Cast iron balcony railing from the Mecca Flats Apartments in Chicago, Illinois
date: label: Date
content: 1891-1892
name: label: Designed by
content: Edbrooke & Burnham, American, 1879 - 1892
label: Designed by
content: Willoughby J. Edbrooke, American, 1843 - 1896
label: Designed by
content: Franklin P. Burnham, American, 1853 - 1909
notes: label: Caption
content: This ornately-detailed iron railing was used along the open corridors surrounding the interior courts of the Mecca Flats Apartment building in Chicago. Located near the entertainment strip of State Street known as "the Stroll," the apartments became a center of black life in the city during the post-Great Migration era. The building and its community inspired Jimmy Blythe to write the song "Mecca Flats Blues" in 1924 and Gwendolyn Brooks to write her long narrative poem "In the Mecca," in 1968.
label: Description
content: A portion off a cast iron balcony railing from the Mecca Flats Apartments in Chicago, Illinois. The railing was designed by Franklin Pierce Burnham. The railing is made up of six (6) stanchions and five (5) balusters. Most of the stanchions have decorative brackets, wedges and rail hooks. Several of the pieces are missing elements that have broken off. The balusters have a spiraling floral and vine design and have two bracket holes on either side. One of the balusters has a pronounced curve while the others are flat. The tops of the baluster pieces are curved upward on the left and right sides and have a decorative element at center. The bottoms are straight.
label: Description
content: 2015.207a: A white cast iron stanchion. The stanchion has a missing rail hook and bottom wedge.
label: Description
content: 2015.207b: A black cast iron baluster. The baluster’s left side is curved outward.
label: Description
content: 2015.207c: A black cast iron stanchion with no missing elements.
label: Description
content: 2015.207d: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
label: Description
content: 2015.207e: A black cast iron stanchion with no missing elements.
label: Description
content: 2015.207f: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
label: Description
content: 2015.207g: A black cast iron stanchion. The stanchion has a missing rail hook.
label: Description
content: 2015.207h: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
label: Description
content: 2015.207i: A black cast iron stanchion. The stanchion has a missing rail hook.
label: Description
content: 2015.207j: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
label: Description
content: 2015.207k: A black cast iron stanchion. The stanchion is missing two brackets.
place: label: Place collected
content: Bronzeville, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Architecture
label: Topic
content: Black geographies
label: Topic
content: Building Arts
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Domestic life
label: Topic
content: Ornamentation
label: Topic
content: Urban life
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Buildings and Structures
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2015.207a-k
objectType: label: Type
content: railings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: cast iron
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207a): 51 3/16 × 8 11/16 × 3 15/16 in. (130 × 22 × 10 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207b): 30 3/8 × 43 11/16 × 7 7/8 in. (77.2 × 111 × 20 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207c): 53 1/8 × 8 11/16 × 3 15/16 in. (135 × 22 × 10 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207d): 30 5/16 × 42 1/2 × 9/16 in. (77 × 108 × 1.5 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207e): 54 1/2 × 8 7/16 × 5 1/2 in. (138.5 × 21.4 × 14 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207f): 30 5/16 × 42 1/2 × 9/16 in. (77 × 108 × 1.5 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207g): 50 3/8 × 8 1/4 × 6 5/16 in. (128 × 21 × 16 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207h): 30 1/2 × 42 1/2 × 1/2 in. (77.4 × 108 × 1.2 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207i): 51 3/16 × 8 1/4 × 6 5/16 in. (130 × 21 × 16 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (j): 30 5/16 × 43 11/16 × 7 7/8 in. (77 × 111 × 20 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (2015.207k): 53 1/8 × 5 13/16 × 6 1/4 in. (135 × 14.8 × 15.8 cm)