Explore African American Heritage Trail on Little Calumet River Aug 16

Professors at College of DuPage will take students on an experiential learning adventure via canoe that explores Chicago’s role in abolitionist movements and the history of Black migration on Tuesday, Aug. 16.

The African American Heritage Water Trail on the Little Calumet River is a one-day course traversing the seven-mile trail, created in 2020 by environmental conservation nonprofit OpenLands, that begins at Cook County Forest Preserves’ Beaubien Woods and ends in the town of Robbins. The canoe tour will lead participants through the area’s history, from the river’s role in the Underground Railroad to its role in the environmental justice movements of the 20th century.

COD History Professor John Paris and Coordinator of Experiential Education and Training Gib Egge will lead the paddlers along the Little Calumet River and the Cal-Sag Channel as they wind through Chicago’s South Side and southern suburbs.

“A lot of times when people are on rivers, they are looking for scenery, birds or wildlife, but what we have is great history that we can paddle through,” said Egge.

Paris added that the waterways have played a unique role in America’s past.

“We often think of the settlement by European newcomers happening east to west, but in Illinois, it happened south to north,” he said. “Geographically, Illinois is key in connecting the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes, and these waterways were a vital link in that migration.”

In the early 19th century, the Little Calumet River was part of the Underground Railroad as enslaved people in the South sought freedom in the North.

After the Civil War, northward migration continued from the South to Chicago’s growing South Side communities, reaching its highest point around the time of World War I.

Located along the Little Calumet River, the town of Robbins is one of the oldest all Black towns in the U.S. The Robbins Airport was the first Black airport in the U.S. and was a key center for training Black aviators, including 10 Tuskegee Airmen. Chicago’s Finest Marina, the city’s first Black-owned marina, was founded in the 1950s.

“That idea of the Underground Railroad morphs into this journey to freedom, just in a different iteration,” said Paris.

The river also passes by Altgeld Gardens, one of the first public housing developments, built in the 1940s. That was the home of environmental justice activist Hazel Johnson. With industrialization, the river suffered pollution, and the area’s residents faced illness and injury as a result.

“The nice thing about a river is you have that natural feel, where you can see things for the way they looked at a different day and time,” said Paris.

As a community organizer, Johnson documented the issues and worked to hold polluters responsible, and in the 1980s, she became a mentor to future President Barack Obama. Johnson’s work is a major reason the Little Calumet River is clean enough to be enjoyed recreationally today.

The canoe tour is limited to 10 participants. Canoeing equipment and transportation to and from COD are included. Participants will meet at COD at 8 a.m. and will be transported back at 5 p.m.

To register, contact Egge at eggegi@cod.edu.