Overview
- Obama is in Chicago to check construction progress on his namesake center, which the Foundation has slated to open in June on a $850 million, 19-acre Jackson Park campus.
- At the Bessie Coleman library branch in Woodlawn, he surprised 24 Burke Elementary students wearing a red Santa hat during a story time visit.
- He read Karyn Parsons’ “Flying Free” about Bessie Coleman, discussed vocabulary with the children, and gave each student a copy of the book along with winter hats and gloves.
- The Obama Foundation limited the stop to pool coverage and described it as a preview of programming planned for the center’s Chicago Public Library branch.
- Home Court, the center’s multipurpose athletic facility, is the first completed building and hosted foundation events with Mayor Brandon Johnson, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and other supporters.