Edwin B. Jourdain, Jr: The Emergence of Black Political Power in Evanston, Illinois, 1931–1947

Evanston, Illinois witnessed a great influx of southern Blacks between 1920 and 1930. Like Chicago, Evanston was confronted with a problem—controlling the residential activities of an enlarged black population. Both municipalities, without formal legal sanction for their efforts, endorsed racial segregation as a solution. Evanston’s new black segregated section was at that time the least attractive part of town. The many frustrations of the 1920s, coupled with Jim Crow policies, a new awareness had developed and the facilities that existed for Blacks attested to, angered the community into action. As a result of this new consciousness, the Black community turned to one relatively new-comer, Journalist, Edwin B. Jourdain Jr. Suddenly placed into the limelight, Jourdain would prove to be a formidable candidate and strong advocate to the underrepresented Black community, and one who would deal differently with the problems his community faced during his 16-year term as Evanston’s first Black Alderman.