27-02-2025
Rockfords' Booker Washington Center is Camp Grant's enduring legacy
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — An African American club, founded in Rockford during World War I, is still having an impact on the city's community more than 100 years later.
Camp Grant, formerly located on the site of the current Chicago Rockford Airport, was founded in 1917 and hosted thousands of black soldiers during World War I.
For black service members, the Colored Soldiers' Club was created. After the war, it became the Booker Washington Center, now known as the African American Resource Center at Booker, at 524 Kent Street.
At the heart of the center's daily operations is Karen Waller, who has served as operations manager for the past four years.
'Over the decades we have evolved into a community, more youth programs, senior programs, adult programs a lot of collaborations to emphasize the need for resources in this area,' Waller explained. 'The youth program involves kids ages five to fourteen, providing them with life skills, service learning, cultural enrichment, field trips, expanding their horizons, getting them to think outside of their box about where they want to go, what they want to do, and who they want to be.'
The center also offers job training through the TANF Flourish Program, which helps people gain employment skills and financial independence.
'They are referred to us from the local office of public aid and assistance. They come here to gain a sense of skills that they may not know, skills that can help them get employment and then retain that employment,' she added.
In addition, the African American Resource Center at Booker honors black history year-round.
'We do it in a variety of ways. we host events anywhere from a Black History Month quiz bowl to a fashion show to events that acknowledge and preserve our accomplishments alive,' Waller said.
The center plans to expand its impact with the potential for new services, including health care and housing support, with its commitment to education, empowerment, and service meant to ensure its legacy continues for generations to come.
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