ICON OF THE PAST, BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE.
The Forum is located at 318-328 East 43rd Street (adjacent to the CTA station) in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville community.
Built in 1897, The Forum includes a beautiful social and assembly hall and several oversized retail slots located adjacent to the 43rd Street Green Line Station. For the first three quarters of the twentieth century, The Forum stood at the heart of Black Chicago’s social, political, cultural and commercial life. The iconic Forum Hall hosted music greats from Nat ‘King’ Cole to Muddy Waters to the Jackson 5 as well as political speeches, sorority balls, union meetings, dance classes, civil rights events, and so much more.
Forum Hall shut in the 1970s, a casualty of decades of government and private sector disinvestment.
Today, Urban Juncture is working to restore The Forum as a hub for cultural programming, hospitality and socializing as part of its Build Bronzeville initiative. We expect to begin rehabilitating the three retail slots at 318 - 322 E 43rd Street that make up The Forum’s West Annex in 2022.
Please join us as we work to bring The Forum back to life. Tell us your stories of The Forum, follow us on social media or make a donation to support our efforts. We’re excited to welcome you back to The Forum.
“Buildings are precious to Bronzeville’s Revival…
For better than 25 years, the Bronzeville community has used its rich architectural resources and vivid Black History to slowly lure middle-class folk, investment and commerce into the area--and it's a hard battle. But in that war, buildings as bad off as The Forum have been saved, restored and are contributing to Bronzeville's resurrection.”
- LEE BEY, JUNE 2011
Submit your story!
The Forum is seeking stories about The Forum that help us shape its storied history as a relic in Bronzeville. Let’s build this archive together!
Have something to share? Please submit it below.
