People for Community Recovery Archives

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  • Collection ID ARCHIVES 200905
  • Creator Names People for Community Recovery.
  • Title Archives 1935-2007
  • Physical description 30 linear feet
  • Collection arrangement Materials are arranged into thirteen series, PCR History, Hazel Johnson Biographical and Family Records, Manuscripts, PCR Business Files, PCR Programs, Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Other Organizations, Grants, Conferences, Subject Research Files, Photographs, and Memorabilia.
  • Access and usage restrictions Available for research in the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago Public Library.
  • Collection summary People for Community Recovery (PCR) is a community organization located in the Chicago Housing Authority's Altgeld Gardens project on Chicago's far Southeast Side. Founded in 1979 by Altgeld Gardens resident Hazel Johnson, PCR demanded cleanup of toxic waste surrounding the community and pressed for repair work. The organization also coined the term "environmental racism." The archives include correspondence, organization files, programs and newspaper clippings.
  • Biographical or Historical Note Hazel M. Johnson (1935-2011) was born in New Orleans, LA. She attended high school in Los Angeles before marrying John Johnson and moving to Chicago. In 1962 the Johnsons moved to Altgeld Gardens Homes, a very large, segregated public housing project built in 1945. In 1969, Johnson's husband died of lung cancer. Their seven children suffered a variety of skin and respiratory ailments. After seeing a TV program about environmentally-related cancer she began to research environmental pollution. Johnson also realized that the CHA itself contributed to the polluted environment by ignoring toxins that emanated from the original landfill beneath Altgeld Gardens. Later, she discovered that the entire housing project had been built with asbestos, and the CHA had dumped PCB waste on the Altgeld Gardens site. In 1970 she earned a seat on the Altgeld Gardens Local Advisory Council (LAC) which she held until 1979. Johnson's relationship to the CHA remained both confrontational and cooperative. In 1979 Johnson founded People for Community Recovery (PCR) to demand that the CHA clean up the toxic waste. In the 1970s and 1980s Johnson often found herself the only minority person at environmental movement conferences. In 1992 she attended the first National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. Johnson received her title,"Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement," at the conference. Hazel Johnson served PCR until her death on January 12, 2011. She continued to live at Altgeld Gardens until the end of her life, while her daughter, Cheryl Johnson, gradually assumed the responsibility for PCR's operation.
  • Finding Aids Note Finding aid available in the Harsh Research Collection, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago Public Library and on the library's web site.
  • Names
    • People for Community Recovery Archives.
    • Johnson, Hazel M., 1935-2011 Archives.
    • Chicago Housing Authority History Sources.
  • Subjects
    • African American women lllinois Chicago Sources.
    • American environmentalists Illinois Chicago.
    • African American women political activists Illinois Chicago.
    • Political participation Illinois Chicago.
    • African Americans Politics and government.
    • Racism Illinois Chicago.
    • Hazardous waste sites Illinois Chicago.
    • Environmental policy Illinois Chicago.
    • Environmental justice Illinois Chicago.
  • Geographic coverage Altgeld Gardens (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Finding aid URL http://www.chipublib.org/fa-people-for-community-recovery-archives/