By Kay Bolden
When Edward Wood left deeply segregated Oklahoma in the 1960s to attend college in Washington, DC, he didn’t realize he would be stepping into the pages of history. A student at Howard University, he was dating a young woman at nearby Bowie State, another historically Black college (HBCU).
“Janice and I had both been involved in civil rights protests on our campuses,” he recalls. “But then I turned on the TV one day and saw her leading a march that would shut Bowie down. She called me to come pick her up, and I did.”
The memory is bittersweet. The date was April 4, 1968. Just hours later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be assassinated, and the entire country would be engulfed in turmoil.
Now 47-year members at Joliet’s historic Second Baptist Church, Deacon Edward and Janice Wood have been deeply involved in the Lewis University History Center’s project, Reclaiming the Narrative: Restoring Black Voices to the Story of Joliet.
“We learned so much from older church members when we first came to Joliet,” Janice says. “We want to preserve our history and our legacy for the next generation.”
Reclaiming the Narrative: has been collecting artifacts, documents, photos, and historical Information about Black history in the region. Led by Professor Dennis Cremin, Ph.D, and student coordinator Morgan Jennings, Reclaiming the Narrative documents and amplifies stories that were overlooked by or intentionally excluded from past collections. The project focuses on four institutions on the south side of Joliet: Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the National Hook-Up of Black Women (Joliet Chapter), Second Baptist Church, and Warren-Sharpe Community Center. Dr. Cremin received funding for the project through a grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.
Founded in 1880, Second Baptist Church is the oldest of the four organizations. The church, like
Joliet itself, became a hub for newly freed Black people before the Great Migration (1916 to 1970). Pushed by segregationist policies, these migrants moved for a range of reasons that included increased individual freedom and the hopes for economic prosperity. Many, however, continued to face obstacles based on racism.
Lewis students spent several months visiting churches and organizations on Joliet’s south side, listening to the Wood family and other Black elders tell the untold stories of the local Black community. Their research was used to create a traveling exhibit, which will be on display for the first time at the Joliet Historical Museum. The debut will include a panel discussion with the four participating Black organizations. The event is free and open to the public.
Edward and Janice have never forgotten the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, and how they have continued to battle discrimination in employment, housing, and education for the last six decades. “We have been activists and fighters for justice our entire lives.”
Reclaiming Joliet’s African American History
Date: Saturday, January 14, 2023, from 10:00 A.M. to Noon
Location: Joliet Area Historical Museum, 204 N. Ottawa St., Joliet Illinois
The event is free and open to the public.
Kay Bolden is a features writer at The Times Weekly, Media Co. kayb@thetimesweekly.com
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