Touring Chicago - Bronzville

P: Now I'm going to take you to an area called Bronzeville...oh---but before I do, maybe we'll swing by the building of The Chicago Defender newspaper.
T: Okay.


P: Hmmmm...this is embarrassing! I could swear this is where the offices of The Chicago Defender were.
T: (laughs)


T: Well, I don't think this is a newspaper. There's a car on the top of the building.
P: A car? Wait a minute. What is that about?

T: Look at that banner. It says Motor Row. Do you know what that means?

P: Yea, this is the area where car dealers set up shop---kind of like for a one-stop car shopping experience.

They return to the car and continue on their way.

They arrive on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive where they find a sign about the Boulevards in Chicago. They continue down the block until...

P: Well here we are in Bronzville!

T: What is Bronzville?

P: Around 1910, Bronzville was known as the Black Metropolis, one of the nation's most significant landmarks of Black urban history. It was an area where alot of Black who had migrated North ended up.
T: This map is very cool. Look at all of the things that Bronzville is known for.

After the girls checked out this in-ground map and the area, they continue driving down Martin Luther King, Jr Drive.

Pixxa glances over and sees what she'd been looking for earlier.

P: There's the Defender!

T: So you were off a little bit remembering where it was?

P: Heck no! They definitely were not in this building before. I wonder when they moved. But I'm glad we found it.

T: So what's so big about the Defender.

P: Well, it's just that it was founded in 1905 for the Black community. By the beginning of World War I, The Defender's readership had grown into a national base and it became one of the nation's most influential Black newspapers, with over 2/3 of the readers being from outside of the Chicago area. The paper was a great part of "The Great Migration" of Blacks from the South to the North.

T: Now that's interesting!

P: And in 1923, they started the Bud Biliken Day Parade and Picnic, which showcased children. And all these years later, the parade and picnic continue. Now it's a tradition that signals it's time for back-to-school.

T: I've heard about that. No wonder why you wanted me to see this.

P: On to our next stop.

T: I really enjoy the DuSable Museum of African American History.

P: Yes, it's a great little museum, full of so much Black History.

T: (yawn) We had a long day!

P: Yes we did. And I hope that you enjoyed museum day!

T: I did...I definitely did!