Bronzeville

The Ida B Wells House located in Bronzeville

Bronzeville is a neighborhood located in the Douglas and Grand Boulevard community areas on the South Side of city of Chicago.

In the early 20th century, Bronzeville was known as the “Black Metropolis,” one of the nation’s most significant landmarks of African-American urban history. Between 1910 and 1920, during the peak of the “Great Migration,” the population of the area increased dramatically when thousands of African-Americans fled the oppression of the south and emigrated to Chicago in search of industrial jobs.

Many famous people were associated with the development of the area including: Andrew “Rube” Foster, founder of the Negro National Baseball League; Ida B. Wells, a civil rights activist, journalist and organizer of the NAACP; Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman pilot; Gwendolyn Brooks, famous author and first African-American recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, actress Marla Gibbs, the legendary singers, Sam Cooke and Lou Rawls, and Louis Armstrong, the legendary trumpet player and bandleader who performed at many of the area’s night clubs. The neighborhood contains the Chicago Landmark Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District.

By Train

• CTA Green line to stops 35-Bronzeville-IIT, 43rd St, 47th St (Jackson), and Garfield (Jackson).
• CTA Red line to the Dan Ryan stop.
• Metra Electric District Main Line to the 27th Street stop.

By Bus

• CTA Bus #3
• CTA Bus #4