Near South Side art installation marks 30th anniversary of deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave
An art installation at Quinn Chapel AME Church on the Near South Side will mark the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Chicago heat wave that killed hundreds of people.
Advocates will unveil the installation at noon Friday. It works to give a visual image of the people who died over the course of this week in 1995, and the racial demographics of the neighborhoods most impacted by the heat wave.
It's estimated the city saw hundreds of heat-related deaths, most of them older residents of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods who either did not have air conditioning, or had it but could not afford to turn it on.
Historical analysis has shown that Black Chicagoans died at a far higher rate than their white and Latino neighbors.
Advocates also plan to discuss Friday what the city can do better to prevent and prepare for climate disasters, and more.