Coverage of the Commemoration Project

“Present and Past: How we commemorate the race riots of 1919,” South Side Weekly, November 19, 2019.

“A New Way to Memorialize Racial Violence,” The Nation, November 14, 2019.

“Charting the History of Racial Violence in Chicago,” The North Star, October 22, 2019.

“To Remember the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, Commemoration Project Looks to Public Art,” Smithsonian, July 30, 2019.

“Commemorating Chicago’s Red Summer of 1919,” Belt Magazine, July 30, 2019.

“Illinois Institute of Technology Hosts Centennial Commemoration of 1919 Chicago Race Riots,” Chicago Defender, July 29, 2019.

“Ensuring the Chicago Race Riot Is Not Forgotten, With Inspiration from Germany’s Holocaust Memorials,” TIME, July 27, 2019.

“How Chicago Is Facing Its Violent History,” Yes! July 26, 2019.

“Remembering Chicago’s 1919 Race Riots with Public Art,” WBEZ 91.3 FM (Chicago, IL), July 26, 2019.

“It’s Been 100 Years: Is Chicago Finally Ready to Reckon with the City’s 1919 Riots,” Block Club Chicago, July 23, 2019.

“Public Art Project Inspired by WIU Professor Kicks Off July 27,” Western Illinois University, July 15, 2019.

CRR19’s Forgotten Illinois 200 grant, Illinois Humanities Council.


Interviews and Broadcasts

“On Public Art, Historical Memory, and Racial Violence,” Black Perspectives, June 2, 2021.

“Chicago’s Race Riot of 1919 left 38 dead, 2 years before Tulsa Massacre,” ABC 7 Chicago, June 1, 2021.

“Grantee Partner Spotlight: Chicago Race Riot 1919 Commemoration Project (CRR19) and Q&A with Co-Directors,” Illinois Humanities Council, November 2020.

“Remembering 1919/Confronting 2020: Race Riots, Public Art, & Chicago Then and Now,” The Infinite Room podcast, July 24, 2020.

“Red Chicago,” The Future of America’s Past, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), March 16, 2020. 27-min. episode but CRR19 segment starts at 20.

“A conversation with historian Peter Cole,” Another Chicago Magazine, October 24, 2019.


Public Writing by Co-Directors Peter and Franklin

Peter Cole & Franklin Cosey-Gay, “Public Art: one way to address Chicago’s history of racism,” Chicago Tribune, June 16, 2020.

Peter Cole, “Chicago’s Monuments to White Supremacy Must Fall,” The North Star, October 22, 2019.

Peter Cole, “A German Art Project Reveals How America Could Confront Its Racist History,” Washington Post, February 6, 2018. Reposted at History News Network.


CRR19 Public Engagement

“South Shore, Tulsa Students Link Up For History Exchange On 1919 Race Riot, 1921 Black Wall Street Massacre,” Block Club Chicago, March 21, 2021.

“Bulls x Thunder Black History Classroom Exchange: Reflecting on the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Chicago Race Riot,” NBA.com, March 16, 2021.

“Chicago riders see sites of riots a century later in Bronzeville and Bridgeport,” Another Chicago Magazine, October 24, 2019.