Olive Diggs Explained

Olive Myrl Diggs (April 22, 1908 - November 10, 1980) was the managing editor of Anthony Overton's Chicago Bee from 1929 until it closed in 1947, a public official advocating for Chicago's African American community, and a city planner.

She was born in Mound City, Illinois, received a B.S. in Economics and Accounting from Northwestern University and an M.S. from Roosevelt University.

At the Chicago Bee, Diggs focused on housing for African-Americans in Chicago and advocated for neighborhood rejuvenation. She directed the Neighborhood Youth Corps and was a consultant for the National Youth Administration.^[1]

She served as Assistant Direct of the Illinois Commission on Human Relations. She gave speeches.^[2] She retired as Administrative Assistant in the Chicago Department of Planning, City and Community Development in 1979.^[3]

Further reading

• Encyclopedia: Halliday. Aria. Centering Black Women in the Black Chicago Renaissance: Katherine Williams-Irvin, Olive Diggs, and "New Negro Womanhood". Fielder. Brigitte. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333109517_Centering_Black_Women_in_the_Black_Chicago_Renaissance_Katherine_Williams-Irvin_Olive_Diggs_and_New_Negro_Womanhood. Against a Sharp White Background: Infrastructures of African American Print. Senchyne. Jonathan. 2019. University of Wisconsin Press. 978-0-299-32150-5. 240–258.
• News: Ottley. Roi. July 12, 1959. Woman studies Negroes' gain on culture scale. 2 (Part 3). Chicago Tribune. Newspapers.com.
• Book: Weems, Robert E. Jr.. The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire. 2020. University of Illinois Press. 978-0-252-05192-0.

Notes and References

1. News: December 4, 1980. Former urban renewal official Olive Diggs dies. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company.
2. News: Race relations speaker to visit campus. Daily Egyptian. January 28, 1955.
3. Web site: Olive Diggs papers (BMRC.DUSABLE.DIGGS). 2021-01-21. University of Chicago Library.