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The Illinois Colored Convention of 1853

Bird eye view of Chicago in 1853 — Bird’s Eye View of Chicago, 1853 (Source: Wikimedia Commons and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Libraries, American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection, *Chicago in early days, 1779-1857* [Chicago: Kurz & Allison, 1893]).

A repressive new law, passed by the state legislature in winter 1853, galvanized Black Illinoisans to organize their first statewide convention. Illinois leaders pressed Frederick Douglass to call a national convention that summer. Then, in October, delegates from across the state met in Chicago, where they issued a powerful address claiming their rights as citizens and made plans for continuing to fight the Illinois Black laws.

— Prelude to the Convention

— At the Convention

— After the Convention

Black Organizing in Pre-Civil War Illinois: Creating Community, Demanding Justice

An exhibit in the collection of the Colored Conventions Project

CITATION: Masur, Kate, Hope McCaffrey, Josh Honn, Matthew Taylor, and Northwester Research Team. “Black Organizing in Pre-Civil War Illinois: Creating Community, Demanding Justice.” Colored Conventions Project. 2023. https://coloredconventions.org/black-illinois-organizing/.

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