What’s That Building: Why The Underground Railroad Stopped At Wheaton College

What’s That Building: Why The Underground Railroad Stopped At Wheaton College

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Illinois has many sites that were part of the Underground Railroad. That Underground Railroad was a network of safe places for black people escaping slavery. Wheaton College, in DuPage County, is one of those sites. In this week’s What’s That Building, we examine the architecture and history of Blanchard Hall at Wheaton College. It was named for abolitionist and Wheaton College president Jonathan Blanchard.  

Morning Shift also sits down with director Cheryl Lynn Bruce to take a look at Dominique Morisseau’s play Pipeline, which tells the story of a woman fighting to keep her son from being sucked into the school to prison pipeline. Chicago poet Gwendolyn Brooks’ famous poem The Pool Players serves as a backbone for this work which is an in depth examination of the education system and parenthood.

GUEST: Dennis Rodkin, residential real estate reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business

GUEST: Cheryl Lynn Bruce, director of Pipeline