John J. Bird was one of the most important civil rights leaders of Post-Civil War Illinois. As leader of Illinois' second largest Black community, located in the city of Cairo during the 1860s-80s, Bird oversaw the establishment of the city's Black Republican wing that provided the community with unprecedented political influence within this hostile, majority-white, Democratic town. Bird rose to prominence across Illinois as the state's first Black judge and university trustee, a leader in the Black convention movement, and a significant newspaper editor in Cairo and Springfield.
Join us for a conversation on John Bird's remarkable career with Dr. Wayne T. Pitard, author of Watchman Tell Us: John J. Bird and Black Politics in Post-Civil War Illinois, and Dr. Sundiata Cha-Jua, Associate Professor in African American Studies and History, the author of America's First Black Town: Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915.
A reception will follow.