Tag: history

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07.27.21 | Community

Celebrating Bronzeville’s historic Pearl’s Place

The feeling of an enriched shared experience is something we at Sage Collective advocate for ourselves as well as for the community around us. That’s why we love to highlight some of the most culturally rich and lively locations in the neighborhood near our future King Drive properties.

One of these locations is Pearl’s Place; a food staple that is often voted one of the best restaurants in the neighborhood — and has secured its place as one of the most beloved spots for large gatherings and some of the most delicious meals in Bronzeville. From being featured on Windy City Live with Carla Hall to being chosen as a top 5 soul food locations by Midwest Living, their feel-good food and welcoming atmosphere say it all. 

Having been owned and operated by community leaders and running successfully for more than 30 years, Pearl’s has become the heart of the neighborhood in many ways. It’s a perfect place to stop for their legendary buffet after visiting Bronzeville’s numerous art galleries, shopping at local boutiques or leaving a church service.

The dining environment has always been a huge part of Bronzeville’s culture and landscape — read more on that and Bronzeville’s history here — and Pearl’s is a big part of that tradition. Whether they are celebrating the neighborhood’s history or offering their southern-style soul food classics, Pearl’s is proud of their cozy environment that’s meant for everyone to enjoy.

Not only does Pearl’s show passion towards the success of the Bronzeville community in ways like hiring locally and within the neighborhood, but they also offer sponsorship for local events. Pearl’s continues to support the neighborhood’s deep roots as one of the most vibrant epicenters for Black culture and history, and never ceases to give back to the community all while looking towards our future. For all this and more, Pearl’s Place has earned a special place in the community. Pearl’s Place is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and located at 3901 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60653.

A picture of Pearl's Place in Bronzeville
Bronzevile's Historic Pearl's Place
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07.22.21 | Arts & Culture

Bronzeville Spotlight: Victory Monument

As we continue to develop our properties at 4108 S King Drive and 4112 S King Drive, we enjoy putting the spotlight on landmark locations in our historic Bronzeville neighborhood to celebrate and dig more into its rich history. Today, we’re exploring one of the city’s best-known and respected monuments, especially in Chicago’s Black communities, the Victory Monument. 

Chicago’s Victory Monument, which stands near the intersection of King Drive and East 35th Street, was built in 1927 in honor of the all-Black, Eighth Infantry Regiment of The Illinois National Guard, whose members served during WWI under the French. Created by the French American sculptor, Leonard Crunelle, the monument’s main structure was built in white granite with a bronze doughboy (common nickname for American soldiers during WWI) figure standing on top. That figure of the soldier was added almost ten years after the original construction.

There are three bronze panels around the sides of the monument, each representing elements of Black culture and history of Black soldiers through life-sized figures. The first panel, the Victory Panel, presents a cloaked female figure representing motherhood and holding a branch that symbolizes victory. The second panel, the Columbia Panel, displays another female figure with a helmet on her head holding a tablet engraved with a list of battles that Black soldiers fought in. The last panel, the African-American Soldier Panel, depicts a Black soldier from the Eighth Regiment with an eagle standing at his feet. A fourth bronze panel facing north holds the names of the 137 total members from the Eighth Infantry that lost their lives fighting in WWI. 

The monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and labeled a Chicago Landmark in 1998. The monument is also home to many annual celebrations and observances including its Memorial Day ceremony and the starting location of the historic, and largest Black parade in the world, the Bud Billiken Parade. 

Having been in place for almost 100 years, Victory Monument continues to illuminate and commemorate an important part of history, and is just one of the many special landmarks located in our historic Bronzeville neighborhood.

Photograph of Victory Monument in Bronzeville
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07.08.21 | Arts & Culture

Visiting the Obama Portraits at the Art Institute of Chicago

This summer, the beautiful and inspiring Obama portraits – depicting 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, and first lady, Michelle Obama – will be gracing the walls of the Art Institute of Chicago for just eight brief weeks. With such a limited viewing period, below we’re outlining how to plan your visit to see these seminal works of art ASAP!

Visiting the Portraits

Access to viewing The Obama Portraits is included in General Admission for all Art Institute visitors. However, the exhibition does have a capacity-limit, and entry is first-come, first-served.

Tickets must be reserved in advance online, and entry to the exhibit on the day of your visit will be managed via virtual lines. General Admission tickets are being released in limited, timed batches, as outlined below:

  • Tickets for July 1–15 will be available on June 24.
  • Tickets for July 16–31 will be available on July 8.
  • Tickets for August 1–8 will be available on July 22.
  • Tickets for August 9–15 will be available on August 2.

A limited quantity of tickets will also be available onsite for qualifying groups. Learn more about free admission guidelines at the Art Institute of Chicago here.

Remarkable Works

While many other Presidential Portraits in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery have been traditional, head-and-shoulders portraits painted in classical styles, President Barack Obama took a notably different approach.

Barack Obama commissioned Kehinde Wiley to create his portrait. Wiley is an American portrait artist known for his placement of contemporary (typically African American) figures in the guise of powerful historical figures. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama commissioned Amy Sherald to create her portrait. Sherald is an American artist known for her arresting, otherworldly portraits that document the contemporary African-American experience.

Wiley and Sherald are the first African Americans to be commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to create official portraits of a president or first lady. The resulting works are remarkably contemporary.

In the larger-than-life, head-to-toe portrait created by Wiley, a seated Obama is set against a backdrop of lush greenery. Each plant in the background holds a special significance, including chrysanthemums, the official flower of Chicago. The portrait of Michelle Obama, created by Sherald, was based on a posed photograph and is intentional down to every last detail, from the grey-scaling of Michelle’s skin to the intensity of her direct gaze.

You can visit the Obama Portraits at the Art Institute of Chicago now through August 15, 2021; tickets are available for purchase here.

And for those interested in a fascinating, rich conversation between Michelle Obama and Amy Sherald, hosted by The Studio Museum of Harlem Director + Chief Curator Thelma Golden, you’ll find it here.

 

Photo of Obama Portraits
(L) Kehinde Wiley. Barack Obama, 2018. Oil on canvas. (R) Amy Sherald. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (detail), 2018. Oil on linen. Photo courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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06.15.21 | Community

Two Initiatives Celebrating the Historic Legacy of Bronzeville Today

Sage Collective has begun the process of renovating our first two new acquisitions, 4108 S King Drive and 4112 S King Drive, side-by-side buildings in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood. We envision this development as providing tangible benefits to this community by providing high quality, affordable housing programmed to ensure safe, comfortable living there, as well as celebrating and uplifting Bronzeville’s dynamic history, current-day culture and residents alike – and we’re not alone in this effort.

Bronzeville has a long and storied history as the heart and soul of African American culture and vibrancy in Chicago. Contemporaneously, many organizations are doing incredible work on the ground to continue that legacy today. Here are two such initiatives:

The Forum in Bronzeville
The Forum in Bronzeville

Restoration of The Forum

The Forum is a historical South Side building that was once the epicenter of Bronzeville nightlife, dating all the way back to the 19th century. Built in 1897 in the heart of the city’s blues district, the venue has hosted everything from concerts by names like Nat King Cole and Muddy Waters, to movement meetings in the 1970s.

The building, located at the corner of 43rd and Calumet in Bronzeville at 318 E. 43rd St, was previously zoned for residential use. Now, as part of recent renovation efforts, investors are rallying to rezone the project for commercial use. At the head of the initiative is Bernard Loyd, an entrepreneur and the founder of Urban Juncture, which focuses on community development work in Bronzeville.

Lloyd bought The Forum in 2011 days before the city planned to demolish it. Now, his vision is to restore the space as an “incubator space for Black creatives” and an overall cultural destination.

Archives of the Bronzeville Historical Society

The Bronzeville Historical Society has been preserving the stories, history and heritage of African American history and culture in Chicago since its founding in 1999. Led by South Side historian Sherry Williams, the Bronzeville Historical Society originally began with just Williams, her mother, and her daughter on task. 

They first set their sights on highlighting notable Bronzeville residents, publishing the book “100 Notable People and Places in Bronzeville – (Black Chicago)” in that same year. In the two decades since, the society’s archival work has expanded exponentially, despite challenges over the years.

Their collection includes records of 180,000 Chicago resident burials from the Jackson Funeral Home, gifted by the state of Illinois. From those records, volunteers from the African American Genealogy and Historical Society helped to reconfigure each person’s history, including their hometowns, church, and club affiliations. Bronzeville Historical Society also holds hundreds of photographs of Chicago from 1930-2000, documenting the architecture, landscape, and neighborhoods over the years. 

Sage Collective is proud to be part of the Bronzeville community and to live, work, and play side-by-side with so many other organizations doing the great work of preserving and celebrating our neighborhood’s great cultural legacy.

A mural in Bronzeville Chicago showcasing famous figures throughout history
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06.10.21 | Community

Sage Collective Partner Spotlight: Chicago Commons

At Sage Collective, our name serves as an indicator of how we work. We’re a collective because what we do, we do together. As part of our holistic approach, we work with local social service organizations and health and wellness professionals to create a vibrant ecosystem where resources, ideas and successes are shared. Since the beginning of this new era in our development, Chicago Commons has been a key partner and collaborator. In celebration of that partnership, today’s spotlight highlights their organization’s own important mission and work.

Architectural drawing, "Chicago Commons," Pond and Pond architects
Architectural drawing, “Chicago Commons,” Pond and Pond architects

Deep Community Roots

Chicago Commons has been serving residents of their community for over 125 years. Founded in 1894 by Graham Taylor, a Minister and key social reformer in Chicago. Originally, Chicago Commons began as a settlement house serving immigrants on Chicago’s northwest side. Its model was inspired by progressive social reformer and activist Jane Addams’ own Hull House – the two houses even shared the same architect, Pond & Pond.

Traditionally, settlement houses provided services such as daycare, education, and healthcare, with the goal of bringing equity and social connectedness to their communities. They had brought one of the earliest kindergartens to Chicago in 1897, and also provided programs for individuals of all ages through clubs and classes, and an open-forum discussion platform for local community events.

Graham Taylor was succeeded in 1922 by his eldest daughter and long term settlement house resident, Lea Demarest Taylor, who carried on his legacy. Even when local calls for segregation began during the racial strife of the 1940s, Taylor resisted and stood adamant that the organization’s services and programs would continue to serve all races.

Two African American women embrace and smile. One is an adult and one is an older adult
Photo courtesy of Chicago Commons website

Chicago Commons Today

Today, Chicago Commons carries on the historic legacy of settlement houses and stands as a leading provider of early childhood education, family centered adult education, and senior services on the South and West sides of Chicago. Their mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to overcome poverty and systemic barriers, embrace opportunities, and thrive across generations.

Over the past 125+ years, their services (and reach) in Chicago have greatly expanded to include centers in Bucktown, Englewood, New City, West Humboldt Park, Back of the Yards, and of course, their headquarters in Bronzeville. 

During COVID-19, Chicago Commons has also partnered with leading health organizations and local institutions to bring informational, online events to their communities addressing common misconceptions and questions regarding the virus. Sage Collective was a proud partner in bringing one of these live Q&As to life – learn more about the past event here. 

You can also learn more about Chicago Commons, including how to get involved, on their website here. 

Chicago Commons logo
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03.04.21 | Community

Vibrant Living Breakdown: Engagement in Spirituality or Religion

At Sage Collective, we believe in meaningful and engaged lives for older adults. Nine Ways of Vibrant Living is our innovative model that champions just that. Our model incorporates everything from health and wellness to cultural immersion to spiritual enrichment — and today, we’re diving deep into the last of those three key elements. Take a closer look at our seventh component of vibrant living, engagement in spirituality or religion:

Religious Roots

Religion is part of our history. You can read our full story here, but before we were Sage Collective, we were Tabernacle Senior Citizens Project (TSCP). TSCP was started in 1978 by Reverend Louis Rawls, founder and pastor of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side. Rev. Rawls founded both Willa Rawls Manor (a high-quality housing development for older adults) and TSCP in an effort to better support the aging members of his congregation. Today, we carry on his legacy and tradition by continuing to build upon his concern and care for the community. 

The Impact of Engagement

As Rev. Rawls demonstrated, the church is the center of many African American communities. It’s not just a place to practice worship; it’s also a vital hub for civic engagement, for participating in and finding community and for discovering meaningful connections with one another.

Engagement in spirituality or religion touches on all parts of vibrant living. It brings with it life purpose, inner peace and a greater sense of connection to both the people and the world around you. In fact, studies have shown that those who engage in spiritual or religious activities live longer — some claiming even up to four years longer.

For all these reasons and more, we’ve included engagement in spirituality or religion in our Nine Ways of Vibrant Living. We support and encourage participation in spiritual and religious experiences for followers of all faiths residing in Sage facilities, or involved in Sage programs. 

The inside of a church, with rows of pews before large stained glass windows
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02.09.21 | Arts & Culture

A Brief History of Bronzeville

Sage Collective has begun the process of renovating the first two properties we acquired, since selling Willa Rawls Manor, a 123-unit property we owned and operated for more than 40 years. The two properties are located at  4108 S King Drive and 4112 S King Drive. With the buildings located side-by-side in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood, it will provide a tangible benefit to the community by celebrating and uplifting Bronzeville’s dynamic history, current-day culture and residents alike. In honor of this effort and of Black History Month, today we take a moment to look at a brief history of Bronzeville.

Becoming Bronzeville

With the Great Migration beginning in 1916, African Americans fled lynchings and oppression in the rural South for brighter opportunities in cities in the North. Though segregation was outlawed after the Civil War, racist practices in hiring and housing practices remained steadfast. Many African Americans in Chicago landed in what became the Bronzeville area, there facing higher rent prices and population density (at its highest reaching 300,000 residents strong). 

Despite this, true to the African principle of ujamaa, Bronzeville residents created a tight-knit community that boasted a network of black-owned institutions and a cultural vivacity that, in its prime from the 1920s-1950s, even rivaled Harlem.

The community had been growing, but the name Bronzeville only entered the scene in the 1930s, suggested by theater editor for the Chicago Bee (an African American-led daily newspaper with national reach), James Gentry. Gentry posited that African American skin was closer to bronze than black, and selected the name as an empowering alternative to racist nicknames for the neighborhood that had emerged.

Center of Culture

Though the official boundaries of Bronzeville are often contested as spanning anywhere from 18th and 67th Street north-south to the Dan Ryan and Lake Michigan west-east, the pulsing heart of Bronzeville landed somewhere in the middle.

Dining, shopping, dance halls and nightclubs abounded. Jazz, blues and gospel were the sounds of Bronzeville, and when the Regal Theater opened in the 1920s, it attracted the country’s most glamorous and talented Black entertainers. Bronzeville also boasts being the home of renowned African American artists and intellectuals like journalist and social activist Ida B. Wells, jazz musician Louis Armstrong, poet Gwendolyn Brooks, women’s aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman, sociologist Horace Clayton and dancer Katherine Dunham.

WTTW put it best when they said businesses and community institutions like Provident Hospital (where Daniel Hale Williams, an African American, pioneered open-heart surgery), the Wabash YMCA (which established the first Black History Month), the George Cleveland Hall Library, Parkway Community House, Binga Bank (Chicago’s first Black-owned life insurance, realty, and financial institution), and more, “were more than alternatives to racially restricted establishments downtown”. They were pillars of the community which helped to instill pride and contribute to the upward mobility of African Americans.”

Through our vision for vibrant, high-quality and affordable housing for older adults, Sage Collective is proud to contribute to the legacy of African American culture, community and success that is the heart and soul of Bronzeville. 

Mural under the “El” tracks in Bronzeville
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12.23.20 | Arts & Culture

Learning From the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is an annual African American and Pan-African holiday that brings people together globally to celebrate their cultural and ancestral roots. The holiday, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, derives its name from the Swahili phrase “matunday ya kwanza,” or “first fruits,” and was inspired by the harvest traditions of the Ashanti and Zulu. In honor of this culturally-rich event, today we’re exploring more of the holiday’s history and traditions.

The History of Kwanzaa

Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa after the Watts riots in Los Angeles. As a major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Dr. Karenga saw the celebration as a way to bring African Americans together as a community and to uplift Black Power. While the holiday began as a radical alternative to mainstream denominations, in a 1997 address, Dr. Karenga revised his stance so as not to alienate practicing Christians. Today, many African Americans celebrate Kwanzaa alongside their own religious holidays. 

The celebration of Kwanzaa takes place across a period of seven days from December 26 to January 1. Families gather to light the Kwanzaan candelabra, the Kinara, which holds seven candles, one for each night. The seven candles correspond to the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba. There are numerous other celebratory symbols and traditions in addition to the lighting of the Kinara.

The Seven Principles, Nguzo Saba

The Seven Principles, or Nguzo Saba, are reflective of important values in African culture. When lighting the Kinara each night, families reflect upon the principle that corresponds with that day. Nguzo Saba includes the following:

Umoja, or unity, means to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

Kujichagulia, or self-determination, means to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

Ujima, or collective work and responsibility, means to build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.

Ujamaa, or cooperative economics, means to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Nia, or purpose, means to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba, or creativity, means to always do as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

And Imani, or faith, means to believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

As strong believers in the power of community and the collective, we at Sage Collective believe there is much to be learned from Nguzo Saba. To learn more about Kwanzaa, you can visit the website created for the holiday by Dr. Karenga here.

Two African American people wearing batik fabric hold a gift together that says Happy Kwanzaa
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11.06.20 | Health & Wellness

Self Care for Seniors: What Is It, and How to Take Part

Have you heard of the latest millennial craze, self care? Young people all over are encouraging each other to get off of social media for a day, or to order in for the night and binge their favorite TV show, all things they’ve dubbed as acts of self care. 

While these acts may seem frivolous on the surface, they’re actually helping people to take a break from the media cycle, or to celebrate moments of rest. Self care, by definition, encourages people to consciously tend to their own well-being. But most surprisingly of all, this “new trend” isn’t new at all — in fact, it has deep roots and history in the medical field.

A Brief History

Self care began as a treatment course in the 1950s for patients who were mentally ill or elderly and struggled with autonomy. It included acts that helped preserve physical independence, such as simple exercising or personal grooming. This independence opened up the gateway for feeling better in many ways — physically, because patients were able to care for themselves, but also mentally, because independence was rewarding and satisfying.

From the mid 1960s to early 1970s, academics continued to pursue the idea further and how it might pertain to those in high risk professions, such as EMTs and social workers. The idea was that, in order to tend to your responsibilities to others, you need to first take care of yourself and replenish regularly through acts of self care. As Sage Collective’s own Rear Admiral (ret.) James M. Galloway said, “Taking care of yourself ensures you can take your best care of others.”

In the civil rights and feminist movements that followed this time, self care also become a revolutionary and radical act against varied forms of injustice, medical and otherwise. 

Self Care for Seniors Today

So how can seniors reclaim self care, and share in the joy that millennials have found? Our best advice: find what replenishes you, whether it’s physically, mentally or both.

When it comes to your physical health, incorporating moderate, regular physical activity will help replenish not just your body, but your spirit and your energy. Physical acts also include making conscious decisions to eat healthier, to get ample rest each night and to take time to relax. 

As for mental health, experts recommend spending more time in nature to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy natural sunlight. You can also reconnect with a new hobby, or even discover a new one. Dedicating time to activities that you enjoy and find satisfaction in is a great way to embrace the practice, too. And of course: spending time with those you love will always provide a much needed mental boost. 

So don’t be afraid of the trend — self care is for everyone. 

Self care expressed through love, with an older African American man and woman embracing and smiling
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