Rev. James T. Meeks

CTL-E-4903 · Person · clergy · contemporary

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

President and CEO, Hope Center Foundation; pastor emeritus, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago; former Illinois State Senator (15th District). Appeared at City Club of Chicago program 'Reclaiming Chicago: Defining Steps to Success' (2023-10-03).

The record

Also known as: Rev. James Meeks

Notes

BCCVA Source Collection 001 (City Club of Chicago) seed record. Role at time of speech: President and CEO, Hope Center Foundation; pastor emeritus, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago; former Illinois State Senator (15th District). Civic lenses: 10 Faith, Community & Civic Organizations, 05 Housing & Neighborhood Development, 03 Education. Programs: Reclaiming Chicago: Defining Steps to Success (2023-10-03); Rev. James Meeks — Chairman, Illinois State Board of Education (2015-06-30). Identity verification: "Lyons, who is white, and Meeks, who is black" — Christianity Today. Research status: seed-verified. Last verified: 2026-10-06.

Relationships

City Club of Chicago: Reclaiming Chicago: Defining Steps to Success — related to
Appeared at City Club of Chicago program "Reclaiming Chicago: Defining Steps to Success" (2023-10-03). Role at time: President and CEO, Hope Center Foundation; pastor emeritus, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago; former Illinois State Senator (15th District).
City Club of Chicago: Rev. James Meeks — Chairman, Illinois State Board of Education — related to
Appeared at City Club of Chicago program "Rev. James Meeks — Chairman, Illinois State Board of Education" (2015-06-30). Role at time: Chairman, Illinois State Board of Education; Pastor, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago.

Sources

Identity evidence: "Lyons, who is white, and Meeks, who is black" — Christianity Today
City Club of Chicago program: Reclaiming Chicago: Defining Steps to Success (2023-10-03) — https://cityclub-chicago.org/event/2/3593/reclaiming-chicago-defining-steps-to-success (primary source)
City Club of Chicago program: Rev. James Meeks — Chairman, Illinois State Board of Education (2015-06-30) — https://www.cityclub-chicago.org/event/2/984/rev-james-meeks (primary source)

Record CTL-E-4903 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 3 sources (2 primary) · 2 mapped relationships · CTL research: BCCVA-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Rev. James T. Meeks (CTL-E-4903),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4903/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Rev. James T. Meeks (CTL-E-4903).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4903/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Rev. James T. Meeks (CTL-E-4903) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4903/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Rev. James T. Meeks (CTL-E-4903).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4903/

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.

Apartment houses and funeral parlor in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

Crowd outside of fashionable Negro church after Easter Sunday service, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Rosskam, Edwin, 1903-1985, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

Negro grocery store, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Rosskam, Edwin, 1903-1985, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

Trust & evidence

Evidence before authority. CultureTechLens publishes its methods, its limits, and its corrections alongside its findings. Claims carry grades — VERIFIED, SUPPORTED, PROVISIONAL, DISPUTED, UNRESOLVED — and unknowns are never reported as zero.

Every claim graded. Every source named. Every correction public — see the corrections log.