The migration of African Americans  to Chicago began in 1779 with Jean Baptist Point DuSable. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, large numbers of African Americans began to settle in Bronzeville. The residents were entrepreneurs, professionals, large and small business owners, clerks, and many new migrants from rural areas and small towns in the South.  Some may have been skilled workers educated at the Freeman Schools of the South, better known as The Black Colleges. 

     The community was widely  known as "The Heart and Soul of Chicago." Life wasn't easy for the newly arrived African Americans and the struggle with racism was still prevalent.  Still, the residents of Bronzeville built the "Black Metropolis" into a proud symbol of achievement.