Chicago 1919: Confronting the Race RiotsMain MenuAboutAbout this projectEventsA series of Community Conversations across Chicago about the legacies of 1919Newberry DIS09980eb76a145ec4f3814f3b9fb45f381b3d1f02
Chicago 1919: Confronting the Race Riots
12021-04-19T16:57:38+00:004ffbb0ebe0df93a984840a734f34453d39e1ca0a31Historians along with staff from the Newberry Library and the DuSable Museum of African American History reflect on the 1919 Chicago race riots. Marking the 100th anniversary of the riots, the Newberry is coordinating a series of community conversations throughout 2019 that explore the legacy of the most violent week in Chicago history.plain2021-04-19T16:57:38+00:004ffbb0ebe0df93a984840a734f34453d39e1ca0a
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12021-04-19T16:57:37+00:00Reporting on Race test1From The Chicago Defender and Carl Sandburg to Chicago Journalism Todayplain2021-04-19T16:57:37+00:00
Join the conversation as we discuss the role of newspapers and media in the events of 1919 and beyond.
This year marks 100 years since the 1919 race riots in Chicago. Sparked by the murder of African American teenager Eugene Williams, who drowned after being stoned by a white man near a whites-only South Side beach, these riots are an oft-overlooked part of the city’s history. Media coverage at the time of Williams’ death and the ensuing violence largely got the story wrong, with few notable exceptions, especially Carl Sandburg’s reporting for the Chicago Daily News.
On April 4, City Bureau's weekly Public Newsroom will be devoted to drawing connections to how reporting on the 1919 riots relates to the coverage of segregation nearly half a century later and what, if anything, has changed today.
Speakers and Facilitators
Our featured guests for the evening areAngela Ford, founder and executive director of The Obsidian Collection Archives, a national nonprofit focused on getting the images and articles of African American newspapers and small archives into the marketplace and online; Ethan Michaeli, author of The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America; and City Bureau co-founder Darryl Holliday. Attendees will also participate in activities to discuss contemporary reporting on race and how could it could be better.
