These beer bottle caps are important remnants of an inspirational historical period.

You've most likely heard of the brewery big boys such as Pabst and Anheuser-Busch, but what about Black Pride?

In 1969, Edward McClellen, a former Chicago police officer and Executive Secretary of the Southside Chicago NAACP branch, led in the development of Black Pride, Inc. (BPI), which McClellen described as ?a bootstrap, grass-roots endeavor.? Its primary purpose was to address economic justice by creating wealth by developing and distributing goods and services within Black communities.

One of the first projects was the creation of a small scale beer brand. BPI contracted with the West Bend Lithia Company of West Bend, Wisconsin, to brew and package 20,000 barrels of "Black Pride" beer, which used the slogan ?A beer as proud as its people? and a lion to symbolize African heritage. Black Pride beer reached Chicago retailers on November 24, 1969.

The business lasted a few years, stopping production in 1972, as the unfortunate result of the downfall of many small breweries ousted by the larger breweries.