With funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Newberry will collaborate with Native communities to expand access to the extensive Indigenous Studies collections held by the library. The resulting strategy will be developed in partnership with the Forest County Potawatomi, the Pueblo of Santa Ana, and the Indigenous community of Chicago.

Travel back to the 1919 Chicago Race Riots by taking a self-guided bike tour of the areas that saw much of the violence. The tour is available on the Vamonde app, where you can follow the route and, at each stop, learn about the history of Chicago’s deep-seated racial tensions and how they were ignited in late July of 1919.

The Newberry’s Digital Collections for the Classroom provide access to primary sources that help teachers, students, and lifelong learners think historically and make connections between the past and present. We’ve curated a selection of digital collections that explore African American history and include high-res images, contextual essays, and discussion questions.