But even with their privilege and wealth, the Joneses still were not safe in Chicago.
“If a free Black person in Chicago, [even] someone of John and Mary Jane Jones’ stature, didn’t have the freedom papers with them on any given day, it could be disastrous for them,” said John Russick, senior vice president of the Chicago History Museum.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, more Black people migrated to Chicago and their population reached nearly 4,000 people in 1870, exponentially rising to 15,000 by 1890. Before Black men received the legal right to vote in 1870, and the passing of local anti-discrimination laws in the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 1885, Black people expanded their power by collaborating with white politicians, explained Claire Hartfield, educator and author of “A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919.”
“Black leaders put in a ton of time and strategy behind the scenes collecting petitions and talking to people around the state, to try to get a groundswell to get rid of those kinds of laws,” Hartfield said. “They did all the work — they didn’t get the credit.”
In 1898, Archibald Carey Sr. became pastor of Quinn Chapel. He campaigned for the Republican party and got close with William Thompson, who would eventually become Chicago’s mayor in 1915. Through his relationships, Carey later became the city’s chief examiner of claims and a civil service commissioner, where he made sure the city hired more Black police and punished officers who unfairly treated Black people.
“I think the thing that often gets overlooked with communities who are on the margins of political power is that it’s not that they don’t have any political power. They have influence,” Russick said. “With real population growth comes real political power, and when you see someone like John Jones have influence, [it’s] because in part he’s a successful businessman, he does hold elected office in Chicago and he is part of a movement to change America’s relationship with enslaved people.”
In the 1910s, Black political power continued to grow with the expansion of women’s voting rights. “Just like today, Black women carried things on their back,” Hartfield said.