Timeline: 1948

Albert R. Lee dies in Champaign, IL, and is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Cecil D. Nelson, Jr., World War II veteran and University of Illinois graduate, was commissioned by the Illinois State Historical Society to paint a mural for the Republic of Liberia to be displayed in the capital of Monrovia.

Student Community Interracial Committee helped desegregate washroom facilities for Illini Union employees. The group also protested a minstrel show sponsored by the Newman Club.

The Champaign-Urbana Kindergarten Association operated in the Douglass Center. It was a community-based program for four and five year-old children with an enrollment of 55 and two trained teachers who were both Black. The program is supported by the Community Chest and fees paid by parents. The Kindergarten Association paid the Champaign Recreation Association.

According to a report by the League of Women Voters Champaign, schools employed eight “Negro” teachers, holding positions in Lawhead and Willard Schools. The report does not address the Urbana School system.