Photographer captures historic former headquarters of EBONY and JET magazines

Photographer captures historic former headquarters of EBONY and JET magazines
Photographer captures historic former headquarters of EBONY and JET magazines

Photographer captures historic former headquarters of EBONY and JET magazines

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

If you’ve never gotten a chance to see inside the former headquarters of Ebony and Jet magazines, your time has come. The building at 820 South Michigan Avenue was owned by Johnson Publishing Company from 1972 to 2010. It was the first major building in downtown Chicago to be designed and owned by an African American, but it was the interiors that really captured the eye…colorful, pattern-filled interiors reflecting the 50s, 60s and 70s, that were never updated. The building’s owner, Columbia College Chicago, gave access to photographer Barbara Karant to capture the time capsule.