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A Bronzeville Saturday by Gregg Spears, courtesy of the Chicago Public Library (Chicago Bee Branch)

Bronzeville and Illinois Tech

In the early twentieth century, a four-block stretch of Chicago’s State Street from 31st to 35th streets was the place to be and to be seen. It was the heart of “The Stroll,” a vibrant cultural center of African-American nightlife that for a time reigned as America’s jazz capital. During the day, the larger neighborhood comprising “The Stroll”—Bronzeville—was a thriving and largely self-sufficient community anchored by churches and successful businesses such as Binga Bank, the city’s first African-American-owned bank, which was known as the “Wall Street” of the South Side.