5 MIDWEST CITIES STEEPED IN BLACK HISTORY TO VISIT IN 2023
CHICAGO
The Chicago area is undeniably teeming with the stories and contributions of historic African Americans, from the legacy of the Bronzeville neighborhood, to the DuSable Black History Museum and the Pullman National Monument.
But if you’re looking elsewhere, it’s just as easy to appreciate Black history in any number of Midwest destinations. Add a sidecar of history on the Bourbon Trail, take in a show rooted in Black culture, and make some memories of your own along the way with a visit to one of these five cities steeped in Black history.
BROOKLYN AND EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS
Home to Miles Davis, the stages where Tina Turner first performed, musician Steamboat Willie’s birthplace and Katherine Dunham’s lasting legacy, East St. Louis is splashed across the pages of Black history and the bios of some of America’s most influential cultural figures.
Dunham, a pioneering dancer and anthropologist who grew up in Chicago, settled in East St. Louis in the 1960s after bringing African and Afro-Caribbean dance to the world stage (and inspiring future dance icons such as Alvin Ailey and Eartha Kitt along the way). The Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities (kdcah.org) houses artifacts from her global travels and work – tours are available by appointment only – but has struggled to attract enough donors in recent years. It offers community dance and art classes, and alumni and devotees of the Dunham technique have gone on to work with nearby institutions just across the Mississippi River, such as
The Black Rep theater (theblackrep.org) and the Center of Creative Arts (cocastl.org), whose spring dance repertoire is set for May 5-7.
Just a 10-minute drive away is Brooklyn, Illinois, which vies for the title of oldest Black incorporated town in the United States. “Mother” Priscilla Baltimore is credited with founding the town with families of other free or formerly enslaved Black people from
St. Louis in 1829. The local historical society recently built a marker to commemorate Brooklyn’s origins as a freedom village, which also became part of the Underground Railroad and home to the historic Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Historical Society of Brooklyn Illinois hopes to add a memorial walkway dedicated to Priscilla Baltimore in 2023.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Indiana’s crown jewel of Black history might be the Madam Walker Legacy Center (madamwalkerlegacycenter.com), located in the building where Madam C.J. Walker oversaw her cosmetics and hair care empire, philanthropic efforts and cultural patronage. As the first self-made female millionaire in the United States, Walker was devoted to ensuring people from marginalized communities could access the arts. The 1927-built theater – a rare still-standing African-Art Deco building – has hosted the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Patti LaBelle and looks to continue Walker’s mission.
The Walker Building is located along Indiana Avenue, which distinguished itself as an epicenter of Black business and arts in the early 20th century. But displacement and rapid expansion of Indiana University campus starting in the 1950s drained the area of its Black residents and resources, although some have sought in recent years to reinvest in the neighborhood and revive its vibrant scene.
Today, Indiana Avenue is one of the city’s cultural districts, connected
by an 8-mile Indianapo