Despite the challenges documented on the previous slide, Washington Park and the greater Bronzeville community remain strong, dynamic, and celebrated.  As a historic focus of the Midwestern African American experience, there is a wealth of physical and societal landmarks, past and present, to be found here.  The community therefore is unparalleled as the background setting for Chicago’s monument to America’s first Black president.  The confluence of history and new vitality, timeless ideas and new concepts, will serve to bolster the entire ensemble.

Landmarks in the area include the DuSable Museum of African American history; icons of the civil rights movement such as the Rainbow / PUSH Coalition headquarters; DuSable High School, where countless jazz greats originated; and Liberty Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself spoke routinely and attempted to shine new light on Chicago’s many challenges.

The Washington Park location for the Barack Obama Presidential Center is also within walking distance of the president’s Chicago home, shown here as location number one.  As detailed on Slide 5, connectivity along the C.T.A. Red Line extends this cultural tableau through the important African American strongholds of Chatham and Washington Heights toward the Pullman National Monument, the historic neighborhood where a young Barack Obama first wet his feet as a young community organizer.

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Since at least the turn of the twentieth century, the greenery of Washington Park has played a leading role in Chicago’s political life.  Home to the Washington Park Forum, also known as the “Bug Club,” community events, discussion, and engagements are routinely hosted here.  This history has a fascinating commonality with the mission and expected programming of the Obama Presidential Center.

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