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Donate to the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center www.bronzevilleonline.com/bvic.htm

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* Photos of the Visitor Center's Sneak Preview *

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Lakefront Outlook
Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Tourism Brewing in Bronzeville
by Tedd Carrison

The Supreme Life Building at 35th Street and King Drive once housed the first African-American owned insurance company in the northern United States. Today the tenants have similar interests, hedging Bronzeville's vibrant history through neighborhood tours, cultural exhibits and a
multi-media archive.

On Feb. 20, the Black Metropolis Convention and Tourism Council previewed the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center that is slated to open March 15, dependent on whether the council can raise $150,000 by then, said President Harold Lucas.

The 4,000 sq. ft., Wi-Fi accessible space snakes through both floors of the 85-year-old Supreme Life Building¹s eastern wing. It offers offices, a conference room and gallery space. "Bronzeville to Harlem", the painted bronze sculpture work of School of the Art Institute professor Preston Jackson, is displayed upstairs. Black and white photographs of local people and places by Aleksandrovina Daria Amerik line the second floor walls.

"The first part was saving the building from demolition and then working with the community to develop the building for adaptive reuse," said Paula Robinson of BMCTC, describing the process.
She said the center is part of a larger effort to tout Bronzeville as a major tourist destination and preserve its storied past, which is under the constant temper of gentrification. Mimicking a potential visitor, Robinson said "I've had the downtown scene. I've had the convention scene. Let me get into the community and leave some dollars and we are ambassadors of that."

Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) toured the center with state Rep. Ken Dunkin last week. After the preview, she complimented Jackson's sculpture installation and praised the center¹s preservation mission. "I am a history teacher," said Preckwinkle referring to her years in a high school classroom before taking the 4th Ward helm. So I am always happy to see people concerned about our past and focused on making that history more accessible to people.

Robinson said Bronzeville¹s location along the Dan Ryan and Stevenson expressways, a Chicago Transit Authority Green Line stop and multiple bus routes make the Mid-South Side prime for tourism. But she said this requires a bevy of attractions to solicit tourists and keep them in the neighborhood. "Some people are going to be interested in going to DuSable Museum of African American History, and some are literally asking, where can I get some good barbecue?" said Robinson, "They have to have something to see and that¹s what we have been working on, is building those attractions."

The Black Metropolis Convention and Tourism Council (BMC&TC) a 501c3 not-for-profit organization is accepting donations to complete the first phase of the visitors' center. Gifts of $20, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 and $2,500 may be sent to BMC&TC at the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center 3501 S. King Dr., Suite 1 East, Chicago, Il 60653. Or click on www.bronzevilleonline.com/bvic.htm.

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BRONZEVILLE VISITOR CENTER OPENS
TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY’S RICH HISTORY

It has been nearly two decades since the many neighborhoods, that comprise the 3½ mile rectangular area know historically as Chicago’s Black Belt, came together behind a campaign called “Restoring Bronzeville”. The campaign featured a comprehensive redevelopment plan to preserve both the cultural heritage and the built environment of this unique community that began in the early 1890’s and has been well documented by the torchlight book Black Metropolis.

Today, the Black Metropolis Convention & Tourism Council (BMC&TC) is investing in an economic development strategy for the area, African American Heritage Tourism. According to Travel Institute of America (TIA) it is the fastest growing segment among leisure travelers. Additionally, African American heritage travelers spend more and stay longer in the markets they visit.

BMC&TC a community based non-profit organization, will own and operate the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center which they see as a point of orientation for visitors, residents and learners to the area. Harold L.Lucas, BMC&TC’s President & CEO says “it has taken us twenty years to preserve the community’s rich history, develop the infrastructure and regenerate the entrepreneurial spirit within the community.” Lucas says the partnerships have at last aligned, “you have to have the attractions, the transportation and the hospitality in place to host people in a manner that is befitting Chicago. We have the legacy of Pullman Porters to maintain, they were known internationally as the Ambassadors of Service,” adds Lucas.

Bronzeville is a lakefront community, 10 minutes from downtown Chicago and has seven historic districts, including the Black Metropolis Historic District and more than 30 additional landmark sites that have been documented on the National Resister of Historic Places. There is a Blues Entertainment District within a new cultural corridor that supports four unique cultural centers. The largest center, the Harold Washington Cultural Center, honors Chicago’s first Black Mayor and has a 1,000 seat theater. The entrepreneurial sprit has created an Art Gallery District within a host of specialty shops and boutiques. Even the neighborhood McDonald’s have supported the campaign by developing permanent displays within their interiors that pay tribute to the community’s jazz, blues, gospel and motion picture heritage.

The city of Chicago has been awarded with three national honor awards by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for its adaptive reuse strategy for historic Bronzeville properties that sat vacant and abandoned for years and now functions as a Public library, Chicago’s first Public Military Academy and a state of the art single room occupancy housing facility. The city utilized Empowerment Zone funding and TIF dollars, tax increment-financing tools, to help jump-start the revitalization and has been applauded for its creative planning strategies. Issues surrounding perceptions of safety for residents and visitors were decreased through a proactive decision to relocate the Chicago Police Headquarters from its longtime downtown home into the Bronzeville Community.

It turned out to be another smart decision because a survey originated by the Chicago Office of Tourism with international travelers revealed that among their priority items of interest while visiting was the authentic experience of blues, jazz and gospel. BMC&TC goals have been to promote authenticity and a commitment for indigenous low-income residents to be able to share in the community’s economic resurgence.

The Bronzeville Information Visitor Center is located at 35th and King Drive in Supreme/Liberty Life Building, another landmark building that the community was able to restore. The building was home to the Liberty Life Insurance Company, the first Black Insurance Company north of the Mason/Dixon Line. The insurance company was the workplace of business notables like Earl. B. Dickerson, who argued before Supreme Court against the practice of the restrictive real estate covenants in the (Hansberry vs. Lee) case. The restrictive covenants were the subject matter for the book Raisin in the Sun by award winning author Lorraine Hansberry. Ms. Hansberry was the real life daughter of the Plaintiff.

Through a $100,000 Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois the BMC&TC was able to match funds from the African American real estate developer who now owns the Supreme/Liberty Life property to design/build the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center. The State has developed the www.soulofIllinois.com program that will help visitors customize their travel plans and hotel packages to include cultural heritage attractions throughout the state. Bronzeville has also become a popular destination for the www.ChicagoNeighborhoodTours.com program.

The Center is located on two floors of the building and features a ‘community information hub’ and gift shop on the first floor and an exhibit gallery, community technology center and digital archive on the second floor. In addition to housing the BMC&TC administrative offices the Bronzeville Community Development Planning Studio also has a home at the Center.

The McCormick Place Convention Center is located in Bronzeville, and is undergoing an enormous expansion to be completed in 2007 making it the nation’s largest convention facility. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), a quasi city/state agency has been a major partner in the community’s redevelopment effort. First, MPEA completed a walkway from the Convention center to the Bronzeville Visitor Center historic gateway, Victory Monument Plaza, the only monument in the country that pays tribute to the African American soldiers in WWI. The walkway restored the historic South Parkway Boulevard, now known as Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. It features the city’s largest collection of outdoor public art and 91 plaques honoring Chicago’s African American notables. The McCormick new expansion plans will provide a new contemporary styled physical gateway with the Bronzeville name. The plan also includes the revitalization of two more historic Districts in Bronzeville “Motor Row”, the city’s first automobile showroom district and “Record Row” – where a black record label Vee-Jay Records was the first company to record the Beatles in America.

Lucas says, “Bronzeville is a living breathing community with layers and layers of authentic history to be uncovered”. BMC&TC also provides a series of educational tours that are more like study tours and often ends up being mobile workshops with participants adding to the discussion and sharing information about how Bronzeville has influenced or impacted the world.

The sneak media preview on February 20 kicks off a yearlong calendar of activities celebrating the opening of the Visitor Center. A community grand opening has been scheduled for March 15, 2006 a listing of program activities can be found at www.BronzevilleOnline.com.

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Chicago Suntimes: Entertainment

Another Bronze age

March 26, 2006

BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter

Bronzeville always has been a portrait framed by African-American culture -- and that culture is now reviving the historic community. The South Side neighborhood that went from "The Black Metropolis" in the early 20th century to an urban-planning blight by century's end is once again brimming with a renewed fellowship. African-American entrepreneurs are lifting up the community with their own hands. It's a roots vibration that could call out from Chicago to New Orleans.

Bronzeville is an idea, always in motion.

Louis Armstrong, Nat "King" Cole and boxer Joe Louis all lived in Bronzeville in its heyday. But the neighborhood hit the ropes after World War II, and the knockout punch came in the 1960s when Bronzeville was redefined by large tracts of public housing -- nearly 4,300 units of it, mostly in the Robert Taylor Homes. Taylor himself, head of the Chicago Housing Authority, was a Bronzeville resident. That's when many homeowners and businesses started leaving Bronzeville.

But now they're coming back -- and they're bringing food and music with them.

Former tax analyst Don Curry, 35, opened the Negro League Cafe, 301 E. 43rd St. Clifford Rome, a former chef with Wolfgang Puck, is helping refurbish the historic Parkway Ballroom, 4445 S. King Dr. A "Parkway Unplugged" series starts in May, featuring intimate gospel, neo-soul and jazz sets.

"People are coming back to Bronzeville and bringing business back," said Rome, 34, who grew up at 57th and Bishop. "It is economic empowerment."

Duke Ellington and Cole performed for upwardly mobile African Americans at the Parkway in the '40s and '50s. Women wore ballroom gowns, white gloves and fancy hats. Gentlemen would come in tails. Everyone turned heads. The Parkway was one of the few upscale places open to African Americans during segregation. Then, during the 1970s, former Ald. Cliff Kelley (20th) held neighborhood strategy sessions in the Parkway's "Blue Room," a 100-person space -- which Rome now is turning into a membership-only nightclub called Bronze, focusing on wines and champagnes of the world.

There's a new bookstore (Afrocentric, 4655 S. King Dr.), the Harold Washington Cultural Center (4701 S. King Dr.), and in late January the slick 200-seat comedy club Jokes and Notes opened at 4641 S. King Drive in the former location of Gemini Records.

Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) jokes about the neighborhood's cultural rebirth, saying the logo of the neighborhood Harold's Chicken No. 7 -- of the man chasing a chicken with a hatchet -- soon will be remade for Bronzeville: The man will be wielding a guitar instead of a hatchet.

Tillman also dreams of turning the former Metropolitan Funeral Home next door to the Parkway into a health club. Muddy Waters was laid to rest at the Metropolitan.

Capital ideas

Soul singer Otis Clay is president of the non-profit Tobacco Road Inc., which raised funds for the Harold Washington Cultural Center. He's worked with Tillman since the first Bring It On Home to Me roots festival was held in the summer of 1991 in an empty lot where the cultural center now stands. The site is the former location of the Regal Theatre.

The original Regal featured Ellington, Count Basie, Sammy Davis Jr. and others. In 1964, B.B. King recorded "Live at the Regal" there, which pop guitarist John Mayer recently cited as the finest live blues record of all time.

Because of segregation, 47th and King (which was then Parkway) was a thriving downtown for Chicago African Americans. The Bronzeville Walk of Fame with Sam Cooke, Howlin' Wolf and others heads north on King Drive to 22nd Street. Bronzeville can run as far south as 51st Street, east to the Lake, west to the Dan Ryan Expressway.

"It's hard to preserve things that are gone," Clay said. "But in another time and place you can recapture the idea of what was happening."

When Clay's family migrated to Chicago in 1956, they became members of Liberty Baptist Church, 49th and King Drive. Clay is still a church member today. Church is the soul of Bronzeville, be it Liberty Baptist, Pilgrim Baptist or First Church of Deliverance.

"I coined this phrase: Chicago was a suburb of Mississippi," Clay said during a conversation at Liberty Baptist. "As I grew older, I learned Bronzeville's roots had a lot to do with geography. Most folks from Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas -- they went to New York, D.C. and Philly. People from Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee came to Chicago. Go a little west and people from Oklahoma and Texas went to California. That's how blacks migrated."

On the day of our interview, Clay went to the Afrocentric Bookstore to pick up a favorite book, Black Labor and White Wealth: The Search for Power and Economic Justice by Dr. Claude Anderson. "He speaks in terms of black economics and survival," Clay said.

Store owner Desiree Sanders read the book before she opened her business in 1991. "The book talks about the economic structure in America and how blacks were capital," she said. "We came from being seen as capital to create our own capital."

In the thick of it

Tillman moved to Chicago in 1965 to work with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for open housing. She has been 3rd Ward alderman for 20 years. In 1965, her first Chicago office was across the street from her current office at 4645 S. King Dr. "Dr. King said we had to work from an economic base and deal with an economic self," Tillman recalled.

To accomplish this goal, Tillman learned the history of her constituents. "Usually the mulatto blacks lived on King Drive," she said. "There were certain streets darker blacks could not live on. During the music days, this was 'the valley.' There were the Valley Boys under Capt. Walter Dyett, and people like Sam Cooke and Lou Rawls came out of the valley."

The late Dyett was the jazz bandleader at Du Sable High School who trained Nat "King" Cole, Redd Foxx, Dinah Washington and Bo Diddley, who studied violin. A park in Dyett's honor is being built across from the Washington Cultural Center, and Tillman said it should be ready by June.

On the downbeat, though, Gerri's Palm Tavern space remains vacant. The Palm Tavern opened in 1935 at 446 E. 47th St., across the street from today's Washington center. Basie, Ellington and Jackie Wilson all hung around the Palm after shows at the Regal Theatre. The city evicted longtime owner Gerri Oliver in 2001 after deeming the building unsafe. Much of her artifacts are now at the Chicago History Museum. Tillman has promised a variety of music clubs in the space. But five years later nothing has materialized.

'It takes money'

Al Spearman is a veteran of baseball's Negro Leagues who pitched for the Chicago American Giants between 1949 and 1951. He has lived in Bronzeville most of his life. "This neighborhood will be like New Orleans," Spearman said during an interview at the Negro League Cafe. "It takes money. As the new comes in, a lot of people in this neighborhood now will not be able to live here because it will cost too much."

For now, the neighborhood congregates at the Spoken Word Cafe, 4655 S. King Dr., where the most popular drink is the "Inside the Hat," (espresso and steamed milk with shots of chocolate and caramel) -- a sly tip of the hat to Tillman, who owns more than 100 colorful hats. When jazz great Ramsey Lewis appeared at the cultural center across the street, he came to the cafe to sample the "Jazzy Ramsey," with shots of raspberry and almond.

The Spoken Word Cafe is across the hall from the Afrocentric bookstore. Sanders believed so much in Bronzeville that she left downtown in 2003 to open her shop on the South Side.

"There was an opportunity for growth in Bronzeville," said Sanders, a Bronzeville resident. "Downtown [in the DePaul University building] I had a lot of customers who lived on the South Side, and they wanted me to expand. The alderman told me what her vision was, and I wanted to be a part of it. Things have been going very well. Here, my business is more community-based. I see an older population here than I did downtown. They read, and they give me stories about Bronzeville."

Afrocentric now features between 8,000 and 9,000 titles, and the upstairs portion of the store is devoted to kids.

Still, after 40 years of community organizing in Bronzeville, Tillman said there is much more work to be done.

"In terms of public housing, Dr. King would be sad," she said. "That is the saddest part of my whole tenure: the demolition of public housing with no replacement housing for poor people. But what we've done in terms of economics and trying to build a base from music, I feel good about bringing the music home."

dhoekstra@suntimes.com

GOLDEN SPOTS IN B'VILLE

The death of Bronzeville has been greatly exaggerated. Over the last few years, the Sun-Times has reported on a new shop here, a new cafe there, and various cultural centers springing up to restore glory to the historic black neighborhood. Bronzeville in 2006 has cohesion again -- and lots to see and do. Here are some of the historic landmarks and hot spots throughout the area:

1. Bronzeville Visitor Information Center

The Supreme Life Building today houses the Black Metropolis Convention & Tourism Council in the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center, which just opened March 15. It's the central point for neighborhood tours, cultural exhibits and a multi-media archive.

www.bronzevilleonline.com

At 35th Street and King Drive

2. Bronzeville Walk of Fame

Dozens of bronze plaques commemorate noted Bronzeville figures -- such as musicians Sam Cooke and Howlin' Wolf.

On the eastern sidewalk of King Drive, 1-1/2 miles south from 22nd Street

3. The Monument to the Great Northern Migration

A man with a suitcase stands atop a pile of shoe soles, facing north to indicate the direction of his journey. The bronze statue commemorates blacks that left the South to come to Chicago to work.

25th Street and King Dr.

4. Pilgrim Baptist Church

The skeletal walls of this sacred space are still visible after an early January fire destroyed the church. It was at Pilgrim Baptist Church in 1932 that the Rev. Thomas Dorsey and gospel singer Sallie Martin staged the first Gospel Singers Convention, which had a catalytic impact on gospel music. Mahalia Jackson, Albertina Walker, the Edwin Hawkins Singers and the Staple Singers are among the legends who sang in this church.

3301 S. Indiana

5. Butterbeans & Susie home

Mahalia Jackson, Jackie "Moms" Mabley and movie star Ethel Waters all visited the home of this legendary black vaudeville team. Actor-comedian Stepin' Fetchit also lived here in the late 1940s.

3322 S. Calumet

6. Ida B. Wells home

The journalist and civil rights activist lived in this home between 1919-29.

3624 S. King Dr.

7. Nat "King" Cole home

The smooth crooner lived here while playing amateur nights at Bronzevile's Savoy Ballroom and the Regal Theater.

4023 S. Vincennes

8. Negro League Cafe

Honoring the teams and players in baseball's old Negro League. Here's some Bronzeville trivia: The 750-pound bronze statue of Mayor Harold Washington in front of the Harold Washington Cultural Center was sculpted by Ed Dwight Jr. of Denver. Dwight's father played for the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs.

301 E. 43rd St.

9. Original site of Old Comiskey Park

Stand at the commemorative original Comiskey home plate in the U.S. Cellular parking lot. This is where Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston and Josh Gibson stood in 1933 in the first Negro League All-Star Game at Comiskey Park.

Across the street from U.S. Cellular Field, 333 W. 35th St.

10. Richard Wright residence

The author of Native Son and Black Boy lived in this apartment building between 1930 (estimated) and 1937 before moving to New York City. Native Son, published in 1940, drew on his experiences in Chicago.

3743 S. Indiana

11. Louis Armstrong Home

Armstrong moved from New Orleans to Chicago to play second trumpet in Joe "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, who headlined Lincoln Garden, 459 E. 31st St. In 1925, Satchmo married pianist and composer Lil Hardin, and they bought a home here. Armstrong used Chicago as a base of operation until 1931, when he relocated to California.

421 E. 44th St.

12. Joe Louis House

The "Brown Bomber" left his native Detroit for Bronzeville in 1935. Louis won the heavyweight boxing title on June 22, 1937, and became the toast of Bronzeville society.

4326 S. Michigan

13. Muddy Waters House

Where Muddy lived from 1954 until 1974, when he relocated to suburban Westmont. He built a small studio in the basement of the typical 1890s row house. Waters became known for his front yard jam sessions.

4339 S. Lake Park, near Lake Michigan

14. First Church of Deliverance

Louis Armstrong performed in this former hat factory, and neighborhood legend maintains that Billie Holiday used to bring her pet chihuahua to Sunday services.

4315 S. Wabash

15. Parkway Ballroom

Currently being refurbished, the historic ballroom will launch a "Parkway Unplugged" series in May, featuring intimiate gospel, neo-soul and jazz sets.

4445 S. King Dr.

16. Marx Brothers house

The comedians lived here, circa 1910, to play the Chicago vaudeville circuit. They cooked up some story about how they were farmers on the South Side; in actuality, Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo and Gummo slacked off while watching baseball games at nearby Comiskey Park.

4512 S. King Dr.

17. 708 E. 47th Building

Where the Chess Brothers broke into the local blues scene in the mid-1940s by opening their 708 Club.

18. Harold Washington Cultural Center

See exhibits and hear music at this center, which claims to stand "as a monument to the legacy of a great African American and a culturally rich community with deep roots."

4701 S. King Drive

19. Jokes and Notes

A new comedy club, opened recently in the former location of Gemini Records.

4641 S. King Dr.

20. Spoken Word Cafe

The neighborhood congregates here, where the most popular drink is the "Inside the Hat," (espresso and steamed milk with shots of chocolate and caramel).

4655 S. King Dr.

21. Afrocentric Bookstore

Afrocentric features up to 9,000 titles, and the upstairs portion of the store is devoted to kids.

4655 S. King Dr.

22. Ain't That Sweet Cafe

Maura Henderson's warm cafe and ice cream shop will reopen in mid-April. Henderson named the "TRE-9" triple decker club sandwich after 39th street, where she was reared.

4315 S. State

Compiled by Dave Hoekstra

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News Archive

'Butter and Sue' set the stage in Bronzeville

March 19, 2006

BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter

From the 1920s through the 1950s, Susie Hawthorne Edwards was one of the best-dressed women in Bronzeville. Susie's long silk gowns with ornament flowers illuminated the popular "Butterbeans and Susie" vaudeville show she created with her husband, Jodie "Butterbeans" Edwards.

Butterbeans and Susie were a fabric of the community.

They lived in a three-story, 13-room house at 3322 S. Calumet.

It was a magical home.

Regular visitors included movie stars Ethel Waters and Jackie "Moms" Mabley, whom Butterbeans and Susie discovered in 1927. Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson came by the house. She sang at nearby Pilgrim Baptist Church, where Butterbeans and Susie were devout members. Mahalia Jackson bequeathed her New Orleans gumbo recipe to Susie.

With a husband called "Butterbeans," Susie had to know how to cook.

ViMatice Jackson was lucky.

She was the only child to grow up in the house.

Butterbeans and Susie were her grandparents. Jackson wonders why, when people talk about the rebirth of Bronzeville, no one remembers Susie and Jodie Edwards.

The American Vaudeville Museum does. Its Web site reports that Butterbeans and Susie "had a major influence on mainstream white comedians. Comic Godfrey Cambridge said, 'Butterbeans and Susie originated the routine ... that later got translated into George Burns and Gracie Allen.' "

'At least 10 blocks of cars'

Susie Hawthorne Edwards died of complications from gout on Dec. 7, 1963. She was 67. Her funeral was one of the largest in the history of Pilgrim Baptist Church, where the couple were members and friends of former pastors the Rev. J.C. Austin Sr. and the Rev. J.C. Austin Jr. Butterbeans and Susie made substantial contributions to the church.

"We were always at Pilgrim," said Jackson, a third-generation Pilgrim member, during a conversation in a Bronzeville coffee shop. "My grandparents were pillars of the Pilgrim community. When we left the church after my grandmother's funeral, we drove past the house for a final salute. There were at least 10 blocks of cars. There were cars from Pilgrim [33rd and Indiana] to 39th Street."

Butterbeans and Susie were married for 46 years.

They met in 1916, when Susie was in the chorus of Ma Rainey's "Smart Set" revue. A year later, they married on stage in South Carolina. Their life was full of beautiful encores.

Butterbeans and Susie lived in the 3322 S. Calumet mansion from the 1930s until their deaths. "It is one of the most distinctive homes in the area," said Tim Samuelson, cultural historian with the Chicago Cultural Affairs Department. "It dates from the early 1890s and was originally the home of Chicago attorney Clarence A. Knight. The house was also previously owned by blues artist Lovie Austin."

Jackson recalled, "People were always coming in and out of the house. The door was always open, especially in the summertime. My grandparents would usually sit on the porch."

Jodie Edwards died in October 1967 after suffering a heart attack while walking on stage at the Dorchester Inn in Harvey. He was 70. Louis Armstrong, Redd Foxx, Moms Mabley and Stepin Fetchit were among those who attended his funeral at Pilgrim. Armstrong played on some of Butterbeans and Susie's earliest recordings in the 1920s for Okeh Records.

The Rev. Marvin Lewis, now bishop at First Church of Deliverance, 4301 S. Wabash, attended both of the comedy stars' funerals. "Limousines came from all over, and movie stars were getting out," Lewis said. "The scenes are something I will never forget."

On stage, Butterbeans and Susie were the prototype for "The Bickersons," feuding, engaging in slapstick and singing material like "My Daddy's Got the Mojo, But I Got the Say So" and "I Wanna Hot Dog for My Roll." Susie was the dominating, serious wife always wearing the best clothes. Butterbeans would dress in grungy coats and oversize shoes. He was spineless, shiftless and failed to live up to Susie's romantic advances.

A magical time

Off stage, Butterbeans and Susie were the perfect recipe of dignity and grace. With a beaming smile, Jackson recalled, "Around the house, they were known as 'Butter and Sue.' They rehearsed in the living room, doing their dance steps and reading their little notes. My friends and teachers from Douglas Elementary School referred to them as 'Butter and Sue.' They never called them Mr. and Mrs. Edwards or anything."

It was a magical time.

The team appeared with Ethel Waters in the Broadway musical "Cabin in the Sky." The amazing American journey of Butterbeans and Susie took them from tabernacle shows in the south with Ma Rainey to the Club DeLisa and the Rhumboogie in Chicago. During the low-salaried 1920s, Butterbeans and Susie made $1,000 a week on the black theater circuit.

"They discovered 'Moms' Mabley" and traveled with her," Jackson said. "Blacks weren't allowed into a lot of entertainment venues, and they helped her get into places she wouldn't normally get into."

Jackson was told her grandparents got their stage names from predecessors Stringbeans & Sweetie. "Stringbeans passed," she said. "An agent got in touch with my grandfather and asked if he would be opposed to being called 'Butterbeans.'"

Jackson, 58, is a legal secretary and motivational speaker in Chicago. She was born in Detroit. Her biological mother took Jackson to 3322 S. Calumet when Jackson was 9 months old. "When my mother came back to get me almost two years later, I was told I wouldn't go with her," Jackson said.

'The house was something else'

"So I was raised by my grandparents. This was 1949, and I stayed there until I graduated [Wendell Phillips] high school in 1965. There were a lot of great aunts and uncles in the house. There were probably eight or nine people there at all times, but I was the only child. ... Stepin Fetchit [actor Lincoln Perry] lived with us during the time he was broke." Perry declared bankruptcy in 1947.

"The house was something else," Jackson continued. "The first floor had a huge eat-in kitchen and what we called 'the Music Room,' that had a grand piano. A student of Professor [Thomas] Dorsey [at Pilgrim Baptist Church] gave me piano lessons. There was a mirror in that room that came from the ceiling all the way down. Everything in the house was Japanese-inspired; sliding doors were everywhere."

Lewis, 57, added, "The kitchen was always full of fun and food. You could walk in and eat at any time. I lived down the street. At that time everybody in the community was family. If you did something, a neighbor could sensitize you, and your parents wouldn't say anything. Everybody watched everybody else's children. It was a wonderful time to grow up."

The front door at 3322 S. Calumet was always open. The brightest hearts beat without a lock and key.