Chicago Blues Museum

Chicago Blues Museum

Date Posted: May 01 2010

Written By: chicago blues

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The Chicago Blues Museum (CBM), a not-for-profit charitable organization and a registered international copyright and trademark, promotes the preservation and evolution of the blues and related music genres through education and performance programs to foster worldwide appreciation of the blues as an indigenous American art form.

Founded in 1991, the Blues Museum exist to focus attention on the rich living tradition of the blues and the dedication of those artists who created the blues and continue to develop the music. To ensure the continuance of this vibrant art form for the cultural enrichment of future generations, the Chicago Blues Museum collects, preserves, displays images – photographs, film and video footage – recordings, memorabilia and artifacts in a state-of-the-art exhibit formats.


The Chicago Blues Museum is the only music museum in Chicago and in Illinois, the only historic institution dedicated to the history of the blues and African-American popular music as it relates to Chicago and represents a very special and unique attraction to the city and the state.


Since its founding, the Chicago Blues Museum has been dedicated to the preservation of the legacy and the rich living tradition of the blues, its pioneers and places it emerged from and evolved in, and to the education of the public on the history of blues. Led by founder Gregg Parker, the museum quickly established itself as the city’s most active and visible premier music organization, always on first call when the City of Chicago shines the spotlight on its famous blues roots.


The museum works to preserve and conserve the blues by amassing large collections of material and culture artifacts related to the blues, certainly among a very few select impressive holdings in the world which offer a rich documentation of African-American cultural life in America.

Archives include recordings, film footage, microphones, musical instruments, amplifiers, personal items, posters, sheet music, countless exquisite ephemera and memorabilia, contracts, documents, stage clothes, furniture, smaller private collections, architectural artifacts as well as generations of rare vintage photographs of blues, jazz, R&B, soul, and gospel legends, famous African-American sports figures and political leaders featuring them in the prime of their career, revealing the richness of cultural traditions and creating a magnificent illustrated history.

News media, historians, documentarians and filmmakers often contact the museum as a coveted resource, seeking research material on the blues in America.


Secondly, and equally important, the CBM has sought to make its collections and the stories they tell available to the general public. State-of-the-art historical exhibits on the history of African-American music, culture and urban life focus on enlightening, educating, and lecturing people of all ages, especially the young, telling of tragedy and triumph and of human struggle for freedom.


While continuing to grow its collections, CBM spends the majority of its effort in creating various public programs so that the legacy of the blues reaches larger and diverse audiences. That process of outreach includes exhibits, lectures, film screenings, and humanities-focused concerts. The museum partners with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Chicago Board of Tourism and the Chicago Park District and other museums and organizations to ensure that its exhibitions, live music performances and educational programming tour sites around the city.

Based on the premise that the blues and its musical off-springs are among America’s greatest gifts to the world, the museum’s outreach programs and exhibits are a mainstay of the Chicago Blues Festival and the Chicago Jazz Festival and have been featured throughout the city at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Cultural Center with the Department of Tourism, Navy Pier, DuSable Museum, Chicago Symphony Center, Roosevelt University, Chicago’s Union Station, the South Shore Cultural Center and various Chicago Park District locations.


For more information, please call the Chicago Blues Museum at 773-723-5031.

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