PD in Your PJs: Early History of African Americans in Illinois

The Colored Conventions Project provides accessible, accurate information on Black communities and political organizing in Illinois in the 1840s-1860s. Topics covered include the infamous Illinois “Black laws,” Black community building (focusing on churches and schools), women’s activities, the growth of Chicago, and the mobilization for a statewide Black political convention in 1853. The site also includes biographical profiles of twenty-five individual Black men and women.

Join Northwestern University historian Kate Masur, project director, for a brief lecture on the site’s resources and an opportunity to explore and ask questions.