Compiled for the Loss/Capture Project by Sixty Inches From Center
October 2020

Published as a companion piece to the essay Don’t It Always Seem To Go: On the Loss and Capture of Black (re)Collections, this is a list of cultural collections, papers, and artworks that speak to the history and heritage of Black Chicago. It is organized in chronological order according to the date when the materials were donated, purchased, or acquired by the institution, or when the collection, artwork, or building was established, created, or built. Organizing them chronologically reveals things like periods when Chicago institutions were increasing and decreasing their acquisitions of Black archival materials and when significant moments of Black cultural production was happening. It also highlights moments of loss of Black Chicago culture, collections, and artworks throughout history as a way to show the vulnerability of our stories and the quiet and booming erasures and dislocations that take place over time.

View the complete timeline…



Image: A photo of a couple dozen framed historic portraits hanging salon-style on a wall behind a display case of materials at the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center at 411 E 35th Street. Photo courtesy of Tempestt Hazel, 2011.