History of African Americans in Chicago
The history of African Americans in Chicago or Black Chicagoans dates back to Jean Baptiste Point du Sable's trading activities in the 1780s. Du Sable, the city's founder, was Haitian of African and French descent. Fugitive slaves and freedmen established the city's first black community in the 1840s. By the late 19th century, the first black person had been elected to office.
African American family in South Chicago, 1922
2017 Chicago data represents the African American population by Census Tract
DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago's Washington Park
Mary Richardson Jones, a prominent member of Chicago's black community, in 1865
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents.
Image: Chicago Skyline in September 2023 (cropped)
Image: Chicago River ferry
Image: Pink Line at State & Lake
Image: Wrigley Field in line with home plate
