Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project

Organic Oneness is the proud fiscal sponsor and program partner for the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project (CRR19) directed by Dr. Peter Cole and Dr. Franklin Cosey-Gay. CRR19 offers tours to provide education about the race riot of 1919 that has been hidden in traditional educational settings.  A goal of this initiative is to use dispersed public art to remember past atrocities and provoke conversations about their legacy. Inspired by Stolpersteine, an ongoing German project honoring Holocaust victims, CRR19 intends to create and install artistic markers, created by Firebird Arts, at each of the 38 locations where someone was killed in 1919.

Sign up now for the 6th Annual Historic Tour on Saturday, July 20, 2024 and check out other programs below that are taking place on July 27th for a full range of historic and artistic experiences covering the 1919 Race Riot.

See recap videos from each annual CRR19 tour below. Over 250 participants traveled through Bronzeville, Bridgeport, and other neighborhoods to hear stories from historians and community leaders. The tours highlights key race riot areas as well as locations showcasing the resilience of the Black community, now known as Bronzeville, including the Chicago Defender, Chicago Bee, Ida B. Wells, and Victory Monument.

JOIN US ON JULY 20, 2024

Chicago Race Riot of 1919

Join us on July 20th for the 6th Annual Chicago Race of 1919 Historic Tour from 10am - 2pm, check-in at 9am. This year's commemoration will have a ribbon cutting ceremony with glass-markers to honor five lives lost during the race riot. Attendees will travel for two-hours through the Bronzeville and Bridgeport neighborhoods to learn about the history of the Red Summer. The day will conclude with free lunch, music, and opportunity to engage with local organizations and resources tables.

CRR19 Recap videos

CRR19 Pictures

CRR19 Articles

Read more about the history of this Race Riot of 1919 from a Baha'i perspective in an article written by Nilufar Rezai-Tofighi, Organic Oneness board member.

“Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness progress and success, in all the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul. When this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine qualities will also be acquired.”
-The Baha'i Faith
Word in Black interviewed Dr. Franklin Cosey-Gay (Board Chair of Organic Oneness and Co-Director of CRR19) about the reparation efforts of the Eugene Williams Scholarship. “What I’m hopeful for is that our youth, our awardees, learn about Eugene Williams. That they learn about the structural policies and practices connected to race and racism, and that they become engaged in civics as active leaders working toward addressing these policies and practices,” says Dr. Franklin Cosey-Gay, the Violence Recovery Program Director at University of Chicago Medicine, a not-for-profit academic medical health system based on the campus of the University of Chicago.