Contract Buyer's League: an Exhibition

We had a full house for last Wednesday night's discussion of Family Properties! Special guest Jack Macnamara, who played a pivotal role in helping organize the Contract Buyer's League told us about this fabulous exhibit currently on display  at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, North Lawndale, 3555 W Ogden Ave in Chicago. Here are a few photos from the exhibit.

 

And don't forget, this Sunday July 26th in Winnetka is Justice Day 2015, Open Communities celebration  of Martin Luther King's 1965 speech on the Winnetka Green. It will be a family-friendly event with tables from various community organizations, music, arts and crafts, and children’s activities. It is, "an opportunity to recapture the northern suburb residents’ desire for social justice and for every individual to get involved".  We're hoping to display some panels from the CBL exhibit there too. Hope to see you!

will be a family-friendly event with tables from various community organizations, music, arts and crafts, and children’s activities. It is an opportunity to recapture the northern suburb residents’ desire for social justice and for every individual to get involved. - See more at: http://www.interfaithhousingcenter.org/caldetail.cfm?calendar_id=1116945#sthash.7DDAXTvw.dpuf

will be a family-friendly event with tables from various community organizations, music, arts and crafts, and children’s activities. It is an opportunity to recapture the northern suburb residents’ desire for social justice and for every individual to get involved. - See more at: http://www.interfaithhousingcenter.org/caldetail.cfm?calendar_id=1116945#sthash.7DDAXTvw.dpuf

will be a family-friendly event with tables from various community organizations, music, arts and crafts, and children’s activities. It is an opportunity to recapture the northern suburb residents’ desire for social justice and for every individual to get involved. - See more at: http://www.interfaithhousingcenter.org/caldetail.cfm?calendar_id=1116945#sthash.7DDAXTvw.dpuf

The Tragedy of Chicago Segregation

This week, Mary Barr will be back in town discussing her book Friends Disappear: The Battle for Racial Equality in Evanston. Barr's memoir focuses on the lives of white and black school friends from the 70s, and how race and class affected the outcomes of their lives.

Evanston's path to racial integration has not always been smooth, yet it sounds positively idyllic when compared  with Chicago. As in many northern cities, real estate boards and banks, in collusion with the Federal Housing Administration's redlining, conspired to prevent African Americans from obtaining mortgages, refused to allow them to buy property outside of the "Black Belt" and forced them to resort to outrageous "contract " agreements for inferior overpriced housing. The result was overcrowded neighborhoods, black homeowners working 2 jobs to keep up with exorbitant payments, and family and neighborhood disintegration.

This month, Open Communities (formerly Interfaith Housing) in Winnetka honors the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's speech on the Winnetka green, in which he addressed racial segregation in the Chicago suburbs. As part of this observance, EPL will be discussing  Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America, historian Beryl Satter's memoir of Chicago's unequal housing system, and those who fought it, including her father. Her fascinating mixture of urban history and family memoir explores the conflicts between family loyalty, communal responsibility, and racial animosity which resulted in tragedy for so many. We will also look at contemporary issues related to open and affordable housing in Chicago, the suburbs and the nation.

Please join us on Wednesday July 15th at 7 pm at Evanston Public Library. All are welcome! Call 847-448-8620 to get a copy of the book.