From the Archives: 1989 — The Human Relations Task Force

“From the Archives” explores highlights from The Chicago Community Trust’s archives showcasing unique moments and milestones from its 100+ year history in the Chicago region. Stay tuned throughout the year for more stories.

Historically, racist policies and systems led to Chicago being one of the most racially segregated American cities in housing, education, and a variety of other areas. In response, the Trust helped found the Human Relations Task Force in 1989. Consisting of 33 leaders from across Chicago, including chairs Reverend Dr. Kenneth B. Smith and Franklin A. Cole, and vice chairs James Brice and Arthur Velasquez, the Task Force examined racial, ethnic, and religious tensions in the city. The purpose was to identify opportunities and solutions to alleviate those tensions.

As part of the initiative, the Task Force implemented a comprehensive evaluation—commissioning academic studies, hosting 105 focus groups, and conducting interviews with over 200 community leaders. The culmination of these efforts resulted in a report outlining recommendations for combatting racial, ethnic, and religious tensions. Following the release of the Task Force’s report in 1989, the Human Relations Foundation of Chicago was established in 1990 to implement the report’s recommendations.

In 1992, responding to the Los Angeles Riots, a major project called “The Chicago Initiative” was launched. The initiative brought together 300 community leaders and Chicagoans from businesses, civic groups, government agencies, and foundations—raising more than $2.5 million to fund 68 programs that expanded and created employment and recreational opportunities for Chicago youth.

In 1995, the Trust partnered with the Human Relations Foundation of Chicago to organize and lead a series of dinners, known as “The Chicago Dinners.” These dinners brought together inter-racial groups of business, civic, and community leaders to engage in discussion about racial understanding. Harkening back to the Trust’s founding in 1915 over meal-time conversations among Chicago businessmen, these dinners aimed to foster authentic dialogue in an informal setting. Spanning 1995 to 2001, the dinners occurred in 90 locations across Chicago with several thousand people participating in meaningful conversations with the hopes of creating opportunities to address racial tensions and foster a more inclusive city.

The Chicago Community Trust has continued this model of learning from community to further our current goal of closing the racial and ethnic wealth gap. In 2015, the Trust re-envisioned “The Chicago Dinners” with its launch of On The Table, a series of community dinners to facilitate conversations on the vision of a prosperous and equitable Chicago region. More recently, in December 2022, the Trust funded healing circles and conversations between long-time residents and recent immigrants to the Chicago region.

As our history shows, true movement toward change cannot take place without first gaining understanding of each other’s perspectives. While our early beginnings with the Human Relations Task Force represent only a small piece of how we approach this work, we strive today to remain a community foundation that creates change with and alongside the people we serve.