Dekalb E WalcottDekalb E. Walcott, Jr. was born in Great Lake, Illinois on October 20, 1954. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from South Shore High School in 1972. He attended Southern Illinois University for two years before joining the USAF. Dekalb jined the Chicago Fire Department in November 1978, serving 31 years (Nov. 16, 1978-Nov. 14, 2009) before retiring with the rank of Battalion Chief.Following retirement, Dekalb took up various projects such as Executive Secretary of the African American Firefighter's Museum to collect, preserve, exhibit, and document African American artifacts and literature that tell the story of Black Firefighters in Chicago. Dekalb is most proud of discovering his family Genealogy and locating his father's side of the family, which has been one big secret because of name changes and the trauma that has followed his own family and other Black Families in America. Through DNA testing he was able to locate family members dating back to the 1700s with names such as Colbert, Taylor, Love, Crawford, and Hayes all having a relationship with the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee Indian Nations. Dekalb is currently researching further details for his third book, a memoir.In 2019, Dekalb Walcott published his first book, "Engine 21, First Black Fire Company in Chicago established December 21, 1872." "Engine 21, 100 Years of Public Service" is Dekalb Walcott's second published book. Read More Read Less
