South Loop in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Harold Brignadello

1884-1919

— Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project —

Harold Brignadello Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, December 10, 2025

1. Harold Brignadello Marker

Inscription. I am who I surround myself with

Erected 2025 by Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Disasters. In addition, it is included in the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project, Illinois series list. A significant historical date for this entry is July 29, 1919.

Location. 41° 52.227′ N, 87° 37.636′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in South Loop. It is at the intersection of South State Street and 9th Street, on the right when traveling south on South State Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 901 South State Street, Chicago IL 60605, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Fairbanks Morse & Company Building (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Ludington Building (about 600 feet away); Crane Company Building (about 700 feet away); 910 South Michigan (about 800 feet away); Johnson Publishing Company Building (approx. 0.2 miles away); Ferd Kramer Memorial Garden (approx. 0.2 miles away); Ferd Kramer (approx. 0.2 miles away); John A. Logan (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

More about this marker. This sidewalk marker at the corner

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of 9th and State on Chicago's near south side is one of many erected by the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project in remembrance of those killed during the deadly racial violence that gripped Chicago in the summer of 1919. Inspired by the Stolpersteine ("Stumbling Stones") project in Europe, which erects sidewalk markers honoring Holocaust victims, these markers in Chicago have been placed on sidewalks at sites where people were killed in 1919.

Regarding Harold Brignadello. On July 27, 1919, Eugene Williams, a Black 17-year-old, was riding in a homemade raft with four friends in Lake Michigan when it accidentally floated past the invisible boundary that demarcated what was a de-facto "whites-only" part of the beach. A white man, George Stauber, threw stones at the boys and killed Williams. The scene set off a wave of protests followed by a week of racially driven violence. Between July 27 and Aug. 3, 38 people died (23 were Black and 15 white), more than were 500 injured, and more than 1,000 people, most of them Black, had their homes destroyed.

Harold Brignadello was a Chicago native, but in 1919 he was living in Rock Island, a city on the Mississippi River about 170 miles west, where he was married and worked at the Rock Island Arsenal. He was in Chicago by chance in July of 1919 when the riots broke out, and on July

Harold Brignadello Marker at 9th and State image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, December 10, 2025

2. Harold Brignadello Marker at 9th and State

29, he joined a group of whites who were assembled outside a house at 1021 S. State (about a block south of this modern historical marker) where several Black people from the area had sought shelter. At some point, some of the crowd of whites began throwing stones at the home, and someone in the home retaliated by firing shots into the crowd. Brignadello was fatally wounded around 10:30 a.m. on the 29th. Police arrested five people in the home, but a grand jury declined to charge them with murder.

Brignadello was 35 years old when he died. According to Find a Grave, he is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston. He appears to have had a newborn son, also named Harold, who had been born in May of 1919.

Also see . . . Harold Brignadello. From the Race Riot Commemoration Project's official site. (Submitted on December 11, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Black citizens flee during 1919 race riots image. Click for full size.

University of Chicago Press, courtesy of Chicago History Museum (ICHi-031736), circa 1919

3. Black citizens flee during 1919 race riots

Black residents of pack their belongings into wagon after their home was vandalized during the 1919 riots.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 21, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 11, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 124 times since then and 97 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 11, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.