Today's Date: March 28, 2024
Guo Guangchang: "Focus on building sustainable, predictable and enterprise with stable profit growth "   •   Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and Palantir Partner to Create Safe Conditions for In-Person Education in Schools   •   3EO Health Announces the First Point of Care Molecular Test Under $15   •   Nutrex-Hawaii Introduces Its #1 Selling BioAstin® Hawaiian Astaxanthin® in a Retail-Ready, Sugar-Free, Vegan Gummy Forma   •   EIG’s MidOcean Energy Completes Acquisition of Tokyo Gas’ Interests in Portfolio of Australian Integrated LNG Projec   •   Cardinal Tobin Blesses New Open-Air Mausoleum of the Holy Spirit Site   •   Midea Group Breaks Revenue and Profit Records with RMB 373.7 Billion in 2023   •   "SHAKIRA DESDE TIMES SQUARE," an Exclusive Special Taking Viewers Behind-the-Scenes of Shakira's Historic Surprise Performance i   •   The Home Depot Announces Agreement to Acquire SRS Distribution, a Leading Specialty Trade Distributor Across Multiple Verticals;   •   Government of Canada signs two bilateral agreements with Quebec to support initiatives to improve health care   •   Clean Energy Appoints Patrick J. Ford to Board of Directors   •   Lenzing strives to drive beneficial transformation across the value chain   •   Parental avoidance of toxic exposures could help prevent autism, ADHD in children, new study shows   •   Latest U.S. Soybean Field Trials by Texas Crop Science Deliver Average Yield Increase of More Than 20%   •   Apogee Enterprises Schedules Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings Release and Conference Call   •   Netcracker Continues Its Support of the U.S. Paralympic Ski and Snowboard Team at Adaptive Spirit 2024   •   Stora Enso publishes Green and Sustainability-Linked Financing Report 2023   •   SLB Announces Agreement to Acquire Majority Ownership in Aker Carbon Capture   •   PRIVATE SCHOOL VILLAGE (PSV) AWARDS INAUGURAL ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS   •   The Lenserf Group Launches Emotional Intelligence Academy for HBCU Interns
Bookmark and Share

New Research Indicates Racial Bias Denied Social Reformer Ada S. McKinley Her Rightful Place in History

New Research Indicates Racial Bias Denied Social Reformer Ada S. McKinley Her Rightful Place in History

Ada S. McKinley Community Services launches initiative to reverse history's omissions and educate public about Chicago humanitarian and "remarkable" racial justice advocate.

PR Newswire

CHICAGO, Jan. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Newly released scholarly research about Chicago social reformer Ada S. McKinley indicates her contributions to Chicago and to the field of human services have been ignored and marginalized due to her race. The report has spurred the 102-year old nonprofit she founded, Ada S. McKinley Community Services, to call for the rewriting of history books to inform the public of one of the nation's most profoundly successful, yet unheralded human services pioneers.

As we celebrate Black History Month, Ada S. McKinley Community Services CEO Jamal Malone says now is the time for historians, government leaders and the public to help correct what the researchers describe as "white privileged history," and tell the story of the heroine of Chicago's South Side.

In 1919, McKinley founded the South Side Settlement House, which served the largest area in Chicago and was the only settlement house fully staffed by African Americans. In their research, which was recently honored by the Academy of Leisure Sciences, Assistant professor KangJae Lee of North Carolina State University and Professor Rodney B. Dieser of University of Northern Iowa called it "troubling" how historians have cherry-picked historical facts and as a result, marginalized the history of people of color.

McKinley, according to Lee and Dieser, succeeded amidst the era's white establishment and male domination. Facing sexism, racism and segregation, all while being denied the basic democratic right to vote, McKinley struggled financially. Yet passion fueled her work to serve Blacks during the flu pandemic of 1918-1919, the Great Migration from the South, the homecoming of World War I Black veterans lacking health care and services, and the 1919 Chicago race riots.

"We believe race factors into the lack of historical information about McKinley," said Dieser. "As someone who is white, I can say that white historians, whether consciously or unconsciously, wrote a white privileged history that ignored McKinley's contributions, when compared, for example, to social reformer Jane Addams, the founder of Hull House," Dieser added.

"When you compare the work of Jane Addams on the West Side, to the work of Ada S. McKinley on the South Side, it's almost identical," said Malone. "Unfortunately, because of conscious or unconscious bias, her impact has been ignored," he said.

McKinley's work for racial equity was also unprecedented, according to Assistant Professor Jerry Lee.

"Her advocacy for racial justice and equity was nothing short of remarkable. She developed the idea of service and volunteerism at a very young age and until the day she died, devoted her life to humanitarian works serving poor and disadvantaged people on the South Side," Lee added.

Malone is asking scholars and authors to correct history and feature McKinley's works in books and school curricula. His organization is also calling on Chicagoans to dig through family records, letters, photos and other mementos from the early- to mid-1900s to share with his organization how McKinley's work transformed lives. Malone is also mobilizing community support to request a major Chicago street be renamed in McKinley's honor.

"Ada Sophia McKinley died in 1952, so it's possible those who knew her in the early 20th century may still be with us. In the face of the current pandemic and a significant racial unrest, her work is as relevant and critical today as it was 102 years ago. Help us tell the story of her bravery, which should be reported and honored," Malone added.

Malone is asking the public to go to the contact page on AdaSMcKinley.org and share their information or describe the documents and mementos connecting them to McKinley and Ada S. McKinley Community Services.

To download the scholarly research, "Ada S. McKinley: A Hidden History of African-American Settlement House in Chicago", please CLICK HERE.

About Ada S. McKinley Community Services

Ada S. McKinley Community Services is one of Chicago's largest, most respected and impactful Human Services organizations. The nonprofit's mission is to empower, educate and employ people to change lives and strengthen communities. Serving more than 7,000 people annually, with more than 500 people employed at over 70 program sites in the Chicago metropolitan area, Wisconsin and Indiana, Ada S. McKinley Community Services' wide-ranging programs fall under the umbrellas of child development and youth, employment and community support, and behavioral health and clinical.

For more information and updates on how the agency continues to meet the needs of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit http://www.adasmckinley.org and follow us on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Media Contact

Michelle Damico, Michelle Damico Communications, +1 (312) 423-6627, michelle@michelledamico.com

 

SOURCE Ada S. McKinley Community Services



Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News