Timuel Black

Timuel D. Black Jr. (born December 7, 1918) is an American historian, educator, author, civil rights activist, and expert in African American history in Chicago.

Timuel D. Black Jr.
Born	Timuel Dixon Black, Jr. December 7, 1918 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Education	Wendell Phillips High School DuSable High School Roosevelt University University of Chicago
Occupation	Social worker, educator, civil rights activist, historian
Spouse(s)	Norisea J Cummings (1947-58) Ruby P Battle (1959-1968) Zenobia Johnson-Black (1982-Present)[1]

Early life

Timuel Black was born in December 1918 in Birmingham, Alabama.[2] His great-grandparents were slaves and his grandparents were born as slaves and freed by the Emancipation Proclamation; his parents were sharecroppers.[3]

Black described his father and mother as having taken part in the Great Migration. In his memoir, Sacred Ground, Black writes that his parents "migrated twice." Their first move was "from tenant farms where they chopped cotton to the market town of Florence, Alabama, and then on from there to the city of Birmingham," where his "daddy worked for Bessemer Steel." Their second migration was to Chicago in order "to be able fight back against white attackers, to get better jobs and be able to vote, and to get a better education for their children."[4]

Education and Military service

He grew up in Chicago, where he graduated from DuSable High School in 1937.[5] He graduated from Roosevelt University, where he earned a bachelor's degree, and he earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago.[5]

Black served in World War II, and he received four Battle Stars, the Croix de Guerre, and the Legion of Honour.[5]

Career

Black began his career as a social worker.[5] During the 1960s, Black was president of the Negro American Labor Council (Chicago Chapter) and an organizer of Chicago participation in the 1963 March on Washington.[6]

Black was the named plaintiff in the lawsuit Black v. McGuffage.[7] The suit claimed that the Illinois voting system discriminated against minorities in its use of faulty punch card ballots. Deployed in black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago, the faulty ballots prevented residents from casting valid votes in the 2000 presidential election. After Black v. McGuffage, punch card ballots were eliminated and a uniform voting system was put in place.[8]

Black currently serves on the board of Defending Rights & Dissent.[9]

Tributes and legacy

In 2017, Senator Dick Durbin introduced a tribute to Black in the Congressional Record on the occasion of Black's receipt of Citizen Action Illinois' ninth annual Pauls Award, named for Paul Simon and Paul Wellstone, describing Black's as "a decorated World War II veteran, an educator, author, labor leader, civil rights activist, and historian—and a bender of the moral arc of the universe. He is a visionary and—for me and so many others—a personal hero."[10]

Sacred Ground is a memoir of interviews with Black about the African-American history of the South side of Chicago conducted by Susan Klonsky and edited by Bart Schultz was published in 2019. Black explained, "I'm here to personalize and transfer that history to younger people across all lines--race and gender."[11]

Works

• Black, Timuel D. (2003). Bridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Great Migration. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 9780810123151. OCLC 567296988.
• Black, Timuel D. (2007). Bridges of Memory: Chicago's Second Generation of Great Migration. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 9780810122956. OCLC 608033460.
• Black, Timuel D.; Klonsky, Susan (2019). Schultz, Eduard (ed.). Sacred Grounds: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black as Told to Susan Klonsky. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 9780810139244. OCLC 1088790146.

References

General

1. "Timuel D. Black, Jr. Papers," Chicago Public Library (link); OCLC 773740819
2. "Timuel Black papers, 1956–1973," Chicago History Museum; OCLC 718738158

Citations

1. Gettinger, Aaron. "Timuel Black honored for a life of achievement". HPHerald.com. Hyde Park Herald. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
2. "Timuel Black". The History Makers. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
3. Ihejirika, Maudlyne (December 8, 2018). "Timuel Black — historian, civil rights activist, griot — reflects at age 100". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
4. Black, Timuel D. Jr. (15 January 2019). Bart Schultz (ed.). Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black. As told to Susan Klonsky (First ed.). Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-0-8101-3924-4.
5. Briscoe, Tony (February 26, 2018). "Historian Timuel Black celebrates school's past". Chicago Tribune. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Documenting the Life of Dr. Timuel D. Black". ChiPubLib.org. Chicago Public Library. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
7. "Black v. McGuffage, 209 F. Supp. 2d 889 (N.D. Ill. 2002)". Court Listener. Free Law Project. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
8. Staff Writer. "Historian Timuel Black's gift to Chicago". [email protected]. ACLU Illinois. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
9. "Board of Directors". Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
10. Durbin, Richard (3 October 2017). "Tribute to Timuel D. Black, Jr" (PDF). Congressional Record. 163 (158): S6284. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
11. Rockett, Darcel (February 3, 2019). "100 years of South Side history". Chicago Tribune. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.