It is currently (as of 2022) showing at the DuSable Museum in Chicago.
1964
June 21, 1964. Illinois Rally for Civil Rights at Soldier Field
“We have come a long, long way in the civil rights struggle, but let me remind you that we have a long, long way to go. Passage of the civil rights bill does not mean that we have reached the promised land in civil rights.”
http://archives.nd.edu/about/news/index.php/2014/illinois-rally/
July 2, 1964. The 1964 Civil Rights Bill was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson
1966
January 2, 1966
Martin Luther King, Jr. moves his family to an apartment on the West Side of Chicago near Douglas Park at 1550 S. Hamilin.
July 10, 1966. Freedom Sunday rally at Soldier Field and march to City Hall
30,000 in attendance in spite of 98F temperatures. He calls for a “just and open city,” fair housing, desegregated schools, employment opportunities, and an end to police brutality.
"This day we must declare our own Emancipation Proclamation. This day we must commit ourselves to make any sacrifice necessary to change Chicago. This day we must decide to fill up the jails of Chicago, if necessary, in order to end slums.
"This day we must decide to register every negro in Chicago of voting age before the municipal election. This day we must decide that our votes will determine who will be the mayor of Chicago next year.
"This day, henceforth and forever more, we must make it clear that we will purge Chicago of every politician, whether he be negro or white, who feels that he owns the negro vote rather than earns the negro vote."
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-martin-luther-king-jr-1966-speech-chicago-20160706-story.html
Following the rally, he and a crowd marched to City Hall. The following day he met with Mayor Richard J. Daley.
August 5, 1966. Marquette Park March
Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a march in the Marquette Park neighborhood and is met with an angry white mob that throws bricks and bottles at the protesters. King is hit in the head with a rock.
“I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hateful as I've seen here in Chicago.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-martin-luther-king-jr-1966-speech-chicago-20160706-story.html
August 28, 1966. The Daley-King Agreement
The Daley-King agreement on "open housing" in Chicago is considered a precursor to the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-martin-luther-king-jr-1966-speech-chicago-20160706-story.html
1968
April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
Riots break out in cities across the country
Chicago renames South Park Way as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
Civil Rights Act of 1968, more commonly known as the Fair Housing Act,was passed by Congress on April 10, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it on April 11, 1968, just one week after King's death.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-martin-luther-king-jr-1966-speech-chicago-20160706-story.html
Source
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-martin-luther-king-jr-1966-speech-chicago-20160706-story.html