By Fran Spielman
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHIGAGO — The scene of one of the most racially divisive chapters in Chicago Fire Department history will be converted into a museum honoring the contributions made by African-American firefighters, under a mayoral plan quietly introduced Wednesday — a move one black alderman called “poetic justice.”
Engine 100, 6843 S. Harper, was the site of a raucous 1990 retirement party captured on a now-infamous videotape played over and over again by local television stations.
It showed white firefighters drinking beer, using racial slurs and even mooning the camera. Fallout led to the 1999 resignation of then-Fire Commissioner Edward Altman and his son, Edward Altman Jr., former head of the Fire Department’s Internal Affairs Division.
Engine 100 went out of service in March, 2004. Now, it will become the new home of the Chicago Fire Department African-American Firefighter Museum, with displays, photographs, artifacts and memorabilia honoring black firefighters.
A 10-year lease introduced by Mayor Daley at Wednesday’s City Council meeting allows the non-profit museum to occupy the space for $1 a year, while paying operating expenses and utilities.
“We are very excited the museum will have the opportunity to memorialize the great contributions of African Americans to the Fire Department. The museum will honor their service and also serve as a reminder that we must continue to diversify the ranks in order to reflect the ethnic make-up of Chicago,” Daley said in a press release that didn’t mention the link to the notorious Engine 100.
The connection was first reported on suntimes.com.
Black aldermen were pleasantly surprised when told of Daley’s decision to turn a negative into a positive.
“It is poetic justice that the fire station that caused such an uproar because of the racist incident will now forever memorialize African-American firefighters. Hopefully, this will be an indication of how far we’ve come,” said Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th).
Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) added, “Maybe that’s their way of saying that they’re sorry.”
In 1998, the city fired seven firefighters and suspended 21 others captured on the Engine 100 tape, only to have an arbitrator overturn the discipline on grounds that the city violated the collective bargaining agreement requiring an immediate investigation. The city waited more than six months to launch a probe after learning of the tape.
The Daley administration subsequently convinced the Illinois Appellate Court that the reversals were against public policy. The case was remanded to Arbitrator Edwin H. Benn, who was allowed only to consider whether the discipline against the firefighters was appropriate.
In November, 2002, Benn ruled that the seven fired firefighters should have been suspended instead, noting their work history was “unblemished.” They didn’t receive back pay for the 4 1/2 years they were out of work. But, the city was ordered to restore their pension benefits and rehire them within 45 days. The suspensions of 21 others — from six to 60 days — were upheld.
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