Christopher C. Wimbish papers

Christopher C. Wimbish papers, 1870-1962.

Descriptive Inventory for the Collection at Chicago History Museum, Research Center

By Lucy F. West, 1970; rev. by Anthony Ochoa, 2011

Please address questions to:

Chicago History Museum, Research Center

1601 North Clark Street

Chicago, IL 60614-6038

Website: http://www.chicagohistory.org/research

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Title: Christopher C. Wimbish papers [manuscript], 1870-1962

Main entry: Wimbish, Christopher C., 1895-1962

Inclusive dates: 1959-1973

Size:

1 linear ft. (2 boxes)

1 oversize folder.

Access: This collection is open for research use.

Provenance statement: Gift of Mrs. Christopher C. Wimbish, 1967 (M1967.0692).

Terms governing use: Copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.

Please cite this collection as: Christopher C. Wimbish papers (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.

This descriptive inventory contains the following sections:

Biographical/historical note,

Summary description of the collection,

Description of some material related to the collection,

List of online catalog headings about the collection,

Detailed description of portions of the collection,

List of contents of the collection.

Biographical/historical note:

Christopher C. Wimbish, a prominent African-American attorney and Illinois state senator, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 6, 1895. He was the son of Christopher C. Wimbish, Sr., an active Republican politician and Surveyor of Customs for the Port of Atlanta, and Maggie Baker Wimbish, a leading Atlanta educator. Wimbish attended elementary and secondary school in Atlanta and received an A.B. degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. He returned to Atlanta after graduating from Howard and was employed as a life insurance agent until the outbreak of World War I.

In 1917, Wimbish volunteered for service in the infantry. He was commissioned a first lieutenant and served with the 366th Brigade of the 92nd Division in France. Following the Armistice, Wimbish bought a theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which he operated until 1923, at which time he came to Chicago and entered Northwestern University Law School. He graduated with an LLB degree in 1925 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar two years later. He became a member of the legal firm of Temple, Wimbish, and McLendon (later Temple and Wimbish) and specialized in property and criminal law. During the course of his career, he appeared in many important civil rights and minority group cases.

Wimbish was named Assistant State's Attorney in 1927, a post which he held until 1931. From 1940 to 1944, he served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago. Originally a Republican, Wimbish switched to the Democratic Party before becoming actively involved in politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination to the State Senate in 1938. With wider backing and party support, he was elected to the Illinois Senate from the Third District in 1942 and re-elected in 1946 and 1950. He was the original sponsor of Fair Employment Practices legislation in the Illinois State Senate, a measure which finally became law in 1961 after his Senate career had ended.

Wimbish was an officer in the United Colored Democratic Association of Illinois and the National Colored Democratic Association. He served as Democratic Committeeman from the Third Ward from 1948 until 1952, when he was ousted from the position following a political struggle with William L. Dawson. As a further result of the feud, Wimbish was dropped from the party ticket in 1954. The quarrel was patched up by 1958, however, and Wimbish had the party's full support in his successful candidacy for Trustee of the Sanitary District, a position which he held until his death.

Wimbish was married to Odessa Ireland, a teacher in the Chicago public school system. He died on December 28, 1962 and was buried in Atlanta, Georgia.

Summary description of the collection:

Sundry papers including Army bulletins and orders (1917-1918), newsclippings, legal documents and trial transcripts, correspondence, and speeches of Wimbish, an African American lawyer, and his family, most pertaining to his career as a First Lieutenant in the 366th Infantry Brigade, 92nd Division, in Kansas and in France during World War I; Democratic Ward Committeeman in Chicago; Illinois State Senator, 1942-1954 (3rd District); and trustee of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago, 1958-1962. Topics include race relations, Illinois Fair Employment Practices legislation, relationship between military service and voting rights (speech 1942), a political feud with politician William L. Dawson, and defendants' rights in criminal prosecutions. Includes materials by Mayor Richard J. Daley and the Metropolitan Sanitary District. Most material is in chronological order.

Detailed description of portions of the collection:

World War I items in the collection include about thirty bulletins and orders from training camps and the 266th Infantry Headquarters in France, many citing examples of individual and unit bravery and exemplary conduct. Of particular note is a March 28, 1918 Bulletin issued from the Headquarters of the 92nd Division, Camp Funston, Kansas, instructing colored officers and men to conduct themselves in such a way that the "color question" would not be raised. Black members of the command, it stated, should refrain from going where their presence would be resented. It concluded that this was not a question of legal rights but of policy. Also included are a copy of a December 14, 1918 National Protest (from St. Joseph, Missouri) editorial regarding the record of Negro soldiers, very few pieces of correspondence, and several souvenir items.

Items regarding Wimbish's political career are irregularly distributed, beginning with a few pieces from his 1938 campaign for the Democratic nomination to the Illinois State Senate. His most important political interest was Fair Employment Practices legislation, a measure which he introduced in the Illinois State Senate and supported vigorously. There is a sizable lot of clippings on this matter as well as a speech Wimbish delivered in the Senate on June 24, 1953. Items regarding Wimbish's duties as Democratic Ward Committeeman and other political activities include an undated 1943 statement of the duties of Committeeman, a considerable amount of material from the fall of 1958 when Wimbish was a successful candidate for Trustee of the Metropolitan Sanitary District (among these are speaking and meeting assignments issued from Democratic headquarters), and a few items, including an undated speech by Wimbish, relative to the 1960 Presidential campaign.

Noteworthy among Wimbish's speeches and writings are the following: an October 23, 1942, speech relating military service by African-Americans to voting rights and other rights; an address before an Anti-Discrimination Meeting on June 15, 1943; an undated 1944 typescript of the closing argument in a criminal case he defended, the People vs. Rhinehart, strongly objecting to a confession made under duress by police; a November 13, 1945 radio script entitled "Crime Prevention: The Solution--A New Approach;" and a memorandum on Racial Discrimination in the Sanitary District, dated January 16, 1962.

The papers also include printed, typed, and mimeographed materials relating to Sanitary District matters and a related batch of clippings on the diversion of water from Lake Michigan.

It should be noted that the collection contains little substantive correspondence regarding the political, legal, or civic matters in which Wimbish was interested, nor do any of the briefs or other legal documents pertain to his important civil rights cases.

The oversize folder, 1870-1962, contains newspapers, a life membership certificate of Columbus Wimbish in the American Missionary Association, a 1907 graduation certificate from the Houston Street Public School (Atlanta), and pictures of Atlanta University and Howard University.

Description of some material related to the collection:

Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include approximately 130 related photographs that were transferred to the Print & Photographs Collection. Of these, about 35 are from World War I, approximately 20 are of political or governmental subjects, and the remainder is family photographs and snapshots.

List of online catalog headings about the collection:

The following headings for this collection were placed in the online catalog:

Subjects:

Wimbish, Christopher C., 1895-1962--Archives.

Daley, Richard J., 1902-1976.

Dawson, William L. (William Levi), 1886-1970.

Illinois. General Assembly. Senate.

Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago.

United States. Army. Infantry Division, 92nd.

United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 366th.

African Americans--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

African American lawyers--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

African American legislators--Illinois--20th century.

African American politicians--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

African American soldiers--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

African American students--Georgia--Atlanta--20th century.

Defense (Criminal procedure)--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

Election districts--Illinois--Chicago--3rd District.

March on Washington Movement (1940's)

World War, 1914-1918--Participation, African American.

World War, 1914-1918--France.

Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government--20th century.

Chicago (Ill.)--Race relations--20th century.

Illinois--Politics and government--20th century.

Form/genre:

Certificates.

Clippings.

Correspondence.

Diplomas.

Legal documents.

Speeches.

Transcripts.

Added entries:

Daley, Richard Joseph, 1902-1976.

Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago.

American Missionary Association.

United States--Illinois--Cook County--Chicago.

France.

List of contents of the collection:

Oversize folder

Box 1

Box 2