DUSABLE MEMORIAL
DHA Memorial 2022
Commemorating the 204th Anniversary of DuSable's Passing On Saturday, August 20, 2022 at 11:00 AM DuSable Heritage Association will join fellow members of the DuSable Park Coalition at Pioneer Court (401 N. Michigan Ave, Chicago) to honor the memory of the Haitian-born founder of the City of Chicago, Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable. On that day, we will pay homage to DuSable’s foresight in establishing his settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River and celebrate his legacy of entrepreneurship and multiculturalism. We will also highlight the Chicago Park District selection of the design team as a turning point in the actualization of the long-overdue DuSable Park.
The celebration includes:
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A Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the DuSable Bust location—As in the past, we expect public officials, civic organization leaders, and other stakeholders to be in attendance. This year again, faculty and students at the University of Illinois at Chicago DuSable Scholars Program will actively participate in the event
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A Walking Tour of the DuSable Founders Trail--a mile-long historical walk departing from the Bust and proceeding along the south side of the Riverwalk, while a guide recounts Chicago’s history from the pre-DuSable era to its beginnings as a city. The tour concludes across from the construction site of DuSable Park.
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Lastly, a Showcase by The Floating Museum of its 25-foot Founders Inflatable Sculpture—a spectacular artwork that pays tribute to DuSable, Kittihawa (DuSable’s wife), Mayor Washington near DuSable Harbor
The Commemoration ends around 1:30 PM.
Please join us on this momentous occasion in acknowledging DuSable’s extraordinary contributions to the development of Chicago and the Midwest.
DHA Memorial 2019
DHA Memorial 2017
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On August 26, 2017, DHA partnered with the DuSable Park Coalition to remember the first non-native settler in Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable on his 199th anniversary. The day included a DuSable memorial wreath laying ceremony and DuSable Park site tour. The group led a procession to the DuSable Park site after laying a wreath at DuSable's bronze bust in Pioneer Court, near Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River located at 401 N. Lake Shore Drive. The day ended with a panel on DuSable at the DuSable Museum of African American History which included Serge JC Pierre Louis, MD, MPH, Dr. Christopher Reed, DuSable biographer Marc Rosier, and Dr. Courtney Pierre Joseph, Assistant Professor of African American History at Lake Forest College.
DHA Memorial 2016
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The DHA and the DuSable Park Coalition again organized a gathering on September 7, 2016 to remember the first non-native settler in Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable on his 198th anniversary. The day included a DuSable memorial wreath laying ceremony and DuSable Park site tour. The group led a procession to the DuSable Park site after laying a wreath at DuSable's bronze bust in Pioneer Court, near Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River located at 401 N. Lake Shore Drive. Check out this article featured on Chicago Tonight covering the event:
DHA Memorial 2015
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The DHA and the DuSable Park Coalition organized a gathering on September 2, 2015 to remember the first non-native settler in Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable on his 197th anniversary. The day included a DuSable memorial wreath laying ceremony and DuSable Park site tour. The group led a procession to the DuSable Park site after laying a wreath at DuSable's bronze bust in Pioneer Court, near Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River located at 401 N. Lake Shore Drive (photo above). The event celebrated the park and DHA’s namesake Jean Baptiste Point DuSable who was born in early to mid-1700s. After first settling in New Orleans in 1764, DuSable migrated north in 1765 to the land where the Native Americans said, “ the river meets the lake.”DuSable established a trading post by what is now the Chicago River. At the time Chicago was not officially designated as a city which would ultimately occur 1838, however it was Jean Baptiste Point DuSable’s trading post that set up the economic basis around which Chicago would later be founded. DuSable died in St. Louis, Missouri August 28, 1818. It would take many years before DuSable was the given credit he deserved for founding Chicago but is now honored for his contributions to the development of city. On August 8, 1963, Richard J. Daley, former mayor of Chicago, officially proclaimed that the third full week of August will be called DuSable week to recognize that Jean Baptiste Point DuSable was in fact “the first Chicago resident of record.”
