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14 flagships · 25 briefs staged (weekly from Oct 13) · 9 dossiers · 25 guides · 2,822 entities — record updated October 6, 2026

Phil Chess

CTL-E-2098 · Person · businessperson · 1921-2016

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Co-founder of Chess Records (1950) with his brother Leonard Chess; left the label after its 1969 sale.

Relationships

Referenced by

Sources

Record CTL-E-2098 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 1 source · 4 mapped relationships · CTL research: RELP-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Phil Chess (CTL-E-2098),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2098/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Phil Chess (CTL-E-2098).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2098/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Phil Chess (CTL-E-2098) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2098/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Phil Chess (CTL-E-2098).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2098/

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From the Archive

The archive in pictures

Black Chicago’s musical record, kept frame by frame. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.

The movies are popular in the Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago
The movies are popular in the Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, ChicagoPhoto: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Negro swinging his girl on roller skates. Savoy Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago
Negro swinging his girl on roller skates. Savoy Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, ChicagoPhoto: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Girl listening to music at dance. Chicago, Illinois, Chicago
Girl listening to music at dance. Chicago, Illinois, ChicagoPhoto: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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