Features

Summer 2015
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.
Summer 2015
Higher Ed 101 for Bronzeville Parents

Higher Ed 101 for Bronzeville Parents

Even parents with the best intentions who dream of sending their daughter or son to college may be naive when it comes to understanding how the admission process works or what resources are available to finance their child’s education. Deborah Young, director of new enrollment partnerships in the IIT Office of Student Access, Success, and Diversity Initiatives, says that growing up she was one of seven siblings and “found her way” to college on her own. Spurred on by that memory as well as discussions she had with staff from the Chicago Housing Authority and the Bronzeville Community Action Council, Young established Parent University.