Burnside Elementary Commemorates 1962 Sit-In with Mural

In recognition of 17 mothers and 27 students that staged a sit-in at Burnside Scholastic Academy (BSA), 650 E. 91st Pl., on January 2, 1962, a 300 sq. ft. tile mural was unveiled at the school last week. The Burnside sit-in was one of the first acts that led to end segregation within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system and helped ignite

Chicago's Civil Rights movement.

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The unveiling ceremony was attended by surviving sit-in protesters and community members and was commissioned in the same hallway where the protest took place over 50 years ago.

“We appreciate that we did something that was worthwhile for our community and our children and still for the children in this area,” said Ruby Dillon, one of the original protestors who attended the event.

Dillon explained that the protestors made a definite difference by inspiring in over 250,000 students to boycott CPS schools in October 1963.

“It means a lot to me because it was the mothers who put their lives on the line, ahead of the Civil Rights workers and ahead of the ministers; [they] took it upon themselves to make sure that their children had a better education,” said Tony Burroughs, who protested with his mother, Mary Ellen Burroughs in 1962. “With this wall, the mothers will be able to get the respect and recognition that they deserve. I wouldn’t be here today it wasn’t for my mother having me involved in this sit-in.”

The mural, which was created by, Carolyn Elaine and several BSA fourth through eighth graders, depicted photos of the protestors throughout the long days of the historic protest.

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“This means the world to me, just really working with Tony Burroughs and being able to capture his vision of what he wanted to do with this history, I really got the importance of it from him and for the students here at Burnside,” said Elaine. “[This was] the perfect opportunity to capture this history and have a permanent instillation in the school so when our students walk into their school their history rises up to greet them. The [students did] did all of the mosaic work, they did the work with me, so they got to learn how to work in a new medium of art while they were learning the history of their school so it’s perfect.”

Students contributed to the project by cutting tiles and mirrors. They also helped arrange the materials on the mural. The entire process took two months to complete, however the entire mural venture had been in development for over a year according to Elaine.

“For every student that comes through Burnside, they will know about the history and I hope that it has an impact on all the decisions they make going throughout their life,” said BSA interim principal Kelly Thigpen. “The art just brings it to life but the art that is significant to the history of this school really helps the kids understand what was done for them.”

For more information visit http://www.burnsideacademy.net/.

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