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Lived Stories of the Bronzeville Trail Landscape Initiative

Location

Chicago, IL

Date

2024-2027

Project type

Podcast & Oral History Project

Team

Community Leader: Bronzeville Trail Task Force (BTTF)
Project Principal: John E. Adams
Project Managers: John Gay & Mohammad Arabmazar
Project Assistants and Research Fellowships: Brendan Hall & Udochukwu Anidobu
Historian: Dr. Lionel Kimble
Fundraisers: Christy Smith-Hall & Pierre Clark
Digital Archival Developer: Andrew Jiang

Urban Landscape: Botanical City
Project Principal: María A. Villalobos, NAMLA, CELA, ASLA
Project Managers: Claudia Herasme & Gerardo Garcia
Senior Designers: Johann Friedl & Génesis Ramírez
Junior Designers: Julia Hedges, Patricio Olea, Q. Truong, Eglee Belandria

Community Advisors:
Bronzeville Historical Society, Sherry Williams
Bronzeville–Black Metropolis National Heritage Area, Bernard Turner
History of Chicago Specialist, Dominic Pacyga
Cook County Government, President Toni Preckwinkle
Cook County Government, Judge Stanley L. Hill
DuSable Museum of African American History, Dr. Carol Adams
Illinois Art Council, Pemon Rami
Public Art Network Council Member, Jon Pounds
Chris Devins Creative, Chris Devins
OM Productions International, Amandilo Cuzan
Artist, Damon Lamar Reed

City Advisors:
Chicago Transit Authority, Graham Garfield
Managing Deputy Commissioner of Planning, Daweed Scully
Planning Resources Inc., Darrell Garrison
Smith Group, Kris Lucius
Grow Greater Englewood, L. Anton Seals Jr.
Neighbor Space, Ben Helphand

Academic Advisor
Dr. Gloria McDaniel-Hall
Associate Professor, National Louis University
Founder, Urban Legends Professional Development

Historical Advisor
Sherry Williams
Executive Director, Bronzeville Historical Society

Host & Guests
As featured in the series; full list presented in accompanying materials

As humans, we make sense of the world through stories. They shape our identities, our sense of belonging, and our understanding of what is possible. Lived Stories of the Bronzeville Trail is a limited podcast series that centers the voices, memories, and lived experiences of those most intimately connected to the Bronzeville Trail and its infrastructural history.
The project moves beyond physical infrastructure to explore how rail lines, bridges, murals, and public space have shaped daily life across generations. It is both an homage to the people of Bronzeville—past and present—and an invitation to engage in collective reflection as a foundation for imagining equitable futures. In the spirit of the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place initiative, the series embraces truth-telling as an act of justice, acknowledging the neighborhood’s history in all its complexity: the celebratory, the painful, and the unresolved.
The process began with historical research on the Kenwood Line, identifying three key moments: its construction, its closure and physical erasure, and its cultural reactivation through art and community expression. Preliminary conversations were conducted with 19 participants, drawn from historians, artists, designers, elected officials, and residents, following outreach to more than 45 individuals. These interviews informed the final selection of guests and thematic structure.
All episodes were recorded along the Trail during September 5–8, 2025. Post-production is underway, with release planned for Spring 2026 across major podcast platforms and YouTube, supported by a coordinated public engagement campaign.

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