The Black Chicago Renaissance
by Dr. Amira Millicent Davis
Monday, February 24, 2025 ~ 6 p.m.
Hosted by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau 2025
In this presentation, Dr. Davis will guide participants through the Chicago Black Renaissance from the early to mid-20th century. The presentation will include a Q&A and an interactive component where audience members share their migration stories.
The presentation takes approximately 60 minutes, with extra time at the end for Q&A, making it approximately 90 minutes.
Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council Agency], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Casting a Historic Vote: Suffrage for Women in Illinois
by Jeanne Schultz Angel
Monday, March 24, 2025 ~ 6:00 p.m.
Hosted by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau 2025
Prior to 1920, women were denied the vote in the majority of elections in the United States. The struggle for enfranchisement began with the birth of our nation and was strategized differently in our local, state, and federal elections. Despite what people today believe to be a straightforward goal, the path to women’s suffrage was infused with sexism and racism and triggered a fear of feminism whose roots are still seen today.
While wealthy women advocates played a vital role in the suffrage movement, they were not the only ones seeking enfranchisement. From attorney Ellen Martin, the first woman to vote in Illinois, to Ida B. Wells, a woman who did not let racism silence her voice, women’s suffrage has been a battle hard fought by a diverse group of activists in Illinois.
The presentation takes approximately 45 minutes, with extra time at the end for Q&A, making it approximately one hour.
Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council Agency], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Collecting Family Oral Histories – Workshop
by Grace Bazylewski and Linda Swisher
Monday, April 28, 2025 ~ 6:00 p.m.
We will learn how to collect oral histories from our relatives to preserve the past. Hosting the event, Grace Bazylewski and Linda Swisher.