About Us

The Chicago African American Firefighters Museum was created to provide a median to

stimulate community interest in African American History, Education and health. From

Chicago’s first settler, Jean Baptist Point Du Sable in 1790 to the organization of Engine 21,

America’s first African American Firefighting Company. Engine 21 was organized December 21,

1872.

CAAFFM’s mission is to preserve, promote and recognize the many accomplishments of African

American Firefighters. Chicago has grown out of and in spite of opportunities and hardships.

Fires have always been apart of Chicago’s history from the Great fire of October 8, 1871 to the

Black fire of July 14th 1874 which sparked the Black migration. One Thousand African Americans

moved up south State Street to what is recognized today as the Bronzeville community.

Since Chicago was incorporated in March of 1837, it grew extremely fast with migrants from

Germany, Sweden, Dutch, English, the Irish, Jews, Czechs, Poles, Italians, African Americans,

Mexicans and Puerto Ricans all seeking the same opportunities of decent housing and better

paying jobs. In 1872 Mayor Joseph Medill appointed the first Black plain clothes police officer

and helped elect John Jones as Chicago’s first Black Cook County Commissioner. In America,

Chicago has served as a central hub for commerce, transportation and manufacturing which provided jobs and other opportunities to this great city all aiding in its fast growth and success.

Today in Chicago we celebrate the 2016 Great Migration Centennial by acknowledging our

contribution to this great city of hope. Engine 21’s invention of the wood sliding pole increased

Firefighters response time when responding to alarms. The sliding pole took hold nationally by

1880 because Engine 21 was beating other fire companies to fires. Thus stimulating fast push

outs and competition among firefighters. From 1872 to the early 1930’s Chicago’s proud African

American Firefighters from Engine 21 led Chicago in fire response and fire work time proving

their commitment to preserving life and property. From 1872 to 1943 because of segregation

policies in America, Chicago was served by only one Black Fire Company, Engine 21. However in

1928 the members of Engine 21 migrated to Engine 19 following Chicago’s Black migration

south of the downtown area. This fire company made more civilian rescues than any other fire

company in Chicago adding to their many great accomplishments. To this end we not only

celebrate our past but we look forward to documenting and telling our rich story in the future as a vanguard of Chicago’s Fire Service.

The Chicago African American Firefighters Museum’s building was formerly Engine 61,

Ambulance 36 and Squad 3 Quarters of which served the surrounding community. This includes

the old Schultze building directly across the street, both are still standing today. CAAFFM is in

the process of organizing a team to help rebuild this Chicago Historic Landmark into a world

class facility and cultural center. A need of ours is to create a photo rendering, an image of what

we would like this building to look like with the help of a world class architect firm that we are

working to secure. This facility is a public facility so before we can open we must install a lift or

elevator to the 2nd floor and convert both wash rooms to accommodate the handicapped. We

are in need of major brick work throughout and a new HVAC system, we also need a storage

facility to accommodate our artifacts. How do we plan to accomplish our goals? First by

securing funding through CAAFFM memberships, solicitation of corporate funding, general fund

raising efforts, grants that cater to historic land marks structures and community commerce

outreach, i.e., CAAFFM Ace family and our market place. This being a huge endeavor we will

need your continuous financial support to make this project a reality.

The museum’s overall goal is to educate the public about our rich history from the invention of

the first sliding pole to our first civil service Lieutenant and Captain Joseph Wickliffe, and, from

our first Black Battalion Chief, Grant Chaney, to overnight integration on the Chicago fire

department. Our vision is to make our museum a welcoming place for all races and

backgrounds as we triumph to understand the present and transform the future for all

Americans. As we prepare to open our doors to the public, we welcome you to become a part

of the CAAFFM family by taking out a membership, support our web page, CAAFFM.org, as well

as encourage others to assist us in meeting our goals in the future.