DOCumentary: Celebrating the art and activism of Dr. Carol L. Adams

On Saturday, May 11, 2024, South Shore Works Planning and Preservation Coalition will host Documentary: Celebrating the Art and Activism of Dr. Carol “Doc” Adams. It is an event with a two-fold purpose: 1) honor and recognize a community icon whose activism in South Shore spans over 50 years, on the occasion of her 80^th birthday; and 2) raise funds to help further the mission of South Shore Works.

Co-founded by Dr. Carol Adams in 2017, the South Shore Works Planning and Preservation Coalition is a 501©3 corporation dedicated to the restoration and revitalization of the South Shore community.  As an independent, dedicated consortium of key entities and individuals, South Shore Works engages in collective strategic planning and implementation to re-create a culturally rich neighborhood that is safe, economically viable, aesthetically beautiful, and collectively well.

The prolific Dr. Carol Adams’ expansive career encompasses her work as an educator, cultural curator, arts administrator, civil rights organizer, civic leader, and community activist. While her work spans the globe, her devotion to her home neighborhood, South Shore, has been consistent and impactful.

• As a member of the Coalition to Save the South Shore Country Club, fought to convert this once restricted club into the South Shore Cultural Center
• Served as Research and Planner Director at The Neighborhood Institute, a Division of South Shore Bank
• Served as chairman of the Board of the South Shore YMCA, now Southside YMCA
• Authored South Shore’s first and only Cultural District Plan
• Established Everyday Art and held the first Jazz concerts and art fair at the Sout Shore Country Club
• Established the South Shore Cultural Council which sponsored Chicago’s first Black film festival
• Co-founded Ujima Learning Center, an independent Africentric school located at Bryn Mar Community Church
• Successfully lobbied the Mayor or Chicago to introduce and pass the South Shore Condo and Coop Preservation Ordinance
• And so much more!