I am starting a new feature on the blog. I don’t know if it will be a long-term project. I come across so much information and I often find myself thinking: “I wish I knew more about this person or that topic, etc…” My curiosity is endless. So I’ll use this space to muse about subject matters or people who I wish I had more information about (but for whatever reason cannot follow-through).

Today, I wish I knew more about Chicago Black abolitionist, Emma J. Atkinson. She came to Chicago in 1847 with her husband, Isaac. She lived in Chicago at a time when there were only about 200 other blacks in the city. By 1850, Blacks in Chicago only numbered 378 out of a population of over 23,000 people.

Emma was one of the mysterious “Big Four,” a group of black women at Quinn Chapel who provided food, clothing, and shelter to runaway slaves. Emma Atkinson is the only named member of the group at this time. Unfortunately black abolitionists in Chicago (or abolitionist in general) who assisted fugitive slaves did not keep written records and accounts of their efforts. So we know almost nothing about the work of the “Big Four” and that is a huge shame. I wish I knew more about them…