A Decisive Decade: An Insider's View of the Chicago Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s

9. The Campaign for Open Housing, Summer 1966

142 9. The Campaign for Open Housing, Summer 1966 Chicago is America’s most segregated city. —Chicagoist, October 31, 2010 When Nancy and I returned to Chicago in June 1966, Martin Luther King and his team were very much on the scene. King had taken up residence in an apartment on the West Side, and plans were well underway for the open housing campaign that was soon to regalvanize Chicago’s civil rights movement and mark an important turning point in the history of race relations in Chicago. By 1966 King’s stature was without parallel in the United States. Readers today may not be familiar with the series of pivotal events and experiences that took King from his leadership of a church congregation in Birmingham, Alabama, to a position of national prominence. Anyone following events in the South during the late 1950s and early 1960s would have been aware of Martin Luther King and his position as leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The news media were filled with reports of sit-ins aimed at desegregating lunch counters, of boycotts such as the one in Birmingham to desegregate seating on busses, and of the violence carried out against protest leaders. The timeline provided in appendix C highlights many of these pivotal events. During the early 1960s, I developed a growing appreciation of the singularly important role that King was playing in the civil rights movement. In a conversation I had with Harvey Cox, he remarked, “Dr. King is someone to watch.” Harvey, a close friend from college days, had, upon completion of his studies at Yale Divinity School, accepted the position as chaplain of Oberlin College. He invited King to speak to a campus gathering and found himself stunned by the eloquence and power of this person. The Campaign for Open Housing 143 My own first opportunity to hear King speak occurred during the fall of 1961 when he preached at a Sunday worship service held at Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. I remember the date even now, since my in-laws were in town to celebrate the birth of our second child in November 1961, and Bessie and Pete Crosier (my in-laws) joined me at the service. The sanctuary was packed, and King did not disappoint the audience. Then came the March on Washington in August 1963, and King’s “I have a dream” speech, which still gives me a rush whenever I hear it broadcast, usually in conjunction with the celebration of Martin Luther King Day each year on or around January 15. During the years 1963 to 1966, King visited Chicago regularly to lead rallies, usually during the summer and usually at Soldier Field. Increasingly, his presence was sought from all quarters of the United States, and Chicago’s civil rights leaders had to compete with many other activist groups around the country for a day or two of his time. The fact that King selected Chicago as the first northern city for a campaign came about because SCLC leaders were impressed with the CCCO organization and its execution of school boycotts, marches, and rallies. Another indication that SCLC viewed Chicago as a good “test bed” for expanding outside of the South occurred in early 1966 when the SCLC granted Jesse Jackson the first northern “franchise” to launch Operation Breadbasket in Chicago. So it came as no surprise when Al Pitcher announced one morning at breakfast during the summer of 1965 that King was coming to Chicago for a short visit to test the feasibility of launching a major campaign to confront housing segregation. Al found himself in charge of organizing the schedule for King’s visit, including what was to be a large rally in the Loop. To illustrate King’s larger-than-life role, Al discussed with Nancy and me some of the problems associated with planning a breakfast for King with local labor leaders. Shortly after the newspapers announced that King planned to spend several days in Chicago, the CCCO office received a call from Robert Johnston, district director of the UAW, offering his services. He asked if he could recruit a group of labor leaders from Chicago who would meet with King to discuss matters of mutual interest. The idea sounded good and Pitcher was given the job of working out the details. Al related what happened next: sharp disagreement soon developed over who should be invited to the breakfast. The United Auto Workers (UAW) director could...