Black Southland

This guide supports Chicago Studies Archiving Black Southland - a research initiative developed and led by dr. april l graham-jackson - Department of Sociology Postdoctoral Scholar and Postdoctoral Research Affiliate with Chicago Studies.

This initiative is a historical, cartographic, and place-based exploration of the growth and development of the South Suburbs of Chicago known colloquially as Chicago Southland. Formally established in the 1980s, Chicago Southland is a suburban sub-region consisting of 70 suburban cities, villages, and unincorporated areas approximately twenty miles south of downtown Chicago. Many cities, villages, and townships that make up the Southland developed in the mid to late 1800s despite its official founding as a suburban sub-region in the 1980s. The goal for this initiative is to locate and preserve the history of Black suburban life across Chicago Southland.

Challenger Aero Club at the Robbins Airport in Robbins, Illinois, January 30, 1933. From left to right: George Mitchell, Albert Cosby, Clyde D. Hampton, George Webster, Gerald Reed, Janet H. Bragg, Doris Tanner, William Jackson, Harold Hurd, Cornelius Coffey, and John C. Robinson. Photo Credit | National Air and Space Museum.

Black Autonomy as a Form of Resistance and a Symbol of Rebellion: A Comparative Study of Robbins, Illinois, and Milwaukee Bronzeville (1920-1970) by Nateya Taylor

Blue Island - The History of a Working Class Suburb by Harry A. A. Jebsen

Socializing Forces in South Blue Island by Ruth Ada Grimes