Bosnians in Chicago

The first Bosnians settled in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, joining other immigrants seeking better opportunities and better lives.

As the former Yugoslavia continued to find its identity as a nation over the last century, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina sought stability and new beginnings in the city of Chicago, with many intending to return to their homeland.

As the population increased in the early 1950s, the community invited Sheik Kamil Avdich (Ćamil Avdić) to become the first permanent imam (religious minister).

Under Imam Kamil's leadership, the Muslim Religious and Cultural Home was established to raise funds for a mosque, which opened on Halsted Street in 1957.

In 1906, they established Džemijetul Hajrije (The Benevolent Society) of Illinois to preserve the community's religious and national traditions, as well as to provide mutual assistance for funerals and illnesses.