Michael Satterfield
TGR Staff
In the 1970s the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hired a team of photographers to document American life, the focus was to create a visual record of life, culture, living standards, and the state of the environment. The project called, Documerica, would span several years, this series of photos is from 1973-1974 as were captured by John H. White, Charles O’Rear, and Danny Lyon. Chicago was a vibrant but gritty city in the early 1970s and a city still rebuilding after the 1968 Chicago riots.
Residents Of Chicago’s West Side Check Out A Motorcycle. 06/1973
Women with colorful hair during the annual Bud Billiken Day Parade along Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Drive on Chicago’s South Side. Up to half a million people would attend the parade. 08/1973
The Rev. Jesse Jackson addressing an audience at the annual Push ‘black Expo’ in Chicago, 10/1973.
Monroe Street parking lot in Chicago holds 2,700 cars for commuters at Lake Shore Drive, 10/1973.
Motorists wait in line at Soldier’s Field, one of nine auto pollution test sites paid for by the city of Chicago’s Environmental Control Department, 08/1973.
A crowd of some 10,000 Muslims applauds Elijah Muhammad during the delivery of his annual Savior’s Day message in Chicago, 03/1974.
World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali attending service to hear Elijah Muhammad’s annual Savior’s Day message in Chicago, 03/1974.
Student welders work in a machine shop course taught at the Chicago Opportunities Industrialization Center, in the heart of the Cabrini-green Housing Project, 10/1973.
