Public art matters. Monuments in public spaces signal what the dominant or mainstream community believes is worth remembering. In Chicago, as in some other cities, the public art landscape has a surprising history of promoting anti-worker, racist, and even fascist ideals as opposed to their counterpoints. This presentation examines the history of some Chicago’s monuments pertaining to these three categories: the Haymarket Police Monument, Confederate Mound in Oak Woods Cemetery, and Balbo Monument/Balbo Drive which is dedicated to (Italian) fascism. Recently in Chicago, however, new monuments dedicated to fighting racism and historical amnesia are in the works. As co-director of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project, Peter Cole will conclude this presentation with a discussion of current events.

Bio: Peter Cole is a Professor of History and a Distinguished University Professor at Western Illinois University and a Research Associate in the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). He wrote Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area (University of Illinois Press, 2018), winner of the Philip Taft Labor History Book Prize, and Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia (University of Illinois Press, 2007). He edited Ben Fletcher: The Life & Times of a Black Wobbly, revised 2nd edition (PM Press, 2021) and co-edited Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW (Pluto Press, 2017). He co-edited and brought to publication the novel, Presente: A Dockworker Story (Hard Ball Press, 2024), written by the deceased Herb Mills. He founded and co-directs the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project.