A Century of Progress, the Chicago World's Fair of 1933 and 1934, generated a surge of black assertiveness for justice and equal rights. Three decades later, the fair also inspired August Meier and Elliott M. Rudwick to write a pacesetting study on the character of that racial advocacy. Primarily based on research of the black press, "Negro Protest at the Chicago World's Fair, 1933-1934," published in this journal, concluded that protest was the primary means used by blacks to combat discrimination in exhibits, restaurants, and employment:

Shortly after Meier and Rudwick's article was published, the official papers of A Century of Progress were donated to the University Of Illinois at Chicago, and by 1971 the collection was opened for examination. The papers presented a new well of information that contrasted dramatically with the impressions gleaned from the contemporary black press relied upon by Meier and Rudwick. The Century of Progress records, by revealing the official interaction of blacks with the white managers of the fair, suggest that conciliation-rather than protest-was the dominant strategy.

By the late 1920s there was a well-defined black civic structure in Chicago. In order to promote their interests at the world's fair, the city's blacks planned and implemented a complex organizational effort. Sometimes resembling a movement, the effort effectively bonded both civic and political organizations. In behalf of race advancement. The social class supporting the endeavor was primarily, but not exclusively, the black middle class-a group with resources and influence far exceeding its size. (2)

Promoters of A Century of Progress envisioned it as a financially profitable demonstration of how far humankind had progressed in both material and scientific terms since 1833, the year Chicago was founded. "The keynote of the coming exposition is 'Science in Action,"' the managers proclaimed. "The design is principally to show the world how the physical sciences have made their contributions to human advancement. (3) The success of the endeavor was measurable at turnstiles, as almost 38.6 million persons visited the fair's marvels and attractions between 1933 and 1934.

Chicago blacks, in contrast, measured progress in fundamentally different terms. They set three objectives: representation in the fair's exhibits that would portray fully and accurately their race's heritage and contributions to the world; full enjoyment of their rights as citizens; and, in the middle of the Great Depression, an equal share in employment opportunities generated by the fair. The Chicago Defender stated: "The real 'Chicago spirit' is unalterably opposed to the surrendering of civil and legal rights." The paper challenged fair organizers instead to show "advancement over sinister and insidious propensities to the point where [Chicago] can recognize in mankind character, fitness, and ability as the only essential elements of real progress. (4) As planning for the fair continued, there were disparate perceptions of purpose and even the nature of progress. In addition, there were controversies whenever the fair's pecuniary and scientific interests clashed with black racial concerns.

Race ideology had undergone considerable change in the twentieth century. Racial strategies for advancement were far from unified. An important issue was how blacks would define their places specifically in the world's fair and generally in American society. In his 1903 classic, The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois had described the anxiety that resulted when persons of African descent found themselves psychologically facing the competing influences of nationality and race. There was, he said, a "two-ness, -an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings. (5)

During Chicago's first world's fair-the Columbian Exposition of 1893-the conflict between racial identity and nationality had been debated and, to a certain degree, settled in favor of nationality. (6) Frederick Douglass's misgivings about the Exposition's Colored American Day can be seen in his address, in which he "began by questioning the motives of the Exposition people in giving the colored people a day and intimated that he doubted the advisability of returning any thanks for the honor conferred. (7)

A second problem involved the relative importance of conciliation and protest. In Chicago, especially during the fair, conciliation assumed a level of importance equal of protest. Also, as the two strategies were manifested in activities aimed at achieving the black version of progress, they moved correspondingly through the stages of prevention, confrontation, and remedy. At various times, both conciliation and protest were promoted through a sizable civic and political structure that included the Chicago Urban League, the Chicago Defender, he Chicago branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored "people, and black Republican politicians at he local, state, and national levels, as well as affiliated black groups and organizations.

Within the black community, middleclass concerns encompassed civil rights, racial image, and employment. Blacks had supported the Chicago Whip's "Don't Spend our Money Where You Can't Work" campaign of 1930, which for the first time involved the use of the picket line and boycott by Chicago blacks. (8) By 1933, those concerns had also developed into a well-established pattern that included resistance to housing restrictions, school segregation, and racially exclusionary politics.

The efficacy of conciliation was rooted n the relationship that existed between the Century of Progress management and black middle-class leaders. From 1928, when the fair corporation conceived its operating plan, black business leaders such as Jesse Binga and Robert Sengstacke Abbott were invited to participate. (9) Binga was the founder and president of the Binga State Bank, which along with the city's Douglass National Bank owned by Anthony Overton controlled one third of all banking resources held by blacks nationally. Abbott, who had accumulated considerable wealth by the 1920s, was the founder, owner, and publisher of the Chicago Defender, perhaps the leading black newspaper in the nation. Century of Progress records indicate that Abbott was solicited to join the founding circle of members but declined, although he did send the $1,000 membership fee. (10)

Century of Progress records show an amicable relationship between other black leaders and the fair's managers. Members of the De Saible Club, the Men's Division of the Chicago Urban League, were described as "young and progressive professional and business Negroes." The League itself was considered "an organization of the better class of colored people of Chicago," as well as "an outstanding organization." (11) These descriptions were unusual, given the racism of the period.

The Chicago Urban League, whose leadership was biracial, best represented middle-class interests in utilizing the strategy of conciliatory tactics at the fair. The Chicago branch of the NAACP was the organizational choice for protest. With its all-black leadership, the organization became increasingly militant during the Depression. Through both direct and indirect leadership, the League led the movement to insure parity in jobs, exhibits, and the enjoyment of recreational facilities. By 1932, the League had petitioned for and won recognition of its leadership role in all matters pertaining to blacks and the fair. (12) Concomitantly, the League organized the Colored Citizens World's Fair Council (CCWFC), an organization representing forty organizations. The Council not only served as a clearinghouse but also monitored civil rights and encouraged the upkeep and protection of the South Side neighborhoods affected by visitors and the criminal element attending the fair. (13) Monthly meetings of the Council averaged one hundred persons.

The prestige of the Urban League was enhanced in 1928, when the group petitioned for a memorial to the city's first permanent settler, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, a black man. Significantly, the Du Sable campaign avoided any tone of racial advocacy. That deliberate strategy strengthened the case in an often hostile environment. The crusade was led by Dr. Arthur G. Falls, who approached fair managers as early as May of 1928. In November, the DeSaible Memorial Society, a predominantly black women's group led by Annie Oliver, began laying the groundwork for a concerted effort to carry the Du Sable exhibit to fruition. The two groups cooperated for the next five years; after many setbacks, -the exhibit was approved in January of 1933, five months before the fair was to open. The fair management acceded to the legitimacy for the proposal and agreed to display a replica of the Du Sable homestead as part of the social science exhibits, an area reserved for nonmaterial aspects of progress. Funding for the replica was provided by the city through the efforts of black Alderman Robert R. Jackson. (14)

In promoting Du Sable's achievements, the DeSaible Memorial Society and the Urban League never wavered from their position that Du Sable was to be recognized as founder of a great American city, not as a black man. The De Saible Memorial Society called him the "first settler, Negro, trader, pioneer, and business man" of Chicago. In the chambers of the city council, Alderman Jackson spoke of Du Sable as a "great pioneer," and of his cabin as "the cradle of a city which was destined to and has become the greatest city of the world." (15) Consistent with the independence of the black middle class, the Urban League and De Saible Society rejected any suggestion that the memorial homestead represented special considerations for blacks. In a bit of irony, however, the Urban League did refer to Du Sable as the "first civilized man to settle in what is Chicago"- possible offense to such American Indians as the Ojibwa (Chippewa), Potawatomi, Winnebago, and other indigenous groups of the Chicagoland area. (16)

When opposition to the Du Sable project occurred, it usually appeared as part of the basically financial orientation of the fair management. From a business perspective, the fair was undertaken to generate profits for the investors and to promote the city's economic image and future. The sentimental causes posed by blacks promoting a pioneer or by Catholics promoting a memorial to Father Jacques Marquette were of secondary importance to profitmaking. That policy, however, was not consistently followed. Fair leaders did not wish to offend any group and unnecessarily jeopardize profits; when possible, they acted to mitigate confrontation. Even though the fair's theme emphasized material progress, by 1933 the Du Sable memorial, as well as one for Marquette, had gained approval for display in the social science exhibits.

Two other attempts to memorialize black progress were unsuccessful. Black architect Walter Thomas Bailey had been working for three years on winning support for an exhibit that "would teach the world some of the interesting history of the Black people before the first boat load of slaves ever landed in this country." (17) In 1931, an African prince named Modupe Paris persuasively argued for support of a similar project, except that he insisted that Africans, rather than Afro-Americans, should control the project. His group, the Africans and Descendants Centennial Committee, proposed a project with a budget of $132,166. (18) The staging of such an extensive project covering the achievements and glories of so many diverse peoples over such a vast continent would have been difficult in the best of times, even if the city and its black citizens had not been in the grip of the Depression.

Upon scrutiny by fair investigators who looked regularly into the financial, personal, and organizational backgrounds c each prospective exhibitor, it was quickly determined that the Paris group had n chance of raising the funds necessary to mount the exhibit. From 1931 to 1932 the official fair position was to indulge the Paris group in its activities, but to assume that the venture would stall indefinitely in its conceptual phase. (19)

The next important effort aimed at producing an African exhibit came in 193 from a white Chicago business, the Netherton Company. The motivation of Netherton's All-Africa Corporation is unfathomable from the Century of Progress records. The company promised "that no exhibit will be made which the World's Fair Administration shall deem might offend the American Negroes. (20) But the Netherton Company had a questionable financial history, and there was some opposition from the black community. The All-Africa Corporation failed to come up with the financial guarantees required of exhibitors, and by late November of 1932 contact between the fair and the project terminated. (21) The corporation's failure ended all serious activities directed at producing an African cultural and scientific exhibit. As a result, African contributions to world progress in mathematics, the smelting of iron ore, and other areas were not demonstrated on the Chicago fairgrounds.

Yet, support for such a project persisted. With the financial and organizational support of a small number of Africans and black Americans, Modupe Paris produced an independent project. The African and American Negro Exhibit opened along with the Century of Progress in May, 1933, but under community auspices some two miles southwest of the fairgrounds at the National Pythian Temple at Thirty-seventh and State streets, in the heart of the South Side black community. The exhibit offered displays on ancient African architecture and artwork, contemporary African art and commercial products, an (American Negro achievements in science the military, the professions, and the arts. (22)

Once the fair opened, a minor episode (appears to have received press coverage and eventually historical significance disproportionate to its importance-the separate Negro Day at the fair. Black leaders who had worked on behalf of the Du Sable exhibit had always resisted any racially exclusive event. Jesse Binga, for example, had requested that "the race question be not brought up during the fair. (23) The originator of the idea was Chandler Owen--orator, socialist, and promoter who introduced the idea in 1932. A newcomer to the city, Owen was not a member of the middle-class leadership ranks. The only major endorsement for his plan was from black United States Representative Oscar DePriest, and that turned out to be ephemeral. (24) Other politicians ignored Owen's plan; Aldermen William L. Dawson and Robert R. Jackson failed to endorse the idea in the city council, negating a political custom. (25)

The opposition that Owen encountered was consistent with the spirit of 1893, when a separate Colored American Day was held but with limited success. Ida B. Wells Barnett and other racial equalitarians boycotted that event, and Frederick Douglass reluctantly became involved because he was already at the exposition as an official at the Haitian Pavilion. Douglass's presence lent a semblance of legitimacy to the 1893 event, but the fair of 1933 had no one of Douglass's stature associated with it.

Negro Day, which was held August 12, 1933, was a colossal flop-both ideologically and financially. Owen had predicted that 300,000 persons would attend, but only fifty thousand did, establishing an all-time low daily attendance record. It was such a debacle that the fair management had to intercede financially by assuming the debt in order to prevent the event from becoming an even bigger disaster. (26) The Chicago Defender, which had reported but not supported the event, tersely summed up the popular feeling, "the less said about this day the better for all of us." (27)

Throughout the rest of the fair, how were blacks treated? To be sure, in Depression-ridden Chicago there were apprehensions about racism, but at the fair it seemed that the apprehension of racism assumed a greater importance than its actual existence. (28)

Containment of segregation, discrimination, and prejudice was directly attributable to the early and sustained involvement of black leaders with the fair managers. Civic and political interaction with the fair's hierarchy proceeded through stages and along conciliatory lines that prevented problems before they could fester. Even the militant Chicago NAACP attempted to work within the bounds of conciliation in order to prevent any explosive racial incidents. Because of the accessibility of fair president Rufus C. Dawes and his entire staff, contacts proved consistently cordial and productive. D6wes was personally committed to insuring racial justice, and on more than one occasion he did just that .2 9 Also important was the actively enforced Illinois Civil Rights Act, which provided legal redress for grievances.

The test of whether all citizens were to enjoy their rights occurred sooner than many expected. In 1932, one concessionaire rented the formerly public beach at Twelfth Street, and set up a whites-only sales booth. The matter was investigated, exposed, and stopped. That action coincided with the formation of the CCWFC, which provided blacks a conciliatory vehicle to channel their grievances and to monitor racial progress at the fair. (30)

Once the fair opened, the ugly threat of discrimination appeared to be real after all. The first victims were Urban League members Dr. Arthur G. Falls and his wife, Lillian. While on the fairgrounds late one evening, the Fallses were denied entrance to a restaurant. They seated themselves, were served, and brought the incident to Dawes's attention the next day. (31) The concessionaire was warned to desist or to leave the fairgrounds. In the dozen or so other cases, the Chicago NAACP entered the battle at the confrontal stage. With a battery of well-trained volunteer attorneys who comprised its Legal Redress Committee, the NAACP repeatedly took offenders to court in an attempt to discourage other acts of discrimination. (32)

Blacks also resorted to remedial political action through their representatives in the Illinois General Assembly. President A. Clement MacNeal of the Chicago NAACP induced Representative Charles J. Jenkins to act. Jenkins and Representatives Harris B. Gaines, William E. King, William J. Warfield, and Arthur T. Broche jointly introduced a resolution calling for more decisive action when civil rights violations occurred. On June 29, 1933, House Resolution 85 called on Cook County State's Attorney Thomas J. Courtney to conduct grand jury investigations of those violations. (33)

Discrimination cases dragged through the Chicago courts during the summer, and the NAACP led a delegation that included the membership of the CCWFC to the office of the Cook County State's Attorney to demand swifter legal and judicial action. Although the delegation was met dispassionately, it might as well have been met antagonistically since its protestations fell on deaf ears. By the end of the fair's two-year run, remedy was finally at hand when the Chicago NAACP's suits were decided, all in favor of the plaintiffs. The branch won seventeen cases involving discrimination in or around the fairgrounds, amounting to judgments of $5,000 in the aggregate." (34)

During the second year of the fair, black legislators redirected their focus. They planned to prevent discrimination and avoid the criticism from their constituents that they had suffered in 1932 when they failed to delay enabling legislation for the fair until passage of an anti-discrimination law that would have prevented the Twelfth Street beach incident. (35) Now, they refused to support any fair legislation until they received a guarantee of an anti-discrimination law affecting concessionaires. The tactical move proved effective. House Bill 114, introduced by Representatives Gaines, Jenkins, and Warfield, passed the house by a 98-2 vote and the senate 27-0 vote. With passage of the law, the number of complaints dropped considerably, and overt discrimination in private dining accommodations virtually ended. (36)

Despite the legal guarantees, the atmosphere of prejudice was aided indirectly by the timidity of some blacks. Many members of the masses, as well as the southern black middle class who came to visit the fair, simply avoided eating at fair restaurants. (37) Such action was opposed repeatedly by the Chicago Urban League, the Chicago NAACP, the Defender, and others, however. Blacks were chided to act like citizens and demand their rights in the same manner as they accepted their responsibilities as citizens. Blacks who partook of what the fair offered appeared to enjoy themselves. (38)

Employment at the fair provided another opportunity to examine prejudice. After all, the fair was intended to show the nation and the world that Chicago was still economically viable despite the Depression. Blacks held positions from the top to the bottom of the employment rungs. Adam Beckley, for example, who was college trained, was visible in fair President Dawes's office as an administrative assistant. The major lecturer in the Lincoln room of the Illinois Host Building was attorney Andrew Torrence. Six of the uniformed policemen and three of the policewomen were black, and the men were conspicuous as members of the honor guard escorting Postmaster General James Aloysius Farley, President Roosevelt's representative at the fair's opening. The Walgreen Drug Store chain employed a black clerk who served all citizens from a very visible position. Many entertainers, especially musicians and dancers, were prominent on the Streets of Paris, in the Midget Village, and on the Showboat. Most blacks were found at the bottom rungs, however. Most washroom attendants were black, and one of the fair's major concessionaires reported hiring four hundred to six hundred black laborers during 1933. (39)

There were no black concessionaires, however, and without the owners of businesses ensuring equal access to work as other nationalities were prone to do, opportunities were limited. But the problem of black entrepreneurs was related to both discrimination and a lack of capital. (40) Chicago black businessmen were suffering from the failure by 1932 of both the Binga State Bank and Douglass National Bank, as well as the near-failure of three major black insurance companies. J. D. Carr, a self-appointed black spokesman, summarized the situation: "An investor has employment out there [on the fairgrounds] in proportion to his investments. Every concessionist has exclusionary charge over his employees. (41) If blacks could not afford to be investors, they had to rely on the good will of those who could. Fair management might work to stop flagrant cases of discrimination, but it had never envisioned itself as a protector of employment rights or a provider of patronage. (42)

The black effort to secure more employment was initiated in 1931 by Chicago Urban League Executive Director Albion L. Foster, who was joined by the staff of the Wabash YMCA and the director of public service for the Chicago Defender. From the ranks of the masses, the John Brown Organization of Cook County led by W. Thomas Soders joined the effort. Soders had already gained a reputation as a fighter for jobs based on his involvement in the Street Car Riots of 1930, which involved massive street protests for jobs. Black employment improved only slightly at the fair, but in the middle of the Depression, improvements-even if only by degrees-were welcomed.

The Century of Progress proved to be a rather accurate indicator of how far Chicago blacks had progressed since 1833. Their racial image had improved considerably since slavery days, as the reception given the Du Sable homestead by blacks, whites, and the fair management demonstrated. Discrimination on the fairgrounds was controlled through the efforts of blacks and the fair leaders, who were supportive of justice from the onset. The problem of inequality in employment persisted as it had for decades, not only in Chicago but also in the nation. On balance, though, the fair turned out to be more of a benefit than a detriment to Chicago blacks. Therefore, it was a symbol of progress.

Christopher Robert Reed is associate professor of history at Roosevelt University. He has published on topics relating to ideology and organization of Afro-Americans in Chicago, including articles in the Illinois Historical journal, Michigan Historical Review, and journal of Ethnic Studies. A full-length manuscript on the history of the Chicago branch of the NAACP between the years 1910 and 1960 is under publisher's review.

NOTES

1 Meier and Rudwick, "Negro Protest at the Chicago World's Fair, 1933-1934,"Joumal of the Illinois State

Historical Society, 59 (1966), 161-7 1.

2 Christopher Robert Reed, "Black Chicago Civic Organization before 1935," Journal of Ethnic Studies, 14

3 General Manager [Lenox R. Lohr] to Oscar DePriest, Dec. 20, 1929, DePriest File, Correspondence, A

4 Chicago Defender, June 10, 1933, p. 14, col. 1.

5 Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903; rpt. Greenich, Corm.: Fawcett Pub., 1961), pp. 16, 17.

6 Chicago Daily News, Aug. 25, 1893, p. 1, col. 6; Alfreda M. Duster, ed., Crusader for justice: The

7 Chicago Daily News, Aug. 25, 1893, p. 1, col. 6.

8 0liver Cromwell Cox, "The Origin of Direct-Action Protest Among Negroes," MS (1932-1933, -v. 1973),

9 [Rufus C.] Dawes Memorandum, Feb. 29, 1928, and Binga to Dawes, Aug., 1928, Jesse Binga File,

ACOP (hereafter cited as Binga File).

10 Chairman [Dawes] to Abbott, Jan. 30, 1929, and accompanying material, Robert S. Abbot File ACOP;

11 Albion L. Foster to Carl G. Collier, April 30, 1928, and C. W. Fitch to Assistant Secretary, June 29,

12 Byrne to Foster, Feb. 17, 1932, Urban League File.

13 Foster to Byrne, June 28, 1932, ibid.

14 Defender June 17, 1933, p. 12, col. I.

15 Annie Oliver to Collier, Nov. 3, 1928, National De Saible Memorial Society File, ACOP; Journal of the

Proceedings of the City Council of Chicago, April 22, 1929, p. I 10, and July 28, 1932, p. 2794.

16 Foster to Collier, April 30, 1928, Urban League File.

17 Bailey to Architectural Committee, Feb. 12 1930, W. T. Bailey File, ACOP.

18 Notebook, Summer, 193 1, C. G. Blooah File ACOP.

19 W. M. Herzog to Fay-Cooper Cole, July 8, 193 1, Cole to John S. Sewell, Aug. 29, 193 1, and Cole to

Sewell, Dec. 19, 193 1, Paris File.

20 Plan for a World's Fair African Exhibit, August 9, 1932, All-Africa Corp. File, ACOP.

21 Kerr to Netherton, Nov. 15, 1932, ibid.

22 "Visit the African and American Negro Exhibits," brochure in June, 1933, folder, Branch Files, NAACP

Archives, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (hereafter cited as NAACP Branch Files).

23 [C. W.] Farrier (quoting Binga) to Lohr, June 26, 1930, Binga File.

24 Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 12, 1933, p. 4, cols. 7-8.

25 It was common practice for all Chicago politicians to promote the interests of their constituents,

26 Assistant Chief to [R. 1. Randolph] Director of Operations and Marketing, Oct. 3, 1933, and [B. L.]

Grove to [Charles C.] Carnahan et al., Nov. 8, 1934, Chandler Owen File, ACOP.

27 Defender, Nov. 11, 1933, p. 17, cols. 1-2.

28 Chicago Bee, June 3, 1933, p. 1; Defender, June 3, 1933, p. 1, cols. 4-5 ff; Pittsburgh Courier, Sept. 16,

29 Defender, July 23, 1932, p. 1, cols. 5-6; author's interview of Arthur and Lillian Falls, prominent in civic

30 Falises interview.

31 Falls to Dawes, June 28, 1933, and note by Randolph attached to A. N. Gonsier to Falls, June 29, 1933,

Urban League File.

32 Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 26, 1933, p. 2; Defender, Aug. 26, 1933, p. 1, cols. I ff.

33 House Journal, 58 G.A. (1933), 1 Sess., pp. 1927-28.

34 Bulletin, n.d., in Nov.-Dec., 1938, folder, NAACP Branch Files.

35 Defender, July 23 (p. 1, cols. 5-6), July 30 (p. 2, col. 8), 1932.

36 MacNeal to White, April 28, 1934, NAACP Branch Files; House Journal, 58 G.A., 3 Sp. Sess. (1934),

37 Defender, May 13 (p. 4, cols. 7-8, p. 14, col. 2), June 10 (p. 14, col. 1), Oct. 28 (p. 13, cols. 4-5), 1933;

Fallses interview.

38 Pittsburgh Courier, Sept. 9, 1933, p. 1, cols. 6-7; Defender, Nov. 11, 1933, p. 17, cols. 1-2. See also

39 [Jay] Tomlin to Chicago Urban League, Feb. 14, 1934, Urban League File; Defender, June 16, 1934, p.

18, cols. 6-7.

40 Llewellyn Jones, "Chicago Interlude," New Republic, July 5, 1933, pp. 203-5; for a contrast, see Carr to

Mary McLeod Bethune, Aug. 17, 1933, Carr File.

41 Carr to [E. Ross] Bartley, June 17, 1933, Carr File.

43 Tomlin to Chicago Urban League, Feb. 14, 1934, Urban League File.