In 1853 , John A. Logan helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans , including freedmen , from settling in the state . However , in 1865 , the state repealed its " Black Laws " and became the first to ratify the 13th Amendment . Especially after the Civil War , Illinois had some of the most progressive anti-discrimination legislation in the nation . School segregation was first outlawed in 1874 , and segregation in public accommodations was first outlawed in 1885 . In 1870 , Illinois extended voting rights to African-American men for the first time , and in 1871 , John Jones , a tailor and Underground Railroad station manager who successfully lobbied for the repeal of the state 's Black Laws , became the first African-American elected official in the state , serving as a member of the Cook County Commission . By 1879 , John W. E. Thomas of Chicago became the first African-American elected to the Illinois General Assembly , beginning the longest uninterrupted run of African-American representation in any state legislature in U.S. history . After the Great Chicago Fire , Chicago mayor Joseph Medill appointed the city ’s first black fire company of nine men and the first black police officer
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
History of African Americans in Chicago