Finding Purpose

Illinois State Senator Barack Obama interviewed by University of Illinois Springfield Emeritus Professor Jack Van Der Slik, December 3, 1998, as part of the "Inside Illinois Government" television broadcast. 1998. University of Illinois Springfield Office of Electronic Media.

Excerpts from The March (1963), National Archives.

Excerpts from The American Negro (1962), National Archives.

CORE demonstration against segregated buses, ca. 1962. © Bob Adelman Estate.

A white customer attacks a black student during a lunch counter sit-in, 1968. NBC News Archive/Getty Images.

Voter registration during Freedom Summer, Louisiana, 1964. © Bob Adelman Estate.

Voter registration canvassing, 1964. Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs, Historical Manuscripts, The University Southern Mississippi. 

Barack Obama discusses his book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance at the Cambridge Public Library, 1995. City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Library.

Barack Obama during his time at Columbia University, 1983. Courtesy of Maya Soetoro. 

Residents of public housing projects, Chicago, IL, 1976. © Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chicago streets and children, 1989. BBC/Getty Images.

Barack Obama in background at ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Mayor Harold Washington at Roseland Vocational Training and Job Placement Assistance Center, 33 E. 111th St. March 23, 1987. Chicago Public Library, Special Collections, Harold Washington Archives and Collection. Photograph by Peter J. Schultz. 

Barack Obama and staff of the Developing Communities Project. Developing Communities Project Papers, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, Chicago Public Library.

Roseland Vocational Training and Job Placement Assistance Center, includes Barack Obama, March 23, 1987. Chicago Public Library, Special Collections and Preservation Division, Harold Washington Archives & Collections. Mayoral Records. Photograph by Peter J. Schultz.

Cabrini Green housing projects, Chicago, IL, 1974. © Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Excerpt from Chicago (1980), from the Cities series by John McGreevy. © Torstar Corporation. Reproduction courtesy of Media Burn.

Family carrying furniture up stairs in Pilsen, Chicago, IL, 1990s. © Akito Tsuda.

Students during the South Shore Community Academy Commencement exercises held at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, 1988. © Kerry Coppin, Chicago Historical Society licensing agent, all rights reserved. 

A memorial service for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Holy Angels Catholic Church, 615 East Oakwood Boulevard, Chicago, IL, 1978. © Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from City of Necessity (1963), National Archives.

Two construction workers placing a beam at 35 West Wacker, Chicago, IL, 1987. © Susan Crocker, Chicago Historical Society licensing agent, all rights reserved.

Altgeld Gardens, Chicago, IL, 1973. © Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Harold Washington mural on newstand, Auburn Gresham, Chicago, IL, 1988. © Stephen Marc, Chicago Historical Society licensing agent, all rights reserved.

Children and two women at Altgeld Gardens, Chicago, IL, 1973. © Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Vietnam Veterans' Job Fair in a south side neighborhood, Chicago, IL, 1970s. Paul Sequeira/Getty Images.

Rally for Mayoral candidate Harold Washington in Englewood, Chicago, IL, 1983. © Antonio Dickey.

Senior Center rally for Mayoral candidate Harold Washington, 1983. © Antonio Dickey.

Mayor Harold Washington visits Chinatown, Chicago, IL, 1987, © Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mayoral candidate Harold Washington campaigns at Cabrini Green, Chicago, IL, 1983. © Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. © Antonio Dickey.

Mayoral candidate Harold Washington campaigns at Riis Park, 1983. © Antonio Dickey.

Mayoral candidate Harold Washington at 63rd and Halsted, Chicago, IL, 1983. © Antonio Dickey.

Excerpt from An Aid to a Better Way of Life (ca. 1976), National Archives.

Altgeld Public Library, 1980s. . Chicago Housing Authority. 

Front page of The Times of Northwest Indiana , April 8, 1988, showing a photograph of task force coordinator Barack Obama listening to the concerns of Ed Jamuska and James Amendola, both of the Hegewisch neighborhood in Chicago.

Protest of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regional offices by Reverend Herbert Martin, chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority, Chicago, IL, 1988. Nexstar - WGN, Chicago/Getty Images.

Law student, Barack Obama, 1990. Harvard University, Harvard University Archives.

Barack Obama, staff, and interns at the law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. © Marc PoKempner. 

Barack Obama in the law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. © Marc PoKempner.

“TIMELESS AFFAIR” Music by SKIP ARMSTRONG (ASCAP) 50%, IPI 792931403, IAM GROTE (ASCAP) 50%, IPI 1174828628; Published by PURPLE FOX APM (ASCAP) 100%, IPI 745983691; Courtesy of APM MUSIC.

“FREEDOM” Composed by Danny Dove (PRS) 33.33%, IPI 527328353, Richard David Searle (PRS) 33.34%, IPI 649024444, Patrick Pieter Paul Hagenaar (PRS) 33.33%, IPI 568689868; Published by Purple Fox APM (ASCAP) 100%, IPI 745983691. Courtesy of APM MUSIC. 

“THE BARMY TRUMPETEER (B)” Composed by Andrew John Glen (PRS) 100%, IPI 135150213; Published by KPM APM (ASCAP) 100%, IPI 445332863. Courtesy of APM MUSIC. 

“EMOTION LEARNING” Composed by Nicolas Francois Joseph Clergue (SACEM) 50%, IPI 440245493, Bastien Thomas Olivier Deshayes (SACEM) 50%, IPI 467619515; Published byMYMA APM (ASCAP) 100%, IPI 801878334. Courtesy of APM MUSIC.