Dino audio

Dino Robinson 2022 by Rich Cahan

We are able to collectively get all this history together and make context out of it, but we rely on our community for its history.

Photos and artifacts from the Shorefront archive. Photo: Dino Robinson 

Photos and artifacts from the Shorefront archive

Documents from the Edwin B. Jourdain Jr. Collection. Photo: Dino Robinson 

Documents from the Edwin B. Jourdain Jr. Collection

Laurice audio

LauriceBell

In centering voices that have often been sidelined and silenced, we challenge the status quo.

Evanston residents and business owner Bonus Thompson (center), circa 1914. Photo: courtesy of Linda Varnado

Three early 20th century African American men standing outside of a shop window

Childcare center in the First Church of God, circa 1948-55. Photo: 20th Century Photo

African American children seated at tables at a 1950s daycare center in a room with attending teachers 

Protestors march for fair housing in Evanston in 1964. Photo: Charles Johnson 

A black and white photo of African American protestors with white picket signs protesting at a march for fair housing in 1964

Ward Map of Evanston in 1924. Courtesy of the City of Evanston 

A map showing the layout of the city of Evanston in 1924

The Legacy of Black Life on the North Shore

Debutantes enter the Sherman House ballroom for the annual Norshore Twelve Cotillion in the 1960s. Photo: Courtesy of Robin Cobb Bryant 

Formally dressed African American debutantes enter a grand ballroom

The graduating class at Robinson Daycare poses in cap and gown in 1964. Photo: Courtesy of Anest Marshall

The graduating class at Robinson Daycare poses in cap and gown in 1964

Shopkeepers stand outside the J.H. Bryant grocery store in Evanston, circa 1930s. Photo: Courtesy of Stephanie Bryant 

African American shopkeepers stand outside the J.H. Bryant grocery store in Evanston in the 1930s

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at a press conference at the Orrington Hotel in October 1962. Photo: Evanston Photographic Studio 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at a press conference seated at a table at the Orrington Hotel in October 1962

St. Paul A.M.E. youth choir practicing for a Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance in 1983. Photo: Jim Robinson

An African American boys youth choir practicing while dressed in robes in a wood paneled room

The 1938 second-grade class at the Foster School, Evanston’s de facto Black primary school pre-integration. Photo: courtesy of Delois Scott 

A class photo taken in 1938 of an African American second grade class

Legendary stunt rider William “Wild Bill” Holmes performs his signature move. Photo: courtesy of Delores Holmes 

Legendary stunt rider William “Wild Bill” Holmes performing standing on a moving motorcycle

Converted from a residential home in 1914, the Evanston Sanitarium provided hospital services to Black patients. Photo: Evanston Photographic Studio

Evanston Sanitarium Black hospital established 1914

Support for Community-Based Archives

Father and Son Banquet at the Emerson YMCA, circa 1917. Photo: courtesy of Helen Cromer Cooper

A gathering of African American men and boys seated at a formal dinner in the early 20th century

The Nation’s First Municipal Reparations Program, Grounded in Black History

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 