Bronzeville
Big Trouble at Little Shimer: What’s happening to Chicago’s Great Books college?
Last Sunday afternoon, most of Shimer College crowded into a small room to discuss the future of their school. The Assembly—a democratic body in which all students, faculty, staff, and trustees have equal votes—has traditionally been the moral authority of the college, while legal authority rests with the Board of Trustees. In last Sunday’s... »
Good and Plenty: Abundance Bakery takes the cake
The caramel cupcakes at Bronzeville’s Abundance Bakery are so loaded with frosting that they rest upside down on their muffin-tops to support it all. Eating one is a gooey affair that requires a spoon, not to mention a glass of milk and possibly a friend to help. The cupcakes, like most everything at the... »
AREA Party
The South Side Community Art Center is a surprise at first glance: its name is far more industrial and blocky than the Bronzeville gallery’s renovated location. Last Sunday, the impression of strangeness was only increased as the center played host to the ninth release party of AREA Chicago, the twice-yearly publication of the arts... »
Best of the South Side 2009: Bronzeville
Bronzeville takes great pride in its history as the “Black Metropolis.” A destination for Southern blacks moving north during the Great Migration, it became the cultural nucleus of Chicago’s African-American community, nurturing such greats as Ida B. Wells, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sam Cooke, and Louis Armstrong, as well as the groundbreaking black newspaper the Chicago... »
The Art of Development: Marguerite Horberg’s new venue aims to build community in Bronzeville
Envision this: a creative haven for artists both local and global to come together and encourage the economic growth of a community. A neighborhood place where artists, intellectuals, community activists, students, and visitors can work collaboratively towards creative expression and community building. Marguerite Horberg, drawing on over 20 years of experience with the acclaimed... »
The Third Migration: The Chicago Defender returns home to Bronzeville
Buried in a blockhouse of paperwork and newspapers, Lou Ransom, executive editor of the Chicago Defender, remarks, “When you tear down projects, and you issue vouchers, people will move and try to find the most hospitable places to live.” He swivels his chair around, turning his back against the view of Lake Michigan from... »
Who Backs the Bid?: The view from the ground of the 2016 Olympics
Bankrupt and deserted, the Michael Reese Hospital on the 2900 block of Ellis Avenue is an unlikely site for Olympic grandeur. But across the street from the hospital, flags wave in the parking lot of the Prairie Shores apartment complex to welcome members of the International Olympics Committee, who visited Chicago this past week,... »
The Bronze Age: Harold Lucas fights to preserve Bronzeville’s historic heritage
Of all Chicago’s neighborhoods, Bronzeville boasts some of the most hotly contested real estate in the city. Developers of the South Loop’s upscale condos threaten to build their way down State Street, gentrifying Bronzeville from the north. The University of Chicago campus extends in an ever-encompassing radius from the south. And now, with the... »
