A Newberry Library and Chicago Historical Society Exhibit: October 1, 2004, to January 15, 2005



  
Unfinished Democracy: Just Next Door
Like immigrant workers who came to the city in the nineteenth century, African Americans who migrated from the South to Chicago came for better jobs, homes, and opportunities for themselves and their children. They struggled along with white allies to overturn deeply rooted segregated housing practices, but they also encountered some white politicians who carefully cultivated racial fear and hatred among their constituents.

Racial conflicts also led to difficult questions about the limits of free speech. Should the American Nazi Party, which openly celebrated the systematic killing of Jews by Hitler, be allowed to march through African American and Jewish neighborhoods? When the White Circle League passed out flyers promoting demonstrations by whites against integration, was this free speech?

 

 
This exhibit has been organized by the Newberry Library's Dr. William M. Scholl Center for Family and Community History and the Chicago Historical Society. It has been made possible with major funding provided in part by The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning. Generous support also provided by The Chicago Reader and Dr. and Mrs. Tapas K. Das Gupta.
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