South Side Home Movie Project, an initiative of Arts + Public Life (APL) at the University of Chicago, is thrilled to announce its participation in the 2026 Bud Billiken® Parade! In celebration of the 97th anniversary of the parade, SSHMP will stream scenes of the Parade from the 1940s to 1960s along with on a mobile screen in the parade, accompanied by families who have proudly shared their family films with the archive.
Our Bud Billiken® Parade celebration this year showcases the legacy of parade dancers over the decades and the ways they have shaped contemporary Chicago dance. From footwork to drill teams, dancers in the historic parade have brought their steps to the parade streets year after year, dazzling viewers with their new moves. SSHMP is proud to premiere these rare films from its newly digitized Ramon Williams Collection along the route, offering a unique glimpse of the parade's rich history to all attendees..
Generations of Groove: A Pre-Parade Celebration
Before we hit the parade route, join us for an evening of dance moves spanning decades of South Side history!
From the 1940s to the 1960s, local filmmaker Ramon Williams captured the dynamic parade scene, and his rare footage is now preserved and publicly accessible through the South Side Home Movie Project’s digital archive. Young dancers in APL’s Choreographic Arts Program (CAP) collaborated with SSHMP to explore this visual dance history. Together, they have created a stunning contemporary performance inspired by the roots of South Side dance. Come get a first look at these new steps ahead of the parade!
Parade Day: Catch Us on the Route!
On August 8, the South Side Home Movie Project and Arts + Public Life team are bringing this vibrant celebration to the Bud Billiken® Parade. Look out for our mobile LED truck display rolling down the route! Catch us from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm along the parade route on 35th Street & Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to 51st Street in Washington Park. We will be streaming rare, nostalgic scenes from the Ramon Williams Collection alongside beautifully filmed footage of the newly created dances by the CAP students.
As SSHMP’s largest film repository, the Ramon Williams Collection contains over 300 films. It features numerous historical figures and events, including Haile Selassie's visit, Althea Gibson's historic win, and decades of Bud Billiken® Parades.
Weaving together historic home movies with contemporary choreography, we are celebrating this intergenerational storytelling—honoring the parade's long-standing legacy while celebrating the creative spirit and energy of the South Side's next generation of artists.
*SSHMP’s participation in the parade is made possible with generous support from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.
About South Side Home Movie Project
South Side Home Movie Project (SSHMP) is a research and archival initiative to collect, preserve, digitize, exhibit and research small-gauge home movies made by residents of Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods. By asking owners of home movies to share their footage and describe it from their personal perspectives, SSHMP seeks to increase understanding of amateur filmmaking practices, and of the many histories and cultures comprising Chicago’s South Side. Over the years, the archive has grown to over 1,400 home movies and recently received a grant from the Getty Foundation via its Black Visual Arts Archive.
Website: sshmp.uchicago.edu
Social media: @southsidehomemovies