Chicago Landmarks
 

Unity Hall

Oscar Stanton DePriest, from <I>Who's Who in Colored America<I/>, 1928     Address: 3140 S. Indiana Ave.
Year Built: 1887
Architect: Laban B. Dixon
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998

Exterior, Bob Thall, 1997 Originally built as the Lakeside Club, a Jewish social organization, this structure was renamed in 1917 when it became the headquarters of the Peoples Movement Club, a political organization headed by Oscar Stanton DePriest (1871-1951), the first African-American elected to the City Council and the first northern black elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The building is a rare surviving 19th-century clubhouse structure, and is an excellent example of the type of architecture found in the community in the 1880's. Since the 1950's, it has been occupied by religious institutions. It is one of nine structures in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District.