Ida B. Wells Drive
Initiated by the League of Women Voters with support from Michelle, over 60 organizations, and Alderpersons Sophia King (4th ward) and Brendan Reilly (37th ward), the 6-lane street of Congress Parkway was changed to Ida B. Wells Drive on July 25, 2018. It is the first major E/W street in downtown Chicago to be named after any woman or any person of color. It feeds into both I94 and I290 interstates. The signs were unveiled at a February 11, 2019 ceremony. Click here to read more
Ida B. Wells Way
Michelle worked with Alderperson Sophia King (4th ward) to have 37th Street from King Drive - Vincennes bear the honorary street name of Ida B. Wells Way. It is located 1/2 block away from the 3624 S. King Drive home where Wells lived from 1919 - 1930 and three blocks from the Ida B. Wells National Monument. It was unveiled on July 20, 2019.
Richard Hunt Place
Michelle worked with Eve Moran and Alderperson Timmy Knudsen (43rd ward) to have Lill Avenue (from Sheffield to Racine) bear the honorary street name of Richard Hunt Place. It is located 1/2 block away from the studio (1017 W. Lill) where sculptor Richard Hunt, who created the Ida B. Wells National Monument, worked for over 50 years. Unveiled on September 12, 2024, on what would have been Hunt's 89th birthday.