The Forum (Chicago)

	The Forum
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	318-328 E. 43rd St.; Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates	41°49′00″N 87°37′07″W / 41.81667°N 87.61861°W
Built	1897
Architect	Samuel Atwater Treat
Architectural style	Late Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.	100003646
Added to NRHP	April 16, 2019

The Forum is a historic event venue at 318-328 E. 43rd Street in the Bronzeville neighborhood of the Grand Boulevard community area of Chicago, Illinois. Chicago alderman William Kent and his father Albert had the venue built in 1897, intending it to be a social and political meeting hall. Architect Samuel Atwater Treat gave the building a Late Classical Revival design with Georgian Revival features. In its first decades, the Forum hosted speeches and rallies from politicians of all major parties and various community events.^[2]

Following the Great Migration of the 1920s, Bronzeville became a predominantly African-American neighborhood, but the Forum continued to serve as a community center. Several civil rights organizations met in the Forum, including the National Negro Congress' Chicago council; the Chicago Scottsboro Defense Conference, a group organized to defend the Scottsboro Boys; movements that petitioned to racially integrate Major League Baseball; and a meeting of the Freedom Riders. The Forum was also a major jazz venue, and Chicago musicians such as Nat King Cole and Tiny Parham played the venue often. In the 1940s, the building became the headquarters of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, a black fraternal organization formed in response to the white-only Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.^[2]

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 2019.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 4/12/2019 Through 4/18/2019". National Park Service. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Ruggiero, Erica (November 30, 2018). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: The Forum" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Division. Retrieved October 28, 2019.^{[dead link‍]}

This article about a property in Cook County, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[NPS-1] "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 4/12/2019 Through 4/18/2019". National Park Service. Retrieved October 28, 2019.

[IHPD-2] Ruggiero, Erica (November 30, 2018). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: The Forum" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Division. Retrieved October 28, 2019.^{[dead link‍]}

[1]

[2]

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia American Legation, Morocco
Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category