Local author Lowell Thompson’s new book, African Americans in Chicago, is a pictorial history that boasts more than 200 vintage
images, which provide readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped our community.
“The story of Black Chicago is so rich that few know it all,” says former advertising executive Thompson, noting that the Black experience in Chicago began long before the city itself.
Pottawatomie natives reportedly said about Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the brown-skinned Haitian recognized as Chicago’s first non-Indian settler, that “the first White man here was a Black man,” according to Thompson.
The book is available at area bookstores or through Arcadia Publishing at 888/313-2665 or www.arcadiapublishing.com.
Thompson will host a book signing and discussion at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 South State Street, on February 28, at 6 p.m.
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- 2. New arrivals from the South following the Civil War. Chicago’s Black population was about 600 in 1860 and 3,700 by 1870
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- New arrivals from the South following the Civil War. Chicago’s Black population was about 600 in 1860 and 3,700 by 1870. . New arrivals from the South following the Civil War. Chicago’s Black population was about 600 in 1860 and 3,700 by 1870.
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- Entertainer extraordinaire Nathaniel Adams Coles –– better known as Nat King Cole –– was a Chicago native who graduated from DuSable High School.
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- The 44th President of the United States and his family still have their home in Chicago.
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- In 1928, the Regal Theater on 47th and King Drive was the spot. It was built by White businessmen for the African-American market.
