Bishop Louis Henry Ford made history in 1941 by purchasing Chicago’s Oldest House (known as the Henry B. Clarke House) decades before it became a designated Chicago Landmark. Bishop Ford’s work to restore and preserve Chicago's Oldest House prior to any landmark ordinance or official designation make him Chicago’s first historic preservationist.

If not for the efforts of Bishop Ford and the faith family of the St. Paul Church of God in Christ, Chicago’s Oldest House, constructed in 1836, would have never survived into the 20th century to become a city-owned house museum.

Bishop Ford made Chicago's Oldest House the center of his ministry, sharing its incredible story of surviving the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and celebrating its history through birthday celebrations and in publications. Through redlining and slum clearance, Bishop Ford continued to emphasize the house's importance, drawing the attention of political leaders in Chicago and beyond. He committed to maintaining the house using African-American skilled labor, an effort that grew into a union trades placement program that continues to assist men and women in finding careers as electricians, bricklayers and carpenters. 

Bishop Ford always believed that Chicago's Oldest House would be best cared for by the City of Chicago. He also believed that when it became a museum, the house should include in its interpretation of the history of Chicago an assertion that African-Americans played an invaluable role in building the city as it is known today.

In 1977 the house was sold to the City of Chicago and moved from the grounds of the St. Paul Church of God in Christ in Grand Boulevard to the South Loop. In 1982, the Henry B. Clarke House opened to the public as a house museum, exclusively depicting the life of its first owner, hardware merchant Henry B. Clarke and his family as they would have lived it in Chicago in the 1830s.

For almost forty years, despite awareness of the significance of Bishop Ford’s role in preserving Chicago’s Oldest House, the Clarke House Museum has relegated that important history-to brief points on a timeline, and a single portrait of Bishop Louis Henry Ford—located in a corner of the buildings’ basement.

The time is now to correct this obfuscation and reframe the history of Chicago’s Oldest House. It is the responsibility of the City of Chicago, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames in America in the State of Illinois as parties seeking to bring equity and inclusion into their respective organizations to give Bishop Louis Henry Ford the credit that he deserves, and to give the Ford family and the St. Paul Church of God in Christ agency in working towards sharing--and celebrating--the full story of Chicago’s Oldest House.

A coalition lead by Pastor Kevin Anthony Ford, grandson of Bishop Louis Henry Ford, and pastor of the St. Paul Church of God in Christ, is making the following asks:

-That 3rd Ward Alderperson Pat Dowell support an ordinance that the City of Chicago, owner of Chicago's Oldest House, renames the building and the museum to reflect the significance of Bishop Louis Henry Ford's work to save and preserve the house.

-That the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, as the party that operates the Henry B. Clarke House Museum, develop new programming and events that reflect the history of Chicago's Oldest House in the care of Bishop Ford and the St. Paul Church of God in Christ.

-That the National Society of the Colonial Dames in America in the State of Illinois, as owners and caretakers of the furnishing collection within the Clarke House Museum and supporters of educational programs, reimagine the existing interpretation of Chicago’s Oldest House to include the history of Chicago’s Oldest House in the care of Bishop Louis Henry Ford and the St. Paul Church of God in Christ.

Please sign (and share) this petition to urge the the City of Chicago, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames in America in the State of Illinois to tell the full story of Chicago's Oldest House!

Find more information on Bishop Ford in Block Club Chicago.