Nine years after the Peoria School Board instituted a policy of busing, regularly matching up students from one Peoria neighborhood to schools in another, the US Commission on Civil Rights produced a twenty-eight page report detailing why segregation persisted in Peoria’s school system.
Peoria
A digital companion to the biography Becoming Richard Pryor
School Desegregation in Peoria, Illinois
Date: 06/1977
Citation:
United States Commission on Civil Rights. School Desegregation in Peoria, Illinois, Washington: GPO, June 1977.
-
1. The Carver Center Serves an Enclosed Community (1942–1954)
-
Push Plan for Negro Center
–11/13/1942–As Peoria's black population surged in the 1940s, plans for a new community center were laid
-
Center Fund Drive Opens
–12/02/43–The Center Fund Drive launched with hopes of raising $15,000 in a week.
-
Carver Center Is Dedicated
–12/11/1944–For its founders, the Carver Center promised to inaugurate “the postwar of tomorrow”
-
Pursuit of Freedom
–11/1949–The mural, a mix of uplift and militancy, that faced Richard onstage at the Carver Center
-
Red Feather Agency Builds Useful Life
–10/15/1952–The Carver Center was thriving in 1952 — and would-be juvenile delinquent “Bob” was proof
-
A Gallery of the Carver Center’s First 10 Years
–1954–Modern dance and checkers, jazz and basketball — all were on tap at the Carver Center
-
-
2. The Congress of Racial Equality: Integration Experiments (1945-1946)
-
Letter from George Houser to Dick Trotter
–04/13/1945–When an “interracial action group” formed in Peoria, the president of the Congress of Racial Equality offered his support
-
Letter from Dick Trotter to George Houser
–05/16/1945–"Sit-down strikes" in eating establishments were the first protests organized by Peoria's CORE chapter
-
Letter from Dick Trotter to George Houser
–07/21/1945–Its membership growing, Peoria's CORE aimed to desegregate public pools as well as local restaurants
-
Letter from Hazel Pritcher to George Houser
–06/03/1946–CORE broadened its fight for racial justice by taking on a high school's staging of a blackface minstrel show
-
Inter-Racial Committee Pickets 6 Restaurants
–06/15/1946–Restaurant managers boasted defiantly of improved sales after Bradley University's CORE chapter picketed their establishments
-
Benjamin Alexander, Black Activist, Remembers CORE
–1991–A detailed, intimate account of the interracial alliance behind CORE's sit-ins
-
-
3. A Cold War Episode: Singer Paul Robeson Blackballed in Peoria (1947)
-
Peoria Bans Robeson; He Vows to Sing
–04/18/1947–The Cold War heated up in Peoria when radical singer Paul Robeson came to town
-
Edward Robb Ellis Interview with Paul Robeson
–04/19/1947–An in-depth interview of Paul Robeson, freshly banned from Peoria
-
Paul Robeson Defies Peoria Ban
–04/26/1947–The Chicago Defender sympathetically reported on Robeson's defiance of Peoria's conservatives
-
Story Behind the Barring of Robeson
–05/03/1947–A detailed autopsy of the banning of Paul Robeson in Peoria, from the Baltimore Afro-American
-
Strange Case of Paul Robeson
–05/03/1947–A condemnation of Paul Robeson's behavior in Peoria from The Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American newspaper.
-
From Fred Douglass to Robeson, Peoria Hasn’t Improved
–05/03/1947–Peoria's ban of Paul Robeson echoed its chilly reception of Frederick Douglass 65 years before
-
Crucifixion of Paul Robeson Blasted by Press in India
–05/24/1947–A newspaper in New Delhi expressed outrage over Paul Robeson's ban in Peoria
-
Peoria Legion Post Charter Revoked
–08/14/1947–After the Robeson incident, the hammer came down on Peoria's black American Legion post
-
-
4. Snapshots of the Black Community (1952-1957)
-
John Clark Discovers Negroes Now Talking
–10/11/1952–A reporter dropped into Bris Collins's tavern to take black America's pulse — and met Richard's “Uncle Dickie”
-
The Story Of The Negro In Peoria — Chapter 1
–04/05/1957–Sparked by the postwar surge in Peoria's black population, the Journal Star surveyed the state of black Peoria
-
Right To Vote Their Problem, Leaders Say
–04/09/1957–Low black voter turnout was behind black underrepresentation in Peoria politics
-
Types of Work Vary — Reach to Professions
–4/11/1957–Juliette Whittaker was among the professionals spotlighted in “What Negroes do for a living in Peoria”
-
Some of Most Persistent Myths Explode
–04/15/1957–With liberal conviction, the Peoria Journal Star debunked the myth of scientific racial superiority
-
Housing Effort By Tenants Succeeds, Fails
–04/16/1957–A case study in white resistance to desegregated housing in Peoria
-
Harper Known Nationally For His Work
–4/17/1957–Carver Center director Henry Harper was a gentle man with bulldog tenacity
-
-
5. Leaders In Search of Followers (1958–1962)
-
Human Relations Report Cites Negro Gains Here
–01/26/1959–Despite recent accomplishments, overcrowding in the “black belt” of Peoria remained a problem
-
“The Negro Situation in Peoria”
–10/12/1960–The PJ Star argued everyone was "somewhat to blame" for the high black drop-out rate
-
Story Of A Failure…Why Didn’t Our Negroes Answer?
–11/9/1960 –Why did so few blacks in Peoria respond to a newspaperman's basic question?
-
Teacher Gives Wisdom, Challenge To Negroes
–11/10/1960–A Peorian teacher emphasized education in the fight for desegregation
-
How Much of Racial Inequity Can Negroes Overcome?
–11/11/1960–Who was to blame for low black social mobility — Peoria or blacks themselves?
-
Churches, Businessmen, Aid Negro Cause Here
–11/17/1960–Local churches and businessmen organized the first Trade Fair for black high school and college students
-
The Friendship Tea
–06/13/1962–Juliette Whittaker was among the ladylike faces of this Peorian Civil Rights initiative
-
-
6. The Civil Rights Movement Winds Up (1963–1964)
-
March Until Bus Company Capitulates
–06/20/1963–Racist hiring practices were targeted in a NAACP-organized bus boycott
-
‘No Racial Tension Here,’ Says Mayor
–06/21/1963–Black Peorians were staging a bus boycott, but Peoria's Mayor claimed there was “no racial tension here”
-
Gwynn Says There IS Racial Tension in Peoria
–06/22/1963–Peoria's NAACP president argued that racial tension suffused “almost every phase of life in Peoria”
-
Mayor Day Admits Discrimination in Peoria
–07/03/1963–Unemployment and poor housing were problems that couldn't be solved by demonstrations, said Peoria's Mayor
-
Negro Effect on Property Put To Test
–08/07/1963–A newspaper investigation found property values rarely dropped when a “colored family” moved in
-
Call Inter-Racial Visits Big Success
–10/28/1963–Over 200 people hosted integrated parties for Peoria's Inter-racial Home Visitation Day
-
Landlords Profit While South Sides Goes To Pot
–12/05/1963–For lack of a better option, Peoria's blacks were forced to rent overpriced and poorly maintained housing
-
Carver Variety Show Satire Provides ‘Touch’
–12/06/1963–From the imagination of Juliette Whittaker, a Dixiecrat senator's tour of Hell
-
Black Peorians Dropout in Alarming Numbers
–11/2/1964–By November 1964, a 77% high school dropout rate beset black Peoria - higher than Chicago and Springfield.
-
Negro Heroes In Peoria
–11/17/1964–The Peoria Journal Star saluted those black Peorians who had entered the middle class
-
-
7. The Movement Turns Up the Heat (1964–1968)
-
Fire Bomb Tossed Through Window Of Rehm Barber Shop
–11/23/1964–A barbershop where blacks had been refused service was struck with a Molotov cocktail
-
I, Too, Sing America
–02/1966–A glimpse of a musical number from Whittaker's Civil Rights inspired pageant, “I, Too, Sing America”
-
School Board Agrees To Meet After Singing Sit-In
–07/19/1966–The NAACP staged a singing sit-in to press for changes in school curriculum and employment practices
-
6 Jailed For Disorderly Conduct
–07/21/1966–The NAACP pressured for school reform with another sit-in — and six were arrested
-
200 Students Walk Out in Protest March
–11/09/1967–Teens in the NAACP staged a walk-out to protest inadequate conditions at their school
-
120 Negro Students, Suspended Yesterday, Barred
–11/10/1967–120 Manual High School students were barred from returning to class the day after the mass walk-out
-
School Protests Suspended For Week
–11/15/1967–After approximately 6,200 total student absences, student demonstrators paused to regroup
-
Black Muslim Group Opens South Side Temple
–2/5/1968–The Nation of Islam made inroads among Peoria's black population
-
School Desegregation in Peoria, Illinois
–06/1977–The US Commission on Civil Rights examined why a busing program hadn't alleviated segregation in Peoria's schools
-
-
8. A Movement Everywhere on the Move: Richard Visits Peoria, March 1969
-
The Black Guards
–12/11/1968–Twelve black men took up arms to patrol their community — with the sanction of city hall
-
‘Together In Peoria’
–02/29/1969–Businessmen in Peoria showed a growing concern for race relations with an $85,000 pledge to Project TIP
-
Meeting Dates Set For Police-Community Talks
–03/05/1969–To allay black mistrust of Peoria's police, city leaders planned three-day retreats with blacks, police, and businessmen
-
BU Establishes Black Culture House, Sets Afro Degree Plan
–03/07/1969–Protests by Bradley University's Black Student Alliance resulted in two new academic institutions
-
No Union Men Attend Rights Group Meeting
–03/08/1969–White-dominated construction unions were no-shows at a meeting to integrate building trades
-
Campbell Pledges Blacks in Building Trades Soon
–03/09/1969–An “open society” in Peoria was the goal of the Tri-County Urban League's annual seven-part statement
-
Richard Pryor Returns To Peoria Stage
–03/09/1969–A benefit for the local Afro-American Black Peoples Federation brought Richard Pryor back to the Carver Center stage
-
B.U. Statement Sound
–03/10/1969–Three days later an editorial praised Bradley's “Statement of Principles” for enforcing the civil rights of all races
-
-
9. The Movement Radicalizes and Splinters (1969–1977)
-
The Enchanted Cage
–11/27/1962–Carver Center teens, including later Black Panther Mark Clark, rehearsed a scene from “The Enchanted Cage”
-
Malcolm X Asks: “Who Will Help Mend America?”
–1969–Juliette Whittaker's Civil Rights fresco
-
Panther Clark Expected Death, Sister Reveals
–12/29/1969–An obituary for Mark Clark — a Peorian Black Panther killed alongside Fred Hampton in a pre-dawn raid by Chicago police in 1969
-
Gunman Slain As Pupil Held Hostage In School
–05/02/1973–In a high-stakes hostage standoff, the gunmen refused negotiations with anyone but Juliette Whittaker
-
Whittaker: Young Man of Great Potential
–05/02/1973–Juliette Whittaker remembered gunman (and Black Panther) Melvin Burch as “a very gentle man”
-
Civil Rights Movement: Where Has Peoria Been?
–05/12/1974–Twenty years after Brown v. Board of Education, the Journal Star examined the arc of the city's Civil Rights Movement
-
The View From Peoria: It’s Not Playing Well
–6/30/1974–The Washington Post traveled to Peoria to take the pulse of the nation during the Watergate crisis
-
School Desegregation in Peoria, Illinois
–06/1977–The US Commission on Civil Rights examined why a busing program hadn't alleviated segregation in Peoria's schools
-