Message from the Ridge Historical Society: A big reminder – this Sunday, April 7, is the program "Binga, The Rise and Fall of Chicago’s First Black Banker." The program will be at the Givins Castle, 10244 S. Longwood Drive, starting at 2:00 p.m. The presenter is Don Hayner, a lifelong Chicagoan living in Beverly, who retired as editor-in-chief of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper in 2012. His book about Binga (same title as presentation) is due to be released in November.
Jesse Binga came to Chicago from Detroit just before the 1893 World's Fair. He was a savvy businessman, starting a real estate business to serve the growing African American community in the city. As black people were denied mortgages and other services at white-owned banks, Binga started the first African-American bank in the city.
African Americans, historically largely confined to the "Black Belt" on the near South Side, began expanding into new areas. This caused alarming tensions with the white community and led to violent race riots in 1919. Binga himself moved into a white neighborhood and his properties were bombed numerous times.
Today Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the country, with many areas of the South Side "hyper-segregated" – some neighborhoods as much as 99% black.
According to Hayner, while Jesse Binga was a towering symbol of success in Chicago’s “Black Belt” in the early 20th Century, he was also one of the most hated men in the city.
“Binga, The Rise and Fall of Chicago’s First Black Banker, tells the story of the beginning of a sad saga that Chicagoans have lived through for more than a century. It's the story of racial change in the neighborhoods of a city, which is one of the most segregated in America, but at its core, it's a story of how Jesse Binga represented hope to a community shut out and isolated by racial animosity,” said Hayner in a description of this program.
Don Hayner started out practicing law but switched his career to journalism. Working his way up from reporter, he retired as editor-in-chief of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper in 2012. During his tenure, the paper won multiple national and local awards for investigative reporting and breaking news, including the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting in 2011. Hayner has co-authored three books including Streetwise Chicago, A History of Chicago Street Names.
Hayner completed a fellowship at the University of Maryland’s Knight Center for Specialized Journalism on race, class and ethnicity. As a reporter at the Sun-Times he co-authored, with Columnist Mary Mitchell, an award-winning series, “The Great Divide: Racial Attitudes in Chicago.” As part of that project, Hayner helped design the largest poll on race relations ever done in the Chicago region.
The cost of the program is $10 per person and all proceeds will go to the Castle Restoration Fund. The Beverly Unitarian Church, owner of the Castle, has started an initiative to raise money for repairs to the Castle turrets. Donations to this fund will be used for preservation of the Castle, not for church operations.
As space is limited, reservations are suggested, and may be made by calling RHS at 773/881-1675 or emailing ridgehistory@hotmail.com. Tours of the Castle will be available following the program. Light refreshments will be served.
Pic 1: Jesse Binga
Pic 2: Don Hayner