CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- WBBM asked more than 30 beachgoers why July 27, 1919, is significant but no one knew what happened.
"A lot of the reason things are the way they are now is because of the past. It also shows you how Chicago has a tendency of covering up a lot of its dirt."
That "dirt" is the 1919 Chicago race riots.
Eugene Williams was killed on July 27 after swimming into a "whites only" area at what was the 29th Street Beach.
The Chicago riots resulted in 38 deaths and hundreds of injuries over the course of one week.
One young man, Tree, says it wasn't until recently he learned about the riots.
"We all deserve to know the truth. We all deserve to know our history, no matter how ugly it is, because if we ignore it, we can't learn from it and change our ways," he said.
The City of Chicago also issued a proclamation Saturday morning to commemorate the hundredth anniversary.