Our interracial team spent 5 years uncovering the unusual story of Park Forest, IL. After 75 interviews, we discovered that the racial harmony experienced by kids growing up there was real, but did not happen without racism.

Our film explores how those kids, who are now adults, reconcile that experience, how the town created an environment to facilitate and manage integration, and how that harmony seemingly disappeared.

Starting in about 1972, Park Forest children — Black, white, Latino and Asian — experienced race relations in a way they said they have found virtually nowhere else. This so-called “utopia” peaked during the 1980s.

In 1959, the town adopted a formal plan to protect Black residents moving into Park Forest. Officials used a map of the race of each homeowner to steer buyers to maintain integration — a practice ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.