The Jourdain Journey in Evanston, Illinois

After attending the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration (now Harvard Business School), Edwin Jr. journeyed west in the 1920s to begin a career in journalism at the nationally circulated Black newspaper The Chicago Defender. As a reporter and member of the publication’s editorial staff, he was fulfilling his goal to “join an activist black publication” and “use his education to work for black equality.”

At The Chicago Defender, Edwin Jourdain Jr. covered major national news of interest to Black Americans. One of his earliest published bylines was on the front page story of the death of Bessie Coleman, the first Black person and first woman airplane pilot, in 1926./Public Domain

While the bustling city life of Chicago was appealing, Edwin Jr. embraced “the quiet, small town of Evanston” because “its atmosphere of solid reserve reminded him of the traditions of his hometown, New Bedford.” In Evanston, he found great comfort in the community where he attended Ebenezer A. M. E. Church, part of the historically Black African Methodist Episcopal denomination, and met his future wife, Emmaline.

The predominantly Black west side of Evanston was largely situated in the city’s Fifth Ward. In 1931, the city’s proposed redistricting plan threatened to divide and dismantle the Black voting bloc, prompting an urgent need for a political representative who valued the community’s interests.

Edwin Jr. served for 17 years as the Fifth Ward alderman. Throughout his tenure — during which he attained senior city council status — he regularly faced resistance from white political interests. Despite this opposition, he engineered the desegregation of Evanston’s theaters, public parks, and sporting events. He successfully advocated for better public health services by promoting greater funding for the Evanston Community Hospital. An advocate for education, he also fought for the hiring of Black teachers, equal integration of students across the city’s public schools, and equal access to books at the Evanston Public Library.

Emmaline Jourdain was also an advocate for the Fifth Ward community, and actively supported many of Edwin Jr.’s efforts.

A dynamic public speaker, Alderman Jourdain eloquently conveyed his ideals of human justice to his constituents and city council colleagues. A prime example is his November 1942 speech for the radio series “Wings Over Jordan”. Edwin Jr.’s fiery commitment to the global battle for human freedom and justice inspired many Black servicemen, and thank you letters poured into the program’s headquarters. One letter declared, “Your message was a masterpiece.”

Closer to home, Edwin Jr. inspired the next generation, such as Bernard Jefferson — one of the first Black students to live on campus at Evanston’s Northwestern University — who became a Tuskegee Airman in World War II.

Edwin Jourdain Jr. remained committed to mentoring younger generations throughout his life. During World War II, he supported Bernard Jefferson — one of the first Black students to live on campus at Northwestern University in Evanston. Jefferson went on to become a Tuskegee Airman. “Portrait of Bernard Jefferson.” Circa 1941–1945. Edwin B. Jourdain Jr. Papers/Courtesy of the Shorefront Legacy Center

Staff at the radio show “Wings Over Jordan” wrote to Edwin Jourdain Jr. after his appearance on the program during World War II that his “message was a masterpiece.” “Wings Over Jordan” broadcast stories about Black life and experience to a national audience. Alice V. Harper to E. B. Jourdain Jr.. Nov. 19, 1942. Edwin B. Jourdain Jr. Papers/Courtesy of the Shorefront Legacy Center

One regular “Wings Over Jordan” listener wrote that he had “never been quite so enthused” as he was over Edwin Jourdain Jr.’s appearance. Magellan G. McCrary to “Wings Over Jordan.” Nov. 18, 1942. Edwin B. Jourdain Jr. Papers/Courtesy of the Shorefront Legacy Center

Edwin Jr. maintained contact with his alma mater through the Harvard Club of Chicago, and at times traveled back to Cambridge for reunions.

Edwin Jr. also maintained ties to fellow members of the Nile Club and the Sigma Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, many of whom were his lifelong friends. These men used their Harvard educations, experiences, and connections in the ongoing fight to secure civil rights for Black people.

As a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unofficial “Black Cabinet,” Nile Club member William Hastie (LL.B. 1930, S.J.D. 1933) worked closely with Roosevelt’s administration as an aide to the Secretary of War, and was a fierce advocate for the equal treatment of Black soldiers and the integration of troops during World War II. He was later appointed Territorial Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands by President Harry S. Truman. Another member, Charles Hamilton Houston (LL.B. 1922, S.J.D. 1923) established the historic NAACP Legal Defense Fund that laid the legal foundation for the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown vs. Board of Education. Classmate William Leo Hansberry (A.B. 1921, A.M. 1932) became a prominent scholar of African history at Howard University, honored by many leaders from Africa’s emerging independent nations. And Edward “Ned” Gourdin (A.B. 1921, LL.B. 1924) won a silver medal in the 1924 Olympics; served with distinction in World War II, eventually attaining the rank of brigadier general and commanding one of the Army’s last segregated battalions; and went on to become the first person of color to be appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court. In August 2023, a memorial to Gourdin was unveiled in the recently renamed General Edward O. Gourdin and African American Veterans Memorial Park in Boston’s historically Black Roxbury neighborhood.

In 1947, Edwin Jr.’s political support suddenly waned following a surge of white opposition to his campaign to provide integrated housing to Black veterans, and he lost his re-election bid. The following year, he supported the presidential re-election campaign of Democrat Harry Truman, who ultimately won the election. This campaign activity marked Edwin Jr.’s shift from the Republican to the Democratic Party, through which he dedicated himself to political organizing and civil rights advocacy for the remainder of his life.

Edwin Jr. died in 1986. His legacy of leadership blazed a path for future generations — from Harvard students to the Black citizens in his hometown of Evanston — who use their education to enrich our society.

Edwin Jr. proudly saw his son Spencer off to Harvard College in 1957, and saw him graduate from his alma mater in 1961. His granddaughter Jacqueline “Jackie” Jourdain Hayes (A.B. 1989, J.D. 1992) carried the Jourdain family’s Harvard legacy.

In 2023, Spencer, Jackie, and many other descendants and family members gathered at Harvard’s Winthrop House to see Edwin Bush Jourdain Jr. honored for his leadership in the fight, more than a century ago, to end segregation in the University’s student housing. His portrait now resides — alongside family friend and fellow activist W.E.B. Du Bois — in the Senior Common Room of the student house where he lived as an undergraduate, as a sign to students of their power to bring change to Harvard and beyond.