Chicago’s rich Black history is once again taking center stage in Bronzeville.
A request has been sent to Alderman Pat Dowell’s office to place an honorary street sign near the childhood home of legendary composer and producer Quincy Jones, who died November 3. He was 91.
The Chicago Crusader and Bronzeville historian Sherry Williams sent the request to Dowell’s office as efforts are being made for support from Jones’ daughter, actress Rashida Jones and Quincy’s six children.
Since 1984, Chicago has recognized the contributions of famous and deserving residents by erecting honorary street signs, rectangular brown signs that sit below the green signage which bears the official name of the street.
Many famous and prominent Black figures have been awarded an honorary sign, including singers Sam Cooke, Dinah Washington, Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan.
Crusader founders, Balm L. Leavell and Joseph H. Jefferson were acknowledged with signage near the Crusader office at 6429 S. King Drive, in 2016. Johnson Publishing Company founder John H. Johnson and its executive editor, Lerone Bennett Jr. also have honorary street signs named after them.
Quincy Jones’ will be the most recent public figure name to grace a Chicago street.
Recommendations for honorary street signs are made by the residents of a neighborhood. The nomination is submitted to the Ward office where the honorary sign is to be located.
The alderman of the Ward submits the proposal to the Chicago City Council, where it is considered by a committee. Upon approval the City Council writes an order to the Department of Transportation to install a sign at the designated location.
The sign is unveiled at a dedication ceremony attended by the family of the honoree, the alderman, and the community.
Each ward is allowed two honorary signs a year and the honoree must be deceased at the time of the request.
In response to the joint request presented by Williams and the Crusader, Dowell’s office said in an email, “Alderman Dowell is currently in budget hearings and negotiations which may extend to the end of the year. She will address your request for an honorary street sign for the late Quincy Jones in the 1st Quarter of 2025. As you know, Aldermen are limited to two honorary signs annually by ordinance and we would have to prioritize Mr. Jones ahead of other also significant candidates. In the meantime, it would be helpful to have a demonstration of support for this honor from family member(s).”
Quincy Jones’ journey to the top of the entertainment world began in Chicago, where he was born on March 14, 1933. He grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood and lived in a red brick rowhouse in the 3600 block of South Prairie Avenue. The home is less than a mile away from the historic Pilgrim Baptist Church, known as the birthplace of Gospel music, where Aretha Franklin, a future client of Jones’, sang.
On Jones’ block, Jones would be introduced to music by a neighbor on the street, according to a CBS News report.
Jones attended the now closed Raymond Elementary School in Bronzeville, where he discovered music and learned to play the trumpet.
Life in Chicago wasn’t easy for Jones. In one of the rooms of his childhood home in Bronzeville, Quincy, then seven, watched authorities take his mother Sara away, later committing her to an institution. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, she was in and out of hospitals so often she was unable to have a close relationship with Jones or his brothers. Jones’ father divorced Sara and took the children to Washington state in 1943 to protect them.
Jones attended Coontz Junior High in Bremerton, WA. There, he studied the trumpet and sang in a Gospel quartet at age 12. He later moved to Seattle with his family, where he attended Garfield High School from 1947 to 1950. While at Garfield Jones participated in the school’s Operetta, chorus, orchestra, and band, and was the student director of the swing band and Funfest.
In 2008, Garfield High School honored Jones’ enduring influence, naming its performing arts center in his honor. That same year, he was awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award at the grand-opening gala of the Northwest African American Museum, another testament to his immeasurable contributions to the arts and culture.
Jones continued his musical studies at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained until the opportunity arose to tour with Lionel Hampton’s band as a trumpeter, arranger and sometimes, pianist. He moved on to New York and the musical “big leagues” in 1951, where his reputation as an arranger grew. By the mid-1950s, he was arranging and recording for such diverse artists as Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Dinah Washington. He worked with Frank Sinatra to compose his hit “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Jones composed numerous film scores for hit movies, including “The Color Purple,” “The Wiz,” “Roots,” and “In the Heat of the Night.”
In television, Jones composed the theme songs for “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Sanford and Son,” “Ironside” and many other shows.
In 1985, Jones composed and produced “We Are the World,” a charity single that raised over $20 million for Africa and became one of the biggest selling singles of all time.
In his illustrious career, Jones recorded 2,900 songs, 300 albums and contributed to 51 film and TV scores. He was nominated 79 times for a Grammy, winning 28. He produced Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” the biggest selling album of all time. He also produced the King of Pop’s groundbreaking “Thriller” music video, which led MTV to show more videos from other Black artists.
Jones is one of the few artists to earn Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards for his work. He has earned numerous awards and honorary doctorates for his contributions to music and the recording industry.
Two weeks before his death on November 3, Jones wrote a speech that he intended to give as a recipient of an honorary Oscar at the ceremony created by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.