The Chicago Freedom Movement

Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta, moved into a decrepit walk-up apartment on the West Side of Chicago in January 1966. The building’s front door had a broken lock, and a single dim bulb lit the stairwell. Nothing in the dingy apartment worked very well: The refrigerator didn’t keep food cold, and the gas stove didn’t get food hot.

The idea was for King—fresh off a string of victories in the South in his fight for civil rights—to draw attention to the poor living conditions that many African Americans were forced to endure in Northern cities.

“You can’t really get close to the poor without living and being here with them,” King told reporters at the time. “A West Side apartment will symbolize the slum-lordism that I hope to smash.”

In January 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta, moved into a rundown walk-up apartment on the West Side of Chicago. The building’s front door had a broken lock. A single dim bulb lit the stairwell. Nothing in the dingy apartment worked very well. The refrigerator didn’t keep food cold. The gas stove didn’t get food hot.

King was fresh off a string of victories in the South in his fight for civil rights. Now he wanted to draw attention to the poor living conditions that many African Americans were forced to endure in Northern cities.

“You can’t really get close to the poor without living and being here with them,” King told reporters at the time. “A West Side apartment will symbolize the slum-lordism that I hope to smash.”

The Kings’ move was part of the Chicago Freedom Movement, which began 60 years ago, in the summer of 1965. At the time, Chicago was the second-largest city in the nation. No Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation, yet Black homebuyers and renters were effectively barred from White neighborhoods. Most of Chicago’s 1 million Black residents—about a third of the city’s population—were squeezed into run-down neighborhoods on the city’s south and west sides. Much of the housing was neglected and the schools were severely overcrowded.

The Kings’ move was part of the Chicago Freedom Movement. The movement began 60 years ago, in the summer of 1965. At the time, Chicago was the second-largest city in the nation. There were no Jim Crow laws that mandated racial segregation, yet Black homebuyers and renters were effectively barred from White neighborhoods. Most of Chicago’s 1 million Black residents—about a third of the city’s population—were squeezed into run-down neighborhoods on the city’s south and west sides. Much of the housing was neglected. The schools were severely overcrowded.

These were the conditions that the Chicago Freedom Movement sought to change. King came to Chicago in 1965 and joined forces with a coalition of Chicago civil rights groups that were already working on these problems. The goals were to eliminate housing discrimination, wipe out the city’s slums, and end the policies that created segregation in Chicago’s public schools.

“The Chicago Freedom Movement was the most ambitious civil rights
mobilization ever launched in the North,” says James Ralph, an American history professor at Middlebury College in Vermont. He adds, “It was an effort to show that nonviolent direct action can work to bring about change in a big city.”

These were the conditions that the Chicago Freedom Movement sought to change. King came to Chicago in 1965. He joined forces with a coalition of Chicago civil rights groups that were already working on these problems. The goals were to eliminate housing discrimination, wipe out the city’s slums, and end the policies that created segregation in Chicago’s public schools.

“The Chicago Freedom Movement was the most ambitious civil rights mobilization ever launched in the North,” says James Ralph, an American history professor at Middlebury College in Vermont. He adds, “It was an effort to show that nonviolent direct action can work to bring about change in a big city.”

Before 1965, most of the landmark battles of the civil rights movement had taken place in the South, where Jim Crow laws forced Black and White people to attend different public schools, use different public bathrooms, and live in separate communities. The Supreme Court’s 1896 ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson had allowed “separate but equal” public accommodations based on race.

Lynching and other acts of terror perpetrated against Black people enforced their second-class status. Largely as a result of these conditions, more than 6 million African Americans had fled to the North, Midwest, and West seeking refuge and better opportunities in what became known as the Great Migration (1916-70).

Black populations swelled in industrialized cities such as Chicago, New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Although many Black people did find better economic opportunities and a safer environment up North, they also discovered that they hadn’t left racism and segregation behind but instead encountered them in new ways (see timeline slideshow, below).

Before 1965, most of the landmark battles of the civil rights movement had taken place in the South. Jim Crow laws forced Black and White people to attend different public schools, use different public bathrooms, and live in separate communities. The Supreme Court’s 1896 ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson had allowed “separate but equal” public accommodations based on race.

Lynching and other acts of terror committed against Black people enforced their second-class status. Largely as a result of these conditions, more than 6 million African Americans had fled to the North, Midwest, and West seeking refuge and better opportunities. This movement became known as the Great Migration (1916-70).

Black populations swelled in industrialized cities such as Chicago, New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Many Black people did find better economic opportunities and a safer environment up North. But they also discovered that they hadn’t left racism and segregation behind. Instead they encountered it in new ways (see timeline slideshow, below).

A number of discriminatory practices underpinned segregation in Northern cities like Chicago. Many White neighborhoods used real estate covenants—clauses in deeds that said properties couldn’t be sold or rented to African Americans. Even without covenants, landowners and real estate agents often refused to rent or sell to Black families.

And beginning in the 1930s, the federal government used a process called redlining to rate urban areas across the U.S. for investment. Neighborhoods where African Americans lived were marked red on maps and deemed unsuitable for government-sponsored lending programs. Banks used the maps to deny mortgages to Black Americans looking to buy homes. Few businesses invested in redlined areas, leading to decay and a scarcity of job opportunities.

By the 1960s, those practices and the continual influx of migrants from the South had resulted in intense overcrowding in Chicago’s Black neighborhoods. When King arrived, there was already a robust movement for social justice—much of it focused on Chicago’s public schools.

A number of discriminatory practices reinforced segregation in Northern cities like Chicago. Many White neighborhoods used real estate covenants that said properties couldn’t be sold or rented to African Americans. Even without covenants, landowners and real estate agents often refused to rent or sell to Black families.

And beginning in the 1930s, the federal government used a process called redlining, where it rated urban areas across the U.S. for investment. Neighborhoods where African Americans lived were marked red on maps. These area were then labeled unsuitable for government-sponsored lending programs. Banks used the maps to deny mortgages to Black Americans looking to buy homes. Few businesses invested in redlined areas. This lack of funding led to decay and fewer job opportunities.

By the 1960s, there was intense overcrowding in Chicago’s Black neighborhoods because of redlining practices and the surge of migrants from the South. When King arrived, there was already a robust movement for social justice—much of it focused on Chicago’s public schools.

In the early 1960s, public schools in the city’s African American neighborhoods were so overcrowded that they ran on split shifts—half the students in the morning and half in the afternoon. Rather than let Black students attend White schools in nearby districts, which had plenty of empty seats, Chicago’s school superintendent bought more than 150 mobile trailers to deal with the overcrowding.

On October 22, 1963, some 225,000 Black children—almost half of the city’s public school students—boycotted their schools to protest unfair conditions. Demanding an end to the de facto  racial segregation, students and their parents flooded into the streets.

The protest, known as Freedom Day, didn’t immediately change the city’s policies. But it was part of what motivated King and his staff to come to Chicago in 1965. When they joined forces with the local Chicago organizers, they decided to focus on housing. In the neighborhoods where Black Chicagoans lived, most housing was in bad shape: broken windows, broken door locks, crumbling steps, and, most worrisome, lead paint that was peeling off the walls and sometimes flaking into baby cribs. People’s homes were infested with bugs and rats.

In the early 1960s, the public schools in the ci ty’s African American neighborhoods were so overcrowded that they ran on split shifts. Half the students attended school in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. The White schools in nearby districts had plenty of empty seats. But rather than let Black students attend those schools, Chicago’s school superintendent bought more than 150 mobile trailers to deal with the overcrowding.

On October 22, 1963, almost half of the city’s public school students (some 225,000 Black children) boycotted their schools to protest unfair conditions. Students and their parents flooded into the streets to demand an end to the de facto racial segregation.

The protest became known as Freedom Day. It didn’t immediately change the city’s policies, but it was part of what motivated King and his staff to come to Chicago in 1965. When they joined forces with the local Chicago organizers, they decided to focus on housing. In the neighborhoods where Black Chicagoans lived, most housing was in bad shape. There were broken windows, broken door locks, and crumbling steps. Even more worrisome was the lead paint that was peeling off the walls and sometimes flaking into baby cribs. People’s homes were infested with bugs and rats.

Mary Lou Finley, then a 22-year-old staffer with the Chicago Freedom Movement, recalled the situation facing the city’s Black residents in the summer of 1965.

“We’d been working with people who were suffering with very bad housing options in the low-income community on Chicago’s West Side,” says Finley. “There was plenty of other housing available at the same price in White neighborhoods, but Black people couldn’t get it, because there was massive discrimination.”

In response, the movement launched a series of marches calling for the end of housing discrimination. They also picketed in front of real estate brokers’ offices that discriminated against African Americans.

“We sent Negroes in large numbers to the real estate offices in Gage Park,” King told a group of reporters, explaining the action in one of Chicago’s White neighborhoods. “Every time Negroes went in, the real estate agents said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, we don’t have anything listed.’ And then soon after that, we sent some of our fine White staff members into those same real estate offices, and the minute those White persons got in, they opened up the books. ‘Oh yes, we have several things. What exactly do you want?’”

Mary Lou Finley, then a 22-year-old staffer with the Chicago Freedom Movement, recalled the situation facing the city’s Black residents in the summer of 1965.

“We’d been working with people who were suffering with very bad housing options in the low-income community on Chicago’s West Side,” says Finley. “There was plenty of other housing available at the same price in White neighborhoods, but Black people couldn’t get it, because there was massive discrimination.”

The movement started a series of marches calling for the end of housing discrimination. They also picketed in front of real estate brokers’ offices that discriminated against African Americans.

“We sent Negroes in large numbers to the real estate offices in Gage Park,” King told a group of reporters, explaining the action in one of Chicago’s White neighborhoods. “Every time Negroes went in, the real estate agents said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, we don’t have anything listed.’ And then soon after that, we sent some of our fine White staff members into those same real estate offices, and the minute those White persons got in, they opened up the books. ‘Oh yes, we have several things. What exactly do you want?’”

In the summer of 1966, King led a series of marches through all-White neighborhoods where real estate agents refused to sell to Black families.

On August 5, as some 600 protesters marched through Marquette Park, they encountered several thousand angry White residents, some of whom threw bottles and rocks. One of those rocks struck King in the head, knocking him to one knee.

“I can say that I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I’m seeing in Chicago,” King later told reporters.

In the summer of 1966, King led a series of marches through all-White neighborhoods where real estate agents refused to sell to Black families.

On August 5, some 600 protesters marched through Marquette Park. They encountered several thousand angry White residents, some of whom threw bottles and rocks. One of those rocks struck King in the head and knocked him to one knee.

“I can say that I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I’m seeing in Chicago,” King later told reporters.

King found that changing segregation in the North was in some ways more difficult than in the South, where there were state and local laws that could be overturned. And some White people in the North were less enthusiastic about the movement once it turned its focus to their cities.

By early 1967, King had left Chicago, and the Chicago campaign had largely petered out.

“In all frankness,” he later wrote about his time in Chicago, “we found the job greater than even we imagined.”

But the Chicago Freedom Movement did shine a light on housing discrimination that ultimately had a significant impact, experts say. Two years later, after the 1968 assassination of King, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination in housing sales or rentals. It also barred banks from discriminating in mortgage decisions.   

Yet King’s dream of integration in America hasn’t fully come to pass. Gone are the all-White neighborhoods that were once off-limits to African Americans. But many communities remain divided along racial lines. A 2022 federal report found that more than a third of U.S. students attend schools that are largely the same race or ethnicity.

Still, historians say, the Chicago Freedom Movement played a key role in helping Americans understand that civil rights concerns didn’t end when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

“The Chicago Freedom Movement revealed the power of ordinary people with a sense of purpose and strategy in tackling the most vexing problems of their time,” says Ralph. “It also served as a model for action in cities across the country.”

Because there were no state and local laws that could be overturned, King found that changing segregation in the North was in some ways more difficult than in the South. And some White people in the North were less enthusiastic about the movement once it turned its focus to their cities.

By early 1967, King had left Chicago. The Chicago campaign had largely petered out. 

“In all frankness,” he later wrote about his time in Chicago, “we found the job greater than even we imagined.”

Experts say the Chicago Freedom Movement did have a significant impact on housing discrimination. Two years later, after the 1968 assassination of King, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act. The law prohibited discrimination in housing sales or rentals. It also barred banks from discriminating in mortgage decisions.  

Yet King’s dream of integration in America still isn’t a reality. The all-White neighborhoods that were once off-limits to African Americans are gone, but many communities remain divided along racial lines. A 2022 federal report found that more than a third of U.S. students attend schools that are largely the same race or ethnicity.

Still, historians say, the Chicago Freedom Movement played a key role in helping Americans understand that civil rights concerns didn’t end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

“The Chicago Freedom Movement revealed the power of ordinary people with a sense of purpose and strategy in tackling the most vexing problems of their time,” says Ralph. “It also served as a model for action in cities across the country.”