Historien om [ the story of ]

The Chicago area is located on ancestral lands of indigenous tribes, such as the Council of the Three Fires comprised of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations—as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois Nations. Native Indigenous People made Chicago their home and played a role in founding the city only to be forcefully removed in the 1830s. These tribes had thriving trade networks in the Menominee Nation Great Lakes area prior to European contact. The tribes in what is now Chicago and the Great Lakes area would feel the brunt of many land cessations and several relocation efforts over the coming years.

The Andersonville Commercial Historic District is closely associated with the Swedish community that moved to the neighborhood following the Chicago Fire in 1871. The district contains fully intact turn-of-the century commercial buildings that represent the popular architectural styles of the time. Many Swedish run companies, theaters, retail shops, bakeries, and banks thrived in the area. The earliest buildings in the downtown district included a school house at the southwest corner of Clark and Foster, which bore the name Andersonville Schoolhouse. The school spurred nearby development and the name of the community became Andersonville.

Settling in Andersonville in 1990, Women and Children First Bookstore has acted as a respite for the LGBTQIA2+ community rooted in its dedication to intersectional feminism and lifting up underrepresented voices. In 2018, work began to uplift the Transgender community and in 2019, we gathered together with Chicago Therapy Collective for a chalk activation to celebrate and protect trans lives. Today, emboldened to take a hard look at our privilege, we are committed to anti-racist work by engaging our BIPOC members and partners and will use our collective voice and influence to drive racial equity impact and change and to advocate for those whose voices have historically been discounted or silenced.