Landmarking the Black Panther Party in Chicago and Illinois
Group Seeks Black Panther Party Historic District on National Register
Members of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party listen to Chairman Fred Hampton at the People’s Church, 201 S. Ashland, in Chicago. Photo: Paul Sequeira, Getty Images
Chicago (September 20, 2022)–The Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party (HPS) is pursuing a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places to mark the Black Panthers’ work and activism in Illinois. The HPS Landmarking Committee plans to present its multiple property submission (MPS) to the Illinois State Preservation Office in February 2023 and is launching a public awareness campaign on October 13, 2022, with a series of educational events at the Chicago History Museum.
Leila Wills, whose parents were members of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, spearheads the landmarking committee and started the project in 2020 while working with Fred Hampton, Jr. and Lisa DiChiera of Landmarks Illinois on landmarking the childhood home of Illinois Chairman Fred Hampton in Maywood. Her ongoing research includes a compiled survey of properties in Chicago and Illinois.
“I wanted to tell the story of the Black Panther Party by location,” said Leila Wills. “On the west side, the Party’s headquarters is now a Walgreens. The south side office is also gone. The Black Panther Party’s work changed lives and legislation and we don’t want them wiped out of our city and state’s memory. Each property has an associated history that is important to our heritage.”
After hearing the depth of the project, DiChiera suggested an MPS and brought in Loyola University’s Public History Director Ted Karamanski. Two of his then students, Mikey Spehn and Adam Yunis, volunteered to join the project, and together, they comprise the landmarking committee. The head of the HPS, to organize the effort, is the Black Panther Party’s Illinois Minister of Education, Billy “Ché” Brooks, a lifelong social justice advocate dedicated to helping young people develop the social, cultural, and analytical skills necessary to approach life, current conditions, and issues of justice. The HPS has over 50 members who support the initiative.
At the Chicago History Museum on October 13, 2022, at 7:00 p.m., Brooks will lead a panel discussion on the Party’s work after a landmarking presentation by Leila Wills. Wanda Ross, the key organizer of the Breakfast Program, and Ralph Bostick who helped establish the free Medical Center will join Brooks on the panel. Design Trust Chicago is co-hosting a MAPPED-A-THON session earlier the same day to begin an online database of Party properties. The Chicago Community Trust is co-sponsoring the event. In-kind supporters include Lawyers for the Creative Arts, Design Trust Chicago, and Free Spirit Media.
