Timuel Black


Timuel Black is an American historian, author, civil rights activist, and expert in African American history in Chicago.

Background

Timuel Black was born on December 7, 1918, in Birmingham, Alabama. His great-grandparents were slaves and his grandparents were born as slaves and freed by the Emancipation Proclamation; his parents were sharecroppers. He grew up in Chicago, where he graduated from DuSable High School in 1937. He graduated from Roosevelt University, where he earned a bachelor's degree, and he earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago. Black served in World War II, and he received four Battle Stars, the Croix de Guerre, and the Legion of Honour.

Career

Black began his career as a social worker. During the 1960s, Black was president of the Negro American Labor Council and an organizer of Chicago participation in the 1963 March on Washington.
Black was the named plaintiff in the lawsuit Black v. McGuffage. The suit claimed that the Illinois voting system discriminated against minorities in its use of faulty punch card ballots. Deployed in black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago, the faulty ballots prevented residents from casting valid votes in the 2000 presidential election. After Black v. McGuffage, punch card ballots were eliminated and a uniform voting system was put in place.

Personal life

A book of interviews with Black about the African-American history of the South side of Chicago conducted by Susan Klonsky and edited by Bart Schultz was published in 2019. Black explained, "I'm here to personalize and transfer that history to younger people across all lines--race and gender."
At the age of , Black serves on the board of Defending Rights & Dissent.

Works

General


  1. "Timuel D. Black, Jr. Papers," Chicago Public Library ;
  2. "Timuel Black papers, 1956–1973," Chicago History Museum;

In line