Discovering the history of Black life in Chicago is vital to community members across the city and researchers around the globe, from families exploring their genealogy, to high schoolers participating in history fairs, to undergraduates writing class papers, and graduate students and faculty doing scholarly research.
A new online gateway to collection guides will make it easier for everyone to discover and use archival collections highlighting Black experiences at institutions across the Chicago area—including papers, photos, correspondence and more documenting the lives of people from Mahalia Jackson to Harold Washington, and organizations from the Chicago Urban League to the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The BMRC Archives Portal has been developed by the Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC), a Chicago-based membership association of libraries, universities, museums, community/arts organizations, and other archival institutions, with a home at the UChicago Library. The BMRC’s mission is to connect all who seek to document, share, understand and preserve Black experiences.
“Researchers can use the portal as a tool to find the collections, voices and stories that are essential to our history, to the stories we're writing now,” said Marcia Walker-McWilliams, executive director of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. “The Portal can help illustrate and illuminate new connections in the lives and projects documented in the archives. We invite you to explore the broad landscape of the intertwined histories of Black experiences in Chicago and beyond.”
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This story was first published by UChicago News.
