"COURAGE" exhibition coming to Illinois Holocaust Museum

Reverend DeLaine at the pulpit

Photo: Courtesy of the DeLaine Family Collection

The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will commence Black History Month with the exhibition "COURAGE: The Vision to End Segregation, The Guts to Fight For It" on February 3.

Created by the Levine Museum in South Carolina, "COURAGE" tells the story of Rev. Joseph DeLaine and his efforts to end segregation within Clarendon County, S.C., schools. His activism eventually led to the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. The ruling would not come without hardships and suffering for the small-town minister and his supporters. Specifics are to be documented in "COURAGE."

This morning, I spoke briefly with curator Arielle Weininger by phone. She describes the exhibit as "experiential" and said visitors will be transported back to early 1950s Clarendon through photographs, audiovisual interviews and two replicas—a rural classroom and the DeLaine family house, which was firebombed by vandals.

On opening day, hear from surviving DeLaine siblings Ophelia and Joe Jr. in an afternoon (1–3pm) discussion with Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington.