Addie Wyatt Center
The Addie Wyatt Center (AWC) is named after the late Chicagoan Rev. Dr. Addie L. Wyatt (1924 – 2012), a noted labor, religious and civil rights leader. As a union leader, Rev. Wyatt fought for principles of worker rights, such as equal pay for equal work and leadership roles for minorities and women. She was the first female president of a local chapter of the United Packinghouse Workers of America. Wyatt worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and endured violent opposition during marches with King in Chicago in the 1960s. The AWC was formed in 2016 to continue her legacy and to keep her spirit alive.
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How can we help?
Nonviolence Training
Kingian Nonviolence is about confronting oppression and injustices while refraining from demonizing opponents, who are viewed as potential allies.
Historical Services
We offer historic sites and museums that are striving to be more responsive and inclusive authentic research, experience & unfiltered African American perspectives.
Human & Community Development
What do all human beings need to survive & thrive? We help organizations build a solid foundation for communities flourishing.
Co-Founders
Sherri Bevel, PhD
Political Scientist
Mary Lou Finley, PhD
Sociologist
Gail Schechter
Thought Leader
Pam Smith
Historian
Sherri has engaged in human and community development for more than 30 years. Her work has included directing civic participation and democratization projects, providing technical support, and making presentations in the United States, East Africa, and Europe for universities and nongovernmental organizations. Sherri teaches courses in politics, human rights, and nonviolence. Sherri is the daughter of civil rights activist James Bevel.
Mary Lou served on the staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Chicago Project in 1965–1966 as secretary to the Reverend James Bevel. She is a sociologist and Professor Emeritus at Antioch University Seattle. She is a contributor to Chicago, 1966 and coauthor with Bill Moyer and two others of Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements. Mary Lou is lead editor of The Chicago Freedom Movement: Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights Activism in the North.
Gail has been a leader in advocacy for fair and affordable housing, discrimination investigation, tenant and community organizing, public school funding reform, and public policy research and development since 1984. For more than 20 years she served as executive director of Open Communities, the not-for-profit housing, economic, and social justice organization descended from the North Shore Summer Project. Gail is executive director of H.O.M.E. in Chicago
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Pam is a public historian and long-time Chicago consultant for nonprofit organizations, currently living in Falls Church, Virginia. Her team conducted the feasibility study that set the stage for the Chicago Freedom School. Pam has worked with many youth groups and served as a senior press aide to Jesse Jackson in his 1988 presidential bid and to Barack Obama in his primary campaign for US Senate. Pam assists historic sites and museum with research and community engagement for truth-telling.
Our Book
The Chicago Freedom Movement: Martin Luther King and Civil Rights Activism in the North (University Press of Kentucky, 2016) reexamines the Chicago movement and illuminates its lasting contributions in order to challenge conventional perceptions that have underestimated its impressive legacy. The compilation includes commentary from movement veterans and essays from scholars that together reveal new stories about the Chicago Freedom Movement, emphasizing the contributions of ordinary people. The book also traces the movement’s impact in many areas including tenants’ rights, economic justice, and work with gang-affiliated youth, as well as ending housing discrimination. Teachers will find numerous short stories that can be used in classrooms. Young activists have already spoken about its relevance to their work today.
Co-editors: Mary-Lou Finley, Bernard LaFayette, James Ralph & Pam Smith. Contributors: Sherri Bevel, Gail Schechter & Pam Smith
After working with us,
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Contact us!
Addie Wyatt Center
addiewyattcenterchicago@gmail.com
312-719-3740 - Pam Smith
773-615-7696 - Sherri Bevel
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