Following on the heels of the Harlem Renaissance, the Chicago Renaissance was a resonant flourishing of African American arts, literature, theater, music, and intellectualism, from 1930 to 1955. Anne Meis Knupfer's The Chicago Black Renaissance and Women's Activism demonstrates the complexity of black women's many vital contributions to this unique cultural flowering. The book examines various groups of black female activists, including writers and actresses, social workers, artists, school teachers, and women's club members to document the impact of social class, gender, nativity, educational attainment, and professional affiliations on their activism. Together, these women worked to sponsor black history and literature, to protest overcrowded schools, and to act as a force for improved South Side housing and employment opportunities. Knupfer also reveals the crucial role these women played in founding and sustaining black cultural institutions, such as the first African American art museum in the country; the first African American library in Chicago; and various African American literary journals and newspapers. As a point of contrast, Knupfer also examines the overlooked activism of working-class and poor women in the Ida B. Wells and Altgeld Gardens housing projects. Received the Superior Achievement Award by the Illinois State Historical Society (2007). "This is an important and significant study. It clarifies the established links among artists, academics, activists, and community and illuminates the gendered dynamics of a localized renaissance that resonated nationally."-- American Historical Review "The composite parts of Knupfer's work are overwhemingly impressive . . . Chicago may remain arguably the most overstudied city . . . yet Knupfer's innovations in subject matter, source material, and synthesis suggest that the City of the Big Shoulders has whole new layers of weight to carry."-- Journal of American History "Anne Meis Knupfer's important volume. . . . provides a significant contribution to the historical literature on African American women's activism."-- Indiana Magazine of History The untold story of the prodigious activism of African American women on Chicago's south side Following on the heels of the Harlem Renaissance, the Chicago Renaissance was a resonant flourishing of African American arts, literature, theater, music, and intellectualism, from 1930 to 1955. Anne Meis Knupfer’s The Chicago Black Renaissance and Women’s Activism demonstrates the complexity of black women’s many vital contributions to this unique cultural flowering.  The book examines various groups of black female activists, including writers and actresses, social workers, artists, school teachers, and women’s club members to document the impact of social class, gender, nativity, educational attainment, and professional affiliations on their activism. Together, these women worked to sponsor black history and literature, to protest overcrowded schools, and to act as a force for improved South Side housing and employment opportunities. Knupfer also reveals the crucial role these women played in founding and sustaining black cultural institutions, such as the first African American art museum in the country; the first African American library in Chicago; and various African American literary journals and newspapers. As a point of contrast, Knupfer also examines the overlooked activism of working-class and poor women in the Ida B. Wells and Altgeld Gardens housing projects. Anne Meis Knupfer is an associate professor of educational studies at Purdue University.  She is the author of Reform and Resistance: Gender, Delinquency, and America’s First Juvenile Court and Toward a Tenderer Humanity and a Nobler Womanhood: African American Women’s Clubs in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago. The Chicago Black Renaissance and Women's Activism By Anne Meis Knupfer University of Illinois Press Copyright © 2006 Anne Meis Knupfer All right reserved. ISBN: 9780252072932 Chapter One Models of Black Activism in Chicago Introduction The fact that the Chicago Black Renaissance thrived for three decades is nothing short of astonishing. Even more astonishing is that the movement flourished through the tumultuous years of the Depression, World War II, and the Great Migration of the 1950s. What conditions led to the Chicago Black Renaissance's enduring legacy? In this chapter, I examine three strands of activism that prevailed during the movement: pan-African intellectuality; promotion of the expressive arts, including literature, drama, dance, and art; and social protest. I want to emphasize at the onset that these aspects were not separate or unrelated. Rather, they were all interwoven and together provided the momentum necessary for continuation of the movement. For purposes of analysis, however, I examine each strand separately, showing their interrelationships. Subsequent chapters will examine partic