North Lawndale African American Heritage Quilting Project Participates in City Year Middle School Service Day at Bethune School of Excellence

The North Lawndale African American Heritage Quilting Project is partnering with City Year to produce 10 quilts using quilt blocks produced by participants in the Bethune School of Excellence's Middle School Service Day. Outlined below is an excerpt from an article that appears on the City Year blog. Last Thursday, the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Impact Fund, a McCormick Foundation Fund Team serving at the Bethune School of Excellence held their annual Middle School Service Day. Each year, the Middle School Service Day is designed to teach middle school students about the value of service to their community and then give them an opportunity to put that knowledge into action. At the Bethune School of Excellence, that meant an afternoon of students connecting with both service, and their African American North Lawndale heritage through the craft of quilting! Visit http://cityyearchicago.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/quilting-their-heritage-monday-montage/ to read the entire article.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityyear/sets/72157629925839957/

LEARN Charter School 2nd Graders to Translate Black History Projects to Quilts

We thank Lucille Morris Tomlinson and her 2nd grade class at LEARN Charter School for a warm welcome on May 10, 2012. Lucille invited Valerie F. Leonard to share information with the children regarding the North Lawndale African American Heritage Quilting Project. In turn, they shared their Black History Month presentations, which included reports and poster boards. After the children shared their presentations they brainstormed ways their presentations could be translated into a quilt for the quilting project. We will meet next week to begin to prepare quilt blocks for the quilt. If you are interested in helping out, please, let me know.

Theodis R. Leonard, Retired Principal of Paderewski School, Has Died

Theodis R. Leonard, a retired educator and community activist, died on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012. Please find below links to his obituary (press release) and pictures that could go into the obituary/program. We will share the program booklet once it is finalized. Theodis R Leonard Obituary-Final Dad's Obit Pics

We're Generating Momentum

We are very excited at the momentum the project is generating. On Friday, March 30, 2012, we will be at the Pathfinders Prevention Education Fund fundraiser, raffling chances to design a quilt to be auctioned off at Pathfinders' next event. On Thursday, April 26, we will be working with City Year to develop a quilt during their Middle School Service Day, in which 7th and graders will work with primary grade students to learn how to serve others. One of the exercises will include the development of a community quilt. On Saturday, May 5, 2012, we will be at the Collins Academy High School Community Resource Fair. We will be one of several vendors and community based organizations sharing educational resources to middle and high school children. We will work with Collins High School and City Year to develop a community quilt.

Rev. JM Stone

Dan Perkins, Gary Keller and Valerie F. Leonard met with Bishop Fitzpatrick and his mother, Clara Fitzpatrick, Ed.D, on March 10, 2012. Bishop Fitzpatrick is the pastor of Stone Temple Baptist Church and the Grandson of the founder, Rev. JM Stone. Stone Temple is on historic Douglas Boulevard, down the street from 3411 West Douglas Boulevard, the former site of Friendship Baptist Church. Both Stone Temple and 3411 West Douglas are former synagogues. We thank Bishop Fitzpatrick and Mrs. Clara Fitzpatrick for sharing this article and photographs. I thank Gary Keller for sharing his photos of the article. This article was written by Mary Denson, the Publisher of Windy City Word.

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Rev. Shelvin Hall's Obituary

We were browsing the internet and stumbled upon Rev. Shelvin Hall's Obituary. Rev. Hall was the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church for 51 years. Friendship Baptist Church was located in North Lawndale in the 1960's, as was one of three churches in Chicago that welcomed Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. This photograph is included for education purposes only, and all rights are reserved by the Chicago Sun-Times.

We've Been Invited to Partner with City Year and Collins Academy High School to Prepare a School Quilt

I am very pleased that our North Lawndale African Heritage Quilting Project has been invited to participate with City Year and the Collins Academy to jointly create a quilt for the school. We will be working with parents and students to develop a one of a kind creation around the theme "Warriors: Past, Present, and Future" to celebrate our past accomplishments and to inspire the next generation. I am totally excited about the possibilities.