8th Annual CRR19 Historic Bike Tour
About this Event
8th Annual Historic Bike Tour of Bronzeville and Bridgeport: Sites Related to the 1919 Chicago Race Riot
We will hear about the history of 1919, Bronzeville and Chicago, and celebrate the completion of our campaign to install 38 markers commemorating each of the lives lost during the Chicago Race Riot of 1919.
This year's historic bike tour will have a different starting point and route. We will launch from the lakefront at our newly installed marker for Eugene Williams, which is near 125 Fort Dearborn Drive. Our slow-roll, 7-mile historic bike tour will conclude at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) parking lot D5, on the northeast side of the intersection of 35th and State St. Check-in will be from 9:15 am - 9:45am followed by a brief opening program
We recommend biking to the event but appreciate not everyone will do so.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy public transit option to get to the starting point but there are options. You can take the CTA red line to Sox-35th Red Line and then board the 35 bus heading eastbound to 31st Street Beach and then walk two blocks north to the Eugene Williams Plaza at 29th and Lakeshore Trail. You also could take the CTA green line to IIT-35th Street, and board the 35 bus which terminates at the 31st St. Beach. People are allowed to bring bikes on CTA trains any time on Saturdays and can put bikes on CTA bus racks.
If you’re taking transit or driving to the lakeshore and then plan to use a Divvy bike, we have worked with Divvy which plans to fully stock the 2 Divvy stations at 31st Street Beach with a total of 46 classic and e-bikes. We are working with Divvy to generate a code which riders will able to input to get up to $50 off. We will share the code with registered participants via email nearer to the event—please know that this coupon will NOT cover the entire duration of the ride IF you choose to rent an e-bike; however, if you choose a classic Divvy, then the coupon should easily cover the entire duration of the tour. You must have downloaded the Divvy app in order to use a Divvy bike–that’s their rule, not ours; Divvy is owned by Lyft so you may already have this app on your phone.
If driving to the event (perhaps carrying your bikes along), we encourage people to park near where our tour will conclude, that way, after the ride, you’re ready to depart. Our tour will conclude at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) parking lot D5, on the northeast side of the intersection of 35th and State St. and just west of De La Salle Institute, where there will be plentiful, free, off-street parking. You may enter the D5 lot from either 35th Street (just west of De La Salle Institute) or from the north at 34th Street.
If you drive to this parking lot and plan to bike with us, you will have to bike 2 miles (approximately 15 minutes) from there to the starting point, Eugene Williams Plaza. Our crew will offer two group “bike buses,” the first wave departing at 9:00 am and the second departing at 9:20 am. Of course, you may also bike by yourself to the starting point. Again, the last group bike trip from 35th and State St. to the lakefront will depart at 9:20am.
If driving directly to the lakefront, you may park in the diagonal paid parking for the Margaret T. Burroughs Beach (also known as 31st Street Beach). There are paid parking spots south of the beach; just east of the DuSable Lake Shore Drive, there also are paid parking spots north of the beach and these are closer to the Eugene Williams Plaza. Please understand that parking near 31st Street Beach can be challenging, especially on a weekend during the summer! We can’t guarantee that you’ll find parking but if you arrive before 10 am, the chances are good.
The event is free with an option for donations.
Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Thank you for your support!
About the Partners:
CRR19
The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project (CRR19) exists to commemorate the worst incident of racial violence in the city’s history. The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 is long forgotten, despite its huge impact on the subsequent shape and development of the city. CRR19 will offer a powerful model for how to use dispersed public art to remember past atrocities and provoke conversations about their legacy to ignite conversations about racism, past and present, in Chicago and the nation. Inspired by Stolpersteine, an ongoing German project to honor Holocaust victims, we intend to create and install artistic markers at each of the 38 locations where someone was killed in 1919. Formally launched on the 100th anniversary of the 1919 riot, we believe that now is the moment for Chicago to confront its bloodiest chapter and heal the wounds that time alone has not. We must remember America’s troubled past of racial violence and white supremacy if we wish to improve the future. To move towards racial equality and justice by creating chances for more discussions and more challenging ones about race and racism, past and present.
CRR19 website: https://chicagoraceriot.org/
CRR19 introductory video:
Organic Oneness
Organic Oneness is the fiscal sponsor and program partner of CRR19.
We bring people together to eliminate racism and create healthy communities in Chicago.Through a Consultative Framework, we co-create with a multitude of partners to provide educational, transformational, and service oriented spaces that foster a mindset of truth and justice at the individual, community, and institutional levels, with the overall goal of tranforming hearts and changing systems for the betterment of Black and Brown communities. www.OrganicOneness.org
Firebird Community Arts
Firebird Community Arts empowers and connects people through the healing practice of glassblowing and ceramics.We serve those who have been impacted by structural or individual trauma, including violently-injured youth, veterans, formerly-incarcerated individuals, undocumented and immigrant populations and Chicago Public School students on the South and West sides. www.firebirdcommunityarts.org
Illinois Tech, Office of Community Affairs and Outreach
The priority is to build formal relationships and partnerships between Illinois Tech, local community-based organizations, businesses, and Chicago Public Schools, as well as the surrounding Chicago community areas. With a general focus on shoring up education opportunities and amplifying art and culture, as well as stimulating economic development, the Office of Community Affairs and Outreach Programs aims to be the connective tissue linking the Illinois Tech community—faculty, students, and staff—with the organizations, businesses, and individuals looking to make a positive change in Bronzeville and in the surrounding communities on the South Side. www.iit.edu/community-affairs
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00 to USD 268.61
