Online exhibition documents the birth of the Chicago Civil Rights movement and Operation Breadbasket

CHICAGO (June 25, 2024)—In 2023, Chicago Theological Seminary developed an oral history project surrounding alum Rev. Jesse Jackson, who launched Operation Breadbasket with the help of others at CTS and beyond. These interviews are now the subject of a new virtual exhibition at the Chicago History Museum, entitled, Imagination and Agitation: Religion, Civil Rights, and The Ongoing American Transformation.

“Our partnership with the Chicago History Museum to exhibit these essential pieces of Chicago and Black history is intended for the benefit of all those seeking a deeper understanding of the civil rights movement in Chicago,” said Rev. Dr. Brad R. Braxton, President of Chicago Theological Seminary. “We are thrilled that CHM is able to present this exhibition for the benefit of all Chicagoans and, indeed, the world.”

The exhibition features interviews with key figures in the Chicago Civil Rights movement, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Martin Deppe, Mrs. Hermene Hartman, Mrs. Betty Massoni (wife of the late Rev. Gary Massoni), Rev. David Wallace, and Rev. Dr. Janette Wilson. The interviews are meant to preserve the stories of a civil rights movement in its infancy.

“The Jackson Oral History Project captures key first person narratives of the Chicago Freedom Movement, Operation Breadbasket, and Operation PUSH.” said Dr. Peter T. Alter, Chief Historian and Director of the Studs Terkel Center for Oral History at the Chicago History Museum. “We are pleased to have partnered with CTS to create this online experience that brings together JOHP excerpts and quotations with documents and photographs from the Museum’s varied collections.”

The stories are part of the larger Jackson Oral History Project, which CTS developed in 2023 as a way to document the stories of the Chicago civil rights movement. The subjects were interviewed by CTS staff members Rev. Dr. Brian E. Smith, Director of Community Relations and Strategic Partnerships, and Ms. Kim Schultz, Manager of Interreligious Affairs and Special Events, in discussions documented in audio, video, and photos. The interviews were preserved in the Chicago Theological Seminary’s archive, and parts were used for Season 3 of the CTS-produced podcast Our 7 Neighbors. This latest collaboration helps to tell these stories that need to be told to generations who didn’t experience them.

Imagination and Agitation: Religion, Civil Rights, and The Ongoing American Transformation is being exhibited by CHM on the relatively new Google platform Google Arts & Culture, which houses thousands of online exhibits from around the world. The exhibition is open now at https://g.co/arts/TPTVbhixVYjG9kYV9.

Contact:
Brendan Diamond
Director of Communications, Chicago Theological Seminary
[email protected] | (312) 619-1733

 

ABOUT CHICAGO THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Since its inception, CTS has lived on the edge – literally and figuratively. Established in the boomtown of Chicago in 1855, the Seminary’s first mission was to train church leaders on what was then America’s western boundary. Throughout our history CTS has been a leader in theological education, social justice, and societal transformation. Learn more at www.ctschicago.edu.

 

ABOUT THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM
The Chicago History Museum is situated on ancestral homelands of the Potawatomi people, who cared for the land until forced out by non-Native settlers. Established in 1856, the Museum is located at 1601 N. Clark Street in Lincoln Park, its third location. A major museum and research center for Chicago and U.S. history, the Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, publications, special events and programming, the Museum connects people to Chicago’s history and to each other. The Museum collects and preserves millions of artifacts, documents, and images to assist in sharing Chicago stories. The Museum gratefully acknowledges the support of the Chicago Park District on behalf of the people of Chicago.