The Soul of Bronzeville

PHOTO: METROPOLIS/ROBERT L. THORNTON, III

The DuSable Museum of African American History, the oldest Black museum in the country, has just extended the widely-admired exhibit called the Soul of Bronzeville. This collection is heaven for history buffs, blues and soul music fans, seniors who have lived here all of their lives, and young ones learning their history.

Curator Gregg Parker has painstakingly amassed treasures of the Black Metropolis and music history while others carelessly threw them out as trash. It’s as if an underground city has just been unearthed and all of its artifacts should be encased in protective glass. Indeed, this exhibit is one worthy of the Smithsonian and the south side of Chicago should feel quite honored.

PHOTO: METROPOLIS/ROBERT L. THORNTON, III

So, you think you know everything there is to know about Bronzeville?

Have you ever seen original contracts between artists like Duke Ellington and the original Regal Theatre? Have you ever sat in the original Checkerboard Lounge? Have you ever seen the first Black music videos called “shorts” done by some of our greatest musicians?

PHOTO: METROPOLIS/ROBERT L. THORNTON, III

But, best of all, this exhibit illustrates the allure this city had to the Southern Blacks who migrated during the depression and after. When you enter the Soul of Bronzeville exhibit, envision yourself as one of these migrants getting your first taste of the Promised Land. At the door of the exhibit, there is a life-size Defender Newspaper paper-boy at the door.

“Boy, this town is really something! Look at all these colored folks living good! Why, I don’t wanna look like some country boy fresh off the train with no shoes so let me grab one of these here Defender newspapers and learn me something.”

Maps from the book Black Metropolis by St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton are posted in the exhibit to give you the lay of the land. Restrictive Covenants were laws that were in place to keep Blacks within Bronzeville’s borders. One benefit of these laws was that Blacks built and sustained a thriving city within a city with strong businesses and families.

“They say that this is the promised land but I’m nobody’s fool. I won’t set foot in the wrong part of town. No sir. I’ll get a room right here and tomorrow I’ll go over to the stockyards or railroad, get some work, and later on, send for my kinfolk.”

Historic Bronzeville, also known as the Black Belt and Black Metropolis, was only seven miles north to south, 18th Street to 67th Street and east to west, before the Dan Ryan Expressway existed, from the lakefront to Stewart (excluding Hyde Park). As more and more Blacks arrived from the South during what is called The Great Migration, Bronzeville became a bustling metropolis of more than 300,000 within a few short years.

“For now, all that can wait. Tonight is my first night in town! I’m going to the joint to have a little hooch and hear a pretty lady sing me a song.”

PHOTO: METROPOLIS/ROBERT L. THORNTON, III

While Whites enjoyed picture shows with stereotypical mammies, coons, shines, fake mulattos, and jungle bunnies, well dressed and well spoken Blacks in Bronzeville were performing and producing classy theatrical shows, concerts, and short films.

The Soul of Bronzeville exhibit takes you through all the major stops in the Black Belt such as the Regal Theatre, the largest movie house, and said to be the best architecturally, in America built for Blacks by Whites. The Regal outdates even Harlem’s Apollo. This famed theatre sat on 47th & South Parkway (now King Drive), where Dorothy Tillman’s Harold Washington Cultural Center was built, and hosted live shows with the best talent and full orchestras.

Inside of the Soul of Bronzeville exhibit are seats from the original Regal before it was razed and terra cotta from the original structure. The Soul of Bronzeville even has a viewing room where you can see some of the most famous artists of all time in rarely seen footage: Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis Jr., Della Reese, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, the list goes on and on. The artists of yesterday were all-class and performed with pure magic.

PHOTO: METROPOLIS/ROBERT L. THORNTON, III

Next door to the Regal, now a parking lot, was the Savoy Ballroom where teens would dance to Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and other big band performers. During the week, the teenagers could skate and attend boxing matches. Across the street from the Regal and Savoy, now an empty lot, was the Metropolitan Theatre.

On 55th and State Street was Club DeLisa owned by the DeLisa brothers and frequented by top celebrities. On 43rd & Vincennes was the original Checkerboard Lounge where Muddy Waters and the like performed.

Artifacts, instruments, concert posters, concert tickets, contracts between the artist and the club make the Soul of Bronzeville unmatched in preserved history.

Gregg Parker has captured Bronzeville’s former musical glory. Metropolis

The Soul of Bronzeville exhibit is a great experience for all ages and runs through spring. The DuSable Museum is located at 740 East 56th Place and is open Tuesday thru Sunday. Admission is only $1 - $3. For more information, call 773-947-0600 or visit www.dusablemuseum.org.

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