The Chicago Freedom Movement Photo Exhibit Comes to North Lawndale

Mona Noriega 312.744.4100

Kyla Williams 773.762.8889, ext. 22

CHICAGO (North Lawndale)—Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC) will serve as the next host for the Chicago Freedom Movement photo exhibit courtesy of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR). A private showing will be held on Thursday, August 29, 2013 in celebration of King’s victorious 50th year anniversary of the “March on Washington” and keeping his “Dream” alive in North Lawndale.

“Dr. King's dream inspired generations of Chicagoans including those who marched with him to integrate education and housing in this city,” said Mona Noriega, Commissioner, Chicago Commission on Human Relations. “It will be impactful to see the Chicago Freedom Movement photo exhibit displayed at the MLK Fair Housing Exhibit Center which commemorates Dr. King’s contributions to fair housing.”

The Chicago Commission on Human Relations enforces the City of Chicago’s Human Rights Ordinance and Fair Housing Ordinance. The Chicago Freedom Movement photo exhibit is courtesy of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR). Chicago’s Fair Housing Ordinance is one of the strongest in the country and is designed to deliver on the American dream of equal access to housing for all.

The photographs are part of the Chicago Freedom Movement 1965-1966, also known as the Chicago Open Housing Movement. It was the most ambitious civil rights campaign in the North. Few people today realize that open housing, now fair housing, was as much a part of the civil rights movement as voting rights, bus boycotts, and integrating lunch counters. In remembrance and celebration of the Chicago Freedom Movement’s fight for fair housing, Bernard J. Kleina assembled his rare and historic color photographs that depict that struggle.

The Lawndale Christian Development Corporation completed 45 units of affordable housing at the former site of Dr. King’s home in North Lawndale. On this historic location, the MLK Fair Housing Exhibit Center was developed to preserve the history of Dr. King and the contributions he had on the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The Center broke ground in 2011 and will hold its inaugural exhibit opening on January 26, 2014. The Chicago Freedom Movement photo exhibit will prominently be displayed at the Exhibit Center.

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About Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC)

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation was established in 1987 to bring holistic revitalization to the lives and environments of Lawndale through economic empowerment, housing improvements, educational enrichment and community advocacy. Approximately 45 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., came to Chicago and called North Lawndale home during his campaign to highlight the deplorable living conditions and poverty of African Americans in the urban north. The historic address at 1550 S. Hamlin Avenue was the only place in the north where Dr. King ever lived. Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC) has developed 45 units of affordable property, the Dr. King Legacy Apartments, on that property to honor Dr. King’s work for fair housing and place the legacy of his “Dream” into action. In addition to the housing units, this four acre site now known as the MLK Memorial District will also include: The MLK Fair Housing Exhibit Center, a new campus park in conjunction with Penn Elementary School, a new job training center (Cornerstone Chicago Center for Arts and Technology), and planning for a new public library. For more information about LCDC, visit their website at www.lcdc.net. For more information about the MLK Fair Housing Exhibit Center, visit www.mlkfairhousing.org.