Black and White Green Spaces: Segregation, the Specter of Interracial Violence, and the Chicago Park District, 1957-1970

This thesis evaluates the segregationist actions and tendencies of the Chicago Park District in the 1960s, particularly as a reaction to interracial violence that occurred in the late 1950s. It builds on the work done by historians such as Victoria Wolcott and Arnold Hirsch, as well as scholars from other fields, to examine the previously undiscussed role of the Park District in the larger segregationist project. Combining qualitative archival research with quantitative analysis, the paper examines the publicly presented positions of the District and the messages sent by its publications and analyzes how these actions manifested on a citywide level. It finds that District made choices that assumed interracial conflict was an inevitability, which resulted in reinvigorated de facto segregation and caused a decrease in park space on the edges of Chicago's Black neighborhoods. It concludes that Black Chicagoans, as a result, had less access to important public spaces, particularly the parks and beaches along the city's lakefront.