Passed by consent agenda, the Evanston City Council Resolution 54-R-20 on June 22, 2020, establishing the African American Heritage Sites program facilitated through Shorefront. The resolution previously passed the City of Evanston’s Planning and Development committee on the same date, the Evanston Preservation Commission on June 9, 2020, and at the regular Shorefront Board meeting on June 5, 2020. The resolution recognized the first eight sites selected by Shorefront to begin the program.

Shorefront led in developing the Heritage Sites program, guided by and honoring previous work completed in the late 1990s by members of PITCH, who produced a comprehensive surveyed, primarily in Evanston’s fifth ward, along with a published report in support of a new concept “heritage district” recognizing a specific area guided by cultural history over architecture.

Through an online and downloadable application form, future sites can be nominated by community members on an annual basis. Final determination is made by a rotating ad-hoc committee made up of community members and facilitated through Shorefront.

This project owes a special Thank You to the following:

Former Alderman Robin Rue Simmons during her tenure to see this project through, the Evanston Preservation Commission for their guidance and support, Mary McWiliams and Anne O. Earle for their survey work under the auspices of PITCH, and the ad-hoc committee consisting of Constance Brasher, Carlis Sutton, Ben Blount (who also designed the Heritage Sites logo) and Shorefront founder Dino Robinson for the development of the application and guidelines process, and finally, Tisha Littlejohn of TLJ Creative Marketing for the web design.