Timuel Black
Linda Zabors
Timuel Black was a black historian, professor, Civil Rights activist who lived on the South Side of Chicago and lived to be 102 years old.
His family moved to Chicago from Birmingham, Alabama when he was a year old; they were fleeing racial segregation and seeking better education for their children.
Timuel Black helped organize more than 2,500 Chicagoans to attend the Martin Luther King March on Washington. He also worked on the campaign that elected Chicago’s first black Mayor, Harold Washington.
As a soldier in WWII, he was moved by the atrocities he saw in Europe as a result of the Nazi regime; he dedicated his life to civil rights.
He was on the faculty at City Colleges of Chicago
Timuel Black is the author of several books, including: Bridges of Memory (two volumes) and Sacred Ground
Education:
University of Chicago
Roosevelt University
DuSable High School
Wendell Phillips High School
Englewood High School
Burke Elementary
Veteran: WWII, Army. Europe - Invasion of Normandy and Battle of the Bulge
Photo Credit: CC0 Timuel Black
Honorary Timuel Black Way
4800 to 5000 South State Street
Approved: November 2012
Ward: 3
Alderman: Dowell
Neighborhood: Bronzeville
b. December 7, 1918. Birmingham, Alabama
d. October 13, 2021. Age 102. Chicago