History

Over the course of the next few months, local and national media attention will soon be directed towards Chicago’s historic Jackson Park as groundbreaking ceremonies are set to begin in September 2021 on the historic Barack Obama Presidential Library and Center. After a tumultuous year battling the COVID-19 pandemic and culminating in the historic election of President Joseph Robinet Biden, the selection of Chicago’s own Jackson Park to honor the nation’s first African-American president (Chicago’s own native son) keenly underscores the intractable connections of the south side community haven to Chicago’s own history and that of the nation. Just as Jackson Park served as the symbolic platform for the promotion of nineteenth century “American ideals” as host to the 1892 Columbian World’s Exposition, so too will it promote in the halls of the new presidential library the more inclusive multi-cultural ideals of twenty first century America most poignantly represented in the life and legacy of America’s 45th president.