Light Up Plant Up

white and yellow text on a black rectangle with an illustration of a yellow bird with white on eitehr side and black text between yellow lines

The “Clean-up, Paint-up, Plant-up, Light-up” campaign was a week-long city-wide community improvement drive in Chicago that took place during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Community efforts focused on painting buildings, cleaning up vacant lots and allies, and educating citizens on ways to improve the appearance of their property. Many of Chicago’s schools encouraged students to participate in the “Clean-up, Paint-up, Plant-up, Light-up” campaign throughout the school year to keep their schools clean.