5 Early Contributions of Black Americans to Chicago
Caption: Bust of the founder of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, located in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.
In the city’s early days, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, an African and French settler, started trading here in the 1780s. Historians now credit Du Sable with founding the city as well as fugitive slaves and freemen for developing the city’s first Black community.
Later Black Americans started shaping the culture of Chicago during the Great Migration from 1910 - 1970 when Black Americans fled the rural South in hopes of a better life in the urban north.
That moment onward—from businesses, movements, art, music—Black Americans have continued to leave a heavy impact on the Windy City.
As Black History Month concludes, let's take a look back in history and continue to celebrate five early contributions Black Americans made in Chicago during the Great Migration.
Music
Did you know that Chicago is considered the birthplace of gospel music? Thomas Andrew Dorsey, a Black composer who is considered the “Father of Gospel Music” moved from Atlanta to Chicago in 1916, during the Great Migration. It was here that Dorsey not only coined the phrase “Gospel Songs,” but he also made a lot of the traditional songs that are still played at many churches on Chicago’s South and West Side services as well as around the world. Currently, the birth of the genre is celebrated every year during the Chicago Gospel Music Festival.
News
Caption: Screenshot of Chicago Black Renaissance Literary Movement Report created by the Chicago government. The screenshot shows a headline and photo from the Chicago Defender. Photo modified to fit webpage.
Some of Chicago’s well-known newspapers have come from Black Americans. The most well-known Black owned paper in this city is the Chicago Defender. The paper, also known as the Defender, was started by Black editor Robert S. Abbott. The newspaper’s popular circulation in the South became one of the reasons for the Great Migration. Often revered as the “The World's Greatest Weekly,” the newspaper addressed racial injustices throughout the country and other important issues affecting the Black community like the Red Summer Chicago race riots of 1919, arguably leading to investigative journalism in Chicago. The newspaper is still available today digitally.
Art
Caption: Screenshot of poet Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem and her daughter shopping in Chicago. This photo is modified to fit the website. Full version courtesy of and made available by Chicago Black Renaissance Literary Movement Report created by the city of Chicago.
Similar to Harlem's Black Renaissance, The Chicago Black Renaissance during the 1930s - 1950s produced some of Chicago and America's famous literary works and figures. Sprouting out of the South Side of Chicago or the Black Belt, Black Americans produced art, stories, poems, music, and more about segregated life in Chicago. Often those artists tackled themes of poverty, unemployment, and living conditions. One of the most prominent figures from the movement was poet and Pulitzer prize winner, Gwendolyn Brooks. The poet has several schools named after her throughout Chicagoland.
Politics
Caption: Photo of a Chicago Freedom Movement Rally at soldier field. Photo credit CULR_04_0194_2204_003, Chicago Urban League Records, University of Illinois at Chicago Library
It is hard to discuss the contributions of Black Americans anywhere without mentioning one of their movements exposing and fighting against racial injustices. Dubbed as one of the most segregated cities in the North, Chicago, is where Martin Luther King Jr. joined the Chicago Freedom Movement (1965- 1967). King and other Black leaders, James Bevel, and Al Raby used The Chicago Freedom movement also referred to as the Chicago Open Housing Movement to shed light on systematic segregation in Chicago and other northern cities. Through protest, boycotts, and demonstrations this movement wanted to improve the employment and living conditions of Black Residents on Chicago’s South and West Sides. This three-year movement led to the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Sports
Caption: The Chicago American Giants Baseball Team pose for a photo. Photo Courtesy the ChicagoHistory.org and Photo Credit SDN-009529, Chicago Daily News collection, CHM.
When Chicagoans discuss their favorite baseball team in the city, usually they focus on the home-time rival between the Chicago White Sox or the Chicago Cubs; however, there is another important Chicago baseball team that made history in the early days of baseball. During the Great Migration, in 1911, pitcher and manager Rube Foster founded The Chicago American Giants. Since Black Americans were not allowed to play in the Major League (MLB), Foster also organized the Negro National League (NNL) that ran from 1920 until 1931. Out of their many accomplishments, the team is most known for having won three NNL titles. Since their players played in the old White Sox Stadium (Schorling Park), and the team left such a mark in Chicago history, the Chicago White Sox has honored the team on many occasions by wearing a throwback jersey.
These are only five of the early contributions that Black Americans have made in Chicago’s history during the Great Migration. There are plenty of more contributions that Black Americans have made and will continue to make revealing that since its founding Chicago is Black American History.