Black Leaders and the Chicago Buildings They Inspired

Black history in Chicago is everywhere you look. Generations of Black individuals —some born here, some who migrated here from elsewhere—have played a fundamental role in creating the sights, sounds and flavors that Chicago has become known for.

Buildings, in particular, have an incredible amount to tell us about Black life in Chicago. Our city has commercial buildings designed by Black architects; houses and apartments lived in by Black families; churches and mosques worshipped in by Black congregations; businesses owned by Black entrepreneurs and countless pieces of public infrastructure constructed and shaped by Black engineers, builders, technicians, tradespeople and creatives. The stories these buildings tell are multifaceted: celebratory and painful, familiar and obscure, unequivocal and nuanced. But each of these stories tells us something important about where we’ve come from, and how far we still have to go toward creating a truly equitable metropolis.

The Chicago Architecture Center is proud to present a selection of significant buildings named for prominent Black Chicagoans – people who transcended injustice, prejudice and racial violence to assume respected leadership roles in civic life. We know that these buildings represent mere threads in a rich tapestry of other examples that are not included in this short series. We also know that a name affixed to a building only tells a fragment of a person’s full life. As a community, the CAC is dedicated to educating ourselves, learning from people who know more than we do and initiating a more inclusive and welcoming conversation about Chicago and its built environment. We are learning with you and listening to you.