Grand Boulevard on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the city's Community Areas. The boulevard from which it takes its name is now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The area is bounded by 39th to the north, 51st Street to the south, Cottage Grove Avenue to the east, and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad tracks to the west.
According to a 2018 US Census American Community Survey, there were 22,784 people and 10,383 households in Grand Boulevard.[1] The racial makeup of the area was 92.56% African American, 2.70% White, 0.70% Asian, and 2.26% from other races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 1.77% of the population.[1] In the area, the population was spread out, with 27.3% under the age of 19, 19.4% from 20 to 34, 22.6% from 35 to 49, 16.4% from 50 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.9 years.[1]
Sol Bloom (1870–1949), Congressman from New York from 1923 until 1949. He resided at 4736 South Prairie Avenue between 1897 and 1903.[8]
Floy Clements (1891–1973), first African American woman to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives. She moved to Grand Boulevard in the 1920s and lived there during her political career.[9]
Bessie Coleman (1892–1926), first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot's license. She resided at 4533 South Indiana Avenue prior to leaving for France to earn her pilot's license.[10]
Michael Colyar (born 1957), comedian and actor. He was raised at 4352 South State Street before his family moved to Morgan Park.[11]
Open Mike Eagle (born 1980), hip hop artist. He lived in the Robert Taylor Homes until the age of 13.[15]
Rube Foster (1879–1930), baseball player, manager, and founder of the Negro National League. He resided at 4131 South Michigan Avenue from 1907 until 1926.[16]
Mittie Gordon (1889–1961), founder of the Peace Movement of Ethiopia. At the time of her trial for conspiring with the Japanese in relation to the work of the P.M.E. she resided at 4451 South State Street.[17]
John R. Lynch (1847–1939), Congressman from Mississippi's 6th congressional district from 1873 to 1877 and 1882 to 1883. Lynch moved to Chicago in 1912 and resided at what is now 4028 S. Martin Luther King Dr. at the time of his death.[18]
The Marx Brothers, comedians. During their early career, the family moved from New York City to an apartment at 4649 South Calumet Avenue. The family bought a house at 4512 South King Drive.[19]
Helen Swift Morris (1869–1945), wife of Edward Morris. She and her husband resided at a house at 4500 South Michigan Avenue[20]
George W. Murray (1853–1926), Congressman from South Carolina from 1893 to 1897. He fled South Carolina after a racially motivated conviction and moved to Chicago in 1905. At the time of his death, he resided at 4752 S. Evans Ave.[21]
Daniel Hale Williams (1856–1931), surgeon who performed the first documented, successful pericardium surgery in the United States to repair a wound.[25]His residence at 445 East 42nd Street was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975.[26]
Richard Wright (1908–1960), author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. He resided at a second floor apartment at 4831 South Vincennes Avenue from 1929 until 1932.[27]
^"Washington Park Court District". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
^"Robert S. Abbott House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved March 2, 2008.
^"Drew Ali, "Prophet" of Moorish Cult, Dies Suddenly". Chicago Defender. July 27, 1929. p. 1 – via ProQuest.
^Roth, Walter. "Sol Bloom, The Music Man"(PDF). Chicago Jewish History. 24 (3). Chicago Jewish Historical Society. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
^"Rube Foster, Baseball Magnate, in Sanitarium: ILL HEALTH IS DUE TO WORRY". Chicago Defender. September 4, 1926 – via ProQuest.
^"Principals in Sedition Trial: Jap Payoffs To Cult Bared At Trial; Bilbo Linked To Plotters By Leader". Chicago Defender. February 6, 1943. p. 3 – via ProQuest subscription from Chicago Public Library.
^"Major John R. Lynch Buried at Arlington". Chicago Defender. November 11, 1939. p. 1 – via ProQuest.
