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Jan 5, 2008 11:23 am US/Central
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Bishop Ford Honored At DuSable Museum
Bishop Was Pioneer In Social Services, Gave Moving Eulogy At Emmett Till Funeral
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
The late Bishop Louis Henry Ford already has his name attached to a Chicago area expressway.
Soon, there will be an exhibit at the DuSable Museum of African American History to herald his remarkable life, and an hourlong documentary will be distributed to schools so children can learn from his example.
On Friday, Mayor Daley joined religious leaders at the museum, 740 E. 56th Pl., to highlight the three-month Bishop Ford exhibit and the Jan. 12 gala that kicks it off. Officials hope to raise the estimated $70,000 needed to create the documentary.
Daley fondly recalled Ford's close relationship with his father, Mayor Richard J. Daley, and the bishop's pioneering role in providing social services.
"He knew about the homeless. He knew about hunger and drug abuse, long before it became the issue of government. He dealt with it in his church many times. He dealt with early childhood programs," Daley said.
"It's important, as the documentary comes out, that it goes into our schools to really teach younger people about great struggles that took place many, many years ago. The struggles were overwhelming at that time. . . . You cannot forget history. You always have to tell history. If you forget telling history, you forget who you are today."
A farmer's son from Lexington, Miss., Ford arrived in Chicago in 1933 with 25 cents in his pocket, family members say.
He spent three years preaching on sidewalks and in tents before founding St. Paul Church of God in Christ. Under Ford's direction, the church grew from a small storefront to an entire city block. It now bills itself as the world's largest African-American Pentecostal denomination, with 6.7 million members in more than 59 countries.
In 1955, Ford delivered a moving eulogy at the funeral of Emmett Till that was widely credited with helping to inspire the civil rights movement. Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy, was brutally murdered in Mississippi.
Ford died in 1995, at the age of 80.
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(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)