On the Scene: The McCormick Foundation Blog

by Angela Ford, Executive Director of T.A.G. Foundation In early 2015, I was sitting in a community meeting daydreaming, when someone said in passing “Well, about 10,000 photographs are disintegrating at The Chicago Defender .” I snapped into the present. “What did you just say?!” I replied. The Chicago Defender is one of the few institutions that have chronicled the lives of African Americans in Chicago from the early 1900s to the present. That is why it is imperative that we salvage these damaged images and stories. Through its content, The Chicago Defender has been integral in moving the needle on countless historic issues facing African Americans including segregation in the military, campaigning against Jim Crow era violence, influencing the Great Migration and much more. My organization, the T.A.G. Foundation , is committed to preserving and sharing The Chicago Defender 's photo archives, which is why we are in the process of building a digital platform, The Obsidian...

by Megan Everett, Director, Veterans Program Last August, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, in partnership with Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work and the University of Southern California Center for Innovation and Research on Military Families (CIR), commissioned a study, the Chicagoland Veterans Study . This comprehensive study is intended to survey more than 2,000 veterans in Cook, Will, Lake and DuPage Counties to examine the needs of veterans living in Chicagoland area, and identify gaps and opportunities for program and service development. A range of issues are being surveyed including housing, employment, barriers to care, physical and mental health, and transition from the service to civilian life. In 2013, CIR first conducted this comprehensive study in Los Angeles County. You can find the results of the study here . Veterans can still participate in the Chicagoland Veterans Study . Once completed, participants will receive a $15 gift card. A comprehensive ...