Newsletters 2002

Winter 2001-2002

Spring/Summer 2002

Autumn/Winter 2002

Volume 23, Number 4, Published by the Hyde Park Historical Society, WINTER 2001-2002

MY SCHOOL DAYS IN HYDE PARK

HPHS President Alice Schlessinger, formerly editor of LAB NOTES, U-High'sJournal, has suggested that Society members might be interested in the recollections of Pan/ H. Nitze, class of 1923, recollections he wrote for that journal in 1985.

In 1910 my father was asked by President Harper to join the faculty of the University of Chicago as head of the Department of Romance Languages and

Literature. We moved from Berkeley, California, to the Del Prado Hotel on 59th Street, on the lakeshore side of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks, in the fall of that year. I remember it as being a glorious place with high ceilings, sunny rooms, an enormous veranda with rocking chairs.

I was three; I had a friend who was four and much more grown up. I admired him immensely. Emily Kimborough, in her book about growing up in Chicago, has an amusing description of us staying at the Del Prado Hotel—the Nitze family, their charming daughter Pussy, and their spoiled, objectionable brat of a son. I am sure she reports accurately. Pussy was in second grade in the elementary school while I was being a pest around the hotel. The next year we moved to a house on what was then Blackstone Avenue between 57 th and 58 th Streets.

That summer our mother took us to Fish Creek,

Wisconsin, to escape the heat of the Chicago summer. We drove up with the Guenzels, friends of my parents, in a glorious red Stanley Steamer. The roads north along Sturgeon Bay were merely two ruts with grass growing between them. Every ten miles or so the boiler would over-heat and blow the safety valve. Mr. Guenzel would have to climb under the car and insert a new one.

Father stayed behind in the Blackstone Avenue house with a fellow member of his department, Clarence Parmenter, both of them having opted to teach for the summer quarter. Father could become so intent on what he was talking about that he could be absent-minded. Parmenter wrote Mother a letter describing Father pouring maple syrup on his head while he scratched the breakfast pancakes.

The year 1912 we spent in Europe, where Father was doing research on the Grail Romances. When we came back to Chicago, we moved to 1220 56 th Street, between Kimbark and Woodlawn.

In 1914 Father again took us all to Europe.

We were mountain climbing in Austria when the Arch-Duke was murdered in Sarayevo. Father became worried when Austria mobilized against Russia and decided to take us to a safe country,—Germany. We arrived in Munich on the morning Germany declared war on Russia and World War I began. We finally got back to the United States by a Holland-American liner during the battle of the Marne.

It was not until 1915 that I became a regular student at the Elementary School. My life there did not start off easily. My mother was ahead of her generation in many things. She smoked, loved to dance, entertained with gusto, had an enormous circle of friends, but she was also a romantic. She insisted on dressing me in short pants and jacket and a shirt with a Buster Brown collar and a flowing black tie tied in a bow.

At school, at ten o'clock every morning, we had a break for roughhousing and letting off steam. Every day one of my classmates, Percy Boynton, would say insulting things about my get-up. I felt obliged to hit him, whereupon he would beat me up. This went on for a time until I found a way to solve the problem: one night I took all my collars, tore them into pieces, -and threw them out my bedroom window into the alley. The next day I went down to breakfast without a collar. My mother asked me, "why no collar?" When I explained, her only comment was, "I had no idea you felt so strongly about them."

But my problem was not restricted to my classmates. In order to get to the Elementary School, I had to pass Ray School , the public school between 56th and 5 7 t One afternoon, walking home from school, I stopped to watch some Ray School boys playing marbles. One of them stood up and asked me what I was looking at. When my answer was not to his satisfaction, he pushed me back over one of his friends who was kneeling behind me. Then they beat me up.

I found out that my tormentors were members of the Musik brothers gang. They were the sons of a tailor down on 55 th and considered themselves bosses of the entire area bounded by Woodlawn and

Kimbark, 55 t and 56 th Streets. The neighboring block on the other side of Kimbark was dominated by the Scotti brothers gang. The eldest Scotti offered to defend me against the Musiks. I became an enthusiastic member of his gang. He was thin, almost emaciated, slightly red-haired; he was my first experience of charismatic leadership. He had a technique of binding the loyalty of members of his gang by getting them to become his partners in some outrageous act. One day he suggested that the workmen who were building some houses on the other side of 56th Street usually left their toolbox on the site overnight. He told me we could use those tools. That night, without a second thought, I lifted the tools and handed them over to him.

There was a third gang on the block between 57 th and 58 th run by the Colissimo brothers. On weekends we would sometimes have football games between the gangs on the Midway. One team or other would grossly cheat and the game would break up into a freefor-all fight. Years later, after I had gone east to school and college, but had come back to Chicago for a vacation, I asked about the Musiks, the Scotties and the Colissimos. They had been caught up in the more serious gang life of those days in Chicago and had been either killed of jailed. None of them were known to have survived as useful citizens.

The South Side of Chicago contained many different worlds. One was the University world inspired by President Harper, one of the great men of his day. In physics the stars were Michaelson, who lived on 58 th

Street. Professor Milliken lived across the street from us on 56th Glen Milliken was in the class ahead of me, but undertook to lead me into the world of science, its theory, its experiments and practice. West of us lived Professor Dixon, a Nobel Prize winning

mathematician. One block to the East lived James Weber Lynn, one of the stars of the English department. James Breasted, the famous historian of Egypt and the ancient world, lived on Woodlawn. Others that I remember were Thorstein Veblen, the economist, Gordon Laing, the classicist, and Thomas, the sociologist. The University Medical School attracted a distinguished group of doctors, including Dr. Sippy who lived on Woodlawn. The Sippys were the only people we knew who had an autbmobile. In fact, they had two. Everyone else, to get downtown, would walk the eight blocks to the Illinois Central Station and take the train.

There was also a distinguished Jewish business community that lived around 47 th Street or even closer to town. They included the Rosenwalds, the Mandels, the Blocks, the Gidwitzes and the Feuchtwangers. One of the Feuchtwangers ended up as the distinguished moving picture director, Walter Wanger. There were newspaper people, artists and lawyers. Finally there were a number of not so distinguished people, but people who seemed to represent the real world, the Chicago of those days.

That real world was physically represented by the soot from the South Chicago steel mills and the odor of the stockyards which would blow at us whenever the wind

was from the west. The Ray School and Western High with its 4000 students, twenty-five percent of whom were black, seemed to me to be the real world of Chicago in those days. James Farrell's Studs Lonigan presents an accurate picture of that world.

Athletics was, of course, very much a part of our lives. I played soccer, basketball and baseball, with vigor but no brilliance. The school organized a variety of activities to widen our experience. On various weekends we were taken to visit one of the steel mills, then one of the meat packing plants in the stockyards, then the Standard Oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, then a paint factory and the factory where they assembled the Essex automobile, a brand long since abandoned.

We were members of a Boy Scout group doing our daily good deeds. We sold War Bonds in 1917. We acted out current events. We acted in plays, learned to cook, to set type, to use wood and metal lathes and other machine tools, and to knit. It was an advanced and experimental form of education. I guess it did most of us no harm and for many it opened up larger horizons. There were, however, gaps. I learned no American history and I never learned to spell, but that was undoubtedly my fault, not the school's. I just wasn't interested in spelling. For some, however, the school did not provide the proper discipline.

In my second year at U High, I found myself sitting at an adjoining desk to Dicky Loeb in a French course. Dicky was older and in the class ahead of us. He seemed to me to be charming but soft. During the final examination I noticed that he was cribbing from what I was writing.

Nevertheless I was shocked when it came out that he had joined Leopold in the infamous murder of the Frank boy.

I have left out one important aspect of those years, the impact of World War I upon our emotions and our thoughts. The Nitze family is entirely of German ancestry. Until the war, I had spent about half of my life abroad, much of it in Germany. The people I had known in those pre-war years in Germany, and also in Italy and Austria, were warm, loving, and much more emotional and outgoing than my contemporaries in Chicago, particularly those who were not part of the University enclave. My family was firmly on the side of "Keep America out of the War. In 1917, when the United States entered the war, we switched our views, but doubts remained. My classmates and I were asked to call at houses in our neighborhood and try to sell Liberty bonds. I was utterly surprised when a number of those I called on agreed to buy them. I sold $ 5000 worth of bonds which seemed to me to be an enormous amount.

But even at the age of ten and eleven the unutterable tragedy of the battle of the Somme, of the continuous struggle for Verdun and the mysterious battles on the Eastern front left a lasting impression.

When President Wilson announced his Fourteen Points it seemed that a gleam of hope had appeared in a destructive and irrational world. When the armistice was announced our parents took us to a friend's office high up above Michigan Avenue from which we could watch the parade. But later when the surrender terms and the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty were announced, I felt bitterly disillusioned. In our current events class we acted out the signing of the Versailles Treaty. I was given the role of Walter Rathenau, who signed for the Germans. Later, Keynes' "The Economic Consequences of the Peace" confirmed my worst suspicions of that treaty.

By 19239 1 had accumulated enough credits to have a chance at being accepted at the University that fall. Father wisely decided that this was a bad idea; I was not only too young, but a University professor's son. He correctly judged that I would not be accepted as an equal so he sent me off to Hotchkiss for two years of growing up. There I didn't learn that much that I hadn't already been exposed to at U-High, but I did have a chance to catch up in maturity—whatever that means—with my peers.

Paul Nitze went on to serve in various roles in the U.S. government—among them: as Vice Chairman of the US Strategic Bombing Survey (1944-46), for the State

Department (1950-53), as Secretary of the Navy (196367), as Assistant Secretary of Defense (1973-76), and was named special advisor to the President on Arms Control in 1984. For over forty years, he was one of the chief architects of U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union.

On January 19, 2001, just one week before his 94th birthday, the USS Nitze was named for him "to sail around the world and to remind us of the contribution you have made to our country"—so said William Cohen, Secretary of Defense.

To the Point:
From the HPHS Newsletter, February, 1982

Muriel Beadle reports on a talk by Ezra Sensibar

It was in 1913 that Marshall Field gave $4 million to erect a natural history museum on the lakefront, on land to be created for that purpose. (Bear in mind that at the time the IC tracks ran on a trestle in the lake all the way from the Promontory to 18th Street, and that there was water 40 ft deep where the Field Museum, now stands.

The initial plan was to fill the site with clay, then cover it with sand. That combination, however, turned out in actuality to be mush", and it was decided to combine clay and rubbish (collected from

Loop offices, stores and streets) and top that with sand.

Once the fill was complete, wooden piles were driven down through it to the former lake bottom, and concrete piers were superimposed on the piles. These piers, which support the basement floor of the museum, rise to a height of 42 feet above the level of the lake and in effect place the museum on a manmade hill.

Tracks were laid to give railroad dump cars access to the site, and sand was hauled in. When dumped, though, its weight and force pushed some of the piers out of line and made them unusable as foundations.

What to do? "The marble was piling up," Mr.

Sensibar said. "The architects were tearing their hair.

Nobody seemed to know how to solve the problem."

And then a 24 year old Gary, Indiana resident, Jacob Sensibar (Ezra's older brother) had a bright idea. He was no engineer—in fact he was fresh off the farm— but he had eyes and a brain. "Why not lay down the sand the same way a beach is built up—that is mixed with water and deposited gently on the site?" he asked.

The architects decided to try it. Marshall Field loaned young Sensibar $40,000; Jacob bought a boat and equipment and began to pump in sand and water; and his system worked. So it is especially appropriate that the firm he founded has been identified with so many of Chicago's subsequent lakefront construction projects—including Promontory Point.

A Page from Cap and Gown the University of Chicago Yearbook—1903

The Woman's Union

Among all the student organizations at the University none as ever been so far reaching in its benefits, so practical in its advantages and so democratic in spirit as the Woman's Union, organized in January, 1902, "to unite the women of the University for the promotion of their common interests." Starting with a mere handful of faithful and enthusiastic workers, including both students and women of the Faculty, the membership has grown to almost four hundred... But the success of the Union is not measured by the length of its registration alone, for the benefits derived from membership are varied and along several lines.

Formerly all women connected with the University who did not live at the halls or near the Campus brought their lunches with them, and the only accommodations for eating them, or for resting were in the cloak rooms and recitation rooms. Now all that is changed. In the Union rooms, which are at Lexington Hall, the new woman's building, lunch is served every day from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., and for a moderate sum, soup, chocolate, sandwiches, fruit cake and pickles may be obtained.

Other special accommodations are a rest room and reading room, in which may be found the daily paper and all the late magazines. Here, every day, from fifty to a hundred girls meet to eat, and chat, and rest. It is one of the unwritten laws of the Union that no stranger be allowed to eat luncheon alone, so that the Union, while offering material advantages, is also doing a great work along another much needed line. It is fostering and developing a spirit of equality and democracy which gives promise of a bright future... The girls enjoy not only the advantage of becoming acquainted with each other, but also the privilege of meeting wives of the faculty and other women.

Along business lines the Union has not only been self-supporting, but has to its credit in the bank a sum amounting to $67.73.

PLEASE JOI N US FOR

THE HYDE PARK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2002 THE QUADRANGLE CLUB

SPEAKER Peter Ascoli

TOPIC My Grandfather, Julius Rosenwald

GATHERING 6PM • DINNER 7PM

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

CORNELL AWARDS

MAR K YOUR CALENDAR FOR

SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2002

2-4PM

AT OUR HEADQUARTERS

Claude Weil

former resident and staff member

WI LL SPEAK O N

International House,

Its History and Vision

1932 to the Present

AND ENJOY OUR EXHIBIT ON INTERNATIONAL

HOUSE COMPILED BY STEVE TREFFMAN,

BERT BENADE, CLAUDE WEIL, DENISE JORGENS, MARTA NICHOLAS

AND PATRICIA JOBE

SPECIAL MESSAGE

Mary Ellen Ziegler and I are creating a website on the

Outdoor Public Art (Sculpture and Murals) on the South Side. We would welcome anyone with knowledge of the subject to contact us at (773) 288-1242 or at jamulberry@aol.com. Thank you! —Jay Mulberry

LOOKING BACK

Some excerpts from PROGRESS, (Newsletterfor A Century of Progress) March 29, 1933

Bridge To Be Important Feature

Of Entertainment At Exposition

Wing of Hall of Science Designated as Bridge Hall;

United States Bridge Association To Direct Activities

Bridge, the pastime of millions, is to be an important feature of entertainment at A Century of Progress. An entire wing of the Hall of Science at the Fair has been designated as Bridge Hall, and the

United States Bridge Association has been selected by A Century of Progress as the organization to plan and operate the various Bridge activities at Bridge Hall.

George Reith, Executive Vice president of the Association, announces that there will be an interesting historical exhibit in the tournament hall showing the evolution of bridge and he expects several museum exhibits in this feature.

In addition to daily afternoon and evening play for suitable trophies, there will be featured weekly best score play for valuable prizes such as automobiles, bridge furniture, etc. It is also expected that many sectional tournaments, the winners of which will qualify for the national championships, will be held at the Fair...

The daily sessions will be preceded by half-hour lectures by well-known teachers, and numerous exhibition matches will be held by internationally famous players such as Ely Culbertson, Milton C.

Work, Willard Karn, Oswald Jacoby, Theo A. Lightner, Josephine Culbertson, Commander Winfield A. Liggett, Robert M. Halpin, Louis Haddad and Mr.

Reith.

An unusual feature in connection with the lectures and exhibition matches will be the use of an electrical board which will show to a large audience the bidding and play, bib by bid, and play by play, in a dramatically realistic manner.

Chicago and Its History

As Chicago approaches its centenary, more and more interest is being evidenced in the history of the city. Many little known facts about Chicago mentioned in the new Century of Progress book, "Chicago's Great Century," by Henry Justin Smith, are of interest not only to Chicagoans but to all. Herewith we list some of the "little known facts" of Chicago history from Mr. Smith's book, which, incidentally, is having a wide sale:

The men who organized the town in 1833 were mostly 30 years of age or even younger.

New York had 200,000 population when Chicago had only a few hundred.

At the breaking of ground for the first ship canal, a judge was doused with water for predicting a city of 100,000.

Early citizens protested against theaters as "nurseries of crime. "

When the first railroad from Chicago was being financed, a city banker refused it a loan of $20,000.

Cholera killed 931 persons in one month in 1849.

Chicago's White Stockings baseball club had as president in 1869 Potter Palmer. The team defeated Memphis by a score of 157 to 1.

From A Hyde Park Childhood by Dorothy Michelson Livingston University of Chicago Alumnae Magazine, Winter, 1979

"We children attended the Laboratory School... I entered there for the first grade in 1912. We were taught the nursery rhymes in Latin, and in sixty-eight years I have not forgotten Domina Maria, tota contraria/ Quibiti crescit in horto?

Volume 24, Numbers 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2002

Because the Philippine Islands became an American possession after the Spanish American War, Filipino Emigres-labeled "nationals"- could not acquire full U.S. citizenship until the Philippines gained independence in 1946. From 1900 until 1934 they usually came to America as a source of cheap labor, in jobs earlier reserved for the Chinese (who had been excluded by the "Chinese Exclusion Law").

Those who came to Hyde Park however, often came for educational opportunities; many went back to the Islands to become professionals and government leaders.

Others, like Florentino Ravelo, stayed here to make a better life. His daughter, Estrella Ravelo Alamar, and her co-author Willi Buhay, have just published their book Images of America, Filipinos in Chicago, a book of photographs and the basis of a new exhibit at HPHS Headquarters which Estrella and Willi have prepared. Our headquarters is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 until 4pm. Be sure to stop by!

Last fall we published reminiscences of her life in Hyde Park during World War Il by Ya/fa Claire Dre1znin. In this issue we are delighted to be able to present another such remembrance.

LIVI NG IN HYDE PARK DURING WORLD WAR II

by Mary Powell Hammersmith

In the fall of 1944, when my husband's army  unit was about to embark for Europe, I returned to Chicago tO live until the end of the war. My parents lived in Hyde Park, as had my father's parent from about 1990, and I had been born there. Ac the time of my return to the city, my brother, Chester B. Powell, a physician then in a neurosurgical residency, and his wife were living with my parents. That meant I would have to find an apartment of my own-no easy accomplishment with war-time shortages.

This was achieved with the help of my sister-in-law who worked in the Loop. She would get the Chicago Tribune as soon as it came off the press, read any for­ rent ads and call me to give me a number to call. That made me one of-the-first  to  inquire about an apartment and it worked! The agent, a man with the unlikely name of Leon Sex, told me to come to his

Loop office. I did, and shortly thereafter the apartment on the third floor at 5419 University was mine. Only about six blocks from my parents, ideal for our

sixteen-month-old son and me, close to my brother's home and, as his time was claimed by his medical residency, his wife and I were able to spend much time together.

Because we both liked ice-skating, she borrowed ID cards from two friends who worked at the University. We thought  these would get  us into the  rink  under the north stands of Stagg Field. Fortunately for us, the ID cards had no pictures. Even so, it was not easy to get past the gatekeeper. We wondered why such a big deal was made of the simple matter of admitting a couple of women to an ice rink. Noc  until after  the war did we learn that secret nuclear research was being carried out under the west stands-only those directly involved had any idea of what was caking place there.

Across the hall from my apartment lived a nice young couple with their little boy about the age of my son. His mother and I, our children in strollers, often walked together to the grocery score on 55th Street. I knew her last name but it meant nothing ocher than it

was just that-her name. Then, a few years after the war had ended, our copy of Time magazine arrived­ on its front cover the picture of our former neighbor. He had been appointed the first head of the Atomic Energy Commission. His name? Glenn Seaborg.

Today, if you enter "Seaborg" as the key word co search che web, you can read about what chis remarkable man achieved in his lifetime. In 1951, at age 39, he shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Edwin M. McMillan. Seaborgium is named for him. He helped develop the atomic bomb, was a discoverer of elements 94 through 98 and 101 of che periodic cable. Called the Renaissance Man of the Twentieth Century, no less than 1160 sires on the Google Search Engine list Seaborg. He devoted his lacer years to a program encouraging young people to enter the field of science.

In 1999, shortly after I had read of Seaborg's death, I learned chat our California grandson had won a chemistry contest in high school and the prize had been presented to him by Seaborg. Our grandson was amazed co learn chat Seaborg had lived across the hall from his grandparents during the war,

Another neighbor who worked on the Manhattan Project, as the work at Stagg Field came to be known, was Walter Zinn who lived with his wife and son and his mother on the north side of 58th Street, just east of Kenwood. At 5741 Kenwood, in the first floor apartment of a three-story gray-stone built at the time of the Columbian Exposition, lived my parents. Their backyard at 5741 was long and narrow and the Zinn apartment's back porch overlooked it. Grandma Zinn and my mother would have occasional neighborly

chats and little Johnny Zinn, her grandson, ofren came over to play with our son when we were visiting my parents.

A sandbox which my father had built pr,ovided hours of entertainment for the two little boys. In ordering the sand, however, we discovered that suppliers would deliver it in a minimum of one cubic yard and, after filling the sandbox, we had a huge surplus. Until you have tried to dispose of that much sand in the city, you cannot comprehend the extent of such a problem. Worst of all, the city notified us that

the sand had to be cleared from the walk before nightfall! I cannot remember how we accomplished it without a car-but we did.

On the floor above my parents lived a woman named Rowena Morse Mann. She said she was a granddaughter of Samuel F. B. Morse-we had no reason to doubt it. Above her lived a group of people including Charlotte Towle, a professor of Psychiatric Social Work at the University. She wrote a book that is a classic in the field, Basic Human Needs. A soft­ spoken, warm person, she was devoted to her dog and fond of playing poker. With her lived her sister,

Mildred who kept house, their brother, and Mary Rall, who held a high level position with Chicago Catholic Charities. She, too, liked to play poker and often came down with che others for poker sessions with my parents and the rest of us.

Shortages were a big problem for everyone. All sorts of things   were   rationed-canned goods, shoes, gasoline (unimportant to us because we didn't have a car), even railway travel. Generally only persons in the armed forces, or others connected with war-related work were allowed to travel on trains ocher than local ones. Larger families had ration books for each family member and, as a result, could purchase things more easily-provided the stores had what they wanted.

Canned fruit was scarce. Meat was too. And sugar was a real problem. With only my ration book and our little boy's, I often had to wear old shoes because his feet were growing rapidly and I would have to use my shoe quota for him. I still have one of those rations books.

So many things were rationed on the home front because chose were the very things being sent to the men in the armed forces. When they returned home, they couldn't stand the sight of Spam, canned fruit cocktail, chipped beef, and ocher things we at home had not seen for years! Another scarce commodity, during-and after-the  war were nylon stockings. They had just come on the market before the war • broke out and, as nylon was needed for parachutes, they became almost non-existent on the home front. Bue a produce was soon marketed which enabled women co color their legs so as co look as if they had on stockings!

le is hard to describe the total upheaval the war brought to our lives. My husband, a reserve officer, had been called to active duty when he had only eleven hours to go to gee is B. S. in Civil Engineering.

I was in my last semester too, but when he got his first leave, I notified my parents that we wanted to get married. They had only a few days to arrange for our wedding in the Thorndike Hilton Chapel, on 58th, across from the Oriental Institute. Still, friends and family who could get there did making the event all a wedding ought to be. My husband had a few days leave before returning to Ft. Belvoir, south of Alexandria, Virginia, where he was an instructor in the Officers Candidate School (Army Engineers). I did not go with him then because I had promised my parents that I would go back to the University of Illinois to finish my own work. I was able to petition out of the graduation ceremony and joined my husband right after my course work was finished. Our first child was born fifteen months later at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D. C. at about the time casualties from the North Africa Invasion were being brought to the hospital. Civilian patients, even those having first babies, got minimal care.

An event I recall from my days in Hyde Park happened when I was walking along 57th Street toward the IC station. Suddenly a woman who was a total stranger stepped from the door of an apartment building and, in a voice filled with alarm, said, "Roosevelt has died!" My reaction was similar to hers, though nor as strong. I had never been a Roosevelt fan, but he had been president for twelve years and many young people had never known any other president. Some had come to believe that there just was no one else who could take Roosevelt's place.

When the little-known Harry Truman succeeded Roosevelt, people in general feared the worst­ including me. When he decided to use the atomic bomb on Japan, many were aghast, but not the men who already had served for four years and certainly not the troops being prepared to invade Japan. We wanted our children to grow up with live fathers. We had not provoked the Pearl Harbor attack! We had given a lot but not as much as the families whose sons and husbands would not be returning, like my husband's brother, still listed as missing in action at war's end.

Years later, when captured German war records had

been translated, we learned of his fate. His parents never knew-by that time they were dead.

My view of Harry Truman was totally changed when I saw  that he had  made a hard decision, one that would save American lives, though at terrible cost to the Japanese. Over the years there was considerable criticism of Truman's use of atomic bombs on the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki but that criticism has not come from children whose fathers were spared being among those scheduled for an invasion of the Japanese mainland.

In many ways, Hyde Park seems not to have changed over the years. Some things are no more, like my uncle's large frame house that stood on the west side of Kenwood a few doors north of 57th Street. My first recollection of it was when I was about four and was assigned the job of bringing in, on a velvet pillow, the engagement ring of my uncle's step-daughter during her engagement party. After completing my assignment, I retreated to safety under the dining room table.

Today a small neighborhood park has replaced that

house. Next door to the south, in what  was the last row house there, my great grandmother (grandmother to my father), Isadore Clark Scott Badollet had died in January, 1914. She had been born in 1828 in Vincennes, Indiana, daughter of John Crockwell Clark, a colorful inn-keeper originally from Winchester, Virginia. Her mother was Susannah McCutcheon, whose brother was an ancestor to John

T. McCutcheon, famous cartoonist with the Chicago Tribune. A few years ago, John T. McCutcheon, Jr. and I arranged ro meet at the Newberry Library ro compare notes on our mutual ancestors.

Among my treasured memories is a cheer which my uncle, Chauncey Powell, attributed to students at Hyde Park High School-a cheer in Latin, possibly corrupted-it's been quite a few years since I learned Latin.

Certior factus. Quamo Brem Exploritoribus, Hastes spem.

Down in a coal mine shoveling smoke Hyde Park High School... Hie, haec hoc!

My Uncle Chauncey's phonetic rendition went something like this:

Ker-tee-or fahk-tus, Kwah-mo brem Explor-itor-i-bus Hose-tase spem, Down in a coal mine shoveling smoke

Hyde Park High School. .. Hick, Hike, Hoke!

Now that is one tidbit of Hyde Park Trivia that has always seemed to me to be important enough to preserve

THE POINT IS...

The Point is Promontory  Point  , an important feature of Daniel Burnharn's 1909 Plan for Chicago, created by landfill in the 1920s, and in 1937, landscaped by Alfred Caldwell. For all the years since, the Point  has  been an  oasis for the community-a place to stroll and swim and play and meditate.

In January, 2001, the Chicago Park District held a public meeting at which they unveiled a plan to replace the Point's lirnesrone seawall with a massive concrete and steel revetment-part of a large, federally funded project already in progress for several years. At the meeting, attended by over 200 people, community members expressed overwhelming opposition to the plan which was seen as both a violation of the Park's aesthetic beauty and a compromise of its recreational uses. An ad hoc group called the Community Task Force for Promontory Point was formed with the aim of seeking alternatives to the Park District's design.

In the seventy-five years since its construction, wave action bas indeed damaged sections of the seawall and the Task Force recognizes that repairs are necessary.

And, although the city has offered some modifications, the plan still appears to community members to be a greater threat to the Point than the ravages of time and nature. The proposed  redesign is not only  ugly and inimical to traditional uses-it also appears to be significantly over-engineered. It should not be necessary to destroy the Point in order to save it.

The Task Force has made it clear to Park District officials that their plan is unacceptable to the community and the city has postponed construction until April, 2003. Now the challenge is co present the city with positive and unambiguous guidelines for any new design-guidelines which include an engineering survey as well as consideration of the historic character of the Point and the public's access to it.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation has recognized the importance of this effort with a $20,000 grant to the Historical Society on behalf of the Community Task Force for Promontory Point. In addition to the direct grant, the Foundation will match every dollar the community raises up co $5000. That could mean another $10,000 toward the considerable expenses involved in an engineering study of the Point.

MATCHING GRANT UPDATE: Thanks to HPHS members and to the whole community, we have reached our

$5000 matching grant goal. Bravo Hyde Parkers! Special thanks to the Driehaus Foundation!

TRY THIS ON YOUR INTERNET:

hydeparkhistory.org

Have you looked at the Society's webpage yet? It's easy to do: just type "hydeparkhistory.org" (don't use the quotation marks) and you'll find a source of information about our activities. There are interesting items, many taken  from the newsletter,  and a few others as well. People all over the country have been discovering us on the internet and getting in touch with us.

Our purpose is to provide educational material for students-check "Kids' Corner" to see some stories rewritten in language appropriate for elementary school children. We welcome your suggestions and your contributions of material to make our site even more usefuI. If you would like more information about this project using an older form of communication, call Alice Schlessinger at 773-493-1994

MEMO

DATE: March 20, 2002

TO: Editor Hyde Park History FROM: Samuel C. Hair

Charlotte, North Carolina

 Enclosed is excerpted from a book I am writing. As editor, you can use it in Hyde Park History if you wish to do so.

I lived at 58th and Kimbark, the Stevens boys lived around the corner on 58th between Kimbark and Kenwood. Jim Stevens died last September. Bill Stevens lives in Naples, Florida. John Paul Stevens is on the U.S. Supreme Court.

I'm always interested in what's happening in Hyde Park. Keep up the good work.

With kind regards, Sam

MEMO

DATE: March 28, 2002

TO: to Sam Hair

FROM: Editor, Hyde Park History

We are delighted to me the excerpt from your new book in our newsletter. We hope you will let us know when the book comes out. We love to read your reminiscences and are very grateful that you share them with us. Thank you!

BACKYARD BASEBALL

Like most of thepre-teenboys growing up inChicago,baseballwassomethingweallplayed,beginning inthe spring before going awaytoMichiganforthesummer.We playedin JackmanFieldbehindour elementaryschool during acompulsorygymperiodeveryafternoon.

Bue the real adjustment of baseball's rules to accommodate special conditions came when we played in the backyard of the Stevens' boys home on 58th street near the school. There are many forms of baseball from the big league version to the pick-up sandlot modifications. The ability of baseball t0 adapt itself was tested by four boys and a dog in 1927. The rules were set out by three brothers and me, so chat our game would be clarified and disciplined.

Baseball adjusted to our self-made regulations because baseball is different from other games in chat it is not limited  by  time; it  is outside of time. Theoretically, a game can go on

forever. We found chat we had to make our own rules, and in the case of a disagreement about the outcome of

a play, in the absence of an umpire we would toss a coin to come co the final decision.

Here are the  rules,  which provided for competition  between two teams of players:

1.  Underhand easy pitching.

2.  Indian ball.

3.  Pitcher's hands are out.

4.  Over the fence is out.

5.  If a player is on base and a hit is made, the player must go home. If home plate is rouched by an opposing player holding  the ball, the player on base is out.

6.  If there is any dispute, a coin

must be tossed to determine the decision.

7.  If the ball hits Monday on a doubtful play, the play goes over.

8. A player on base can go as far as possible on any out, except a strike-out.

9. On June 10, provided that more than 15 five­ inning games have been played, and provided chat one team is more than one game ahead of the other team, the losing team must buy for the winning team all the sodas, ice cream, malted    

milks, and sundaes that the winning team can eat in one hour at Kuenster's Drugstore on 57th Street.

Signed:

Bill Stevens

John Stevens

Sam Hair

 Jim Stevens

It  is well to explain that rule number seven refers to "Monday," a large black and tan collie dog, who would play if he could, but we told him he was not in the lineup. He was free to run and bark, and participate in that way in the excitement of the game. The deadline of June 10th was established because that was about the time when we all went away to The deadline of June 10th was established because that was about che rime when we all went away to Michigan for the summer: the Stevens boys to Lakeside and I to Castle Park, not to return until after Labor Day.

It didn't matter that there were only two on each team .And rule number four-"over the fence is out provided our adjustment to baseball's spatial frame, which projects the lines from home plate to first and third bases into infinity. Any  ball within  that ultimate projection is fair; outside those lines it is foul, but sometimes playable. But we had outfield limits imposed by a fence, two brick walls, and one large house surrounding the backyard playing field.

Baseball being a game of records, it is unfortunate that there are no records of the scores of these games, and the names of those on the winning team are lost forever in the mists of over three score and ten years. The players survive: Two of the brothers are retired lawyers. The third and youngest brother is also a lawyer, and at this writing is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. I am the fourth player, not a lawyer, but carrying with me the confirmation of the metaphysical nature of our national pastime, and now more than ever aware that baseball ignores time. We proved it long ago.

 Volume 24, Numbers 3 & 4, Autumn/Winter 2002

New exhibit at HPHS headquarters:

THE HERALD: 120 YEARS IN HYDE PARK

Staff, this exhibit covers the Paper's growth over 120 years. An extensive series of reprints is displayed beginning with the earliest days, A sample or two:

June 27, 1930

HYDE PARK PROBLEM, NATIONAL IN SCOPE

Yes, there are speakeasies today on all our business streets in Hyde Park and Kenwood, but their operations are conducted furtively. They are outlaw activities which are destined in time to be uprooted. As to the connivance of hundreds of citizens who patronize them, that connivance is decreasing steadily. The trend is toward less and less alcoholic indulgence.

Another reason for the trend of less drinking, as we notice it, is a wider popular appreciation of the fact that alcoholic indulgence unfits one to get along in this machine age . the machines round about us and among which we must dodge our way require sober men to operate them. Air-pilots, railroad engineers, chauffeurs have a job that is difficult enough when they have full control.

HYDE PARK PREPARES FOR "OUR AMELIA"

GREAT POPULAR PARADE

ALL CITIZENS ASKED TO DECORATE

HOMES, STORES, STREETS, HOTELS,

OFFICES, WITH BLUE AND WHITE OF OLD HYDE PARK HIGH SCHOOL AND WITH

AMERICAN FLAGS

HYDE PARKERS, HIGH AND LOW,

TO THRONG GIANT CIVIC BANQUET AT SHORELAND

On Thursday and Friday of next week, July 19, 20, Hyde Park will welcome home her own daughter, Amelia Earhart, first woman to span the fearful Atlantic by air, and will play host for the first time in a generation on its own streets and plaisances to the first great all-Chicago civic celebration of rejoicing, as five years hence along its shore and in its great hotels it will entertain for Chicago the entire world at its 1933 Fair. . . . The two highlights will be first, the civic banquet at the Shoreland Hotel, cost of which is $5 a plate and reservations for which Hyde Parkers should send in immediately, while there is yet time before the flood of other reservations from the loop and other neighborhoods.

. A delegation of Campfire Girls from Hyde Park and South Shore will greet the flyer on the steps and plaisance of the Shoreland and present her with a bouquet of flowers. Overhead on the line of march will be a double deck aerial escort. . .

This exhibition THE HERALD; 120 YEARS IN HYDE PARK will run through March, 2003, and is open from 2 to 4pm Saturdays and Sundays.

In 1980, HPHS published Volume I of Hyde Park History (and Volume 2 as well) containing the article below which originally had been Printed in the Railway Review, August 14, 1926,

THE UNION OF

MISS TRANSPORTATION

AND

GEN. ELECTRIFICATION

Four veteran locomotive engineers, none of whom had served less than thirty years, and four veteran conductors, whose total years of service Were but slightly less, piloted as many trains from Matteson, Blue Island, and South Chicago to Roosevelt road, with 2,000 distinguished guests of the Illinois Central, at Chicago, Saturday August 7. The ceremony marked the official beginning of electric operation of the suburban service of the railroad at Chicago, which is expected to be complete by September 3.

All Chicago joined in the celebration sponsored by 116 civic and business organizations of the south side territory served by the railroad. Five steam trains of wooden cars pulled by locomotives that for more than forty years have hauled millions of Chicago commuters between home and work, took the invited guests from Randolph Street to Matteson, where they were transferred to two electric trains for the return journey. These trains were met at Kensington and Sixty-seventh street by similar trains from Blue Island and South Chicago. From Sixty-seventh, the four trains ran abreast to Roosevelt road.

At Roosevelt road a great assemblage of south side residents, and citizens from every section of the city, met the trains. Later everybody went to the south front of the Field Museum to review the parade which

expressed the commuters' belief that the south side communities from Randolph street to Matteson, South Chicago, and Blue Island are on the verge of a new and permanent era of prosperity.

The procession, formed at Thirty-fifth street and South Parkway, was more than two miles long, and contained flower decked floats bearing the pick of the beauties among the south side women. Individual communities had held preliminary celebrations... Candidates for the honor of being "Miss

Transportation" had been selected and from them Miss Helen Lynn, 5845 Dorchester avenue, was chosen as queen of the fete. As the float bearing her and her handmaidens reached the museum, she was escorted to the steps of the building, where the coronet was placed upon her brow by A. E. Clift, senior vice president of the Illinois Central R.R.

No event of greater importance has taken place in the history of the South side in the more than seventy years since that first train ran to Hyde Park It was fitting, therefore, that the program should include a pageant of the progress of transportation. This was written and directed by Bertha M. Iles, and presented on Soldier Field at 3:()()pm, immediately following the parade.

After the prologue, "The Torchbearers of Progress," came in order scenes representing the early emigration from the Atlantic seaboard to the great prairies in the hinterland beyond the Alleghenies. As the scene depicting the Trail of the Wilderness came on, Mrs. P. D. Bowler sang Cadman's "In the Land of the Sky Blue Water," and a group of red men passed in review with the travois, the method they used in transporting their affects from one campground to another. Then followed the covered wagon... the pony express and stagecoach. Other scenes were "Down to the Sea in Ships." "Manifold Means of Transportation," in which 1,200 children from the public school playgrounds participated, "In the Land of the Magic Carpet," showing oriental methods of transportation and, incidentally, a hayrack of two or more decades ago. "In the Days When Dobbin Was King" and "The Coming of the Motor Car" brought history down to the present, which was given under the title, "The Spirit of Electricity" and that was shown as the union of Miss Transportation and General Electrification.

In the evening there was a dinner in the grand banquet hall of the Palmer House, at which the Jackson Park Hotel Association acted as host. Fifteen hundred invitations were issued out, and if one may judge by appearances, no one sent regrets. Colonel George T. Buckingham, the toastmaster, gave a review of the history of the early efforts of Illinois to improve its transportation facilities.

Senior Vice President A. E. Clift told how the history of the South Side of Chicago has been joined with that of the Illinois Central R.R. He said that, large as has been the expenditure required for electrification, and impossible as it is to realize full monetary return upon so great a sum, the railroad will feel repaid amply if it results in establishing a permanent feeling of good will toward the railroad among the people of the city ... "The expressions of friendship we have received today," said he, "have touched us greatly, and have gone deep into our hearts. We have striven hard to secure the good will of our patrons, but never before have we had such a demonstration that we have succeeded. We appreciate deeply the friendship which has been displayed, and will make the utmost effort in the future to merit its continuance.

In a footnote we are told that Miss Lynn had worked as a stenographer in the wholesale department at Marshall Field & Co. ... "Being queen of the fete may have enhanced her prospects—beauty queens should not be wasted on wholesale offices. The 1928 city directory listed her as a SALESWOMAN in the main department store of Marshall Field & Co. downtown."

"Hyde Park talent was also represented by the author of the "Pageant of Progress," Bertha Iles, directed the Academy of Dramatic Education during the 1920s, and lived at 5416 Cornell Avenue."

Excerpts from The Hyde Park of Yesterday from Hyde Park Now and Then, published to commemorate the Opening of the Hyde Park-Kenwood National Bank Building, April 20, 1929

Seventy-one years ago (1858) an Illinois Central train rolled southward from Chicago on one of its three daily runs to Hyde Park. It came to a stop at 56th Street and Cornell, the end of the line, and out stepped a lone passenger. She was Mrs. Eliza Dennison Jameson, and she stood with her boxes around her on the grass (there was no station) and surveyed what was to be her future home.

In three directions she saw prairie, sand hills, trees and flowers, with perhaps the glimpse of a single house; and in the fourth direction, the lake. The lake has not changed so much, but a good deal has taken place in the other three directions!

Mrs. Jameson walked three blocks north to the house at 53rd and Cornell built by her husband, Judge Jameson. From its porch one could look straight north to the l.c. station at Lake Street in Chicago. There were just seven other houses in the section, and they were widely scattered. They were occupied by the families of Warren S. Bogue, Chauncey Stickney, Paul Cornell, Dr. A.B. Newkirk, Charles Spring, Sr., Charles Spring, Jr., and Dr. J. A. Kennicott, who named his estate "Kenwood" after the home of his ancestors in Scotland.

From the very first, the corner of 53rd street and Hyde Park Avenue was the center of activity for the community. Besides the depot there was the first general store, on Hyde Park Avenue just south of 53rd. It was about 10 feet square and was kept by Hassan A. Hopkins, who had come to Hyde Park in 1856 as a bookkeeper to Paul Cornell. Here, too, was the first post office, established in 1860 with George W. Waite commissioned postmaster. And on the northeast corner of this intersection was the first bank, founded by Daniel A. Pierce and operated by him alone for some years. At this same corner, in 1858, Paul Cornell built the first church, used by all the residents. It was sold in 1876 to the village and used as a town hall and police station, with the addition of a basement which served as a jail after the old wooden lockup on the lake shore between 5 1st and 52nd streets had been washed away.

Crime in the present day sense was unknown in that Arcadia, according to Nicholas Hunt, who at 81 remembers well his forty years of service with the police department. He tells of the days when his duties consisted mainly of keeping an eye on hunters and picnickers, with occasional excitement as when a band of "rustlers" rounded up the high-bred cows kept by early residents and drove them into the Dunes in Indiana. Mr. Hunt tracked the thieves down and restored the village's milk supply.

Hyde Park had a school almost as soon as it had an existence. In 1856 Charles B. Waite bought the land at the northwest corner of 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue for a seminary which opened in 1859 with Mrs. Waite as principal and her sisters as assistants. It was a four-story building where most of the first settlers' children studied until it was discontinued in 1870. The first public school was built in 1863 at

Lake Avenue and 50th and later became the first Hyde

Park High School. This school was noted for its Agassiz Association, whose members had ample opportunity to pursue their researches into natural history in Hyde Park as it was then.

LOOKING BACK A BIT

From the Newsletter of the Hyde Park Historical Society November, 1981

HYDE PARK HERALD

CELEBRATES 100 YEARS

The Herald covered an area that was in the 1880s the largest village in the world, stretching from 39th to 115th St. It listed its population, its real estate, its financial worth and even its street car timetables. But most of its social news originated in the present Hyde Park, Kenwood and Woodlawn areas.

The paper had a history as varied and as a dramatic in many ways as the community. It began life as the South Side Herald, published by Clarence P. Dresser.

Little is known about him except that he was the Washington correspondent as well as the publisher of the Herald which he began in January, 1882 with Fred F. Bennett. Both Dresser and Bennett were classmates in Hyde Park, along with John D. Sherman, who joined them and also wrote articles and editorials.

Personal journalism was rampant in the early days and no holds were barred in reporting or in expressing editorial opinions. The Herald was no exception. One of the most vivid examples is in the January 24, 1884 issue where it is reported: "A brute named Cavill, who has richly deserved to be drummed out of town, was fined $15 and costs for beating his wife, a nice, quiet, little woman whom the Union Charitable Society have (sic) established in a small store near the school-house. He is a good workman, but lazy, and has not even the excuse of drunkenness for his brutality to his wife."

The Herald inveighed against the annexation of Hyde Park into Chicago in 1889, warning readers that only the saloon keepers would benefit from such a vote because Hyde Park was "dry" and Chicago was "wet.'

HYDE PARK IN POETRY...

A Song of the Midway Tars

'Twas in ninety-two, in an autumn light,

When Doctor Harper hove in sight And shoved out his anchor with keen delight,

Go it, Chicago, yo ho!

He had a small but gallant crew;

They'd manned the ropes when the winds blew, blew, And they were a brave and favored few, Go it, Chicago, yo ho!

The ship's grown bigger and so has her crew,

For she has a world of work to do, To cruise round the earth for me and you, Go it, Chicago, yo ho!

The Captain has a right good eye;

He steers by the stars in the changeless sky, And he flies the maroon away up high, Go it, Chicago, yo ho!

From young Chicago she sets sail;

She feels old Michigan's favoring gale, And she greets the future, "Hail, all hail!" Go it, Chicago, yo ho!

The Varsity ship sails every sea;

She touches at the port of each countree, And she's bound for truth and eternity, Go it, Chicago, yo ho!

From a City Roof (Hyde Park)

On the deck of my big night steamer, aloft in my low sea-chair,

Wrapped round with a southern softness and breathing a sweet sea air,

I sail of a summer evening beneath a starry sky,

And wonder long at the beauty that never passes by.

For I see on the far-off Temple a crown of softened light

That rests like a golden glory on the city in its might; And off at the harbor's entrance, where the piers push long and dark,

The red and yellow beacon flashes out its shining mark.

And down past the lone Rabida, below the reddened cloud, Flame up the leaping torches where the ranks of labor crowd;

Till my eye goes wondering lakeward where the

constellations move

Of the hidden ships that pass and their pilot's eye approve.

The Midway's glittering pageant, reaching down from park to park,

Shoots a thousand auto signals through the scintillating dark;

And the studious windows shining in the Varsity's looming walls

Mark off in mellow outline the gray old Gothic halls.

And all below me gleam the lights of a myriad city homes

That are dearer to the city man than a myriad glittering domes;

For the faces there are glowing with a love that keeps him strong

And comes to his wearied heart and brain like the sweetness of a song.

So, when the night comes down above the city streets,

And silent-shining star his silent brother greets,

On the deck of my lofty roofl love to take my sail, And watch the passing lights and the stars that never fail.

The Old Fine Arts Building at Night (Jackson Park)

Enmarbled by the moon's pale magic light

That pours her whitning rays on roof and wall And by her touch celestial changes all, It stands a classic temple in the night.

Here rest those lustrous wings in beauty bright

The sleepless lions that no fears appall;

The caryatids in their beauty tall,

And strong-limbed centaurs eager for the fight.

Athena's lifted temple, to the eyes

Of gazing citizens, no fairer gleamed

Beneath the sun of those transparent skies

Than here amid the land by Greeks undreamed, Where hurrying millions rush in mad empries, Those shadowy columns in the moonlight rise. From Poems on Chicago and Illinois by Horace Spencer Fiske published by The Stratford Company, Boston, Mass. 1927

What's Been Happening at H PHS?

A Report by Program Chairman Jay Mulberry

2002 has been the most active year for the Society that anyone can remember, and 2003 seems likely to continue the trend. In the last 9 months we have sponsored ten presentations and three exhibits. If you don't believe it, count them:

EXHIBITS:

November, 2001 to April, 2002 — The History of

International House, mounted by Bert Benade, Vy

Uretz, Steve Treffman and others

April, 2002 to November, 20()2—The Filipino

American Community in Hyde Park, mounted by Estrella Alamar and Willi Buhay

November, 2002 to the present—120 Years of the Herald, mounted by Caitlin Devitt and some of her friends

PRESENTATIONS:

March—The History of International House by Claude

Wei/

April—The Filipino American Community in Hyde Park by Estrella Alamar and Willi Buhay

June—Mary Herrick: Hyde Park's Educator/Activist by

Tim Black and James Wagner

July—History of Promontory Point by Jack Spicer August—History of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club by

Linda Swift

September—Earl B. Dickerson: Forgotten Giant of

African American History by Tim Black

September—Remembering 9/11 moderated by Quentin

Young

September—The Michigan Avenue Garden Apartments by Peter Ascoli

October The Future of Promontory Point by Jack Spicer

November—120 Years of the Herald by Bruce Sagan

December 15—Holiday Celebration with Abner Mikva

And on top of all that, in April we began a monthly series of articles on Hyde Park history for the Herald. These have already mounted up to quite a number:

Filipino Americans in Hyde Park by Jay Mulberry

57th Street Art Fair by Alice Schlessinger Mary Herrick by May Lord

William H. Ray by Carol Bradford

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Club by Linda Swift

Earl B. Dickerson by Alta Blakley

The Michigan Avenue Garden Apartments by Devereux

Bowly

Hyde Park's African American History by Sidney Williams, Jr.

12() Yean of the Herald by Caitlin Devitt

Herman Cohn, Hyde Park Pioneer by Jay Mulberry

Beside the quantity and quality of the activities we have sponsored, you will notice the diversity of their organizers. Lots of people work with us; we depend on that. And you can be one of those people. If you would like to work on an article or a presentation or an exhibit or a tour, call our program director, Jay Mulberry at 77 3/288-1242 or email him at jamulberry@aol.com. He doesn't just want you to work, he wants to work with you!

And, if you are not a member, do sign up today!

Newsletters 2001

Spring 2001

Summer 2001

Fall 2001

Winter 2001-2002

Volume 23, Number 1

 When Tarzan Went to Harvard
By Edgar Rice Burroughs

Because I attended Harvard School sometime between the Pliocene and Pleistocene eras, Miss Schobinger has suggested that I write a little article for the School Annual and call it Before the Birth of Tarzan.... It was in 1888 that I entered the old Harvard School at 21st Street and Indiana Avenue, where my brother, Coleman, had been a student for a year. I was never a student-I just went to school there.

I lived over on the West Side where everybody made his money in those days and then moved to the South Side to show off. I kept my pony in a livery stable on Madison Street west of Robey Street... and in good weather I rode to school. In inclement weather, I took the Madison Street horse-cars to Wabash, a cable-car to 18th Street, and another horse-car to school. Sometimes, returning from school, I used to run down Madison Street from State Street to Lincoln Street, a matter of some three miles, to see how many horse-cars I could beat in that direction. It tires me all out even to think of it now. I must have been long on energy, if a trifle short on brains.

I cannot recall much about my classmates. Mancel Clark, Bennie Marshall, and I came over to Harvard together from Miss Coolie's Maplehurst School for Girls on the West Side-and were we glad to escape that blot on our escutcheons! There had been a diphtheria epidemic in the public schools the previous year, and our fond parents had prevailed upon Miss Coolie to take us in...

Bennie Marshall and I used to sneak down to the breakwater and smoke cubeb cigarettes and feel real devilish. I imagine we even chewed gum too. He> became a very famous Chicago architect (with Charles Eli Fox, he designed the Drake Hotel-Ed.) I can see him now sitting at his desk drawing pictures and chewing his tongue when he should have been studying.

At Harvard School I studied Greek and Latin because someone believed that they should be taught before English grammar was taken up; then I went to Andover and studied Greek and Latin all over again. So, having never studied English, I conceived the brilliant idea of taking up writing as my profession. Perhaps, had I studied English grammar, I would have known better, but then there would have been no Tarzan... There should be a moral to this. Perhaps it is that one should not smoke cubeb cigarettes.

REMEMBERING GWENDOLYN BROOKS

by Stephen A. Treffman, HPHS Archivist

"MAY THE NEW CENTURY SING TO YOU."

At our last annual meeting, HPHS had to be satisfied with giving Gwendolyn Brooks an award in absentia. In lieu of placing the Paul Cornell Award into her hands, we sent it to her accompanied by a copy of Bert Benade's remarks (see page 3) along with a report on how receptive our board and membership had been to the idea of granting her our 'award.

In an enthusiastic response, Ms. Brooks sent the Society two books, warmly inscribed, along with a

note gently reminding us that she was a working writer, one who wrote to be read, not celebrated. All the punctuation is hers. March 9, 2000 Hi! I thank you for your beautiful

Tribute! "Read" these books (I—as ifyou have TIME

Galore!)... before delivering to the Library! Gratefully

Gwen Brooks (I thank you ALL for honoring me!)

She gave us the second volume of her

"autobiography," Report from Part Tu'0. (Chicago, Third World Press, 1996) The inscription reads: For the

Library of the Hyde Park Historical Society. (May the NetC' Century SING to you!) Three large pink post-it-notes were inserted indicating stories she especially wanted us to notice: "My Mother, In Ghana," and "Black Woman in Russia.

The other book is a self-published work, Children Coming Home (Chicago, 1991). It consists of short poems expressing the reflections of children under stress as they arrive home from school.

Two additional books came to us last June. The inscription in Thirtx-First Annual Illinois Poet Laureate Awards 2000 (Chicago: privately printed) reads:

Thank you so much! For the copy of "Hyde Park History. " Yes, I'd appreciate two or three extra copies. I hope you enjoy the young people's poems. I gave 45 prizes of $ 100 each on June 12 at the U. of C. I'm so proud of them!"

Each page contains a single winning poem. At the bottom of each sheet is written, in Gwendolyn Brooks' hand, the name of the student, his or her age, grade and school. She had good reason to be proud of them. In the introduction, she addressed this note to the winners:

Congratulations!... on winning your Illinois Poet Laureate Award! I am proud ofyou, and I am proud to meet you. I appreciate yonr respect for poetry and interest in experimenting with language-with sound and texture and

manner.

All of your life, poetry can be a nourishing gift to yourself a Performance to enjoy and change; an irresistible influence.

Gwendolyn Brooks, an extraordinarily perceptive witness of our corner of the world, "sang" to us for more than half of the last century. She crafted deceptively simple lines of verse that communicated profound insights, enlightened us and enriched the world in which we live. We are grateful to have had her among us, honored that we could call her one of our own and were drawn more closely into community because of what she did with her life. We feel especially fortunate that we had the opportunity to tell her so while she was still among us.

PRESENTATION OF

THE PAUL CORNELL

AWARD TO

GWENDOLYN BROOKS

HPHS ANNUAL MEETING, FEBRUARY 26, 2000

Remarks by Berrt Benade

Our final awardee is the Poet Laureate of Illinois, Gwendolyn Brooks. We are sorry that she cannot be with us tonight. But, in a way, I am fortunate that she isn,'t here because she might protest the bits and pieces of her life that I want to share with you.

In 1972 she published her autobiography. It is not about chronology but process, and, though the book stops in the year 1972, her process of enrichment has continued.

She was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1917, and was three years old when her family moved to Chicago. Here she had many homes: 46th and Lake Park, 56th and Lake Park, 43rd and Champlain, among others. And now she lives south of 55th Street on South Shore Drive.

At age seven, she started rhyming words and by eleven was putting poems in notebooks—still in her possession. Her mother told her she would be "a lady Paul Lawrence Dunbar someday. " Her family was warm and supportive, but she chose to be a loner who wrote poetry. She attended high school at Hyde Park Branch, Englewood and Wendell Phillips and then went on to Wilson Junior college. As a young teenager she sent her work to well-known poets, among them Langston Hughes who responded enthusiastically and with whom she remained friends for life.

Later on, when Oscar Brown Jr. helped the

Blackstone Rangers create "Opportunity Please Knock," he asked her to review it. She was so taken by the project that she stayed with the Rangers to help them write and develop it. (Incidentally, 'Opportunity Please Knock" was an exhilarating piece of theater.)

She went on Freedom Rides and slowly realized how deep and unconscious discrimination can be. She notes that even in Merriam Webster's Dictionary it shows up. When you look up the word "black," one of the meanings is given as "opposite of white. " However, when you look up "white", there is no mention of "black." For her, integration then began to mean when Negroes (the educated, professional elite) embraced equally all Blacks (the masses).

Not having an "earned" degree, she now has a whole string of Honorary Doctorates and many other accolades, but the ones she loves come from elsewhere. She speaks about a note from a 16 year old boy who was going to quit school until he heard her recite her poem "We Real cool."

"Now I know there is no place like school, I would want to tell her how I feel inside my heart."

Gwendolyn Brooks never stops growing. In 1971, she flew for the first time and loved it "because it opened up new horizons—being airborne." She speaks with an open heart and doesn't have rules that constrain her. One of her contemporaries says of her, "She is the continuing storm that walks the English language as lions walk in Africa." Her convictions, her strengths and her commitment come out of an exciting and inspiring life.

Ours is an Historical Society and the Cornell Award is intended to confer recognition upon persons who have preserved or extended our understanding and appreciation of Hyde Park's history. Gwendolyn Brooks' contribution has been to give voice and perspective to the story of the African American community which has developed within and become so important to the history of Chicago's south side and to Hyde Park. In the process she has enriched the lives of all of us.

Paul Cornell Awards Committee, 2000

Bert Benade, Chair

Devereaux Bow/ey

Stephen A. Treffman

PARK HOTEL

Exposition, the "artistically arranged flower beds" of

Washington Park, and "the great power house of the Wabash and Cottage Grove Avenue Cable Cars." The latter stood directly across the streec from the hotel on the northeast corner of that intersection. A Chicago City Railway's cable car, clearly marked Number 1597, is depicted heading south on Cottage Grove. It is rumored that the concrete and stone base of the cable car power house still exists on its original site, buried deep under the ground. The hotel itself was demolished during urban renewal in the 1950s. —S.A.T.

Our thanks to Board Member Carol Bradford for bringing us this glimpse of our history IN MEMORY OF EDWIN BURRITT SMITH

After the close of the World's Columbian Exposition, in the mid-1890's, Chicagoans began to look seriously and critically at the social, economic, and political circumstances of their city. They saw a city government whose members were known to enrich themselves at public expense. It tolerated gambling, prostitution, bribery, vote fraud, abuse of patronage, and monopolistic control of public utilities which yielded enormous private profit. The Municipal Voters' League and other organizations were formed in an effort to address these problems. They were part of the larger Progressive movement which swept the country during this time. The reformers also worked to ameliorate the harmful effects of industrialism and business monopolies: urban slums, poverty, and unsafe working conditions.

A Hyde Park attorney, Edwin Burritt Smith, was a prominent and active participant in the reform efforts. At the time of his death on May 9, 1906, a memorial service was held at the University Congregational Church, with tributes from many men who were prominent locally and nationally in the Progressive Movement. The church devoted one entire issue of its monthly newsletter, The Chronicle, to printing the texts of their tributes, excerpts of which are included here.

"He found time to throw himself into those lines of thought, and especially of activity, which Promised to open a door of opportunity to man, which Promised to release at any point the motive and the possibility o fself-growth, and self-government. He did thoroughly and obstinately believe in man...So far as he could choose to have it so, the employment of his Professional Powers was in the interest of a more adequate and abundant life to the individual" Rev. Frederick Dewhurst, the eulogy.

"For, more than upon anything else, his u'hole life centered down upon the welfare of the commonwealth, which called forth all his energies into their most virile expression. In his vision each such struggle as that for the civil service law, for honesty and capacity in city government, for the municipal control of public utilities, for the Peaceful Progress of the nation in the spirit of its constitution and history, and for the social unification of our cosmopolitan people by social settlements and other centers of human equality, was only part of the one great cause of a sane, safe and Progressive democracy. To that greatest cause Mr. Smith devoted the fine abilities and tremendous energies of his life with a generosity and courage, that never seemed to count the Personal cost of his public service. " Letter from Graham Taylor.

Mr. Smith was born in Spartanburg, PA, in 1854. His parents were both teachers who died when he was very young. He spent some of his youth in an orphanage and seemed destined for a life of obscure poverty. Yet his fortitude, vigor, far-seeing hope, and intelligence enabled him to triumph over every obstacle. As a teenager, he was a farm hand, then became a teacher. From 1874 to 1876 he studied at Western Reserve and Oberlin College. After that, he came to Chicago and decided this would be his home. He left to study law at Yale, but after earning his degree in 1880 he returned to Chicago and plunged into his work as an author and teacher of the law. He soon became involved in many of the reform movements which were active in the city during this time.

"He was a giant ofaffairs, a prodigy offacts but his heart was gentleness itself " Letter from John G. Wooley.

He and his wife had two sons, Curtis and Otis. The family lived at 5530 South Cornell and were           

active and faithful members of the University Congregational Church, located at 56th Street and Dorchester Avenue.

"His death is a calamity. Few men of my time have brought to the service of the public, such intelligence, such ability, such unselfish devotion, such untiring zeal. Unpopularity had no terrors for him, Preferment no temptations, and when he decided that a certain course u'as right he brought to its support all of his Powers wit/90//t thought ofPersonal consequences. He rendered conspicuous service to his city, to his state and to his country u'ithout asking any recognition for himself... " Letter from Moorfield Storey.

A primary target of the reform effort was Charles T. Yerkes, who held a monopoly of most of the streetcar companies. "With shrewdness, cunning, and force of personality; through continuous stock manipulation; and never without back-door political dealing and bribery, Yerkes constructed a purposely tangled maze of companies that facilitated his kind of large-scale financing. Nor was it happenstance that directly or indirectly he controlled most of the companies that contracted for his projects, nor that those companies' billings were astronomical. Nor that every contractor who did work for him kicked back part of the padded charges." (Johnson, p. 2) Smith was the attorney chosen by the city council to advise it and assist in drafting legislation which would break this abusive monopoly. He was also one of the attorneys chosen by the Chicago Bar Association to investigate the possibility of establishing a separate juvenile court system.

"The list of his civic activities is a history of the better Chicago, not yet a good Chicago, but a vigorous militant demonstration that the great city is the hope of democracy, The earliest step u'as the Passage and adoption of the Civil Service Law. In that movement he was deeply identified. He worked early and hard in the Civic Federation From its inception he was one of the strongest men in the Municipal Voters' League, where his calm courage, his legal knowledge and his power of analysis and statement made him especially terrible to evil doers.... Without hesitation he favored, u'hat some call the 'socialism' of municipal ownership, as an antidote to the 'anarchism' of private ownership as Practiced in Chicago.... The traction problem with its three ugly heads, political, physical and legal, claimed a vast amount of his time and attention. "MR. SMITH AS A CITIZEN" by William Kent.

"The range of his Practice was wide and varied. . ...He was active in litigation involving questions ofpublic interest, the civil service law, the Hyde Park Protective Association, and all are familiar with his recent activities as special council for the city of Chicago in the important traction litigation u'hich seems now to be drawing to a close. "

"MR. SMITH AS A LAWYER" by Judge H. V. Freeman.

"Chicago IC'as in a fierce struggle for better transportation—her citizens for overforty years had been struggling against odds to free themselves from what they felt was an unrighteous claim by the companies—a comprehensive study of the Practical and engineering problems had been made by the Council. The Committee having the subject matter in charge required legal advice of high order to guide it in negotiation and in Putting in legal form the conclusions reached... (it) began to look about for a man.....Mr. Smith was selectedfor this important position.

"MR. SMITH'S SERVICE TO THE CITY" by Frank I. Bennett

"It is Pleasant to think that, although Mr. Smith's activities touched the u'hole life of the city, and in many cases the interests of the nation, this church and community were his home. He belonged especially to us. And here will be his memorial.

"MR. SMITH'S RELATION TO THE CHURCH" by Prof. A. H. Tolman

In his memory, a stained glass window depicting the Old Testament Prophets was placed in the wall of the church. This window is now placed in the Rittenhouse Chapel of the United Church of Hyde Park.

B I B L I OG RAPHY

Block, Jean. Hyde Park Houses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978, pp. 60-63.

The Chronicle of the University Congregational Church, Chicago. vol. Il, No. 5. May 1906.

Johnson, Curt. Wicked City Chicago: From Kenna to Capone. Highland Park: December Press, 1994.

Lindberg, Richard. Chicago Ragtime: Another Look at

Chicago, 1880-1920. South Bend: Icarus Press, 1985. Spinney, Robert G. City of Big Shoulders: A History of Chicago. DeKaIb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2000.

Tanenhaus, David S. "Justice for the Child: The Beginning of the Juvenile Court in Chicago" in Chicago History, Winter 1998-99, Vol. xxvll, No. 3, pp. 4-19.

A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Alice Schlessinger

A NEW PROJECT FOR THE SOCIETY

Last year, through the good offices of Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, we received a grant of $2,500 to help us start a project in aid of education for our community's school children. We used the money to set up a web page, with the hope that it could provide access to our archives for those who are studying community history. You may see this page by going on the internet and looking up www.hydeparkhistory.org.

This year we are to receive $5,000 from Senator Barack Obama and Representative Currie. With these additional funds we are launched on working with the schools. We've started with Ray School. We have met with the computer teacher at Ray, and spoken with the principal there. Our method is to offer help to teachers whose curriculum includes study of the community—third and eighth grades. With the assurance that we shall receive our full funding, we are planning to expand our pilot project to Brete Harte and Murray Schools and to Kenwood High School. In the future we will expand to all the schools in our community.

We hope that this project will result in an interactive exchange—we can provide the information about the fascinating history of this community. We hope that the students will post material from their work on our page, so that others, all around the world, will be able to see what our students can do. We also expect that information will flow in both directions as a result of this effort.

We are very grateful to Barbara and Barack for their help in getting us started on this exciting step in making the archives and newsletters of the Society available to the young people of our area, and in strengthening the bond between us.

WORLD WAR Il AND HYDE PARK

Memories and artifacts of Hyde Park during World War Il would be of great interest to us. That was an intense period and if any of our readers who lived in Hyde Park during that period would like to share their memories, we would like to have them. What was Hyde Park like in those days? What changes in Hyde Park occurred during the War? Write us a letter and tell us about your experiences during that period. We are also seeking Hyde Park memorabilia from that period. —S.A.T.
A CABLE CAR TRAINMAN—a burly bearded grip man, bundled in a thick fur coat and gloves against the harsh wintry elements. This steel engraving by T. de Thulstrup, appeared on the cover of the February 25, 1893 issue of Harper's Weekly. It is hard to judge, but the passengers appear to be either miserable or, as dutiful Hyde Parkers, deep in thought. Life was not easy in those days.

Volume 23, Number 2

In 1987. to mark the 50th anniversary of Promontory Point. the Hyde Park Historical Society and Friends of the Parks produced a brief history of that landmark landscape. Today. when interest in the Point is so high. we think it timely to reprod11ce that dowwent for yot1r information...

Promontory Point

1937-1987

By John McDermott, Jr.

Edited by Victoria Post Ranney

Promontory  Point, at  55th  Street  and  Lake Michigan, is an  historic  landscape and  the focal point of Chicago's Burnham  Park. Conceived  as part of Daniel  Burnham's  Plan  of Chicago, in  1909, "the Point" was created by landfill in the 1920s and landscaped in 1937 by Alfred Caldwell in the Prairie School tradition. To Caldwell, the Promontory represented the meeting place of  the  vast  prairie  and the Great Lakes, and thus symbolized all  that  was unique about the landscape of Chicago. Today, Caldwell's design can still be recognized, and its spirit makes Promontory Point a favorite retreat for Chicagoans from all walks of life.

An early Chicagoan walking east  on  55th Street would have met the lake just east of Everett Avenue. Burnham called  for a promontory  co be built  in  the lake  near  52nd  Street, along  with a series of islands and lagoons screeching from  12th Street co Jackson Park. In 1919, the City Council approved a plan co fill in the south lakeshore according co Burnham's plan.

The Commissioners of the South Park District hired the Construction Materials Corporation co construct a breakwater and fill the area inside it with sand. The filling operation, which began at 12th Street and progressed coward the south, reached 5 5ch Street by 1924. There, and not at 52nd Street, it created a promontory.

By 1926, the 55th Street Promontory, as it came  co be called, had been largely filled  with sand and garbage. The latter component upset the Hyde Park Herald which complained not only  chat  the rubbish was unsightly, but also that the wind blew sand  and foul odors into the new apartment buildings nearby.

In 1917, there had been only one such building near55th and the lake, the ten-story apartment house at5490 South Shore Drive. Bue in the mid-1920's, the residential area to the west developed rapidly. The huge Shoreland  Hotel was completed  in 1926, and the Flamingo opened in 1927. These  buildings began a wave of hotel growth that eventually provided 20,000 rooms in East Hyde Park.

By 1929, grass was planted on the Promontory. Leif Erickson Drive (now Lake Shore Drive) was opened to traffic and trees were planted on the portion of landfill west of the Drive. But construction did  not  proceed until the consolidated Chicago  Park  District  was formed in 1934. At about that time, Fifth  Ward Alderman James Cusak began  to  receive complaints that the Promontory was being used as a makeshift parking lot by the nearby Shoreland Hotel. In an interview shortly before his death in 1986, Cusak said that he had used his influence with the Park District's new general superintendent, George T. Donoghue, to have the parking lot removed and the Promontory developed.

Whether or not Cusak's influence played a role, the

Promontory, in 193 5,was designated to receive funds and workers from the Works Progress Administration. It was one of 67 Illinois parks which the WPA assisted during the Depression. Thanks to the WPA, the  Point was developed as we know it today.

The planning was assigned to Alfred Caldwell, an architect and landscape architect on the Park District staff. From 1926 to 1931, Caldwell had assisted Jens Jensen, the great landscape architect of Chicago's West Park system and the pre-eminent figure in the Prairie School movement in his field. Caldwell shared Jensen's devotion to the midwestern  landscape  and  his practice of using only native plants in his parks.

Caldwell  began  by adding soil, raising  the  meadow to its present height and creating a hill where a shelter would be built. By  the  summer  of 1936, water and sewer pipes  had  been laid, and  the  underpass  below the Drive was completed.

Caldwell's planting plan, dated September 1, 1936, relied on indigenous plants. It included 241 American elms,  50 American  lindens,  and  637  prairie crabapples, as well as sugar  maples,  hop hornbeams, and  two varieties  of hawthorn,  the  tree which  had been one of Jensen's trademarks.

The thick groves of trees and shrubs formed a ring around a large central meadow which sloped downward gradually toward the path. The ring was interrupted at the north, allowing a spectacular view of the downtown skyline, and at the south, where the vast manufacturing districts of South Chicago and Indiana were visible on the horizon. The Point includes two distinct experiences: the lofty meadow, from which the rocks along the water cannot be seen, and the rocks themselves, from which the meadow cannot be seen. Plantings on the outer edge of the peninsula once reinforced this distinction.

Caldwell said in a 1986 interview that he had conceived of the Promontory as "a place you go co and you are thrilled-a beautiful experience,  a  joy, a delight." He sought co convey "a sense of space and a sense of the power of nature and the power of the sea."

A member of the Park District's architectural staff,

E. V. Buchsbaum, designed the shelter (now known as the fieldhouse). Construction began in 1936 and was finished the next year. The walls were made of Lannon scone, quarried  in  Wisconsin.  Caldwell,  an architectural modernist, tolerated  the  building  though he felt it was coo heavy for the site and of little architectural value. Buchsbaum felt he was creating a "picturesque, distinctive building" and that its playful allusion co a castle or a lighthouse were appropriate for the setting.

After 193 7, the area received various small improvements. Benches were erected in 1938. Boulders called for in Caldwell's plan were set in place in March, 1939. Also in that year, the David Wallach Memorial, a bronze sculpture of a resting fawn set on a marble fountain, was dedicated. Little is known about David  Wallach  who, at his death in 1894 left a bequest for a fountain in a park for "man and beast." True co his wish, the monument has a drinking fountain at ground level which has been enjoyed by generations of local beasts.

In the  late 1930's and  40's, the Shelter  became a busy center  for square dances, scout  meetings  and other activities. In 1953, the U.S. Army leased  land from the Park District for a Nike missile base on a Jackson Park meadow. Soon afterward, it cook pare of the Point  for a radar site. The  towers stood  south  of the fieldhouse on a large tract surrounded by a barbed wire fence. One of the cowers reached 150 feet in height, and all of chem dwarfed the turret of the fieldhouse.

Many neighborhood residents resented the radar cowers, but protests became vocal only in the Vietnam era. After the cowers finally came down in 1971, there was a victory rally with the slogan, "We've won our Point!"

For  its  50th anniversary  in  1987, a group of landscape architects carefully surveyed the Point, comparing  the original  features executed  under Caldwell with  the landscape  of today. Though few of the original shrubs and trees remain, and  lake damage has badly_eroded the perimeter, the basic features and open spirit of the design can be seen. Park District officials and the public, recognizing the place of Promontory Point in Chicago's past and its value in the present, should work co restore, for future generations, chis historic prairie landscape on the lake.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND FILMS SOUGHT

Beach Street Educational Films is making a movie about World War 11 servicemen who were refugees from Germany and Austria during the 30s and 40s. Because Hyde Park received many of these refugees, the film makers have asked the Society for help. Julia Rath, producer of the film, would like to have pictures from that time of any such refugees who served in the armed forces during the war. You can reach her at 847-677-6018, or email at JWRath@netzero.net, if you have questions.

ABOUT ALFRED CALDWELL

By Stephen A. Treffman

Alfred Caldwell, the landscape designer of Promontory Point, was a poet, landscape architect, civil engineer, city planner, philosopher and distinguished professor. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1903. lo 1909 his family moved to Chicago. He attended Ravenswood Elementary School and Lake View High School, where he became fascinated by the study of botany and Latin. After a brief but unhappy stint in the landscape architecture program at the University of Illinois, Caldwell managed to land a job in 1924 as an assistant to Jens

J eosen, the highly respected Chicago landscape architect. Jensen would ultimately characterize Caldwell as a "genius." In 1927, Caldwell befriended and was profoundly  influenced  by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The onset of the Depression broke up Jensen's  firm and from 1931 to 1934, Caldwell was in private practice as a landscape architect. From 1934 to 1936 he served Dubuque, Iowa as its Superintendent of Parks and created the renowned Eagle Point Park there. He returned to Chicago in 1936 to join the Chicago Park District as a landscape designer. It was during this period that he worked out the design for Promontory Point and planned the Lily Pool and Rookery in Lincoln Park. lo the course of this work he met Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who later played a major role in the evolution of Caldwell's-career.

Caldwell left the Park District to join the U.S. War Department in 1940 and worked as a civil engineer on the design and construction  of several military training posts. At the end of the war, Mies called upon Caldwell to join the architecture faculty at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1945 IIT awarded

Caldwell a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture and, in 1948, a Master of Science degree in City Planning. His major collaborative work with Mies was as the landscape designer for the UT campus. He abruptly resigned from IIT in 1960 in protest of Mies' ouster as official architect of the school.

From 1960 to 1964 Caldwell was employed by the Chicago Planning Commission. He returned to higher education as a Visiting Professor at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1965 and later that year was appointed  Professor  of Architecture  at  the University of Southern  California,  retiring  in  1973.  He maintained a private practice until 1981 when  he rejoined IIT as the Ludwig  Mies van  der  Rohe Professor of Architecture. Proclaimed the last of the Prairie School landscape  architects,  he died  at  his home in Bristol, Wisconsin in 1998.

Caldwell's plans for the landscaping of PromontoryPoint were very precise. Each tree and shrub was carefully located and designated by its proper Latin. name. Not usually recognized is that his plans included not only the area popularly considered the Point, that is, the land east of the South Outer (Leif Ericson) Drive at 55th Street, but also the park areas on the west side of the Drive from about 5450 to

5555 South Shore Drive. Parenthetically, it is at 5530- 32 South Shore Drive that the Mies designed, and aptly named, Promontory Apartments now stands.

Although  many changes  in  the  landscaping  in  this area have occurred since Caldwell's day, a few trees surviving from his original planting some 65 years ago can still be found, the largest number of them probably along South Shore Drive. The lake has undermined

the base of the limestone revetment around the Point to the extent that, at some spots, gaps large enough to

swallow a small child have emerged between some of the seawall's stone blocks. llli1

Sources on Caldwell: The standard source, including an extensive bibliography, is Dennis E. Domer, ed., Alfred Caldwell: The Life and Work of a Prairie School Landscape Architect (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins

University Press, 1997). Darner's obituary for Caldwell may be found in the IIT Catalyst (Summer, 1998). See also Werner Blaser, Architecture and Nature: The Work of Alfred Caldwell (Basil and Boston: Birhauser Verlag, 1984). The Art Institute of Chicago library has a transcript of a lengthy interview conducted with Caldwell.

Looking Back A Bit...

May. 1888

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE

"Studies of the Great West - Chicago"

by Charles Dudley Warner,

Washington  Park,  with  a  slightly  rolling  surface and beautiful landscape gardening, has nor only fine driveways, bur a splendid road set apart for horsemen. This is a dirt road, always well sprinkled, and rhe equestrian has a chance besides of galloping  over springy  turf.  Water  is  now so abundantly  provided that the park is kept green in rhe driest season. From anywhere on  the  south side one may  mount  his horse or enter his carriage for a turn  of fifteen  or  twenty miles  on  what  is equivalent  to a country'road, that  is to say, an English country road.

On the lake side of the park are the grounds of the Washington Park Racing club, with a splendid track and stables and other facilities which, I am told, exceed anything in the country of the kind. The clubhouse itself is very handsome and commodious, is open to members and their families summer and winter, and makes a favorite rendezvous for that pare of society which shares its privileges. Besides its large dining and dancing halls, it  has elegant  apartments set apart for ladies. In winter its hospitable rooms and big wood fires are very attractive after a zero drive.

The city is rich in a few specimens of private houses by Mr. Richardson ...so simple so noble, so full of comfort, sentiment,  unique,  having  what  may  be called a charming  personality.  As  to interiors,  there has been plenty of money spent in Chicago in mere show, but, after all, I know of no other city that  has more character and individuality in its interiors, more evidences of personal refinement and taste    due, I

imagine mainly to the taste of the women, for while there are plenty of men who have taste, there are very few who have the leisure to indulge it.

Along the Michigan Avenue  water front and  down the lake shore  to Hyde  Park, on  the  Illinois Central and the Michigan Central and their connections, the foreign and local trains pass incessantly (I believe over sixty a day)...and  further  down,  the  tracks  run between Jackson Park  and  Washington  Park, crossing at grade the 500 feet wide boulevard, which connects these great parks and makes them one.

These tracks and trains... are a serious evil and

danger, and the annoyance is increased by the multiplicity of street railways and the swiftly running cable cars, which are a constant threat to the

tim_id....In time the railroads must come in on elevated viaducts...

September 24. I 942

HYDE PARK HERALD

At last, it has happened! The Chicago Beach Hotel, probably the most  famous of Chicago's many hostelries, has been commandeered by the U.S. Government for use as a base hospital. Federal Judge Michael Igoe signed a court order which was served upon the hotel corporation yesterday authorizing the

U.S. Army to take possession. Meantime Stephen Clark, manager of the hotel, is organizing an information bureau for the benefit of guests who must seek new housing. The 300 families will have about 30 days in which to find accommodations.

Many have been living in the hotel since it was opened in 1920 and others were occupants of the original Chicago Beach Hotel, built in 1893 and razed after the present building was completed.

October 14. 1887

HYDE PARK HERALD 

Weather permitting, the Nickle Plate baseball nine plays with the  Pullman's  Plate  nine  tomorrow afternoon  on  the  latter's grounds.  The Herald  wishes to inform rhe Nickle Plate  nine,  that  if  they  want  to be fortunate again in having ladies as spectators at any of their future games, that they should cease  their profane and disgraceful language while in the field, as they  used  while  playing  the Prairie Kings last Saturday, at which occasion a number of ladies were present. If you desire the interest  of  the people  you must act like gentlemen.

Volume 23, Number 3,   Published by the Hyde Park Historical Society,  FALL 2001

HYDE PARK AT THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR Il: CAMPUS REMINISCENCES

By Yaffa Claire Draznin

Every memoir is inevitably a Rashomon narrative, more revealing of the teller's perspective than of history as it really happened. This recollection of the experiences my husband Julius and I had as students on the Chicago campus is no exception. Admittedly it only covers about three years, from early 1941 until August 1944—and is selective, with no discussion of faculty activity (about which we knew nothing) nor administration plans for the new B.A. plan, nor activities in the greater Hyde Park community. No matter: this is our story.

1941. We came on the campus separately. Julius drifted onto the campus in early 1941, having attended Wright Junior College for a year and subsequently joining the American Friends Service Committee in its work camps throughout the Midwest. He hung around, as he tells it, seeking out guys he knew from Tuley High, and at some point decided to became a student himself. After passing the entrance exam but with literally no money at the time, he got his education by the "low cost" method permitted then, by enrolling for as many courses as he could afford and studying independently (following the syllabus without actually attending classes), taking only the final exam that determined his grade. (He was finally admitted for both undergraduate and graduate courses in January 1942.)

Since he had helped start cooperatives among field workers and sharecroppers while with the Friends, he looked for, and joined, the men's housing co-op at 52nd and Ellis. My introduction to the U. of C. in early '41 was more conventional. I came to Chicago as a transfer student from the University of Wisconsin and went directly into the political science division, while taking up residence in a university owned and tightly supervised off-campus facility for female students in the 5800 block of Drexel.

It was an ominous time, those months before Pearl Harbor, although it's hard now to fully recapture the urgency and anxiety that laced our lives then. The horrendous news from Europe, now totally overrun by the Germans, had us glued to our radios deep into the night, and we woke each morning to broadcasts from London. On hearing Edward R. Morrow and Charles Collingwood describe the devastation from the Luftwaffe bombs that had rained down upon it the previous night. Our days were filled with continuous, contentious bull-sessions on the morality and ramifications of the war and whether the U.S. should declare war on Germany. (Japan, known only as an Axis partner, was hardly given a thought.)

Campus politics in those days reflected a conflicted nation and opposing political messages, with the America-First isolationist sentiment being espoused despite (or perhaps because of) the gradual and increasing shift in our national economy to a war footing, to provide lend-lease aid to Great Britain, the remaining unoccupied democracy in Europe. As students we knew of the concentration camps but were unaware then, as was the nation, of theif eventual horrific purpose as death camps and of the Final Solution planned for the Jews of Europe. We were equally unaware of the secret research going on in America, especially on our campus, in the field of nuclear fission, eventually leading to the development of the atomic bomb.

We (our crowd) were generally anti-war activists of the Socialist Party, rallying around that popular social science instructor Maynard Krueger, the vice presidential candidate on the Socialist Party ticket headed by Norman Ähomas. Of course, we insisted that our pacifism was different from the vitriolic isolationism of Charles Lindbergh and the America Firsters, and as it happened, even our university president, Robert M. Hutchins, was vehemently antiwar. Early in 1941, according to the Daily Maroon, he appeared on the American Town Hall of the Air, with Col. William Donavon (later of OSS fame) to debate the question, "Should we do whatever is necessary to insure a British victory?" Hutchins took the negative position. The paper didn't say who won the debate.

But we had no difficulty separating ourselves from the pro-Communist fellow-travelers of the American Students Union who, up until June 22, 1941, were also vitriolically against the war in Europe ("The British are as fascist as the Germans and Italians!"). But in a single day after that date, when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, the organization made a 180-degree about-face and changed its line in the blink of an eye to rabid support of every war preparedness effort taken or envisioned, denouncing any labor union which even contemplated strike action, screaming "Defeat Fascism" with abandon.

But while we talked and argued about the war constantly, more mundane living adjustments occupied much of our time. The high cost of living was a pressing constant for those of us on limited

budgets and many of us happily became part of what was then a growing student cooperative movement, seen as one solution to the problem of finding affordable room and board.

In 1941, a two-story stone building on the northwest corner of 56th and Ellis already housed an eating cafeteria on the ground floor, a consumer cooperative governed by the democratic Rochdale Principles. There students could, after paying a minimum membership fee, eat lunch and dinner at prices cheap enough to fit into even the most skimpy living allowance.

On the second floor of that building was the Ellis Housing Co-op, also a consumer cooperative, which men (only) could join and rent a single or double sleeping room for very low cost. (In a Maroon article in 1943, Ellis Co-op rents were quoted as from $8.50 to $11.50 a week; in '41, they must have been less.)

A third cooperative four blocks to the north, at 52nd and Ellis, the University Housing Co-op, provided more housing for men. Julius lived there, tending the furnace and doing houseman chores in exchange for a free room.

Sometime in the spring or summer of 1941, a group of women decided it was their turn. With the ready assistance of the men from both housing co-ops (not an insignificant incentive), they organized a women's housing Co-ops heard about the group after the initial planning and furniture accumulation was already done —but did manage to be in the first group of women who moved into Woodlawn House at 5711 Woodlawn that fall. As such, we made long since-forgotten history by not only founding the first women's co-op on campus but, after the first quarter, becoming the first women's housing available on the University of Chicago campus run sans housemother.

In 1941, men were registering for the peace-time draft, faculty members were leaving for Washington for duty with the newly formed defense agencies, and refugee celebrities from Europe flooded the campus, to lecture and to work/ beg, exhort us all to save their shattered compatriots in Europe. One such was Jan Maseryk, the son of the man who founded Czechoslovakia in the 1920s, who, having escaped the Nazis, became a political science lecturer on campus. (NVhen the war ended, he returned triumphantly to a free Czechoslovakia and was elected president of the country, only to have his country invaded by the Russians and he himself murdered by the Communists, who replaced the Nazis in occupying his country in post-war Europe.)

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the declaration of war against Japan and its Axis partners, Germany and Italy, stunned us all. From then on, our lives were irrevocably altered.

1942. The exodus of men from the campus became precipitous that year, as draft boards called draftees up for military service. In spring 1942, four of us students traveled to the University of Minnesota as delegates to a student co-op conference where, unexpectedly, I was elected president of the newly formed Midwest Federation of Campus Cooperatives. This had nothing to do with my sterling qualifications but came about because the men decided that, since they were off to war, some woman or other had better take over.

Surprisingly, a fairly large contingent of men were still around, not called up by the draft —and some fifteen or more of them lived in the University Co-op where Julius had a room. My husband-to-be was generally too busy to take much notice of their activities since, besides carrying a full academic load and working as co-op houseman, he also worked as a night watchman at Michael Reese. But it was fun to speculate what kind of job those guys were doing down at the physics labs (they were absolutely mum about it) because, as he told me, they used to come home looking like coal miners, their clothes covered with what looked like layers of carbon and graphite. The last was the operative distinction. As we later found out, they were constructing graphite bricks for the atomic pile.

My husband and I became engaged late that spring, holding off marriage plans until he heard the results of his draft physical. When in early 1942 Julius was rejected for active service (because, as he himself knew in depressing detail, he was still suffering regular attacks from an active seven-year malarial infection he had contracted while with the Friends in southern

Missouri), we set our marriage for late December 1942.

The war was now an integral part of campus life, the visible armed forces in the Quads seeming to multiply geometrically. Soldiers in crisp tan uniforms marched about, singing in cadence, members of the ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program), being trained (we found out later) for language and engineering tasks to be used on some unspecified duty in Europe during or after the war. Sailors were also everywhere; according to the Daily Maroon, some 600 of them, signal corps trainees, were being bunked in Sunny Gym and fed, en masse, in the Ida Noyes Cloister Club.

Buildings were being renovated in odd and obscure ways. Eckhart Hall had had a double stairway leading up to the second-floor library, but suddenly, one day, only a single staircase was visible, climbing to the floor above. On the other side, where a stairway should have been, was simply a wall, the same color as the other, showing signs of wear and student fingermarks along it —except that it hadn't been there the week before. Ryerson was also off limits, more or less. An article on the history of Ryerson Hall in the Maroon mentioned vaguely that its Physical Laboratory was being used by the army for experimental purposes, and a librarian was quoted as saying she couldn't get near the place to get some books she needed.

In the summer of 1942, while Julius was taking classes, working on an NYA work-study grant and mopping floors at the eating co-op, I took a job in the defense industry, traveling to the Western Electric plant on 22nd and Cermak, which had stopped making telephones and started making radios for the Navy. As an inspector of radio condensers that came off an assembly line, I received the princely wage (almost twice that of the solderers on the line) of 5 1 cents an hour.

Julius's NYA job turned out to be the instrument that breached the tightest security system on the campus. He was working for Buildings & Grounds at the time, B&G being the department that took care of everything mechanical and nonacademic on the campus, including campus policing. On a day when the head janitor was out of the office, a phone call came through about a fire in one of the dorms.

Someone shoved a piece of paper into his hand with the janitor's name on it and told him: -"Go find this man, and fast!"

Hurrying from one building to another, Julius entered Eckhart where, after checking through empty halls, he spotted a door off on the side. There was no one about. Facing a stairwell he followed it down into a sub-basement, stepping out into what appeared to be a laboratory, with tables of equipment. At one of the tables, looking at him in shock and horror, stood one of his co-op housemates.

"What are you doing here!" the man said. "Who let you in? Nobody's allowed down here!"

Apparently the unlocked door he had passed through led into the security Holy of Holies, the labyrinth of halls, labs and rooms that ended up under the west stands of Stagg Field where, on December 2, 1942 (as we learned much later), a group of young physicists, including many from the co-op, leaned against the walls sipping lab-distilled grain alcohol from paper cups, toasting each other and the occasion, and shared with Enrico Fermi a quiet celebration of the birth of the first controlled, sustained nuclear reaction.

1943. Once we were married, we moved out of our respective co-op houses and set up housekeeping in what passed for neighborhood student housing, first on Maryland Ave. (communal bath and toilet in the

hall, 2" cockroaches in the kitchen), then on 55th and Blackstone (listening to the one-nighters scream obscenities at each other on the stairs). We continued to eat most of our meals at the Ellis Co-op where we were regularly reminded to turn in our sugarrationing and meat-rationing food stamps, since food couldn't be bought without them.

That spring, my husband became the co-op's fulltime paid manager and spent every minute he could (when not thinking of class work), trying to keep the operation afloat, worrying about how to pay the help and buy food with few funds. The number of paying students plummeted with the shrinkage of men on campus —and by summer the co-op could no longer keep operating. It was Julius's unhappy duty to shut it down: selling the furniture, the kitchen equipment, the #10 cans of tomatoes and carrots that had accumulated in the basement, the lot. What money was finally salvaged was put into a trust fund supervised by willing faculty members (Maynard Krueger was one), later used to help new co-ops get started after the war.

The male-drain became especially noticeable among the faculty in 1943. As a political science student, I remember that, in the last two terms before I graduated, the department was literally denuded of instructors. Of the eight courses I took, only one was taught by the instructor listed in the catalog. All the rest were foisted on Prof. Jerome Kerwin who stepped in to teach them all (for which I was extremely grateful), after the designated instructors left for Washington or the armed forces.

After graduation in 1943, I became co-breadwinner and looked around for work. My only nonacademic skill being typing, I first took an office job at the Central States Cooperative (the regional distributor to the eight or more consumer cooperative groceries in the Chicago area) and then, closer to campus, at "1313" across the Midway with the American Public Works Association, earning a normal typist salary, about $25 a week.

In the fall of 1943, with the luck of the nonlrish, we were accepted as members of Concord House, one of the most unusual and exciting experiments in cooperative living in Hyde Park.

The house was a majestic three-story Victorian mansion, with grounds, at 5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd. (where Rodfei Zedek Congregation now stands). It had a magnificent living room with a fireplace, a large dining room, and full institutional kitchen, with dozens of sleeping rooms. A Dr. Jay Jump, a dentist, was the directing force in the House; he may even have been the actual owner of the property, with the co-operative renting on a long-term lease.

The governance of the House was, again, based on the consumer-cooperative Rochdale Principles: democratic control, nondiscrimination in all areas but especially in terms of race and politics, and a cooperative sharing of household chores and financial responsibilities. All members, students and nonstudents alike, were accepted through a vote of the residents.

I seem to remember only one paid employee, the cook; but I wonder whether we didn't also pay someone to be the administrator of what was a rather complicated room-and-board arrangement. While each person was responsible for her or his own sleeping quarters, the cleaning of the communal areas, food preparation, laundry, and house-operating chores were shared by all the residents, allocated among them through a complicated and detailed work schedule, rigorously enforced. Among the jobs on the work schedule was the planting, weeding, and tending of a huge Victory Garden plot at the north end of the block (near the Fifth Army headquarters) that furnished the bulk of the vegetables ending up on our dinner table.

As part of the Hyde Park community, we participated in all the civil-defense activities required. We turned in our sugar and meat food stamps, collected flattened tin cans, saved congealed beef and bacon fat for use in the manufacture of munitions, and participated in the regular citywide air raid drills. When the citywide sirens went off, we all were told to pull down the window shades, put out all lights, and gather on the ground floor near the stairs to the basement, earlier prepared for use in the eventuality of a bombing. Many of us regarded it as a lark, and a contingent of pacifists living in the house were reluctant participants; but the two European refugees living in the House at the time, Bert Hozelitz and Fred Lister, were designated Air Raid Wardens in charge of the exercise. They had had enough bitter personal experience with war to insist, with vehemence, that we obey the routine to the letter. And we did.

1944: In spring, my husband was notified that his job application to the National Labor Relations Board was being considered—and from then on. we existed, in penury but with hope, that an appointment would soon come through.

By then it was obvious that my office job wasn't earning us enough to cover our expenses. Finding that war work paid higher wages, I took a job at Carnegie Illinois Steel in South Chicago. Despite the asphyxiation-level of hydrogen sulphide (the "rotteneggs" odor) that inundated the steel mills, the pay was generous. At first I was assigned a job in a labor crew, shoveling sand out of box cars (at 63 cents an hour), one of a contingent of women being hired at the mill. (In World War I, black men finally broke the job barrier in the steel industry; in World War Il, the same thing happened for females, white or black.) I was the only Anglo among a crew of 15 Hispanic women sand-shovelers but eventually, possibly because of my conspicuous presence, someone decided that I might be better used elsewhere. I was promoted to work in the chemistry lab and paid $1.03/hr.

Concord House in 1944 came under heavy community censure because of our nondiscriminatory admission policy. The local Chamber of Commerce was unremitting in castigating us for lowering property values by admitting nonCaucasian to live there.

We also were seen as a subversive element because of the large number ofJapanese-Americans who lived in the House. Many apparently had heard about Concord House while still in internment camps and, after they were released, came to live with us for a while before making more permanent plans elsewhere.

In late summer of that year, Julius was notified that he was accepted as an entry-level professional field examiner for the NLRB (at the munificent salary of $2,000 per annum) and we left the campus in August, 1944, for his government assignment in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

MY FIRST TRIP

TO HYDE PARK

By Carol Bradford

My family always took a vacation in August, after the oat crop was harvested and before school started. Often we went to Duluth, Minnesota, where my father could get relief from hay fever. Other times we went west to the Black Hills or to Colorado, where my mother had a cousin. But in 1957 we broke with tradition and went east for the first time.

We left our South Dakota farm early on the morning of August 15. My father drove 'our 1952 Ford across Iowa. We stopped en route to visit relatives and then went on to Dubuque. There we visited the University, where my grandfather had attended seminary and I later attended college. The next day we drove to Chicago, spending the night at a motel in one of the western suburbs.

My parents' diary for Saturday, August 17 reads

"Very nice in Chic, went to airport, went thru big French plane, saw amphitheatre, stockyards. Most of day in museum. Took boat ride on lake tonite." Was that a busy day or what? As usual, my parents had checked AAA guidebooks and other sources and decided what they wanted to see in the city. We stopped first at Midway Airport. I don't know why we didn't go into the terminal, but we did stop at an Air France hangar off Cicero Avenue and saw some of the large planes there. We probably went straight east on 55th Street, making a stop along the way at the stockyards area, and then on to the Museum of Science and Industry.

What an awesome place it was for all of us! My brother, David, a year younger than I, and my sister Nancy, 8 years old, were fascinated with everything. We went to the coal mine, the submarine, and all the other exhibits. "Yesterday's Main Street" was a favorite and of course we had to get our picture taken on the antique car. I was thrilled to find that picture once again a few months ago among my parent's many photo albums.

That night we stayed at one of the old Hyde Park hotels. How I wish that my parents would have written down the name of it in their diary. I remember it as a dark building, not far from the Museum. We had a room with a Murphy bed, which I had never seen before.

We stayed in Chicago three more days. We got a

I

room at the Hamilton Hotel downtown, which had been recommended to us by a friend in Dubuque. We went to the Aquarium, the Board of Trade, the Merchandise Mart, Buckingham Fountain, and the top of the Prudential Building (which was the tallest in the city at that time). We shopped on State Street and rode the Ravenswood "el" to the end of the line and back downtown. On our last afternoon, we went to a White Sox double-header against the Washington Senators. We left shortly after the start of the second game, so as to get a good rest before starting home the next morning. Later, we learned that we had missed a no-hitter, won by the Senators.

On August 21, we left Chicago at 5:15 A.M. We drove west on Highway 30 across Illinois and Iowa. From Chicago to our home is a distance of about 600 miles. By 6:30 P.M. we were back in South Dakota at the home of my older sister, Helen, who had just married earlier that year. We stopped there to celebrate her birthday.

I didn't imagine during that trip that I would spend most of my life in Hyde Park, but I will always cherish the memory of that first special visit here.

This Newsletter is published by the Hyde Park Historical Society, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1975 to record, preserve, and promote public interest in the history of Hyde Park. Its headquarters, located in an 1893 restored cable car station at 5529 South Lake Park Avenue, houses local exhibits. It is ooen to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 until 4pm.

Telephone: HY3-1893

President Alice Schlessinger

Editor Theresa McDermott

Designer. Nickie Sage

Regular membership: $15 per year, contributor: $25 sponsor: $50, benefactor: $100

If you have access to the internet, our society's newly created website can be found at www.hydeparkhistory.org.

 Volume 23, Number 4, Published by the Hyde Park Historical Society, WINTER 2001-2002

MY SCHOOL DAYS IN HYDE PARK

HPHS President Alice Schlessinger, formerly editor of LAB NOTES, U-High'sJournal, has suggested that Society members might be interested in the recollections of Pan/ H. Nitze, class of 1923, recollections he wrote for that journal in 1985.

In 1910 my father was asked by President Harper to join the faculty of the University of Chicago as head of the Department of Romance Languages and

Literature. We moved from Berkeley, California, to the Del Prado Hotel on 59th Street, on the lakeshore side of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks, in the fall of that year. I remember it as being a glorious place with high ceilings, sunny rooms, an enormous veranda with rocking chairs.

I was three; I had a friend who was four and much more grown up. I admired him immensely. Emily Kimborough, in her book about growing up in Chicago, has an amusing description of us staying at the Del Prado Hotel—the Nitze family, their charming daughter Pussy, and their spoiled, objectionable brat of a son. I am sure she reports accurately. Pussy was in second grade in the elementary school while I was being a pest around the hotel. The next year we moved to a house on what was then Blackstone Avenue between 57 th and 58 th Streets.

That summer our mother took us to Fish Creek,

Wisconsin, to escape the heat of the Chicago summer. We drove up with the Guenzels, friends of my parents, in a glorious red Stanley Steamer. The roads north along Sturgeon Bay were merely two ruts with grass growing between them. Every ten miles or so the boiler would over-heat and blow the safety valve. Mr. Guenzel would have to climb under the car and insert a new one.

Father stayed behind in the Blackstone Avenue house with a fellow member of his department, Clarence Parmenter, both of them having opted to teach for the summer quarter. Father could become so intent on what he was talking about that he could be absent-minded. Parmenter wrote Mother a letter describing Father pouring maple syrup on his head while he scratched the breakfast pancakes.

The year 1912 we spent in Europe, where Father was doing research on the Grail Romances. When we came back to Chicago, we moved to 1220 56 th Street, between Kimbark and Woodlawn.

In 1914 Father again took us all to Europe.

We were mountain climbing in Austria when the Arch-Duke was murdered in Sarayevo. Father became worried when Austria mobilized against Russia and decided to take us to a safe country,—Germany. We arrived in Munich on the morning Germany declared war on Russia and World War I began. We finally got back to the United States by a Holland-American liner during the battle of the Marne.

It was not until 1915 that I became a regular student at the Elementary School. My life there did not start off easily. My mother was ahead of her generation in many things. She smoked, loved to dance, entertained with gusto, had an enormous circle of friends, but she was also a romantic. She insisted on dressing me in short pants and jacket and a shirt with a Buster Brown collar and a flowing black tie tied in a bow.

At school, at ten o'clock every morning, we had a break for roughhousing and letting off steam. Every day one of my classmates, Percy Boynton, would say insulting things about my get-up. I felt obliged to hit him, whereupon he would beat me up. This went on for a time until I found a way to solve the problem: one night I took all my collars, tore them into pieces, -and threw them out my bedroom window into the alley. The next day I went down to breakfast without a collar. My mother asked me, "why no collar?" When I explained, her only comment was, "I had no idea you felt so strongly about them."

But my problem was not restricted to my classmates. In order to get to the Elementary School, I had to pass Ray School , the public school between 56th and 5 7 t One afternoon, walking home from school, I stopped to watch some Ray School boys playing marbles. One of them stood up and asked me what I was looking at. When my answer was not to his satisfaction, he pushed me back over one of his friends who was kneeling behind me. Then they beat me up.

I found out that my tormentors were members of the Musik brothers gang. They were the sons of a tailor down on 55 th and considered themselves bosses of the entire area bounded by Woodlawn and

Kimbark, 55 t and 56 th Streets. The neighboring block on the other side of Kimbark was dominated by the Scotti brothers gang. The eldest Scotti offered to defend me against the Musiks. I became an enthusiastic member of his gang. He was thin, almost emaciated, slightly red-haired; he was my first experience of charismatic leadership. He had a technique of binding the loyalty of members of his gang by getting them to become his partners in some outrageous act. One day he suggested that the workmen who were building some houses on the other side of 56th Street usually left their toolbox on the site overnight. He told me we could use those tools. That night, without a second thought, I lifted the tools and handed them over to him.

There was a third gang on the block between 57 th and 58 th run by the Colissimo brothers. On weekends we would sometimes have football games between the gangs on the Midway. One team or other would grossly cheat and the game would break up into a freefor-all fight. Years later, after I had gone east to school and college, but had come back to Chicago for a vacation, I asked about the Musiks, the Scotties and the Colissimos. They had been caught up in the more serious gang life of those days in Chicago and had been either killed of jailed. None of them were known to have survived as useful citizens.

The South Side of Chicago contained many different worlds. One was the University world inspired by President Harper, one of the great men of his day. In physics the stars were Michaelson, who lived on 58 th

Street. Professor Milliken lived across the street from us on 56th Glen Milliken was in the class ahead of me, but undertook to lead me into the world of science, its theory, its experiments and practice. West of us lived Professor Dixon, a Nobel Prize winning

mathematician. One block to the East lived James Weber Lynn, one of the stars of the English department. James Breasted, the famous historian of Egypt and the ancient world, lived on Woodlawn. Others that I remember were Thorstein Veblen, the economist, Gordon Laing, the classicist, and Thomas, the sociologist. The University Medical School attracted a distinguished group of doctors, including Dr. Sippy who lived on Woodlawn. The Sippys were the only people we knew who had an autbmobile. In fact, they had two. Everyone else, to get downtown, would walk the eight blocks to the Illinois Central Station and take the train.

There was also a distinguished Jewish business community that lived around 47 th Street or even closer to town. They included the Rosenwalds, the Mandels, the Blocks, the Gidwitzes and the Feuchtwangers. One of the Feuchtwangers ended up as the distinguished moving picture director, Walter Wanger. There were newspaper people, artists and lawyers. Finally there were a number of not so distinguished people, but people who seemed to represent the real world, the Chicago of those days.

That real world was physically represented by the soot from the South Chicago steel mills and the odor of the stockyards which would blow at us whenever the wind

was from the west. The Ray School and Western High with its 4000 students, twenty-five percent of whom were black, seemed to me to be the real world of Chicago in those days. James Farrell's Studs Lonigan presents an accurate picture of that world.

Athletics was, of course, very much a part of our lives. I played soccer, basketball and baseball, with vigor but no brilliance. The school organized a variety of activities to widen our experience. On various weekends we were taken to visit one of the steel mills, then one of the meat packing plants in the stockyards, then the Standard Oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, then a paint factory and the factory where they assembled the Essex automobile, a brand long since abandoned.

We were members of a Boy Scout group doing our daily good deeds. We sold War Bonds in 1917. We acted out current events. We acted in plays, learned to cook, to set type, to use wood and metal lathes and other machine tools, and to knit. It was an advanced and experimental form of education. I guess it did most of us no harm and for many it opened up larger horizons. There were, however, gaps. I learned no American history and I never learned to spell, but that was undoubtedly my fault, not the school's. I just wasn't interested in spelling. For some, however, the school did not provide the proper discipline.

In my second year at U High, I found myself sitting at an adjoining desk to Dicky Loeb in a French course. Dicky was older and in the class ahead of us. He seemed to me to be charming but soft. During the final examination I noticed that he was cribbing from what I was writing.

Nevertheless I was shocked when it came out that he had joined Leopold in the infamous murder of the Frank boy.

I have left out one important aspect of those years, the impact of World War I upon our emotions and our thoughts. The Nitze family is entirely of German ancestry. Until the war, I had spent about half of my life abroad, much of it in Germany. The people I had known in those pre-war years in Germany, and also in Italy and Austria, were warm, loving, and much more emotional and outgoing than my contemporaries in Chicago, particularly those who were not part of the University enclave. My family was firmly on the side of "Keep America out of the War. In 1917, when the United States entered the war, we switched our views, but doubts remained. My classmates and I were asked to call at houses in our neighborhood and try to sell Liberty bonds. I was utterly surprised when a number of those I called on agreed to buy them. I sold $ 5000 worth of bonds which seemed to me to be an enormous amount.

But even at the age of ten and eleven the unutterable tragedy of the battle of the Somme, of the continuous struggle for Verdun and the mysterious battles on the Eastern front left a lasting impression.

When President Wilson announced his Fourteen Points it seemed that a gleam of hope had appeared in a destructive and irrational world. When the armistice was announced our parents took us to a friend's office high up above Michigan Avenue from which we could watch the parade. But later when the surrender terms and the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty were announced, I felt bitterly disillusioned. In our current events class we acted out the signing of the Versailles Treaty. I was given the role of Walter Rathenau, who signed for the Germans. Later, Keynes' "The Economic Consequences of the Peace" confirmed my worst suspicions of that treaty.

By 19239 1 had accumulated enough credits to have a chance at being accepted at the University that fall. Father wisely decided that this was a bad idea; I was not only too young, but a University professor's son. He correctly judged that I would not be accepted as an equal so he sent me off to Hotchkiss for two years of growing up. There I didn't learn that much that I hadn't already been exposed to at U-High, but I did have a chance to catch up in maturity—whatever that means—with my peers.

Paul Nitze went on to serve in various roles in the U.S. government—among them: as Vice Chairman of the US Strategic Bombing Survey (1944-46), for the State

Department (1950-53), as Secretary of the Navy (196367), as Assistant Secretary of Defense (1973-76), and was named special advisor to the President on Arms Control in 1984. For over forty years, he was one of the chief architects of U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union.

On January 19, 2001, just one week before his 94th birthday, the USS Nitze was named for him "to sail around the world and to remind us of the contribution you have made to our country"—so said William Cohen, Secretary of Defense.

To the Point:
From the HPHS Newsletter, February, 1982

Muriel Beadle reports on a talk by Ezra Sensibar

It was in 1913 that Marshall Field gave $4 million to erect a natural history museum on the lakefront, on land to be created for that purpose. (Bear in mind that at the time the IC tracks ran on a trestle in the lake all the way from the Promontory to 18th Street, and that there was water 40 ft deep where the Field Museum, now stands.

The initial plan was to fill the site with clay, then cover it with sand. That combination, however, turned out in actuality to be mush", and it was decided to combine clay and rubbish (collected from

Loop offices, stores and streets) and top that with sand.

Once the fill was complete, wooden piles were driven down through it to the former lake bottom, and concrete piers were superimposed on the piles. These piers, which support the basement floor of the museum, rise to a height of 42 feet above the level of the lake and in effect place the museum on a manmade hill.

Tracks were laid to give railroad dump cars access to the site, and sand was hauled in. When dumped, though, its weight and force pushed some of the piers out of line and made them unusable as foundations.

What to do? "The marble was piling up," Mr.

Sensibar said. "The architects were tearing their hair.

Nobody seemed to know how to solve the problem."

And then a 24 year old Gary, Indiana resident, Jacob Sensibar (Ezra's older brother) had a bright idea. He was no engineer—in fact he was fresh off the farm— but he had eyes and a brain. "Why not lay down the sand the same way a beach is built up—that is mixed with water and deposited gently on the site?" he asked.

The architects decided to try it. Marshall Field loaned young Sensibar $40,000; Jacob bought a boat and equipment and began to pump in sand and water; and his system worked. So it is especially appropriate that the firm he founded has been identified with so many of Chicago's subsequent lakefront construction projects—including Promontory Point.

A Page from Cap and Gown the University of Chicago Yearbook—1903

The Woman's Union

Among all the student organizations at the University none as ever been so far reaching in its benefits, so practical in its advantages and so democratic in spirit as the Woman's Union, organized in January, 1902, "to unite the women of the University for the promotion of their common interests." Starting with a mere handful of faithful and enthusiastic workers, including both students and women of the Faculty, the membership has grown to almost four hundred... But the success of the Union is not measured by the length of its registration alone, for the benefits derived from membership are varied and along several lines.

Formerly all women connected with the University who did not live at the halls or near the Campus brought their lunches with them, and the only accommodations for eating them, or for resting were in the cloak rooms and recitation rooms. Now all that is changed. In the Union rooms, which are at Lexington Hall, the new woman's building, lunch is served every day from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., and for a moderate sum, soup, chocolate, sandwiches, fruit cake and pickles may be obtained.

Other special accommodations are a rest room and reading room, in which may be found the daily paper and all the late magazines. Here, every day, from fifty to a hundred girls meet to eat, and chat, and rest. It is one of the unwritten laws of the Union that no stranger be allowed to eat luncheon alone, so that the Union, while offering material advantages, is also doing a great work along another much needed line. It is fostering and developing a spirit of equality and democracy which gives promise of a bright future... The girls enjoy not only the advantage of becoming acquainted with each other, but also the privilege of meeting wives of the faculty and other women.

Along business lines the Union has not only been self-supporting, but has to its credit in the bank a sum amounting to $67.73.

PLEASE JOI N US FOR

THE HYDE PARK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2002 THE QUADRANGLE CLUB

SPEAKER Peter Ascoli

TOPIC My Grandfather, Julius Rosenwald

GATHERING 6PM • DINNER 7PM

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

CORNELL AWARDS

MAR K YOUR CALENDAR FOR

SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2002

2-4PM

AT OUR HEADQUARTERS

Claude Weil

former resident and staff member

WI LL SPEAK O N

International House,

Its History and Vision

1932 to the Present

AND ENJOY OUR EXHIBIT ON INTERNATIONAL

HOUSE COMPILED BY STEVE TREFFMAN,

BERT BENADE, CLAUDE WEIL, DENISE JORGENS, MARTA NICHOLAS

AND PATRICIA JOBE

SPECIAL MESSAGE

Mary Ellen Ziegler and I are creating a website on the

Outdoor Public Art (Sculpture and Murals) on the South Side. We would welcome anyone with knowledge of the subject to contact us at (773) 288-1242 or at jamulberry@aol.com. Thank you! —Jay Mulberry

LOOKING BACK

Some excerpts from PROGRESS, (Newsletterfor A Century of Progress) March 29, 1933

Bridge To Be Important Feature

Of Entertainment At Exposition

Wing of Hall of Science Designated as Bridge Hall;

United States Bridge Association To Direct Activities

Bridge, the pastime of millions, is to be an important feature of entertainment at A Century of Progress. An entire wing of the Hall of Science at the Fair has been designated as Bridge Hall, and the

United States Bridge Association has been selected by A Century of Progress as the organization to plan and operate the various Bridge activities at Bridge Hall.

George Reith, Executive Vice president of the Association, announces that there will be an interesting historical exhibit in the tournament hall showing the evolution of bridge and he expects several museum exhibits in this feature.

In addition to daily afternoon and evening play for suitable trophies, there will be featured weekly best score play for valuable prizes such as automobiles, bridge furniture, etc. It is also expected that many sectional tournaments, the winners of which will qualify for the national championships, will be held at the Fair...

The daily sessions will be preceded by half-hour lectures by well-known teachers, and numerous exhibition matches will be held by internationally famous players such as Ely Culbertson, Milton C.

Work, Willard Karn, Oswald Jacoby, Theo A. Lightner, Josephine Culbertson, Commander Winfield A. Liggett, Robert M. Halpin, Louis Haddad and Mr.

Reith.

An unusual feature in connection with the lectures and exhibition matches will be the use of an electrical board which will show to a large audience the bidding and play, bib by bid, and play by play, in a dramatically realistic manner.

Chicago and Its History

As Chicago approaches its centenary, more and more interest is being evidenced in the history of the city. Many little known facts about Chicago mentioned in the new Century of Progress book, "Chicago's Great Century," by Henry Justin Smith, are of interest not only to Chicagoans but to all. Herewith we list some of the "little known facts" of Chicago history from Mr. Smith's book, which, incidentally, is having a wide sale:

The men who organized the town in 1833 were mostly 30 years of age or even younger.

New York had 200,000 population when Chicago had only a few hundred.

At the breaking of ground for the first ship canal, a judge was doused with water for predicting a city of 100,000.

Early citizens protested against theaters as "nurseries of crime. "

When the first railroad from Chicago was being financed, a city banker refused it a loan of $20,000.

Cholera killed 931 persons in one month in 1849.

Chicago's White Stockings baseball club had as president in 1869 Potter Palmer. The team defeated Memphis by a score of 157 to 1.

From A Hyde Park Childhood by Dorothy Michelson Livingston University of Chicago Alumnae Magazine, Winter, 1979

"We children attended the Laboratory School... I entered there for the first grade in 1912. We were taught the nursery rhymes in Latin, and in sixty-eight years I have not forgotten Domina Maria, tota contraria/ Quibiti crescit in horto?

Newsletters 2000

Winter 1999-2000

Spring 2000

Winter 2000

Volume 21, Number 3 & 4, Winter 1999-2000

On Cable Cars and Lunch Rooms

EARLY STREETCARS  IN HYDE PARK

Stephen A. Treffman

ContributingEditor

The articles that appeared in the Spring and Summer, 1997 issues of Hyde Park History on an earlier occupant of the building in which the

Hyde Park Historical Society's headquarters are now housed continue to attract attention. As you may remember, Alta Blakely reported on "Steve's Lunch," a small restaurant run by Greek immigrant Steve Megales that occupied these premises beginning around, it was thought, 1948. A very interesting letter has recently arrived that provides insights into an even earlier period in the history of the building.

The letter, which appears on page 10, is from the granddaughters of Turney Keller, the man who, they report, converted what was a cable car waiting room into other uses. Mary Belle Keller Johnson and Judy Keller Levatino tell us chat, from as early as 1898 until 1952, the building was operated as a short order restaurant by the  Keller family. Prior to 1898, they say, the building was used as a warming room for "trolley personnel." When placed within the context of the development of Hyde Park's public transportation systems, this new information adds greatly to our knowledge of the history and uses of our building.

CHICAGO STREET TRANSPORTATION ORIGINS

In the early years of Chicago's history, travel about the city's streets was accomplished on foot, by horseback or by horse and carriage. The latter could be hired with driver by the day or by the mile in cabs called hackneys or hacks. Omni buses, large horse drawn or enclosed wagons with seating for multiple passengers, first appeared  on  Chicago streets  on regular schedules in  1850. The introduction  of street rail transportation in the city, however, began  nearly 141 years ago when a horse drawn car line began operations on April 25, 1859. It was built by the privately owned Chicago City Railway Company

(CCR), which had been awarded the city's franchise for the South Side of the city. Two other companies held franchises for the city's north and west sides. The CCR cars ran on rails along State Street from Madison

Street to 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road). In the

months following, the company built an extension of the line first to 22nd Street (now Cermak Road), then eastward down 22nd Street to Cottage Grove Avenue and, finally, from Cottage Grove to 31st Street. The immediate goal of these extensions was to provide transportation to the Illinois State Fair, which, in the fall of 1859, was located on land along Cottage Grove. The major advantage of using rails (originally wooden beams wrapped in iron sheetmetal) for hauling wagons with passengers was that the rails provided smoother, more comfortable and faster transportation than could be obtained from wheels rolling over the irregular unpaved roads of the time. Basic street car fares of a nickel a ride were sec by city ordinance in 1859 and kept at that same level until 1919.

The demands  and  opportunities  of  population growth and commercial and industrial development in the city and its suburbs encouraged expansion of the CCR. The increase in the number of cars, horses and track owned and maintained by the CCR grew exponentially, as did ridership.  In  1859, for example, the company consisted of only four cars and twenty­ five horses operating at twelve minute intervals on about three miles of track and carried many tens of thousands of passengers  a year. Annual  ridership  rose to 3.5 million only three years later. By 1867 the CCR owned fifty-three cars and 375 horses, employed 198 men and operated over  12. 5  miles of  track. The number of passengers that year totaled more than five million. Six years later, in 1873, the CCR was running seventy-five cars and 600 horses operating at four minute intervals on twenty-three miles of track and was transporting at least six million riders a year. Only seven years later, at the end of 1880, the system had more than doubled in size to 46.679 single track miles traversed by a fleet of 292 cars and 1,468 horses. In short, in that twenty year period, from 1859 to 1880, the company experienced growth that involved 15 .6 times more track, 58.7 times more horses, and 73 times more cars carrying many millions of passengers annually!

As the CCR expanded the length of its horse carlines to meet demand, problems of keeping its system coordinated and its costs under control grew apace. The cars and rails, once installed, had long lives and were relatively inexpensive to keep up. Aside from the investment in manpower and supervision, the key variable in the cost of operating  the system  was  the care and  feeding of the horses.  Although  perhaps one or two horses  might  draw one car, they could  only work four or five hours a day. This meant chat shifts of fresh horses  had  to be kept on  hand for each  horsecar in order to maintain a twelve or sixteen hour a day schedule. An entire system of men and  equipment  had to be developed around simply sustaining the horses. Moreover, the horse was relatively slow, not always reliable, susceptible to disease, and, glaringly apparent co one and  all, associated  with a "residue" on  the streets chat raised public health concerns. One horse could produce as much  as  twenty-two  pounds of manure a day. Its required disposal, in fact, actually became an ancillary business undertaking. All in all, then, there were problems associated with a large-scale system of horse drawn passenger cars chat were well recognized fairly early. This didn't mean that the CCR stopped  building  horse  lines,  only  that  its management  was open  to  the  idea of finding alternative forms of power to pull its cars. As it happened, Hyde Park would become the focus of the CCR's attention.

HYDE PARK AND ITS STREETCARS

There is more co the early history of streetcars in Hyde Park than cable cars. After the Civil War,  the city's horse car lines began to look beyond Chicago's borders for their growth. On March 5, 1867,  the Chicago and Calumet Horse and Dummy Railroad Company (CCHDRC), an affiliate of the CCR, was incorporated under Illinois law to establish street rail lines for "cars drawn by horses or cars with engines attached, commonly called dummy engines, for the carrying of passengers." Its focus of service was to be the area of Cook County south of the city's border at 39th Street and ease of State Street, in short,  virtually the entire area of the Village of Hyde Park. A year later, in 1868, the Board of Supervisors for the Village of Hyde Park authorized this new CCR affiliate to lay tracks from 39th Street extending  south  from  the CCR's preexisting tracks in Chicago proper.

Implementing this resolution launched the robust

expansion of the CCR in succeeding decades.

HORSE DRAWN CARS

Hyde Park's streetcar system apparently went through two phases prior to the introduction of the cable cars. The first of these, an unexpected finding, was that horse drawn streetcars seem to have run on rails down 55th Street in Hyde Park. A map that dates from chat period (Wright: 1870) specifically identifies a horse car line running down Cottage Grove from 39th Street and then swinging around to 55th Street east to what is now Lake Park Avenue.

This is, however, the only then contemporary source found so far chat suggests that a horse-drawn streetcar rail  line ever existed  along  55th  Street. This  line would  have been pare of the  expansion  arising from that  1868  authorizing  resolution.  The  CCR  built tracks in Chicago further south primarily along Scace Street and Cottage Grove Avenue to then unstated terminal points. In ensuing years, lines were built on ocher streets both ease and west of Cottage Grove with 47th and 63rd Streets becoming the major ease/west routes to southwest Chicago. All of these new CCR streetcar  lines were powered  solely  by  horses. Thus was established the early outlines of the course public transportation  would  ultimately  cake  on  the South Side of Chicago.

THE STEAM DUMMY

The reference  to steam  driven  rail cars on city streets in the CCHDRC incorporation papers indicate chat replacing horse drawn street  cars with an alternative system of motive power was already a possibility in the minds of the CCR's management at least as early as 1867. The usefulness of steam driven technology in manufacturing and, especially, in interurban rail transport was already well established throughout  the country.  In  fact, a steam  driven streetcar is said to have operated along Broadway on Chicago's north side as early as 1864. Ac some point after 1867 the CCR  and  its affiliate decided  to introduce them in their system, not in the city itself but in and around Hyde Park. Assuming that a horse drawn line initially ran along Cottage and down 55th Street, this steam dummy would have been the second phase in the development of public streetcar transportation in the community.

While there is no question that steam driven streetcars chugged down Cottage Grove and  55th Street, there remains much that is unclear about their actual history. No picture of one, for example, has yet surfaced. The Hyde Park-Kenwood National Bank published a booklet in 1929 with a photograph purportedly that of Hyde Park's steam dummy.

Research, however, has revealed that the photograph is actually of an engine from an entirely different Chicago streetcar company. While the exact dimensions of the Cottage Grove/Hyde Park steam dummy are not known, information about similar vehicles from that period suggests what the one used in Hyde Park probably was like.

Commonly,  to  minimize  terrorizing  horses along the street, these small locomotives were built within frames chat resembled a shortened version of a regular horse drawn trailer. The car would have run on four wheels  with  probably  no more  than seven feet from the middle of the front  wheels  to  the  middle of the ones in the rear. Likely, it was operated by a two-cycle engine powered by steam from a vertical boiler heated by burning anthracite coal or coke to minimize smoke and soot. The engine carriage  was designed  ostensibly to muffle the noise of escaping steam and engine operation by means of shielding and roof top steam condensers. It was this latter characteristic, the reduction of noise, as well as the horse car appearance, that provided the  underlying  meaning  to the name  "dummy  engine,"  that  is, silent  or "dumb," as  in  "unable  to speak." These small  locomotives pulled  no more  than one or  two passenger  trailers along  the  three  miles of stronger steel track  installed on Cottage Grove from 39th Street to 55th Street  and east to Lake Park Avenue. When not in use, these engines and their trailers were probably stored in a car barn at  38th Street  and  Cottage,  adjacent  to  the stables where the  horses  were kept. It  is not  known how many steam dummies operated on the Hyde Park

line nor how their return  runs were accomplished,  that is, by reversing gears or being turned on a platform.

Also in question is the date when steam dummies were actually introduced into Hyde Park. Block (1977) offers the date of 1869 for that event and cites as her source Pierce (1940). Pierce, in tutn, makes reference only to the governing legal authorizations and to Weber (1936). Weber, however, fudges on the date by noting those 1868 actions by the Village Board permitting the building of street rails in Hyde Park but not when the actual construction took place. As was earlier suggested, operating on that Cottage Grove/5 5th Street line in 1869 may have been a horse line rather than a steam dummy, two very different forms of power. At another extreme is a photograph from a 1943 collection at the Chicago Historical Society with a caption stating  that a steam driven street car began running in Hyde Park  in 1881. Indeed, a map dated 1881 in Bluestone (1991) clearly denotes a steam line running down Cottage Grove and turning east at 55th Street to Lake Park but this does not preclude the possibility that steam dummies were running there before 1881. Moreover, this would have been precisely the time that CCR officials were already planning to replace horse cars and steam dummies with cable cars. A more persuasive date emerges from an unpublished street transportation chronology developed in 193 3 now in the collection of the Chicago Transit Authority. It places the introduction of the Hyde Park steam dummy in the year 1874.

This date seems in reasonable accord with the state of Hyde Park's development and the known history of the CCR. It would also fit with the presumption that a horse car line preceded the steam dummy in time. Uncovering more substantial corroborating information in support of any one of these dates remains a challenge.

Usually overlooked in the few references  to this steam car is that of the  almost  46  miles of Chicago City Railway Company track existing in 1881, only those three miles of track along Cottage and 55th, the Hyde Park line, were used for steam driven streetcars. These steam dummies may  have  been an attempt  by the CCR to compete directly with the Illinois Central's steam  locomotives  chat  ran along  the lake. The  one-way  nickel fare for a streetcar  ride was half chat for a commute downtown from 55th Street on the Illinois Central but it  was a much slower  trip. In addition, these engines may have been considered somewhat more fitting, modern and substantial for

the prestigious community they served. Hyde Park's Trustees, recognizing the mess that accompanied horse drawn streetcars, may even have insisted  on steam power. It was also on this portion of the line that the streets were paved with granite to support the  heavier rails and engines required by the steam dummy. As a result, these were among the better-paved roads in  the city and its suburbs.

Unfortunately, street locomotives produced a good deal  more  noise  than  advertised, frightening  horses and annoying pedestrians.  Worse, for a variety of reasons, street car companies found chat these steam dummy cars proved to be no less expensive to operate than had been the horse cars. CCR managers were spurred to look at another alternative, one being developed in California. The days of the Hyde  Park steam dummy engines were numbered. The last one to run its route did so early in 1887.

THE CABLE CAR

In the early 1870s Andrew S. Halladie, a wire manufacturer  in  California,  developed  a system wherein  passenger cars ran  up and  down  the hilly streets of downtown San Francisco on rails by means of a moving cable buried under the streets. It began operations in 1873 and its success spurred further expansion there throughout the '70s. Chicago City Railway officers, alerted to that success, traveled to San Francisco in 1880 to study its cable system.

Realizing that if a system  like that could  operate on such variable terrain, it  would  probably  work especially well upon  the gentler  topography  of Chicago. They returned home and Charles B. Holmes, CCR's president, quickly obtained approval of the company's board and Chicago's city council to begin establishing  cable car  transport  along  many of the same Chicago streets on which  they  had  run  their horse cars.

Construction began in June, 1881 and by January, 1882, the CCR formally introduced cable cars into Chicago's  public  transportation  system,  the second such system in the United States. The  first  trains, usually consisting of a grip car and one or two trailers, ran on the State Street  line; a second  line was established on  Wabash  Avenue.  These  downtown cable cars traveled over a turnaround that went from State Street to Wabash Avenue via Lake Street and

Madison Street, a layout that Hilton (1954) and others have insisted first gave the "Loop" its name not, as is often assumed, the  elevated  train  loop which  came later.

The Wabash/Cottage Grove horse car line was converted  in  1882  to cable car use from Madison Street to 39th Street. In 1887, the Cottage Grove line was extended  from  39th to 67th Street and 55th Street was converted to cable use. In 1890, after the annexation of Hyde Park, the Cottage Grove cable car system was extended south to 71st Street, the building. In fact, there may have been no thought                                                  the Midway. The Hyde even given to constructing such a building in the first      Park/5 5th Street line was place. It was only after 1890 when it was clear to all       renamed the "Jackson that the Columbian Exposition would actually Park." The extended

cakeplaceinJacksonParkchatplansforthe ,lengthoftheCable

building likely were begun. The                                                                                                  Court loop proved a

building itself was almost certainly                                                          \   •                              boon in loading and

built, probably by the Illinois                                                                     '.  #>•                              unloading passengers. On

Central Railroad itself,                                                                                  \                 Chicago Day, October 9, during the year prior                                                                                1893, the day of the Fair's highest

to the Fair, that is,                                                                                             attendance, crowds of some 500,000

1892-93, when the                                                                                      people practically overwhelmed the system.

embankment and                                                                                 Many young men, dressed in suits, their heads viaducts elevating the                                         topped by bowler hats, happily climbed up on the

railroad's tracks were                                                                 roofs of the cable cars to make the trip to Jackson Park. being constructed. As a                                             Cable cars and their associated equipment were on result there was a physical                           prominent display at the World's Fair but the year

separation of the waiting                                                            1893 also marked the moment when electricity had

rooms and ticket selling sites                                                     already been recognized as a more efficient and flexible

for IC commuters and cable car                                                 form of power for street railways. Despite appearances, passengers. The great old 12th Street IC depot, now    cable was on its way out. The initial introduction of demolished, was built at the same time and the red    electricity to power Chicago's streetcars in 1893 led to brick and scone used in its construction may have been   a progressive dismantling of the cable car system chat similar to chat used in building our headquarters. The                                                                                                 finally ended in 1906. The 55th Street/Jackson Park main point here is simply chat the cable loop was not   cable line was among the lase to go having served the a result of the opening of the Fair, but the building     community for nearly twenty years. Overhead electric itself was.                          lines were installed and the cables and gears were

Probably the most vulnerable point in the cable car              removed. The cable car era ended and the era of the system was the cable itself. The CCR cable consisted trolley car line began in Hyde Park. (The "trolley" is of a hemp core, surrounded by 96 steel wires wound         the pulley attached co the pole chat touches and rolls into six strands of 16 wires each. The 1 1/4-inch chick  along the electric wire strung above the street.) Cable line, however, was subject to wear and breakage from Court kept its name and electric streetcars and trolley use, age or accident. For example, the approximate life                                                                                                 buses followed its loop well into the present century. It of the 10,856 feet long cable line along 55th Street        finally was dismantled during the urban renewal era. was 167 days. If the grip were applied incorrectly it             It should be noted that the emergence of each

could slice or dangerously damage the cable. When a                succeeding street rail technology did not immediately major problem developed in one segment of the cable, preclude the existence of the ones preceding. By 1892, the entire system of which it was a part ground to an   for instance, the year before the Fair, the CCR  had abrupt hale while repairs were made. Cables were fixed         2,611 horses, almost double the number it had in

by splices made on site or replaced entirely by splicing             1880. Only one-third of the CCR revenues, however, a new line into the existing line, running it was derived from the horse car lines, the remainder completely through the entire system and then   coming largely from its cable operations. Electric splicing together the two ends of the new line. lines, as well, were just being introduced. By 1895,

The impact of the cable car line on the economy of               Chicago's streets, particularly in the downtown area, Hyde Park was immediate. The Economist (Chicago) for      were filled with a melange of streetcars, some powered December 8, 1888 reported: "The development for        by  horses, others  by cables, and  still others  by business purposes of Fifty-Fifth Streec... has been electricity. Steam also powered trains on the suburban largely due to the cable car line... The prices for       commuter lines and, for several years during the mid- property on Fifty-Fifth have risen from $50  to $100 a     1890s, the city's elevated rail lines. This mixture was foot, and over twenty stores are in process of erection                                                                                                 finally resolved in favor of electricity as the

on the street." The street's commercial past was set for              predominant power source for streetcars by 1906 and the next sixty-five years.                          the Illinois Central commuter line, by 1926.

During the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893,                  Horses, moreover, remained a factor on Chicago's cable cars were a major source of transportation for         streets. There were an estimated 120,000 horses in millions of visitors. Cable cars offered close access to   Chicago in 1895. Though fading rapidly from use

the Fair'sentrancesat57thStreetand,onCottage,ataftertheturnofthecenturyaspowerforcity streetcars and fire engines,  they remained important in the city's private  transportation  system well into the present  century for  recreational  use and for hauling delivery wagons. Some of our readers may still remember the horse drawn wagons in Hyde Park that delivered ice and fresh vegetables  to people's homes. A painting at our headquarters portrays an old horse drawn milk wagon that once operated in Hyde Park. The wagon stood abandoned for many  years east of the IC tracks at 57ch Street.

IN CLOSING

While the street cable car today is often  viewed merely as a quaint relic of the past, the scuff of charm bracelets,  toys, advertising  gimmicks  and  assorted other memorabilia usually associated with  San Francisco, it has a quite legitimate and notable role in American, Chicago and, certainly, Hyde Park history. The story of the cable car in Chicago is most obviously tied to the evolution of public transportation and residential, industrial and commercial development  in the city, in general, and to Hyde Park and its nearby suburban  neighbors,  in  particular,  both  before and after annexation. Moreover, it  provided  the public access to the South Park system and  may  well  have been a factor in establishing some of its boundaries. In essence, the horse-drawn and later the cable car performed the same function for these areas that the Illinois Central Railroad commuter line had played initially in the emergence of Hyde  Park.  Indeed, together the two spurred the growth of Hyde Park

and the South Side generally throughout that century and beyond.

Chicago has often been referred to as a city of neighborhoods. In earlier periods in Chicago's history, one of the things that  helped  define chose neighborhoods was the streetcar lines. The unintended effect, however, was,  to a certain  degree,  their influence on the emergence and reinforcement of artificial social, ethnic and racial boundaries.  The "other" side of the tracks was given a new, big city twist that could  evoke  social  conflict,  at  times  bitter or even violent. On the ocher hand, the elaboration  of the public transportation system opened up to Chicagoans new opportunities not only for better physical mobility but also for enhanced residential, investment, employment and recreational  choices as well.

The extension of public street and rail transportation in and around Hyde Park had an impact on the question of the annexation of Hyde Park to Chicago. It had the effect of drawing Hyde Park and its population closer to Chicago, both in a temporal and economic sense, while at the same time enabling the emergence of multiple centers of political, social and economic interests outside of Hyde Park Center. Each new line established,  each new set of tracks laid, was yet another direct link between the city and villagers of Greater Hyde Park.

The political power that had been wielded by the pioneers in Hyde  Park  Center  (who opposed annexation) was diluted in the face of population increases and the emergence of new and powerful economic and political  interests elsewhere  in  the suburb.  As a  result, annexation  proponents  would claim that  the old  style of governance was outmoded and simply inadequate to the new situation.  One may also speculate that the concentration of more advanced street transport in che northern section of Hyde Park contributed to a sense of deprivation expressed by citizens in the southern portions of the village. It is no surprise that when the annexation question  was put  to the voters of Hyde Park Village in 1887 and 1889, the voting majority chat decided the issue in favor of annexation came  largely  from  the wards  outside  the old center of Hyde Park.

The cable car waiting room on Lake Park apparently directly served the transit system for less than a decade, perhaps as few as five years, if our correspondents' date for its conversion into a lunch room, 1898, is correct. The months of the Fair, then, would have been the peak period of its connections to the cable cars. In that sense, the building is a genuine artifact of both the Columbian Exposition and of the Cable Car era.

The building was located near the Illinois Central stops at 55th and  57th  Streets,  the Cable Court streetcars and the hotels and small shops along  Lake Park and 55th and 57th Streets, all of which generated considerable sidewalk  traffic.  This location  provided the logic for its  more  than  half-century  of existence as a lunch room. It became a working man's cafe  that served  large  portions  to customers at a reasonable price.  The demise  of  the  building's  use as a lunch room probably  was as much a function  of residential and commercial changes occurring in Hyde Park as it was sheer obsolescence of the facility as an eatery.

Ownership of the building remained with the Illinois Central Railroad until it was sold to our Society in 1977.

There is something wonderfully resonant, perhaps

even ironic, that this working man's building has become the home of an historical society for a community driven by issues and conflicts generated both by elitist aspirations and social diversity. This same transaction, however, has practical consequences in the present as our Society seeks to respond effectively to the reality and complexity of our community's history.

Finally, assembly lines were offshoots of cable car technology as are ski lifts. A less obvious connection can be drawn between cable cars and another then contemporaneous technological development: the elevator. They had similar components such as cables, pulleys, gears, and rails and, originally, both were run by steam powered engines. The cable car operated horizontally while the elevator ran vertically.

Although cable driven street cars disappeared as a major urban transportation system, the related technology embodied by the elevator continued to power and be shaped by the emergence of new techniques for the construction of taller buildings for offices, commerce and residential living. The skyscraper, in general, and, particularly in HydePark, the large apartment hotel, were two of its results... but that is another story.

Steve Treffman is our Society's archivist and is preparing another exhibition on Hyde Park's hotels for display at 01,r headquarters later this year.

Thanks to the staff from the Chicago Transit Authority for its assistance.

Selected Sources:

Jean Block, Hyde Park Houses, (Chicago, 1977). Daniel

M. Bluestone, Constructing  Chicago, (New Haven, 1991). George W.  Hilton, "Cable  Railways  of Chicago," Bulletin Number 10, (Chicago:  Electric Railway Historical Society, 1954). George W. Hilton, The Cable Car in America, (San Diego, 1982). James D. Johnson, A Century of Chicago Streetcars, 1858-1958, (Wheaton, Illinois, 1964). Alan  R.  Lind, Chicago Surface Lines: An Illmtrated History, 3rd edition, (Park Forest, Illinois, 1986).  Milo  Roy  Maltbie,  ed. The Street Railways of Chicago, (Chicago, 1901). John A. Miller, Fares Please/, (New York, 1941). Samuel W. Norton, Chicago Traction: A History Legislative and Political, (Chicago, 1907). Bessie Louise Pierce, A History of Chicago, Vol. 2, (New York, 1940). Frank Rowsome, Jr., Trolley Car Treasury, (New York, 1956). Harry Perkins Weber, comp., Outline History of Chicago Traction, (Chicago,  1936). John  H. White, Jr.,  "Steam in the Streets: The  Grice and  Long Dummy," Technology and Cttlture Vol. 27 (1986), pp. 106-9. John

S. Wright, Chicago: Past, Present, Future, (Chicago: Board of Trade: 1868, Second edition, 1870).

Letter to the Editor

To Whom It May Concern:

In 1898, our grandfather, Turney Keller, opened the "Lunchroom" at 5529 Lake Avenue, which is now the Hyde Park Historical Society. (Ed. note: Lake Avenue was renamed Lake Park Avenue on April 14,  1913.) With the help of his two sons, Hosey (Harvey) and Charles Keller, the restaurant was continuously in operation until  1952. (Ed.  note: One  of  the interviewees for the earlier articles thought that the restaurant had changed hands in 1948.)

Our grandfather with the help of his sons, leased the building for the entire time. We have no idea how much money was involved. He did have an accident on a trolley losing one arm, not two legs. (Ed. note: One of our correspondents in our earlier article had speculated that the IC had leased the building to Mr. Keller at no cost because he had lost two legs in a railroad accident.)

Before 1898, the building was used as a warming house for trolley personnel. The men gathered around the old pot belly stove and, we're sure, told some great stories. The notion that some food could be served came to our grandfather in 1898.

When our grandfather died in 1922, the  boys, known as the Keller Brothers, took over the "Lunchroom." Their wives, Louetta and Marsha, also worked in the restaurant.

At the crack of dawn, breakfast was served. We can still remember the many aromas of home cooking.

Bacon and eggs and oatmeal in the morning and if you looked at the wall one could see the specials for lunch, such as vegetable soup and meat loaf. There were no printed menus. The clientele  was an  integrated  mixture of working  males in  Hyde  Park. The  counter  was  in two sections seating about twelve.

Our families spent many long hours making the "Lunchroom" very successful. The information above is correct according to documented papers from this time period. We have included various pictures for a visual remembrance of the times.

Sincerely,

Mary Bell Keller Johnson and Judy Keller Levantino

Ms. Johnson, the daughter of Harvey Ketler, in a phone interview, told us that the lunch room was closed evenings and on Sundays. She herself was born at her family's residence on the 54th block of Harper Avenue. Turney's family was Christian Scientist and probably was a member of the 10th Church of Christ Scientist at 57th and Blackstone, now the vacant St. Stephen's Church. Ms. Levantino, her cousin, is the daughter of Charles Ketler. -S.A.T.

PROPRIETORS OF THE "LUNCH ROOM" AT 5529 S. LAKE PARK AVENUE

Postcard view c.1915 from the Keller family collection.

From left: Turney Keller and his two sons Charles, and Hosey (Harvey), the eldest of the two. Note the wooden plank sidewalk in front of the building. Turney lost his left arm in a trolley accident. Members of the family are buried in Oakwoods Cemetery.

This Newsletter is published by the Hyde Park Historical Society, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1975 to record, preserve, and promote public interest in the history of Hyde Park. Its headquarters, located in an 1893 restored cable car station at 5529 South Lake Park Avenue, houses local exhibits. It is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 until 4pm.

Telephone: HYJ-1893

President..... Alice Schlessinger

Editor......... Theresa McDermott

Designer..... Nickie Sage McDermott

Regular membership: $15 per year, contributor: $25, sponsor: $50, benefactor: $100

Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2000
The Big Wheel

The Society is delighted to Present this wonderful description of the Life and Death of Chicago's great Ferris Wheel of 1893. It u'as written by Patrick Meehan in 1964 u'hile he was a 4th year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of British Columbia. His paper was published at that time in The UBC Engineer and u'as discoveredfor us by our late member and insightful writer, Jim Stronks.

We have recently tracked down Mr. Meehan u'ho writes from Vancouver:

"I had written the article as much to draw attention to the existence of engineering history as to fulfill a course requirement, and since I had been the Editor of the The UBC Engineer the Previous year, I had arranged that it would be published... What may interest you is the original of the profile and elevation of the Wheel; I drew that from scratch to scale—note the six foot man beside the tower leg!"

BY PATRICK MEEHAN

In 1890, the U.S. Congress decided that the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America should be centered in Chicago, and accordingly, on April 9, the State of Illinois licensed the corporation known as the World's Columbian Exposition to prepare this great event. The Corporation's directors, in October, 1890, appointed the rising architect, Daniel H. Burnham wanted. Something novel, original, daring and unique must be designed and built if American engineers were to retain their prestige and standing.

Seated in the audience was a tall, slight young engineer with a pale, resolute face. This was George Washington Gale Ferris, at that time the senior partner in a firm specializing in building steel bridges. Thirty-two years old, he had been educated at the California Military Academy and Rensseler Polytechnic Institute, where he received an engineering degree in 1881. For several years, he had worked on railroads and mining ventures and was one of the first to make a profession of testing materials and structures.

The popular story is that Ferris designed the wheel while at dinner with friends in a Chicago restaurant and that it was built without a change being made to this original sketch. There is some evidence, however, that he had designed the Wheel five or six years prior to the Exposition and it is possible that he chose a quiet moment after dinner to reveal these plans.

Ferris decided that this was the proper time and the opportunity he had been looking for to build his Great Wheel and he at once set about this monumental task.

Construction Chief, and delegated to him autocratic powers. Burnham, architect of the first 'skyscrapers", was a good bet to score a smashing success, both for the Exposition and for himself. At this early stage, he was chiefly concerned at the lack of participation by America's civil engineers.

Seeking to stir them into action, he arranged to speak before the "Saturday Afternoon Club," an informal group of architects and engineers who were interested in the Fair. Their gatherings had served as a sort of public opinion poll on many of the architectural and engineering structures of the Exposition.

Burnham's speech was cleverly contrived to produce immediate reaction: he asserted that the architects of America had covered themselves with glory and enduring fame by their artistic skill and original designs for mammoth buildings, while the civil engineers had contributed very little or nothing in the way of originating novel features or of demonstrating the possibilities of modern engineering practices in America. He called on them to provide some distinctive feature, something to fill the relative position in the World's Columbian Exposition that was filled by the 984 foot Eiffel Tower at the Paris Exposition in 1889. It was immediately proposed to build a feet higher than

Eiffel's, but since this would be playing second fiddle to Eiffel's genius, this idea was dismissed. Mere bigness was not what was a monumental task.

1. Getting the Concession

Designing the Wheel was no easy task, even for experienced engineers. Stresses for such a structure had never been determined ... so the theory of design had to be derived from first principles. Difficulties were also met in obtaining financing ... for in 1892, the country was in the midst of a severe depression... but Ferris's quiet yet enthusiastic manner inspired confidence and the Ferris Wheel Company was eventually capitalized at $600,000.

Armed with completed plans and guaranteed financing, Ferris approached the Columbian

Exposition's Ways and Means Committee in the spring of 1892. His ideas were treated as those of a lunatic... and he became known as "The Man with Wheels in his Head." The engineers and architects of the Saturday Afternoon Club believed he was making a fool of himself as they loudly proclaimed that his wheel could not be built or, if it could, it could not be operated. But Ferris persisted and after much effort, the Committee granted him a concession to build the Wheel, not in

Jackson Park, the main grounds, but in Central Avenue on the Midway. By the terms of this concession, granted December 16, 1892, The Ferris Wheel Company was to retain $300,000 received from the sale of// tickets, after which one-half of

// the gross receipts were to be paid to the Exposition.

Il. Building the Wheel

By the time the concession was granted it was midwinter—only four months until the opening of the Exposition. Since no single shop could begin to do all the work, contracts were let to several different firms, each chosen for its ability to do the particular job entrusted to it. Great precision was required as few of the parts could be assembled until they were on site. Ferris called on Luther Rice, also only thirty-two ( as was Ferris) and only three years out of Engineering School, to become Construction Chief of the project. The foundation work was proceeding slowly in the face of the most severe winter that Chicago had experienced in many years. The frost at the Wheel site was three feet deep and was underlain by twenty feet of saturated sand, which could, when disturbed by construction activities or vibration, suddenly behave

like the proverbial quicksand. Pumps were kept running day and night...live steam was piped in to thaw the frozen sand and later to keep the concrete from freezing before it had set. Piles were driven a further 32 feet... to hardpan and upon steel beams resting on these piles were placed the eight monolithic reinforced concrete and masonry piers —20 by 20 by 35 feet—which were to support the towers which in turn would support the axle.

On March 18, 1893, the 89,320 pound axle, forged in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company, arrived in Chicago... the largest hollow forging in the world at the time, it was 45 1/2 feet long, 33 inches in diameter... Four and one-half feet from each end it carried two 16 foot diameter cast-iron spiders weighing 53,031 pounds. On March 2(), placing of the first tower post was completed... shortly after came the problem of raising the axle. In an amazingly short two hours, the immense axle assembly was hoisted to the top of the 140 feet high towers and placed neatly in its sturdy pillow blocks.

Next came the assembly of the actual wheel—a very involved process. Meanwhile, the power plant was being constructed over 700 feet away and completely outside the grounds. Ten inch steam pipes fed two I hp reversible engines—one to be used for driving the wheel and the second being held in readiness as an emergency reserve. A Westinghouse air brake was used to control the Wheel and to hold it motionless when desired.

The Columbian Exposition opened on May l , 1893, while the steelworkers barely paused to watch, high on the growing Wheel. By June 9, the Wheel, as yet without cars, was ready for a trial run. At six o'clock in the evening with trusted men stationed at various points, Rice ordered the steam turned on. Slowly, without a creak or groan and only the soft clink of the chain, the great wheel began to turn... in twenty minutes, it had completed one revolution. When he got the word, Ferris, who was in Pittsburgh at the time, immediately ordered the 36 cars hung.

Visitors and participants at the Exposition had viewed the Wheel as an enigma, but the sight of it moving slowly on that summer evening galvanized them into action... from all sides crowds formed, shouting , gesturing... On June 10, one car was hung; by June 13, twenty more had been added and the offices and loading platforms practically completed.

The cars were 24 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 10 feet high, and weighed 26,000 pounds. Each car carried fancy twisted wire chairs for 38 of the 60 passengers. The five large plate glass windows on each side were fitted with heavy screens and the doors at each end were provided with secure locks...firefighting equipment was carried as a safeguard...Six platforms were arranged to speed loading and unloading, with a guard at each to signal the operator when his car was filled and locked. Conductors rode in each car to answer patrons' questions or, if necessary, to calm their fears.

On June 11 , with six cars hung, Daniel Burnham arrived to take a trial trip and Margaret Ferris, who had often given words of encouragement to workers on the Wheel, also went along—the Wheel's first woman passenger. At six o'clock on June 13, Rice held a trial trip for the local press who were very enthusiastic in their praise... correspondents, particularly those from foreign countries, began making repeated requests for drawings and data, but Ferris appears to have been very reticent about releasing details. As a consequence,

no copies of the original plans or calculations have survived.

Ill. The Grand Opening and Successful Run

June 21st dawned clear and bright, and for a little while, it seemed to the men who had labored so tirelessly, that the sun rising over Lake Michigan was rotating around the axle of their Wheel. Important investors and various dignitaries dressed in their Sunday best, were gathered about. On the speakers' platform were the officers of the company and other important persons. The last speaker was Ferris. In this moment of triumph, his happily framed speech drew attention to the fact that he "had gotten the wheels out of his head and made them a living reality." The final success he attributed to his wife, Margaret, who had encouraged and comforted him in the most difficult times. In conclusion, he dedicated his work to the engineers of America. Mrs. Ferris handed him a golden whistle which he blew as the signal to start up the Wheel. The Iowa State Band struck up "America" and to the cheers of the assembled thousands, the Great Wheel slowly and majestically revolved, towering above them in its magnificence.

The Wheel was opened to the public and ran without the slightest difficulty until November 6, 1893. A trip consisted of one revolution, during which six stops were made for loading, followed by one nine-minute, nonstop revolution.

On a clear day, patrons could not only see the Fairgrounds and City, but miles out onto the lake and the surrounding states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. Attendance on dark smoky days was nearly as heavy as on good days, so it seems the Wheel itself was more of an attraction than the unprecedented view it offered. 3000 of Edison's new incandescent light bulbs were mounted on the Wheel and made it a dazzling sight as they blinked on and off.

Of course, it attracted sensationalists, such as several couples who wished to be married in the highest car. Two couples went so far as to have their invitations printed, inviting their friends to see them married on the Ferris Wheel, but since the Company was not seeking notoriety, they were forced to be content with a

ceremony performed in the Company's offices.

False stories appeared in the newspapers too, such as that of the pug dog leaping to his death through an open window or the story that the Wheel was stopped for some hours with a number of people in the upper cars. The wheel experienced four months of trouble-free operation, accompanied only by the clink of the driving chain and an occasional exuberant whistle blast from the engine crew. The Wheel weighed 2,079,884 pounds and when carrying the maximum live load of 2,160 passengers weighing, say, 140 pounds each, the total weight in

Entrance to the cars (promotional booklet, 1893)

motion would have been 2,382, 244 pounds or 1,191 tons. The capacity of the Wheel was never taxed, even on Chicago Day, when there were 34,433 paid admissions... The supper hour was heaviest during the summer months but in the fall, as many people were carried in the early morning as in the late afternoon.

By November 6th,      paid admissions had been received with possibly a thousand or more free trips having been given to various important people. The gross earnings were $726,805, of which $513,403 was retained by the company, giving them a profit of $395,000.

IV. The Ferris Wheel Park Fiasco

Though the Exposition closed on November 1, 1893, the Wheel stood idle on the Midway until April 29, 1894, when a new site was found. It took 86 days and cost $14,833 to dismantle it. In July, 1895, re-erection was begun and the Wheel was ready for service by October. The new site, adjacent to Lincoln Park, was only 20 minutes from the city's principal hotels and railway stations and the Directors sold bonds hoping to landscape the grounds, build a restaurant, a band shell, a Vaudeville theater, to paint the Wheel and Cars.. It is doubtful if many of these improvements were made... the company began to lose money rapidly, as patrons failed to materialize.

Shortly after the bonds were placed on sale, George Washington Gale Ferris, age 37 years, died of tuberculosis on November 22, 1896.

On June 3, 1903, the Chicago Tribune reported:

FERRIS WHEEL LIVES ANEW

Though sold as junk it will revolve again

        Brings $1800 at receiver's sale. Attorney    

and then there are 2000 pounds of steel."

"Yes, but just think! It's going to cost us $30,000 to take the wheel down." replied Seligman.

"What wi l l we do with al l that $1800?" exclaimed Receiver Rice, whose grief was melting away in the humor of the situation.

"Well, I ' I l tell you, responded Attorney Seligman. " I ' l l call a stockholders' meeting, apply the sum on the indebtedness and declare a dividend." Then the party fi led out of the courtroom with Mr. Seligman in the lead.

Seligman representing buyers of Old Truck, being the successful bidder.  V. The Last Days

Some months after the sale, crews of workmen began

Debts of $400,000 outstanding dismantling the Wheel for shipment to St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. NinetyThere is an opening in Chicago f6r a bright five men spent 72 days building the falsework towers young executioner who will undertake to put the and taking down the wheel ...by July, 1904, the Ferris Wheel out of existence and dispose of the                     Wheel was in operation in St. Louis.

remains. Experience in the destruction of cars is Nothing is known about the profits made during considered requisite. the Exposition, but it is probable they were not as

For yesterday the Ferris wheel turned up with a great as they were expected to be. The company's new life—the ninth and last, it is declared, failure to remove the Wheel after the close of the fair though this is by no means certain. The wheel brought complaints from many who considered it to passed under the hammer for $ 1800, and be an eyesore. Again in neglect, the Wheel's end came thereby sank into the category of junk. on the morning of May I l, 1906.

Once the incarnation of a wondrous feat of engineering, the old World's Fair relic now seems From the Chicago Tribune: to be inevitably approaching the final dissolution which has threatened it periodically for ten years... FERRIS WHEEL IS BLOWN UP

A wrecking company has agreed to remove the Blown to pieces by a monster charge of structure. Immediately? O not they—in five dynam ite, the Ferris wheel came to an months. Sentimental persons who would drop a ignominious end yesterday at St. Louis, after a tear for the passing of the wheel, and other citizens varied career of thirteen years. At its ending it who have procrastinated the adventure of a run was unwept and unsung. The Wheel first was a about its axle may take heart. It is understood that treasure of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. rural excursionists in search of thrills may still be Then for a long period of monumental and accommodated if they can guarantee 30 cents in unprofitable inactivity, it towered in an receipts and wait for the engineer to get up steam. amusement park at North Clark Street and The auction was a touching scene, marked Wrightwood Avenue. It finally was removed to St. with the usual reminiscences of past glory. The Louis to form for the second time the huge chief mourner appeared in the person of Receiver mechanical marvel of a great exposition.

Rice. The judge called for a bid from anyone The old wheel, which had become St. Louis' present... a representative of the Chicago House white elephant died hard. It required 200 Wrecking Company, after glancing all about, pounds of dynamite to put it out of business. The offered $800, bidding in cautious tones as if first charge... wrecked its foundation and the awed by his own temerity. wheel dropped to the ground.. as it settled it There was another long silence and then a voice: slowly turned, and then, after tottering a moment "I'll bid $1800. "It was Attorney H. M. Seligman, like a huge giant in distress, it collapsed slowly. representing a junk firm... and the judge declared It did not fall to one side, as the wreckers had the wheel "going, going, once, twice—gone, and planned... it merely crumpled up slowly. Within a sold to the gentleman on the right." few minutes it was a tangled mass of steel and Receiver Rice drew a long face and exclaimed: iron thirty or forty feet high.

"It's a shame, a terrible shame! Why, that engine The huge axle, weighing 45 tons, dropped alone is worth $10,000, and the boilers $7000, slowly with the remnants of the wheel, crushing the smaller braces and steel framework. When the mass stopped settling it bore no resemblance to the wheel which was so familiar to Chicago and St. Louis and to 2,500,000 amusement seekers from all over the world, who, in the days when it was in operation, made the trip to the top.

Newsletters 1999

Winter 1998-1999

Spring/Summer 1999

Winter 1999-2000

Volume 20, Number 4 1998-1999 Edition

Hyde Park Houses: An Enduring Gift Twenty Years Later from Jean F Block

Written by Steven Treffman

Twenty years have passed since The University of Chicago Press published the lace Jean Friedberg Block's groundbreaking Hyde Park Houses: An

Informal History, 1856-1910 in the Fall of 1978. It is as

well, the tenth  anniversary  of her death.This presents an opportunity to look back at the significance of this book and at Jean Block's life.

When introduced to the public, Hyde Park  Houses was characterized by its publisher, on one hand, as a "detailed architectural history of Hyde Park's first fifty years"  and, on  the other, as "a charming  and informative  guide to  the  historical  domestic architecture of one of Chicago's oldest

neighborhoods." Thar these are not guire the same things may have reflected some difficulty on the part of this world-class academic press about just how to characterize the book. In fact, it was the first book of its type ever published by the UC Press. The book consists of four distinct sections: first, a general history, with illustrations and maps, of the development and evolution of nineteenth century Hyde Park-Kenwood; second, photographs by Samuel W. Block Jr. of seventy-six houses as they appeared in 1978, accompanied by a contemporary map showing their locations; third, in an appendix, biographical notes on more than forty architects along with listings of their Hyde Park buildings; and fourth, in a second appendix, a checklist of over nine hundred dwellings in Hyde Park and, where known, their architects and the names and occupations of their original owners organized by streets and street numbers. The book concludes with a bibliographic essay that reflects the wide and unusual range of sources she used and remains instructive to this day.

The book, which had a printing of 10,000 copies, was well-received and found wide distribution.

Currently it may  be found in at  lease fifty-five academic,  state, and  municipal  libraries in  Illinois alone and may be found in many major libraries throughout the United States. Several  years ago, the Hyde  Park  Historical  Society gave copies of the  book to  public schools  in the community  and  also maintains a copy in its headguarcer's library. The Blackstone Library catalog lists eight copies in  its collection  and The University of Chicago's Regenstein Library has copies at several locations.

As a guide to histori chomes in Hyde Park and Kenwood, it was to  many a revelation  of the  rich and accessible architectural history chat existed throughout  the community.  There simply  had  never been any publication on Hyde Park quire like it before. Familiar old houses now  had  names and daces attached to chem: they had  their own  histories.  In addition, for the first time and for an audience beyond  local boundaries, a general history of Hyde Park now existed that provided a narrative context not only co the houses but to the community  in which  they stood. It is chat which transformed Hyde Park Houses from what might otherwise have been viewed only as a guidebook into something more substantial and, as well, historic in its own right.

The publication of Hyde Park Houses in 1978 may be

viewed something of an unofficial proclamation of the end of the great period of urban renewal in Hyde Park. Beginning around 1950, local forces frorri religious institutions, The University of Chicago, community

•         organizations and  political  activists drew  together  co hale the physical deterioration of  the  community's housing  stock,  revitalize  its  infrastructure and  establish a more inclusive and constructive social situation.  The long years of economic depression and  war had stifled new construction in Hyde Park and a combination of housing shortages, social conflict, discrimination, and population changes appeared co threaten the viability of the entire community. The result, funded in  part  by federal grants,  was  the  demolition,  during  the  1950s and 1960s, of large areas of residential and commercial property  in  Hyde  Park and, perhaps  co a somewhat lesser extent, in Kenwood.

Visitors  to  our exhibition of Vi Fogel Uretz' paintings and her slide presentations on urban renewal in Hyde Park at our headquarters  in  the  1995-96 season could only marvel at the images of sheer physical destruction that she recorded. It was almost as if the ravages of war in distant lands chat had been seen only in newsreels and magazines had somehow, incredibly, been visited upon Hyde Park. While the resulting new development was lauded nationally as a remarkable achievement in urban revitalization through federal and local partnership, the human impact was substantial.

Several hundred small businesses were affected. Many of

them simply closed while ochers scrambled to find new locations in Hyde Park or left the community. Some residents, by choice or by circumstance, found homes elsewhere in Chicago or fled the city entirely and moved co the suburbs.

Forthose HydeParkerswho remained,thoughbuoyedbyhope, idealismand determination, as thesmall shops, grocery stores,restaurants,houses,hotels,apartmentbuildings,houses of worship,theaters,gasstations and garages, eventhepost office andthepolicestationthathadbeen so much a partof thelandscape oftheirlivesdisappeared;theywereleftonlywith memories of what  had  been. Whether  or nor one favored the course and effects of urban renewal, the changes it wrought were, for many people, undeniably painful and, for some, accompanied by a sense of loss chat only mellowed over the years. It is no surprise chat Vi  Urecz'  talks in  1995 and  1996 were  to standing room crowds.

What Jean's book did, in effect, was to celebrate chat portion of Hyde Park-Kenwood that had survived the tumult. That success could  be attributed  co  the combined  efforts  of a  range of community  institutions, a mobilized citizenry, enlightened  political  leadership and investments of large amounts of time, effort and, especially, money, government and private, in the community.   Although  Jean  alludes only  briefly  to these developments in the preface, an important aspect of the philosophy that propelled Hyde Park's urban renewal effort does make its way into the text. At one point, in describing the emergence of activist

community organizations at the turn of the century, she writes (page 70): "Protection, improvement, betterment-the words imply that the community was less than perfect, and yet they also carry with them the implication that its citizens believed in their own power co affect the physical and moral conditions of life." That underlying subtext, the connection between the long-past and the then-immediate past, spoke co anyone familiar with--or who had lived through­ Hyde Park history during the third quarter of this century.

Also reflected in the book was the emergence of new attitudes regarding the preservation of older buildings. During the most  intense period  of urban  renewal, postwar  modernism   dominated  new  construction design and older buildings were either physically eliminated or cast  almost  into a fashion  shadow.  In time, however, the idea of respecting and rehabilitating older housing designs and forms became a compelling value in the minds of many residents and homebuyers. Older  homes and  apartment  buildings,  they  decided, had an aura and meaning worth nurturing. While this development  was  not  unique  to Hyde  Park-Kenwood, of course, Hyde Parkers were among chose who played pioneering roles in that process here in Chicago.

Recently, a letter  from  long-time  Hyde  Parker Richard Orlikoff appeared in our local newspaper, The Herald (December 9, 1998). In the letter, he claims that the oft-quoted comment about Hyde Park and urban renewal that entertainers Elaine May and Mike Nichols made famous, originally had been his: "Here we stand, black and white, shoulder to shoulder against the poor." Oversimplification  or  not,  the  line  reminds  us  that there were winners and losers in the urban renewal process. It does not at all detract from  the achievement that Hyde Park Houses represents to note that the houses chat appear within it belonged co many of the winners.

Houses and the HPHS

The idea of a local historical society was not new in Hyde Park but Jean's book played a role in helping to actually establish one. The  Old  Settler's Club existed for awhile in the early part of this century, apparently until the old settlers were no more. In 1939, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the annexation of Hyde Park to Chicago, Paul Cornell's niece, Alice Manning Dickey, an active participant in the event, publicly urged establishment of an historical society in the community. World War II and its concerns intervened, however, and the proposal did not progress. The vision was reborn, however, in the mid-1970s by resident Clyde Watkins who engaged Jean and Muriel Beadle in the project at its very earliest stages and then drew other prominent and committed residents into the planning and fundraising that led to t'he founding in 1977 of the Hyde Park Historical Society and its installation in our current headquarters on Lake Park Avenue.

Aside from Jean's personal involvement with the

HPHS, her book presented the tableau of a community whose history was worth remembering  and, thus, bolstered the attempt to do so through an actual organization. Sensing the legitimacy and impetus  the book would provide their organizing efforts, writers in early issues of the Society's newsletter expressed eager anticipation of the book's publication. After it appeared, the book quickly became the standard history of early Hyde Park and  the starting  point  for anyone  interested in studying the development of the community. The society stocked copies for sale to the public. Finally, and this cannot be overstated, the essential work that Jean Block did  to produce her book  made it  possible for others not only to expand upon what she found but to strike out into other areas of research.

If Hyde Park Houses hadn't been written, we might still be bogged down in trying to uncover  and connect the materials and details Jean spent at least three years of her life determinedly cracking down. There are local historical societies and community groups elsewhere, both near and distant from Hyde Park, caught  in precisely that situation today.

Beyond the local community, Hyde Park Houses found its place in very respectable company. In the book's introduction, the distinguished historian Kenneth T. Jackson placed it within "the new urban history," a still emerging body of literature chat examines local or neighborhood history as a way to  understand  or illuminate larger issues in the development of

America's cities. The book appeared at a time when "documenting the built environment" was a clarion call among preservatists. Jean was conducting research that almost directly responded to needs articulated in such prominent publications as, for instance, The  National Trust for Historical Preservation's America's Forgotten Architecture (New York, 1976). Since then, Hyde Park Houses has earned its way into the footnotes and bibliographies of a wide range of books and articles published by writers not only on local  history  but, as well, on various aspects of architectural, Chicago, and general  urban  history.  Indeed,  its  seeming awkwardness,  that segmentation  of its  parts, has provided hooks for researchers coming at topics from varying angles and allowed them to use the book in different ways. This book which, Jackson noted, used "neither  the methodology  nor  the  jargon  of the academic profession" (something that troubled some professors on  the Press' editorial  board),  has, nonetheless,  served   that   profession-and  other intelligent readers-well.

Hyde  Park-Kenwood   is  not  an  ancestor-worshipping  community.   When  I  began  to  look  into  its  past, I  found  few  letters,  diaries,  or  books  annotating  or  commemorating  it.  Its  first  public  buildings-the town hall, the churches, the public school, the original  Illinois  Central  stations-have  long  since disappeared. But we  do have  the  houses.  They  are the  material  remains  of  the  early  culture  of  the first  fifty  years ...  They  are  the  tale  and  signature  of  the   past,  unwittingly  bequeathed  by  their owners and builders.                                                                                          Jean Block, in her preface to Hyde Park Houses

Who Was Jean Block?

Jean was identified in the book and accompanying promotional materials only as the president of Midway Editorial Research and a lifelong resident of Hyde Park. Samuel W. BlockJr., the  book's contributing photographer,  receives  only an expression  of gratitude for his photographs in Jean's preface, but no direct information about him appears anywhere in the text, on the flyleaf or on any of the promotional material. How much of this reflected Jean's choice or a university publisher's uncertainty about how to present a non­ academic author, an independent scholar, is difficult to assess. Looking back, however, one can only conclude that it was hardly adequate.

The inner workings  of  much  of Hyde  Park's  history is women's history in the sense of the leadership, service and commitment women have given to o'ur local educational, charitable, religious, cultural, recreational, business and political history. A major problem in recalling women's history, however, is that so much of it has tended to be carried out quietly, unrecognized, unrecorded and neglected. One of Jean's important contributions in Hyde Park  Houses  is her documentation of some of the social and cultural activities that women organized and sustained in early Hyde Park-Kenwood history.

Jean Block's life, a life of service,  was part  of  this local history and she was active in a variety of community organizations. She was a board member  of The University of Chicago Laboratory School's Parents Association, serving a term  as its  president, and  co­ edited  its newsletter  with  Ruth  Grodzin. She  was one the voices in favor of greater democratization within the University  Colony  Club and  actively  supported  the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, the Fortnightly Club and International House. She volunteered as a research associate at Regenstein Library. Already noted was her role in the founding of the Hyde Park Historical

Society and its early success. She served not only as one of our early presidents but also organized  our archives and negotiated its home at Regenstein Library. She was also a member of K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation.

Since Jean has been described as a more behind the scenes type of person, the full extent of her community involvement-her public life, aside from her publications-has been difficult  to document  and  is here almost certainly incompletely reported. That is a problem not just in Jean's case but, as well, for  many other women throughout this community's history who have found or created roles for themselves in the community beyond the family. In  that process they have devoted much of their lives to giving texture to our community's history, articulating its moral and ethical issues, and making this neighborhood, through all its years and its changes, a better and more vibrant place in which to live. Rendering that history remains a challenge.

It is instructive to examine Jean Block's life and

family history, not only because it provides some background about her but also because it has a rough similarity to  the stories  of other accomplished  Hyde Park families. There is inspiration, too, because, as one soon learns, Jean was a very sturdy human being. Jean's grandfather on her father's side, Cass Friedberg (1848- 1924), came  to Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania  from Kovnos,  Lithuania  in  1861 at  the age of 13.  He outfitted himself as a peddler and worked  his way  west to Kansas. He opened a successful dry goods store in El Dorado, Kansas in the 1880s, but closed it in 1900 to become president of a wholesale bedding company in Leavenworth, Kansas. In  1875 Cass  married  Laura  Abeles (1853-1882), born in Leavenworth, Kansas to Simon and Amalia Abeles. Cass and  Laura  Friedberg  had  three children, one of whom, ultimately Jean's father, was born in 1875 in Chicago and given  the  name Selig. Later, he would take the last  name of Abraham  Lincoln's Secretary  of War as his first name, Stanton.

Simon Abeles, Jean's great-grandfather on her mother's side, was born in Bohemia in 1817. His father had been a rabbi and his mother the daughter of one.

Simon, literate  in  both  Hebrew  and German, had started out as a teacher of Hebrew and the Talmud but in  1837 found  employment  as craftman of violin strings. He decided to start life anew in  the United States, however, and immigrated to St. Louis in  1840. He ultimately settled in Leavenworth, Kansas and became a successful clothing merchant,  founder of a bank and real estate investor. He died in 1890. Stanton Freidberg, Sr., Jean's father, grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas, where his family had  returned after his birth, and attended its public  schools.  His higher education began with a year of study at the University of Michigan but, having decided to become a physician, he returned to Chicago in 1893 to attend Rush  Medical School from  which  he graduated  in 1897. He became an ear, nose and throat specialist of national reputation.  He invented  a number  of specialized instruments, one of which facilitated the extraction  of diaper pins from  infant  throats and  was the first to remove tonsils and adenoids as a measure

to cure diphtheria bacillus carriers. He served and taught at several Chicago hospitals and medical schools including German Hospital, Rush Medical College, Anna W. Durand Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital (its first Jewish physician), and Cook County Hospital. He joined the staff of the latter in 1903, became attending otolaryngologist there by civil service examination in 1906, and was, from 1913 to 1919, chief surgeon in that hospital's department. The year 1906 also marked the date of his marriage to Aline Liebman (1886-1954),  the daughter of Louis and Henrietta Liebman of Schreveport, Louisiana where her father was a prosperous merchant. They met while she was visiting relatives in Chicago.

Jean Friedberg--our Jean-was born in Chicago on June 12, 1912  to Stanton and  Aline and  was  the second of three children. She had an older brother, Stanton A.,Jr. (1908-1997), who, as an adult, also became a prominent Chicago otolaryngologist, and a younger sister, Louise Friedberg Strouse (b. 1915 ), who now lives in California.

In 1912 the family resided at 4907 S. Washington Park Court, a short street a block from Grand Boulevard, now King Drive. Dr. Friedberg served as a medical officer during World War I but only eight months after returning to Chicago to resume his practice, he died in 1920, age 45, of a mastoid infection. Jean was eight years old.

During the 1920s, Aline Friedberg and her children lived  at  5816 S. Blackstone.  Adolf  Kramer, Jean's uncle (he was married to Stanton Friedberg, Sr.'s sister Rachel) and founding partner of the real estate firm of Draper and Kramer,  provided  assistance to Aline and her three children. The children obtained  their elementary and secondary education at the Laboratory Schools of The University of Chicago. Jean graduated from Vassar College in 1934, returned to Chicago and taught at the Francis Parker School until her marriage.

On November 7, 1940, Jean married Samuel Westheimer Block, born in St. Joseph, Missouri on February 14,  1911, the son of one of the  owners of Block Brothers, a prosperous dry-goods store. Samuel had what could only be termed an elite education and prestigious career, then or now. He graduated from the Worcester (Massachusetts) Academy in 1929, obtained his A.B. from Yale University in 1933 and received

his LLB. fromHarvardUniversity's Law Schoolin1936.He cameto Chicago,was admittedto theIllinoisBar in1936 andjoineda law firmwhichevolved ultimatelyintoJennerandBlock.During World  War II,  he served as a member of the  U.S. Army, rising to the rank of captain. After the war Jean and Samuel made their home at 5719  S. Blackstone.

He became a partner in his law firm in 1948. Throughout his career Samuel was active in pro bono work, particularly in the area of civil rights. In addition to sitting on several corporate boards, he was a board member and officer of the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, the Faulkner School, and the Community Music Program, sponsors of the Merit Music program. Samuel died suddenly in 1970 at the age of 59. Jean was 58.

In the almost two decades before Hyde Park Houses

appeared, Jean labored at honing her skills as writer. Her work on the Lab School parent's  newsletter provided one such opportunity.  She also enrolled  in The University  of Chicago and,  in  1963; was awarded a master of arts degree in the  Humanities. Jean  was then 51. That same  year Jean  with  Ruth Grodzins, Ruth Goetz and Elaine Halperin, formed Midwest Editorial Research. It provided university faculty, graduate students, business and civic leaders and organizations assistance  in  editing or developing printed  materials  and speeches.  The  partnership wound down when some of the partners moved out of town  or took other  jobs. Jean  then  turned  her attention more directly to architectural research. Jean also took a course on  writing while  actually  working on Hyde Park Houses. That the book, which was published  when Jean  was 66,  is as gracefully  written as it is was not an accident.

Samuel W. Block, Jr., the photographer for  Hyde Park Houses, was the eldest of Jean and Samuel Block's three children. He was born May 2, 1943 in Dayton, Ohio, where his parents lived briefly.  As did  his younger sister, Elizabeth, and brother, Michael, he underwent his primary and secondary education at the Laboratory Schools of The University of Chicago. He received a B.A. from Knox College in 1964 and later completed a two year program in photography at Chicago's Columbia College.  Described  as brilliant even by persons not in the family, Sam was an early student of computer applications for business.  During the 1970s he was employed by a large meat refrigeration warehouse company for which he wrote a complex and pioneering spreadsheet  program  that linked financial, storage and processing variables for management and audit purposes.

Photography,though,remained Samuel'sfirst love.Hiscameraofchoicewasatripod-basedlargeformat4x5" Burke and James (Chicago) View camerathatrequiredphotographicplates(ratherthanrollfilm)andtheuse of a black clothhoodby thephotographer.AlthoughhisseeminglystraightforwardphotographsinHydeParkHousesseemintunewiththe"informal World  War II,  he served as a member of the  U.S. Army, rising to the rank of captain. After the war Jean and Samuel made their home at 5719  S. Blackstone.

He became a partner in his law firm in 1948. Throughout his career Samuel was active in pro bono work, particularly in the area of civil rights. In addition to sitting on several corporate boards, he was a board member and officer of the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, the Faulkner School, and the Community Music Program, sponsors of the Merit Music program. Samuel died suddenly in 1970 at the age of 59. Jean was 58.

In the almost two decades before Hyde Park Houses

appeared, Jean labored at honing her skills as writer. Her work on the Lab School parent's  newsletter provided one such opportunity.  She also enrolled  in The University  of Chicago and,  in  1963; was awarded a master of arts degree in the  Humanities. Jean  was then 51. That same  year Jean  with  Ruth Grodzins, Ruth Goetz and Elaine Halperin, formed Midwest Editorial Research. It provided university faculty, graduate students, business and civic leaders and organizations assistance  in  editing or developing printed  materials  and speeches.  The  partnership wound down when some of the partners moved out of town  or took other  jobs. Jean  then  turned  her attention more directly to architectural research. Jean also took a course on  writing while  actually  working on Hyde Park Houses. That the book, which was published  when Jean  was 66,  is as gracefully  written as it is was not an accident.

Samuel W. Block, Jr., the photographer for  Hyde Park Houses, was the eldest of Jean and Samuel Block's three children. He was born May 2, 1943 in Dayton, Ohio, where his parents lived briefly.  As did  his younger sister, Elizabeth, and brother, Michael, he underwent his primary and secondary education at the Laboratory Schools of The University of Chicago. He received a B.A. from Knox College in 1964 and later completed a two year program in photography at Chicago's Columbia College.  Described  as brilliant even by persons not in the family, Sam was an early student of computer applications for business.  During the 1970s he was employed by a large meat refrigeration warehouse company for which he wrote a complex and pioneering spreadsheet  program  that linked financial, storage and processing variables for management and audit purposes.

Photography,though,remained Samuel'sfirst love.Hiscameraofchoicewasatripod-basedlargeformat4x5" Burke and James (Chicago) View camerathatrequiredphotographicplates(ratherthanrollfilm)andtheuse of a black clothhoodby thephotographer.AlthoughhisseeminglystraightforwardphotographsinHydeParkHousesseemintunewiththe"informal nature of the book (e.g., some include automobiles parked on the  street), in fact, like the  rest of Jean's book, the photographs were carefully planned. Samuel and Jean selected  times of the  year when  foliage did not obscure views of the houses and natural lighting could be optimized to help strengthen the images.

During the 1970s, Samuel moved to the Near West side of Chicago where he had purchased a duplex for renovation. On  June  11, 1982, as  he  was  alighting from his automobile near his workplace on Pershing Road, he was struck by a passing car and suffered severe head injuries. He lay in a coma for weeks at The University of Chicago hospitals, his mother at his bedside every day. On August 15, he died without ever recovering consciousness. He was 39 years old. The motorist who hit him and fled was never apprehended. Jean was then age 70.

Some of Samuel's Hyde Park House photographs have

appeared in other publications. Four of them may be found in Virginia and Lee McCalester's Field Guide to American Homes (New York, 1984) and another was used for the cover of a novel published in the early 1990s. The negatives for all the House photographs are in our archives at Regenstein Library. His portraits of relatives and friends are treasured  by  their owners and a series of his photographs of old Wisconsin barns remain in demand. Two views of the family summer home in Wisconsin are still on display at the refrigeration company for which he had worked.

Again, as she had done after her husband's death, Jean found solace in work and produced   three important publications, two of them a result of her involvement as a volunteer with Regenstein Library's Special Collections Department preparing catalogs for their exhibits. The first, was The Uses of Gothic: Planning and Building the Campus of the University of Chicago 1892-1932 (1983), a now classic work which is still in print, and Eva Watson Schutze: Chicago Photo Secessionist (1985). The third, an outgrowth of some of her research for Hyde Park Houses, was a chapter entitled "Myron Hunt in the Midwest" in Jay Belloli and others, Myron Hunt 1868-1952: The Search fora Regional Architecture, (Los Angeles, 1984). Jean was 72 when Uses of the Gothic appeared. In the ensuing years Jean focussed on establishing our archives at Regenstein and planning a follow-up to Houses on apartment buildings in Hyde Park that was still in its early stages of development before her death, on June 16, 1988. She was 76.   Houses went out of print in 1993 but staff from The University of Chicago Press have told me that the press is considering reissuing it in paperback but not before the year 2000 and then only if they can figure out a financially feasible way to do it.

I regret that Jean and I became acquainted only in

the last year of her life. Despite her physical discomfort caused by illness, she graciously took  the time to walk me through the mechanics of organizing the archives and she talked a bit about Hyde Park architecture. She told me, for instance, that, as a rough rule of thumb, the presence of verandas distinguished Hyde Park's 19th Century suburban houses from those built after annexation. I used that idea in the recent exhibit on old Hyde Park hotels to suggest that one purpose of their verandas was to connect architecturally with  the older  residential  setting within which they stood. When we discovered that we were both postcard collectors, for some reason she asked if I had a card depicting  the Eleanor Club One on 59th Street, which ultimately became

Breckenridge House. I did not. About a year and half ago, going through a box of postcards at  a show, I found an Eleanor Club One view and from sight to thought only an instant passed, "Got it, Jean!"

On the north side of Regenstein Library there is a small parklike enclosure,  accessible  to  the public, which Jean's family sponsored.  On  the east  wall  there is a memorial  marker:  "This garden  honors  the memory of Jean Friedberg Block 1912-1988" and lists the library's call numbers  for her  three  books.  Her ashes were spread upon the grounds of her beloved summer home near Mill Pond, Wisconsin.

Thanks to David Aftandilian, Judith Getzels, Ruth Grodzin, Douglas Mitchell, Grace Mary Rataj, Ann Rothchild, Harold Wolff and, especially, Elizabeth Block for their assistance. Published sources include: Julia Kramer, The House on the Hill: The Story of the Abeles Family of Leavenworth, Kansas (Chicago: 1990); Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 10, nos. 3-4 (October, 1988); History of Medicine and Surgery and Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago (Chicago, 1922); Who's Who in America Vol. 34 (Chicago, 1966) and various city directories.

Steve Treffman is the Society's archivist and a contributing editor of Hyde Park History.

Volume 21, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 1999

History So Soon? Pioneer Days of the Hyde Park Historical Society

A talk given by ClydeWatkins,a founder of the Society,attheannualmeeting,February20,1999

The title of "founder" is probably undeserved, because it implies an image of some lone and far-sighted character doing things by himself.

That was never the case with us-we were a typical Hyde Park committee from the start. If the organization we celebrate was indeed my idea, I must assume that others had at least considered it long before I ever did. What spurred me to action, however, was the confluence of two forces in my life.

First, in the late 1960s after I was out of college­ and therefore it was too late to change my major one last time-I began to develop an interest  in  U.S. history, especially Chicago history, between  about 1870 and 1910. Plenty of ochers were ahead of me in that, fortunately, and there is a lot of wonderful literature, plus  many enthralling  photographs, available for study.

Second, I always had a thing about that great little building. Throughout my undergraduate years at the University, whenever I would pull an "all-nighter" in yet another vain attempt to salvage some term

paper--or worse yet, an entire course-I would inevitably end up around 6:00am savoring the 42 cent special at Steve's Lunch. (For that price you got two eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast and coffee!) I loved the building, and continued to fantasize about what I later learned to call "adaptive reuse." No doubt my first notions were along the lines of a swingin' bachelor pad or the nightclub I yearned co run at that age. But as I matured,  I  continued  to  watch  the  building  through its subsequent incarnations and its decline.  I knew  it was somehow associated with the great Illinois Central Station  from  the  World's  Colombian  Exposition,  but at that  point  I  wasn't exactly sure how, and  there was no one to tell me-or so I thought.

By 1974 the building had sunk to the level of a storage shed for the two-wheeled cares they used for

delivering newspapers, and it was clearly headed for ruin.

Coincidentally, Albert Tannler, assistant curator of special collections at Regenstein Library at that time, had just completed the first edition of One in Spirit the pictorial history of the University, and it captivated me, primarily because of its  many references to the concurrent development (or disintegration and redevelopment) of  the neighborhood. And that was the moment of my epiphany. A local historical society could  undertake the research and preservation of its past in context of the ciry of Chicago and the nation. And such an

organization could house itself in my favorite structure (the true identity of which I now appreciated). Let the psycho-historians ponder which was  the means and which the end; in my  mind  the two were linked  from the start.

Here are a few dates and events that led to our eventual founding:

ï   April/May, 1975.

Tom Jensen, a U-High classmate, and I organized the first public forum to discuss the establishment of a proposed  "Hyde Park-Kenwood  Hiscorical  League." We met at St. Thomas Church  and Len  Despres  was our speaker. (I cannot find  the exact date,  bur  I believe a copy of the flyer from the meeting is already in our archives.)

ï   June 24, 1975.

Several of us met at Jean Block's apartment for lunch ro discuss how to get organized and moving. It took a while, as it turned out...

ï   January 13, 1976.

A larger formation was hosted by Victoria Ranney in her home.

ï   March 22, 1976.

Another planning meeting was hosted by Thelma Dahlberg at her home, followed by yet another in April. These meetings continued throughout the following eight months.

ï   June 15, 1976.

My calendar indicates that this was my first meeting with Win Kennedy to discuss acquiring the building.

ï   November 8, 1976.

Jean and I called on Muriel Beadle  to ask  her  to become our first president. She agreed on the spot and decreed that  the  name of  the organization  would  be the Hyde Park Historical society. She hosted our first official board meeting at her home two weeks later on November 22.

January 28, 1978.

The Hyde Park Historical Society received its official charter as an Illinois not-for-profit corporation.

March 27, 1978.

Robert and Lucille Rouse, owners of 5529 South Lake Park, finally signed the bill of sale for the property, for $4,000, after continued and heroic efforts by Len Despres to close the deal. Kennedy, Ryan, Monigal Associates was our agent.

ï   February 2, 1979.

Our first lease for the land under our building was signed with the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad -                                                                             five years at $20 per year.

ï   July 20, 1980.

The "Completion Fund," our $45,000 capital campaign to purchase and renovate the headquarters, kicked off on July 4, 1978, initiated by a "Charter Membership" drive for 100 members at $100 each. Encouraged by a $10,000 challenge grant from the Field Foundation of Illinois, the drive was successfully concluded. Jean Block was instrumental in this effort.

ï   October 26, 1980.

The Grand Opening of our magnificently  renovated and restored new headquarters took place, thanks to Dev Bowly's endless talent, work and sacrifice. We began with a parade down Lake Park Avenue and concluded with speeches that will live forever, assuming anyone remembered to keep notes, which I doubt.

Some of the  earliest  board  members are still serving: Dev Bowly, Carol Bradford, Alta Blakely and Richardson Spofford. Other early members were Ted Anderson, Margaret Fallers, Gary Husted, Muriel Beadle, Jean Block, Berenece Boehm, Randy Holgate, Anita Anderson, Michael Conzen, Rory Shanley­ Brown, Thelma Dahlberg, Phillis Kelly, Betty Borst, Eleanor Swift, Leon Despres, Charles Beckett, Maggie Bevacqua, Malcolm Collier, Emma Kemp, Gerhardt Laves, John McDermott, and Clyde Watkins.

Papa John Remembered

by Devereaux Bowly, Jr.

When I was a kid at the Lab School and U-High  in the 1950s and early 60s, there was a street  vendor at 59th and Kenwood. He was called Papa John and sold delicious kosher hoc dogs for 25 or 35 cents. He had a small white painted  wooden  and glass push care  with an antique copper alcohol burner to keep the dogs hoc and the rolls warm and moist.

Papa John was a small man, not five feet tall, who talked little, ocher than to ask what the customer wanted on his or her hot dog. His home base was a tiny brick building, which no longer exists, on the southeast corner of 56th and Lake Park, next to the IC tracks. The building lacer housed  Chicken-A-Go-Go, run by Morry and his son, who developed

delicatessens on 55th Street, in Hutchinson Commons and elsewhere. PapaJohn's building should not be confused with the wooden hot dog shack which was located  one  block  east, on  the southwest  corner of 56th and Stony Island, surrounded by a Yellow Cab dispatch station.

As I remember it, each school day in good weather Papa John, who seemed to me to be in his seventies or eighties, would slowly push his cart over co the Lab School at about 2:30, and stay for a couple of hours before  returning.  At some  point  he disappeared without explanation. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows more about Papa John.

Renovation of The Powhatan Lobby Wins Paul Cornell Award

The Powhatan is a 23-story  residential co-op building, located  on the lakefront at 4950 South Chicago Beach Drive in Hyde Park. The building was designed in 1929 by two architects, Robert Degolyer and Charles Morgan, in a thoroughly modern "skyscraper style" reflecting the structure of the building's skeleton beneath. This type of building style and construction is now associated with the "Art Deco" movement chat flourished during the 1920s and  1930s in the United States. The colored spandrel panels on the south and ease sides of the building, along with all of the ornamental features of the Powhatan and the adjacent Narragansett building are the work of the building's co-architect, Charles Morgan, who was an associate of Frank Lloyd Wright. In recent years The Powhatan has been designated an official Chicago Landmark.

Vinci/Hamp was hired by a committee of individuals from the building to repair the original terrazzo floor which had been obsrnred by wall to wall carpeting, concealing its rich auburn colored field bordered with black terrazzo. This work included the repair of cracks in the terrazzo as well as restoring the floor's luster. The existing furnishings and finishes within the lobby space were also re-designed at the same time.

.

Published historic photographs indicate that the lobby of The Powhatan was once a richly ornamented space, later obliterated by a series of remodelings. Investigations within the wall cavity by Ward Miller of Vinci/Hamp Architects, Inc., revealed the presence of original finishes, including pigmented plaster sgraffito mosaics by Morgan. Removal  of the walls further revealed the original stepped terrazzo fireplace, fluted pilasters, decorative case-iron grills, and mosaics. All original finishes were repaired  and  restored  in  the course of chis project, including the stylized fluted pilasters, the figured walnut paneling and the original color scheme.

Two artists, Ms. Jo Hormmh and Mr. John Phillips of

Chicago ArchitecturalArcs, were hired to clean and remove subsequent layers of paint from the mosaics and to reinventMorgan's original techniques, which facilitated the repair and replacement of missing tiles. The original "stylized geometric" wood and glass entry doors were found by Mr. John Graaman, the building's superintendent, in an attic storage room and were reinstalled. On the east wall above the windows, an air­ conditioning system was integrated into a reconstructed office, which had been destroyed. All plaster surfaces were repaired or recreated by Luczak Brothers Plastering Company of Chicago.The original silver/gold paint colors with luminous metallic particles were supplied by the CresLice company, a Chicago firm, and applied by Onassis Painting and Decorating Company of Kenilworth.Furniture and carpeting were selected to complement the remaining original furniture pieces.

THE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION offers tours

of the city and surrounding areas...

Hyde Park

HPHS board member, Doug Anderson, invites you to walk with him through the University Campus and along the streets of Hyde Park with its houses dating from the 1860s to the 1950s, including the interior of Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.

Sundays, 1:30pm

June 20, August 15, October 17

Meet at Rockefeller Chapel, 59th & Woodlawn Cost $8 (CAF members $3)

Jackson Park -    1893 Revisited

A pictorial re-creation of the Fair of 1893 examines how Frederick Law Olmsted transformed marshes and dunes into the beautiful park which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also visit Osaka Garden.

Saturdays, 10:30am

August 14, September 25, October 9 Meet at Clarence Darrow Bridge

Cost $5 (CAF members free)

Call Doug Anderson, 773-493-7058, for information

Do you know how many birds live in-or visit-Hyde Park?

On May 8th, the 25th Annual Spring Bird Count for the area of Jackson Park, took place.

This year's report states:

Birds were generally in good numbers ...the total number of species was among the highest ever observed in a day at Jackson Park. Warbler diversity was especially high at 29 species, including several notably scarce species. During the course of a given spring one is lucky to find such species as Prairie, Cerulean, Worm-eating, Kentucky, and Hooded Warblers at all; and seeing all of them in a single day has little precedent.

Observers began at 5:10am at four sites along the lakefront ...Two pre-sunrise finds were a Nighthawk at Promontory Park and a Common Moorhen at 64th Street. The last observation of the day was at 7:20pm-a Worm­ eating Warbler feeding along the sidewalk at 56th and Harper'

Other highlights included four Great Egrets, the Park's first spring count Snow Goose, 115 Canada Geese, 16

Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers, and even one Tennessee Warbler1 Total number of birds counted: 3,542! To participate in

bird-watching, call Doug Anderson, 493-7058.

MEMO      

To: HPHS Members

From: HPHS President, Alice Schlessinger Re: Update on our headquarters repairs

The Society has encountered a number of scmccural problems during the last year. Our roof badly needed replacing and our plumbing connection ro the outside sewer had become clogged with tree roots. Thanks to Devereux Bowly and Bert Benade, our Building Committee, these projects have been successfully completed. The handsome  new  roof, which  is consistent  with our 19th Century  building, should last for  many  years. The plumbing  obstruction  has been removed-a major project which required investigation with a video camera and excavation below the office floor.

Our little headquarters building is ready for you to visit though  we still have  more work  to do. We hope co complete it over the summer months.

Thanks co our members who responded to a single letter with such generosity-over $5,000 has been contributed-and co the University of Chicago  which has awarded us a grant of $3,000, we have not had to dig too deeply into our reserve funds to cover the expenses incurred.

We thank the following contriburors to this Special Fund:

Mary  S.  Allan Ruth & Dick Allen

Douglas C. Anderson Bert Benade

Roland & Helen Bailey Marjorie Benson

Alta Blakely

Mrs. Charles Borst Devereux Bowly

Carol & Jesse Bradford Jim & Jane Comiskey George & Louise Cooley Mr. & Mrs. Paul Cornell Irene & Charles Custer Thelma  Dahlberg George & Jackie Davis

Bernard J. Delgiorno

Leon & Marian Despres Dr. & Mrs. Jar! Dyrud Terry P. Ellis

Norah & William Erickson John & Sally Fish

Jay & Iris Frank Edlyn Freerks

Susan & Paul Freehling Roger & Madelon Fross Ethel Goldsmith

Sherry Goodman & Richard Watt Audrey & Ronald Grzywinski Samuel Hair

Chauncey & Edith Harris Albert M. Hayes

Jane & Roger Hildebrand Dorothy Horton

Mary E. Irons

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Jaffe Ruth T. Kaplan

Emile   Karafiol Ruth & Gwin Kolb

Mr. & Mrs. Philip Luhmann Inge Maser

Margaret S. Matchett Jane & George Mather Theresa McDermott Louis & Joan Mercuri Janee & David Midgely Harold Moody

Aurelia Moody

Mr. & Mrs. Jay F. Mulberry Ward & Dorothy Perrin

Robert, Rica & Kathleen Picken George W. Placzman

Elizabeth M. Postell

.

Mr.&Mrs.JamesRatcliffe

Hope E. Rhinescine Robert Rigacci

Mr. & Mrs. Edward Rosenheim Mrs. Alice Rubovics

Harriet Rylaarsdam

Alice & Nathan Schlessinger Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Schloerb Arthur  & Carol  Schneider Frank & Karen  Schneider Mindy A. Schwartz

Kevin Shalla & Vicroria Ferrara Mr. & Mrs. Richardson Spofford Fred & Nikki Stein

Helm uc Strauss

Marcia & Stephen Thomas Dr. Paul W. Tieman

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen A. Treffman Antionette Tyskling

Vi Fogle Uretz

Frank & Betty Wagner Marcin Wallace

Mrs. Margaret Walters Clyde & Cheryl Watkins Mrs. Warner Wick

Kale & Helen Williams Ruch & Quentin Young

UPCOMING EXHIBIT...                 

THE BOOM YEARS: 1916-1930,

second in our two-part exhibition on Hyde Park's historic hotels, will present views from the second great wave of apartment hotel construction, the period in which much of the architectural landscape of modern Hyde Park took shape. The exhibit is scheduled to open later this summer after repairs to our headquarters are completed. In the meantime, we are still seeking printed materials, menus, photos, or souvenirs of these hotels for this exhibit. We will welcome any items our readers wish to contribute, loan, or allow us to photocopy.

For more information, please call

Steve Treffman at (773) 241-5528.

Volume 21, Number 3 & 4, Winter 1999-2000

On Cable Cars and Lunch Rooms

EARLY STREETCARS  IN HYDE PARK

Stephen A. Treffman

ContributingEditor

The articles that appeared in the Spring and Summer, 1997 issues of Hyde Park History on an earlier occupant of the building in which the

Hyde Park Historical Society's headquarters are now housed continue to attract attention. As you may remember, Alta Blakely reported on "Steve's Lunch," a small restaurant run by Greek immigrant Steve Megales that occupied these premises beginning around, it was thought, 1948. A very interesting letter has recently arrived that provides insights into an even earlier period in the history of the building.

The letter, which appears on page 10, is from the granddaughters of Turney Keller, the man who, they report, converted what was a cable car waiting room into other uses. Mary Belle Keller Johnson and Judy Keller Levatino tell us chat, from as early as 1898 until 1952, the building was operated as a short order restaurant by the  Keller family. Prior to 1898, they say, the building was used as a warming room for "trolley personnel." When placed within the context of the development of Hyde Park's public transportation systems, this new information adds greatly to our knowledge of the history and uses of our building.

CHICAGO STREET TRANSPORTATION ORIGINS

In the early years of Chicago's history, travel about the city's streets was accomplished on foot, by horseback or by horse and carriage. The latter could be hired with driver by the day or by the mile in cabs called hackneys or hacks. Omni buses, large horse drawn or enclosed wagons with seating for multiple passengers, first appeared  on  Chicago streets  on regular schedules in  1850. The introduction  of street rail transportation in the city, however, began  nearly 141 years ago when a horse drawn car line began operations on April 25, 1859. It was built by the privately owned Chicago City Railway Company

(CCR), which had been awarded the city's franchise for the South Side of the city. Two other companies held franchises for the city's north and west sides. The CCR cars ran on rails along State Street from Madison

Street to 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road). In the

months following, the company built an extension of the line first to 22nd Street (now Cermak Road), then eastward down 22nd Street to Cottage Grove Avenue and, finally, from Cottage Grove to 31st Street. The immediate goal of these extensions was to provide transportation to the Illinois State Fair, which, in the fall of 1859, was located on land along Cottage Grove. The major advantage of using rails (originally wooden beams wrapped in iron sheetmetal) for hauling wagons with passengers was that the rails provided smoother, more comfortable and faster transportation than could be obtained from wheels rolling over the irregular unpaved roads of the time. Basic street car fares of a nickel a ride were sec by city ordinance in 1859 and kept at that same level until 1919.

The demands  and  opportunities  of  population growth and commercial and industrial development in the city and its suburbs encouraged expansion of the CCR. The increase in the number of cars, horses and track owned and maintained by the CCR grew exponentially, as did ridership.  In  1859, for example, the company consisted of only four cars and twenty­ five horses operating at twelve minute intervals on about three miles of track and carried many tens of thousands of passengers  a year. Annual  ridership  rose to 3.5 million only three years later. By 1867 the CCR owned fifty-three cars and 375 horses, employed 198 men and operated over  12. 5  miles of  track. The number of passengers that year totaled more than five million. Six years later, in 1873, the CCR was running seventy-five cars and 600 horses operating at four minute intervals on twenty-three miles of track and was transporting at least six million riders a year. Only seven years later, at the end of 1880, the system had more than doubled in size to 46.679 single track miles traversed by a fleet of 292 cars and 1,468 horses. In short, in that twenty year period, from 1859 to 1880, the company experienced growth that involved 15 .6 times more track, 58.7 times more horses, and 73 times more cars carrying many millions of passengers annually!

As the CCR expanded the length of its horse carlines to meet demand, problems of keeping its system coordinated and its costs under control grew apace. The cars and rails, once installed, had long lives and were relatively inexpensive to keep up. Aside from the investment in manpower and supervision, the key variable in the cost of operating  the system  was  the care and  feeding of the horses.  Although  perhaps one or two horses  might  draw one car, they could  only work four or five hours a day. This meant chat shifts of fresh horses  had  to be kept on  hand for each  horsecar in order to maintain a twelve or sixteen hour a day schedule. An entire system of men and  equipment  had to be developed around simply sustaining the horses. Moreover, the horse was relatively slow, not always reliable, susceptible to disease, and, glaringly apparent co one and  all, associated  with a "residue" on  the streets chat raised public health concerns. One horse could produce as much  as  twenty-two  pounds of manure a day. Its required disposal, in fact, actually became an ancillary business undertaking. All in all, then, there were problems associated with a large-scale system of horse drawn passenger cars chat were well recognized fairly early. This didn't mean that the CCR stopped  building  horse  lines,  only  that  its management  was open  to  the  idea of finding alternative forms of power to pull its cars. As it happened, Hyde Park would become the focus of the CCR's attention.

HYDE PARK AND ITS STREETCARS

There is more co the early history of streetcars in Hyde Park than cable cars. After the Civil War,  the city's horse car lines began to look beyond Chicago's borders for their growth. On March 5, 1867,  the Chicago and Calumet Horse and Dummy Railroad Company (CCHDRC), an affiliate of the CCR, was incorporated under Illinois law to establish street rail lines for "cars drawn by horses or cars with engines attached, commonly called dummy engines, for the carrying of passengers." Its focus of service was to be the area of Cook County south of the city's border at 39th Street and ease of State Street, in short,  virtually the entire area of the Village of Hyde Park. A year later, in 1868, the Board of Supervisors for the Village of Hyde Park authorized this new CCR affiliate to lay tracks from 39th Street extending  south  from  the CCR's preexisting tracks in Chicago proper.

Implementing this resolution launched the robust

expansion of the CCR in succeeding decades.

HORSE DRAWN CARS

Hyde Park's streetcar system apparently went through two phases prior to the introduction of the cable cars. The first of these, an unexpected finding, was that horse drawn streetcars seem to have run on rails down 55th Street in Hyde Park. A map that dates from chat period (Wright: 1870) specifically identifies a horse car line running down Cottage Grove from 39th Street and then swinging around to 55th Street east to what is now Lake Park Avenue.

This is, however, the only then contemporary source found so far chat suggests that a horse-drawn streetcar rail  line ever existed  along  55th  Street. This  line would  have been pare of the  expansion  arising from that  1868  authorizing  resolution.  The  CCR  built tracks in Chicago further south primarily along Scace Street and Cottage Grove Avenue to then unstated terminal points. In ensuing years, lines were built on ocher streets both ease and west of Cottage Grove with 47th and 63rd Streets becoming the major ease/west routes to southwest Chicago. All of these new CCR streetcar  lines were powered  solely  by  horses. Thus was established the early outlines of the course public transportation  would  ultimately  cake  on  the South Side of Chicago.

THE STEAM DUMMY

The reference  to steam  driven  rail cars on city streets in the CCHDRC incorporation papers indicate chat replacing horse drawn street  cars with an alternative system of motive power was already a possibility in the minds of the CCR's management at least as early as 1867. The usefulness of steam driven technology in manufacturing and, especially, in interurban rail transport was already well established throughout  the country.  In  fact, a steam  driven streetcar is said to have operated along Broadway on Chicago's north side as early as 1864. Ac some point after 1867 the CCR  and  its affiliate decided  to introduce them in their system, not in the city itself but in and around Hyde Park. Assuming that a horse drawn line initially ran along Cottage and down 55th Street, this steam dummy would have been the second phase in the development of public streetcar transportation in the community.

While there is no question that steam driven streetcars chugged down Cottage Grove and  55th Street, there remains much that is unclear about their actual history. No picture of one, for example, has yet surfaced. The Hyde Park-Kenwood National Bank published a booklet in 1929 with a photograph purportedly that of Hyde Park's steam dummy.

Research, however, has revealed that the photograph is actually of an engine from an entirely different Chicago streetcar company. While the exact dimensions of the Cottage Grove/Hyde Park steam dummy are not known, information about similar vehicles from that period suggests what the one used in Hyde Park probably was like.

Commonly,  to  minimize  terrorizing  horses along the street, these small locomotives were built within frames chat resembled a shortened version of a regular horse drawn trailer. The car would have run on four wheels  with  probably  no more  than seven feet from the middle of the front  wheels  to  the  middle of the ones in the rear. Likely, it was operated by a two-cycle engine powered by steam from a vertical boiler heated by burning anthracite coal or coke to minimize smoke and soot. The engine carriage  was designed  ostensibly to muffle the noise of escaping steam and engine operation by means of shielding and roof top steam condensers. It was this latter characteristic, the reduction of noise, as well as the horse car appearance, that provided the  underlying  meaning  to the name  "dummy  engine,"  that  is, silent  or "dumb," as  in  "unable  to speak." These small  locomotives pulled  no more  than one or  two passenger  trailers along  the  three  miles of stronger steel track  installed on Cottage Grove from 39th Street to 55th Street  and east to Lake Park Avenue. When not in use, these engines and their trailers were probably stored in a car barn at  38th Street  and  Cottage,  adjacent  to  the stables where the  horses  were kept. It  is not  known how many steam dummies operated on the Hyde Park

line nor how their return  runs were accomplished,  that is, by reversing gears or being turned on a platform.

Also in question is the date when steam dummies were actually introduced into Hyde Park. Block (1977) offers the date of 1869 for that event and cites as her source Pierce (1940). Pierce, in tutn, makes reference only to the governing legal authorizations and to Weber (1936). Weber, however, fudges on the date by noting those 1868 actions by the Village Board permitting the building of street rails in Hyde Park but not when the actual construction took place. As was earlier suggested, operating on that Cottage Grove/5 5th Street line in 1869 may have been a horse line rather than a steam dummy, two very different forms of power. At another extreme is a photograph from a 1943 collection at the Chicago Historical Society with a caption stating  that a steam driven street car began running in Hyde Park  in 1881. Indeed, a map dated 1881 in Bluestone (1991) clearly denotes a steam line running down Cottage Grove and turning east at 55th Street to Lake Park but this does not preclude the possibility that steam dummies were running there before 1881. Moreover, this would have been precisely the time that CCR officials were already planning to replace horse cars and steam dummies with cable cars. A more persuasive date emerges from an unpublished street transportation chronology developed in 193 3 now in the collection of the Chicago Transit Authority. It places the introduction of the Hyde Park steam dummy in the year 1874.

This date seems in reasonable accord with the state of Hyde Park's development and the known history of the CCR. It would also fit with the presumption that a horse car line preceded the steam dummy in time. Uncovering more substantial corroborating information in support of any one of these dates remains a challenge.

Usually overlooked in the few references  to this steam car is that of the  almost  46  miles of Chicago City Railway Company track existing in 1881, only those three miles of track along Cottage and 55th, the Hyde Park line, were used for steam driven streetcars. These steam dummies may  have  been an attempt  by the CCR to compete directly with the Illinois Central's steam  locomotives  chat  ran along  the lake. The  one-way  nickel fare for a streetcar  ride was half chat for a commute downtown from 55th Street on the Illinois Central but it  was a much slower  trip. In addition, these engines may have been considered somewhat more fitting, modern and substantial for

the prestigious community they served. Hyde Park's Trustees, recognizing the mess that accompanied horse drawn streetcars, may even have insisted  on steam power. It was also on this portion of the line that the streets were paved with granite to support the  heavier rails and engines required by the steam dummy. As a result, these were among the better-paved roads in  the city and its suburbs.

Unfortunately, street locomotives produced a good deal  more  noise  than  advertised, frightening  horses and annoying pedestrians.  Worse, for a variety of reasons, street car companies found chat these steam dummy cars proved to be no less expensive to operate than had been the horse cars. CCR managers were spurred to look at another alternative, one being developed in California. The days of the Hyde  Park steam dummy engines were numbered. The last one to run its route did so early in 1887.

THE CABLE CAR

In the early 1870s Andrew S. Halladie, a wire manufacturer  in  California,  developed  a system wherein  passenger cars ran  up and  down  the hilly streets of downtown San Francisco on rails by means of a moving cable buried under the streets. It began operations in 1873 and its success spurred further expansion there throughout the '70s. Chicago City Railway officers, alerted to that success, traveled to San Francisco in 1880 to study its cable system.

Realizing that if a system  like that could  operate on such variable terrain, it  would  probably  work especially well upon  the gentler  topography  of Chicago. They returned home and Charles B. Holmes, CCR's president, quickly obtained approval of the company's board and Chicago's city council to begin establishing  cable car  transport  along  many of the same Chicago streets on which  they  had  run  their horse cars.

Construction began in June, 1881 and by January, 1882, the CCR formally introduced cable cars into Chicago's  public  transportation  system,  the second such system in the United States. The  first  trains, usually consisting of a grip car and one or two trailers, ran on the State Street  line; a second  line was established on  Wabash  Avenue.  These  downtown cable cars traveled over a turnaround that went from State Street to Wabash Avenue via Lake Street and

Madison Street, a layout that Hilton (1954) and others have insisted first gave the "Loop" its name not, as is often assumed, the  elevated  train  loop which  came later.

The Wabash/Cottage Grove horse car line was converted  in  1882  to cable car use from Madison Street to 39th Street. In 1887, the Cottage Grove line was extended  from  39th to 67th Street and 55th Street was converted to cable use. In 1890, after the annexation of Hyde Park, the Cottage Grove cable car system was extended south to 71st Street, the building. In fact, there may have been no thought                                                  the Midway. The Hyde even given to constructing such a building in the first      Park/5 5th Street line was place. It was only after 1890 when it was clear to all       renamed the "Jackson that the Columbian Exposition would actually Park." The extended

cakeplaceinJacksonParkchatplansforthe ,lengthoftheCable

building likely were begun. The                                                                                                  Court loop proved a

building itself was almost certainly                                                          \   •                              boon in loading and

built, probably by the Illinois                                                                     '.  #>•                              unloading passengers. On

Central Railroad itself,                                                                                  \                 Chicago Day, October 9, during the year prior                                                                                1893, the day of the Fair's highest

to the Fair, that is,                                                                                             attendance, crowds of some 500,000

1892-93, when the                                                                                      people practically overwhelmed the system.

embankment and                                                                                 Many young men, dressed in suits, their heads viaducts elevating the                                         topped by bowler hats, happily climbed up on the

railroad's tracks were                                                                 roofs of the cable cars to make the trip to Jackson Park. being constructed. As a                                             Cable cars and their associated equipment were on result there was a physical                           prominent display at the World's Fair but the year

separation of the waiting                                                            1893 also marked the moment when electricity had

rooms and ticket selling sites                                                     already been recognized as a more efficient and flexible

for IC commuters and cable car                                                 form of power for street railways. Despite appearances, passengers. The great old 12th Street IC depot, now    cable was on its way out. The initial introduction of demolished, was built at the same time and the red    electricity to power Chicago's streetcars in 1893 led to brick and scone used in its construction may have been   a progressive dismantling of the cable car system chat similar to chat used in building our headquarters. The                                                                                                 finally ended in 1906. The 55th Street/Jackson Park main point here is simply chat the cable loop was not   cable line was among the lase to go having served the a result of the opening of the Fair, but the building     community for nearly twenty years. Overhead electric itself was.                          lines were installed and the cables and gears were

Probably the most vulnerable point in the cable car              removed. The cable car era ended and the era of the system was the cable itself. The CCR cable consisted trolley car line began in Hyde Park. (The "trolley" is of a hemp core, surrounded by 96 steel wires wound         the pulley attached co the pole chat touches and rolls into six strands of 16 wires each. The 1 1/4-inch chick  along the electric wire strung above the street.) Cable line, however, was subject to wear and breakage from Court kept its name and electric streetcars and trolley use, age or accident. For example, the approximate life                                                                                                 buses followed its loop well into the present century. It of the 10,856 feet long cable line along 55th Street        finally was dismantled during the urban renewal era. was 167 days. If the grip were applied incorrectly it             It should be noted that the emergence of each

could slice or dangerously damage the cable. When a                succeeding street rail technology did not immediately major problem developed in one segment of the cable, preclude the existence of the ones preceding. By 1892, the entire system of which it was a part ground to an   for instance, the year before the Fair, the CCR  had abrupt hale while repairs were made. Cables were fixed         2,611 horses, almost double the number it had in

by splices made on site or replaced entirely by splicing             1880. Only one-third of the CCR revenues, however, a new line into the existing line, running it was derived from the horse car lines, the remainder completely through the entire system and then   coming largely from its cable operations. Electric splicing together the two ends of the new line. lines, as well, were just being introduced. By 1895,

The impact of the cable car line on the economy of               Chicago's streets, particularly in the downtown area, Hyde Park was immediate. The Economist (Chicago) for      were filled with a melange of streetcars, some powered December 8, 1888 reported: "The development for        by  horses, others  by cables, and  still others  by business purposes of Fifty-Fifth Streec... has been electricity. Steam also powered trains on the suburban largely due to the cable car line... The prices for       commuter lines and, for several years during the mid- property on Fifty-Fifth have risen from $50  to $100 a     1890s, the city's elevated rail lines. This mixture was foot, and over twenty stores are in process of erection                                                                                                 finally resolved in favor of electricity as the

on the street." The street's commercial past was set for              predominant power source for streetcars by 1906 and the next sixty-five years.                          the Illinois Central commuter line, by 1926.

During the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893,                  Horses, moreover, remained a factor on Chicago's cable cars were a major source of transportation for         streets. There were an estimated 120,000 horses in millions of visitors. Cable cars offered close access to   Chicago in 1895. Though fading rapidly from use

the Fair'sentrancesat57thStreetand,onCottage,ataftertheturnofthecenturyaspowerforcity streetcars and fire engines,  they remained important in the city's private  transportation  system well into the present  century for  recreational  use and for hauling delivery wagons. Some of our readers may still remember the horse drawn wagons in Hyde Park that delivered ice and fresh vegetables  to people's homes. A painting at our headquarters portrays an old horse drawn milk wagon that once operated in Hyde Park. The wagon stood abandoned for many  years east of the IC tracks at 57ch Street.

IN CLOSING

While the street cable car today is often  viewed merely as a quaint relic of the past, the scuff of charm bracelets,  toys, advertising  gimmicks  and  assorted other memorabilia usually associated with  San Francisco, it has a quite legitimate and notable role in American, Chicago and, certainly, Hyde Park history. The story of the cable car in Chicago is most obviously tied to the evolution of public transportation and residential, industrial and commercial development  in the city, in general, and to Hyde Park and its nearby suburban  neighbors,  in  particular,  both  before and after annexation. Moreover, it  provided  the public access to the South Park system and  may  well  have been a factor in establishing some of its boundaries. In essence, the horse-drawn and later the cable car performed the same function for these areas that the Illinois Central Railroad commuter line had played initially in the emergence of Hyde  Park.  Indeed, together the two spurred the growth of Hyde Park

and the South Side generally throughout that century and beyond.

Chicago has often been referred to as a city of neighborhoods. In earlier periods in Chicago's history, one of the things that  helped  define chose neighborhoods was the streetcar lines. The unintended effect, however, was,  to a certain  degree,  their influence on the emergence and reinforcement of artificial social, ethnic and racial boundaries.  The "other" side of the tracks was given a new, big city twist that could  evoke  social  conflict,  at  times  bitter or even violent. On the ocher hand, the elaboration  of the public transportation system opened up to Chicagoans new opportunities not only for better physical mobility but also for enhanced residential, investment, employment and recreational  choices as well.

The extension of public street and rail transportation in and around Hyde Park had an impact on the question of the annexation of Hyde Park to Chicago. It had the effect of drawing Hyde Park and its population closer to Chicago, both in a temporal and economic sense, while at the same time enabling the emergence of multiple centers of political, social and economic interests outside of Hyde Park Center. Each new line established,  each new set of tracks laid, was yet another direct link between the city and villagers of Greater Hyde Park.

The political power that had been wielded by the pioneers in Hyde  Park  Center  (who opposed annexation) was diluted in the face of population increases and the emergence of new and powerful economic and political  interests elsewhere  in  the suburb.  As a  result, annexation  proponents  would claim that  the old  style of governance was outmoded and simply inadequate to the new situation.  One may also speculate that the concentration of more advanced street transport in che northern section of Hyde Park contributed to a sense of deprivation expressed by citizens in the southern portions of the village. It is no surprise that when the annexation question  was put  to the voters of Hyde Park Village in 1887 and 1889, the voting majority chat decided the issue in favor of annexation came  largely  from  the wards  outside  the old center of Hyde Park.

The cable car waiting room on Lake Park apparently directly served the transit system for less than a decade, perhaps as few as five years, if our correspondents' date for its conversion into a lunch room, 1898, is correct. The months of the Fair, then, would have been the peak period of its connections to the cable cars. In that sense, the building is a genuine artifact of both the Columbian Exposition and of the Cable Car era.

The building was located near the Illinois Central stops at 55th and  57th  Streets,  the Cable Court streetcars and the hotels and small shops along  Lake Park and 55th and 57th Streets, all of which generated considerable sidewalk  traffic.  This location  provided the logic for its  more  than  half-century  of existence as a lunch room. It became a working man's cafe  that served  large  portions  to customers at a reasonable price.  The demise  of  the  building's  use as a lunch room probably  was as much a function  of residential and commercial changes occurring in Hyde Park as it was sheer obsolescence of the facility as an eatery.

Ownership of the building remained with the Illinois Central Railroad until it was sold to our Society in 1977.

There is something wonderfully resonant, perhaps

even ironic, that this working man's building has become the home of an historical society for a community driven by issues and conflicts generated both by elitist aspirations and social diversity. This same transaction, however, has practical consequences in the present as our Society seeks to respond effectively to the reality and complexity of our community's history.

Finally, assembly lines were offshoots of cable car technology as are ski lifts. A less obvious connection can be drawn between cable cars and another then contemporaneous technological development: the elevator. They had similar components such as cables, pulleys, gears, and rails and, originally, both were run by steam powered engines. The cable car operated horizontally while the elevator ran vertically.

Although cable driven street cars disappeared as a major urban transportation system, the related technology embodied by the elevator continued to power and be shaped by the emergence of new techniques for the construction of taller buildings for offices, commerce and residential living. The skyscraper, in general, and, particularly in HydePark, the large apartment hotel, were two of its results... but that is another story.

Steve Treffman is our Society's archivist and is preparing another exhibition on Hyde Park's hotels for display at 01,r headquarters later this year.

Thanks to the staff from the Chicago Transit Authority for its assistance.

Selected Sources:

Jean Block, Hyde Park Houses, (Chicago, 1977). Daniel

M. Bluestone, Constructing  Chicago, (New Haven, 1991). George W.  Hilton, "Cable  Railways  of Chicago," Bulletin Number 10, (Chicago:  Electric Railway Historical Society, 1954). George W. Hilton, The Cable Car in America, (San Diego, 1982). James D. Johnson, A Century of Chicago Streetcars, 1858-1958, (Wheaton, Illinois, 1964). Alan  R.  Lind, Chicago Surface Lines: An Illmtrated History, 3rd edition, (Park Forest, Illinois, 1986).  Milo  Roy  Maltbie,  ed. The Street Railways of Chicago, (Chicago, 1901). John A. Miller, Fares Please/, (New York, 1941). Samuel W. Norton, Chicago Traction: A History Legislative and Political, (Chicago, 1907). Bessie Louise Pierce, A History of Chicago, Vol. 2, (New York, 1940). Frank Rowsome, Jr., Trolley Car Treasury, (New York, 1956). Harry Perkins Weber, comp., Outline History of Chicago Traction, (Chicago,  1936). John  H. White, Jr.,  "Steam in the Streets: The  Grice and  Long Dummy," Technology and Cttlture Vol. 27 (1986), pp. 106-9. John

S. Wright, Chicago: Past, Present, Future, (Chicago: Board of Trade: 1868, Second edition, 1870).

Letter to the Editor

To Whom It May Concern:

In 1898, our grandfather, Turney Keller, opened the "Lunchroom" at 5529 Lake Avenue, which is now the Hyde Park Historical Society. (Ed. note: Lake Avenue was renamed Lake Park Avenue on April 14,  1913.) With the help of his two sons, Hosey (Harvey) and Charles Keller, the restaurant was continuously in operation until  1952. (Ed.  note: One  of  the interviewees for the earlier articles thought that the restaurant had changed hands in 1948.)

Our grandfather with the help of his sons, leased the building for the entire time. We have no idea how much money was involved. He did have an accident on a trolley losing one arm, not two legs. (Ed. note: One of our correspondents in our earlier article had speculated that the IC had leased the building to Mr. Keller at no cost because he had lost two legs in a railroad accident.)

Before 1898, the building was used as a warming house for trolley personnel. The men gathered around the old pot belly stove and, we're sure, told some great stories. The notion that some food could be served came to our grandfather in 1898.

When our grandfather died in 1922, the  boys, known as the Keller Brothers, took over the "Lunchroom." Their wives, Louetta and Marsha, also worked in the restaurant.

At the crack of dawn, breakfast was served. We can still remember the many aromas of home cooking.

Bacon and eggs and oatmeal in the morning and if you looked at the wall one could see the specials for lunch, such as vegetable soup and meat loaf. There were no printed menus. The clientele  was an  integrated  mixture of working  males in  Hyde  Park. The  counter  was  in two sections seating about twelve.

Our families spent many long hours making the "Lunchroom" very successful. The information above is correct according to documented papers from this time period. We have included various pictures for a visual remembrance of the times.

Sincerely,

Mary Bell Keller Johnson and Judy Keller Levantino

Ms. Johnson, the daughter of Harvey Ketler, in a phone interview, told us that the lunch room was closed evenings and on Sundays. She herself was born at her family's residence on the 54th block of Harper Avenue. Turney's family was Christian Scientist and probably was a member of the 10th Church of Christ Scientist at 57th and Blackstone, now the vacant St. Stephen's Church. Ms. Levantino, her cousin, is the daughter of Charles Ketler. -S.A.T.

PROPRIETORS OF THE "LUNCH ROOM" AT 5529 S. LAKE PARK AVENUE

Postcard view c.1915 from the Keller family collection.

From left: Turney Keller and his two sons Charles, and Hosey (Harvey), the eldest of the two. Note the wooden plank sidewalk in front of the building. Turney lost his left arm in a trolley accident. Members of the family are buried in Oakwoods Cemetery.

This Newsletter is published by the Hyde Park Historical Society, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1975 to record, preserve, and promote public interest in the history of Hyde Park. Its headquarters, located in an 1893 restored cable car station at 5529 South Lake Park Avenue, houses local exhibits. It is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 until 4pm.

Telephone: HYJ-1893

President..... Alice Schlessinger

Editor......... Theresa McDermott

Designer..... Nickie Sage McDermott

Regular membership: $15 per year, contributor: $25, sponsor: $50, benefactor: $100

Newsletters 1998

Winter 1997-1998

Spring 1998

Summer/Fall 1998

Winter 1998-1999

Volume 19, Number 4

HPHS Headquarters Building Becomes Less Endangered by Alta Blakely

Board members are breathing sighs of relief now that the shoring up of the Metra embankment behind our building has been completed.

Bert Benade, Board member in charge of the physical plant, had been particularly concerned that the embankment  had been pushing on our roof and gutter on the east side. About sixteen years ago the Illinois Central Railroad had shored up the embankment,  but the job had been done with only  wood  pilings-and those not driven deeply enough into the ground. They have continued to rot away. Devereaux Bowly, co-chair with Bert on the physical plant, had been after the railroad, now Metra, for about four years to replace the rotting pilings. Work was begun last October. For many weeks a large truck crane (and a Port-o-Let) stood on the street in front of headquarters, dwarfing it in size. (The construction work meant that the October 19th program on Robie House had to be postponed.)

The large sign south of Headquarters proclaims  that this

"HydeParkRetainingWallRehabilitation"isa"Federal TransitAdministration Project... sponsored bythe NortheasternIllinois Regional Commuter R.A.CorporationD/BIA Metra the U.S. Department ofTransport; and the Regional Transportation Authority(RTA)." It is "Federal Project No. IL-03-0194, RTAProgramNo.CRD-034.}

On   one mid-week day in October, when a Board  member was entering headquarters, two of the construction crew members asked if they could look around inside. Bob Pritchard, of Hickory Hills, whose job it was to run the air compressor was excited by what he saw. Later, when Bea Blackiston was on duty on Sunday,  November  2nd, Mr.  Pritchard  came in and carefully removed all our pictures off the walls and gently and neatly laid them on a table. He  was afraid that the vibrations from  his  air  compressor would shake the pictures off the walls and shatter the glass. "I like things old to be preserved," he said. (The Board, at its November meeting, asked Secretary Margaret Matchett to send him a  letter  of  thanks, which she has subsequently done.)

 Thanks to Mr. Pritchard, we were able to contact Harenfra Namgrola of the Sumit Construction Company of Skokie, in charge of the project. He told us that the work on the embankment behind our building amounted to the sum of $150,000. They had been allowed sixty-five working days for the job; however, he said, they finished in far less time. The final phase, the cement work, was laid during Thanksgiving week. The question in our minds has been whether or not this job was part of the larger Hyde Park Retaining-Wall Rehabilitation, --including the Metra embankment  from  47th  to 57th Street. Mr. Margrola seemed to think not.

Looking our from the windows on the east side of headquarters one dark evening, Dev. Bowly was delighted: "There's a foot of space between the embankment and our roof! I can see the stars!" !

Follow Up:

The Shooting Lodge

The feature on the South Shore Country Club's Shooting Club in our last issue brought forth some relevant material sent to us by Leon Despres. The area where the Country Club was built, around 71st Street and Lake Michigan, was once considered a hunter's paradise said to be virtually unique along the lake shore. Immense flocks of migrating pigeons flew past along with jacksnipe, plover, wild duck and Canadian brant.

When the Club was built in 1906,  a small shack was built to accommodate shot gun enthusiasts among its members. A wooden cottage replaced it in 1908 but was razed eight years later for construction of the more permanent and stylish brick "shooting lodge" illustrated in our Fall, 1997-, issue. Reflecting the site's link to an earlier era, the walls of the lodge were hung with antlers, stuffed animal heads and similar trophies. Club members, however, confined  themselves to trap shooting, targeting only clay pigeons. This activity lasted until quite late in the history of the club.

Mayor Harold Washington, 1922-1987 On the Tenth Anniversary of his Death

 by Stephen Treffman

These political pins from our archival collection date from the triumphant 1983

and 1987 mayoral campaigns  of  the late Mayor Harold Washington. Mayor

Washington,   the   only sitting mayor of Chicago ever

resident in the community of Hyde Park, made his home in Apartment 66 of the Hampton House Condominium, 5300 South Shore Drive. Across from that building is Hyde Park's oldest park, established by Paul Cornell, Hyde Park's founder. Originally called East End Park, it was renamed in memory of the late Mayor after his death. Washington  had a very substantial and enthusiastic base of supporters from our community's diverse racial, social and economic groups. A number of persons from Hyde Park-Kenwood were recruited into high level administrative, advisory and policy-making roles in city government during his administration.

One of Harold Washington's essential characteristics was his capacity to reach out and engage persons and groups not necessarily considered part of the historic political mainstream but whose goals and principles intersected at some point practically or symbolically with his. It should not be surprising, then, that among his last official acts before his sudden death on November 25, 1987, was a proclamation      issued on November 18 declaring November 21 "Oliver Law

andAbrahamLincolnBrigadeDayinChicago."The letter,reproducedonthenextpage,waspublishedinthe program for a 50th Anniversary memorial

celebration of the Brigade held that day in Chicago.

In 193 7, three thousand Americans calling themselves the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (ALB) volunteered to join an international force in defense of Spain's elected government against insurgent Fascist forces militarily supported by Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. Two hundred of the volunteers came from Chicago,  including  at least one long-time Hyde Park resident, the late Milton Cohen (1915-1996?), and an African-American by the name of Oliver Law (born c.1900).

Law was one of some one hundred black Americans to join the ABL. He had served six years as a private in the segregated U.S. Army during and after World  War I.  He  then  moved to Chicago where he  worked  as  a  stevedore, cab driver and small restaurant manager.  With the  onset  of  the  Depression  he  was  attracted to various organizing efforts among the unemployed in Chicago, ultimately  joining the Communist Party and leading public protests of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. He left with the Brigade for Spain in January, 1937. His previous military experience and demonstrated  valor in  battle led to his appointment as commander of an ALB battalion made up mostly of white Americans, the historic symbolism of which he was fully aware and to which Washington alludes in his proclamation. On July 9, nearly six months after his arrival in Spain, Law was mortally wounded while leading his forces in a battle near the town of Brunete.

Eight hundred ALB volunteers died in the Spanish conflict. Although many surviving ALB volunteers went on to serve with the American armed forces in World War II, they were deemed suspect by the U. S. government duri,ng and after the war for having been "premature" in their enthusiastic antifascism and, in some cases, their real or supposed radical ideological and political commitments.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine any post-war Chicago mayor before Washington, himself a World War II veteran, issuing such a letter. The proclamation reflects some of the profound values and aspirations that characterized Harold

Washington and made his administration so unusual in Chicago history.

OFFICE OF THE  MAYOR

CITY OF CHICAGO

HAROLD WASHINGTON

MAYOR

P R O C L A M A T I O N

WHEREAS, this year marks the 50th Anniversary of the entrance of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as volunteers in defense of democracy in the Spanish Civil War; and

WHEREAS, over 200 Chicagoans joined this international movement to stop the spread of fascism; and

WHEREAS, Oliver Law, a leader of movements for relief of t-h---ec---p"'o=or crm:t eor pu-litical rights for Bracks and working people in Chicago in the early 1930's, was a commander in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, thus becoming the first Black American to lead an integrated military force in the history of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the long-neglected historical significance of Oliver Law is being recognized in a program on November 21, 1987, sponsored by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the 50th Anniversary Committee, which will honor the continuing legacy of international solidarity represented by Oliver Law and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Harold Washington, Mayor of the City of Chicago, do hereby proclaim  November  21, 1987, to be OLIVER LAW AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE DAY IN CHICAGO and urge

all citizens to be cognizant of the special events arranged for this time and the importance of this history. Dated this day of November, 1987

Sources: Peter N. Carroll, The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, Stanford, 1994; John Gerassi, The Premature Antifascists: North American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War 1936-39, An Oral History, New York, 1986; Arthur H. Landis, The Abraham Lincoln Brigade, New York, 1967. Thanks also to

Alderman Toni Preckwinkle for her assistance in providing information about Mayor Washington's residence.

 Letter to the Editor...

We are very grateful to Jim Stronks, author of many outstanding articles which have appeared in this publication, for the delightful and touching letter below:

Dear Edi tor:

I don't know if it is Hyde Park History, exactly, but then isn't almost everything history in some sense? I hope so, because I have read something that I think your readers would find interesting.

In 1895 William Rainey Harper hired a young professor-poet named William Vaughan Moody for the new university on the Midway. And that is where Moody, a bachelor of twenty-seven, lived at first-on the Midway, in the old Del Prado Hotel on 59th Street, where International House stands today.

Late in the afternoon of February 15, 1896, Moody escaped his office for an hour of ice-skating. Later he wrote about it to a friend in a paragraph that reaches across one hundred years to touch us with its humanity.

"DearDan,"Moodybegan."YesterdayIwasskatingonapatchoficeinthepark,underapoverty-strickenskyflyingaragofsunset.Somelittlemuckerswereguyingaslimraw-bonedIrishgirloffifteen,whocircledanddartedunde their banter with complete unconcern. She was in the fledgling stage, all legs and arms, tall and adorably awkward, with a huge hat full of rusty feathers, thin skirts tucked up above spindling ankles, and a gay aplomb and swing in the body that was ravishing. We caught hands in mid­

/light, and skated for an hour, almost alone and quite silent, while the rag of a sunset rotted to pieces. I have had few sensations in life that I would exchange for the warmth of her hand through the ragged glove, and the pathetic curve of the half-formed breast where the back of my wrist touched her body. I came away mystically shaken and elate. It is thus the angels converse. She was something absolutely authentic, new, and inexpressible, something which only nature could mix for the heart's intoxication, a compound of ragamuffin, pal, mistress, nun, sister, harlequin, outcast, and bird of God, - with something else bafflingly suffused, something ridiculous and frail and tender."

Fortunately Dan did  not  throw  away  the letter, and that young girl is as alive today as she was that afternoon in 1896-because a poet captured her on the head of a pin.

Moody died in 19101   aged 41.

 Yours   truly, Jim Stronks Iowa City, Iowa

You are cordially invited to attend The Annual Members' Meeting

of

The Hyde Park Historical Society

Saturday, February 21, 1998 'the Quadrangle  Club

57th Street & University Avenue

Paul Cornell will speak about his grandfather:

PaulCornell,VisionaryFatherofHydePark

Special Events coming up:

Robie House: Its History and Its Future

Sunday, March 1st, at 2pm HPHS Headquarters

A slide presentation by Jay Champelli, long-time member of the Speakers' Bureau of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation.

Join us to learn more about this historical and architectural treasure presently being restored to its former glory here in Hyde Park.

 Free Tours of Robie House for Hyde Park Residents

Saturday & Sunday, February 14 & 15

A Valentine event to convey "Heartfelt Thanks to the Community," tours will be offered continuously from 11am to 3:30pm on each day.
Exhibits in the Months Ahead

An exhibit entitled Hyde  Park's  Hotels: The Golden Age, 1888-1940 will be opening soon at our headquarters. An exhibit on the White City Amusement Park is also planned for later in 1998. Curated by our archivist Stephen Treffman, both exhibits will be accompanied by programs presented by various members of our board. Further information on these and other events will be forthcoming in Hyde Park History and in other commumty sources.

Readers who have photographs, printed materials or other memorabilia related to any of Hyde Park's hotels or to the White City Amusement park are encouraged to write or to leave a message at our headquarters. Our phone number is 773-493-1893.

Volume 20, Number 1

Mary Todd Lincoln’s Sad Summer in Hyde Park

Abraham Lincoln died April 15, 1865. When Mary Todd Lincoln had to vacate the White House she came to Hyde Park. She arrived in Chicago on May 24. With her on the exhausting 54-hour train trip from Washington came her sons Robert (22) and Tad(12),her dressmaker/confidante Elizabeth Keckley(born a slave), old friend Dr. Anson Henry, and two White House guards, Thomas Cross and William Crook.

The Lincoln parry checked into the Tremont House on Lake Street at Dearborn. When Cross and Crook went back to the White House Mary Todd Lincoln's percs and power as First Lady were suddenly over. Lake Street was populous and loud; Mary Todd Lincoln needed peace and quiet. Io her anguish as widow she felt she could  not bear to return to her house on 8th Street in Springfield and its associations. Yet the Tremont House was too expensive for more than a week's stay. Someone evidently gave  the Lincolns a good  tip,  because  four days later she wrote to a friend that "Robert went out yesterday to a place called  'Hyde  Park,'  a  beautiful  new Hotel, rooms exquisitely clean  &  even luxuriously fitted up, seven miles from the City-Cars passing every hour of the day "

An advertisement in the Tribune on May 19 tells us more:

 HYDE PARK HOTEL Kept by A.H. Dunton

 This Hotel has  been put  in complete order, and is now open, and will be kept, in all respects, as a first-class Hotel.

 Persons desirous of making arrangements for the summer months, will find this a very agreeable place. It has all the advantages of a Watering Place Hotel, with almost hourly communication with Chicago  by  rail, while the distance by the traveled road from the Court House is less than seven miles. Mr. Dunton refers, by permission, to Gov. Gilmore of New Hampshire; Hon. T.F. Chandler, U.S. Navy Agent, Boston; Messrs. W.R. Doggett, S.F. Farrington, and  Hoo J.T. Scammon, Chicago.

 No doubt Paul Cornell, who had built the hotel, was pleased that the First Family had come to live in his village, and conceivably he had something to do with it. A Chicago lawyer and suburban developer (for whomAbraham Lincoln had done some legal work), Cornell owned 300 lakeshore :acres which he had coolly advertised as "beautifully situated on high ground." In a deal which was all important to Hyde Park, he gave the Illinois Central Railroad sixty acres for its right of way, and in return the ICRR began a commuter service in July 1856 by  running  the "Hyde  Park Special" out to a little frame depot on the east side of the 53rd Street grade crossing. Here, in the summer of 1865, Robert Lincoln would catch the 8:52 mornings for the 30- minute ride in to Water Street and the offices of Scammon, McCagg & Fuller, where he would be reading law.

"This quiet retreat," as Mary Lincoln soon called the hotel, stood near the lake shore at 53rd Street, about where the Hampton House stands today, except that the shore was closer in at that time. (It is not to be confused  with  the later  Hyde Park Hotel standing on the south side of 51st between Harper and Lake Park from 1887 co 1963.)"It almost appears to me that I am on the Sea Shore,'' wrote Mary Lincoln from the hotel; "land cannot be discerned across the Lake, some seventy-five miles in breadth. My friends thought I would be more quiet here during the summer months than in the City."

But in coming to Hyde Park she could not escape her sorrows. "Tell me, how can I live without my Husband any longer?" she cries in a letter at  this time. "This is my first awakening thought each morning, & as I watch the waves of the turbulent lake under our windows I sometimes feel I should like to go under them."

At first she had the comfort of her friend Elizabeth Keckley beside her, but Lizzie had to return to Washington and her business of making dresses for wives of cabinet officers.

Soon Mary Lincoln was writing, "I still remain closeted in my rooms, take an occasional walk in the park & as usual see no one." It is not surprising that she adds later in the same letter, "I cannot express how lonely we are." Without TV or rental movies, what did Mary Lincoln- intelligent, nervous,  excitable-do with herself through her long weeks shut up in

the Hyde Park Hotel? The answer is, she'. read the newspapers and wrote letters;.

A political wife, she devoL1,ed  the gossip frorr. Capitol  Hill  in  the half dozen New York and Chicago papers she regularly

saw. By early June their front pages were black with "The Conspiracy Trial,"and judging from the Chicago Tribune were full of lurid details about the conspirators' planning of her husband's murder-yet she mentions none of this in writing to friends.

For four years Mary Lincoln had been veritably catnip to the gossip columnists, but Chicago papers seem to have ignored her during the summer of 1865, perhaps because she had buried herself out in Hyde Park. There was one unhappy exception on June 14 when she read a spiteful paragraph in the Chicago Journal which said she had

threatened to whip little Tad for damaging his boots. It was untrue-and one more thing to resent in a letter to a friend the next day.

Her letters were many and long. They must have made fat envelopes. When they are printed in a book today, something she never expected, and God forgive us for reading her private mail, some letters fill two pages, and obviously account for hours daily at her desk. They are written, and well written, on black-bordered paper abouc the size of a postcard, showing excellent vocabulary and spelling, with tight, nervous punctuation (which is being edited here for the sake of clearness).

Mary Lincoln may have over-praised the Hyde Park Hotel to her correspondents. Lizzie Keckley claimed later that the Lincolns' rooms were "not first-class" but "small and plainly furnished," with meals sent up from the kitchen. It was far from the Executive Mansion. "I assure you," snaps the First Lady as

early as June 27, "I am growing very  weary of  boarding. It is very unbecoming when it is remembered  from whence we have just come."

She never once complains of summer heat. Hyde Park, at the lakeshore, can be degrees cooler than central Chicago-important in 1865, before electric fans. Already the village, numbering some 500 population, had become a summer escape for affluent Chicagoans. On July 11 Mary Lincoln writes, apparently with approval, that the hotel "has become crowded with some of the very best Chicago people, each family keeping their carriages; & I have, as you may suppose, indulged in my privilege of being very quiet & retired." Virtually a recluse, she did sometimes walk in "the beautiful park adjoining the place"­ referring to that space now lying between Harold's Playlot and the boulder inscribed to Paul Cornell. She added  that "persons drive out  [from Chicago} every day to see me; I receive but very few; I am too miserable to pass through such an ordeal as yet. Day by day I miss my beloved husband more & more "

Two weeks later, another mood: "This place has become a complete Babel & I grieve that necessity requires us to live in this way...." No doubt she  shunned  the hotel's social event of the season on August 11 when, said the Tribune the next day, "the musical elite of Chicago took turns performing." It was fortunate for this Victorian widow of forty­ seven in deep mourning that she had a grown son at her side. Robert Todd Lincoln had split no rails but instead attended Phillips Exeter, was a Harvard graduate, had been four months at Harvard Law, and briefly, for a few weeks near the end of the war, a captain on Ulysses S. Grant's staff. With  the change     in  his        family's fortunes, and in view of his unstable   mother's   need   of him, he would have to forego i- a Harvard  LLD.  He was  the J man  in  the  house now, and since it was the impatient, high-tempered  Mary Todd Lincoln's house it was certain to be difficult.

"Robert is so worried chat I am sick so much that he has purchased a neat covered buggy," she writes on July 17. Perhaps Robert took her for soothing rides to see the  fine homes in the village, or for a view of the mysterious white rollers off 49th Street. He would have sold his horse as an economy move, she writes, but "as it was his father's last gift, I would not consent to this, although I expect we shall hear remarks about our purchasing a buggy"-a reference to her (justified) reputation in eastern newspapers for mad extravagance.

On July26 she writes of her other son, Tad, until recently the irrepressible imp of the White House. "Taddie has made many  warm  friends,"  but  because there is Scarlet Fever  in  the hotel she  has sent  him  to live with friends in  the country. Not  Scarlet  Fever  bur TB would kill Tad only six years later, making him the third boy Mary Lincoln had lost.

By late summer 1865 the  Hyde  Park  Hotel  was no longer where the Lincolns wanted to be. Indeed Robert  was  said  to  have  grumbled  to  Lizzie Keckley as early as his first week there that "I

would almost as soon be dead as be compelled to remain three months in this dreary house." They actually stayed only 2 1/2 months.

In mid-August Mary Lincoln moved into the Clifton House at Wabash and Madison. The Palmer House it was not, but she felt poor. It had in fact become an obsession with her. At his death Abraham Lincoln left some

$80,000 in  cash  and  U.S.  bonds,  mainly salary from four years as President, but it was not in the widow's hands. Lawyer Lincoln had died without leaving a will, and his estate was

being   administered   by   his   old   Illinois  friend Judge David Davis, against  whom  Mary  Lincoln fumed because of his firm control of the money. Mary,

Robert, and Tad were living on theinterest, split equally among the three of them, and the widow was living on

$1500 to $1800 annually at this time.

On August 17 she wrote angrily about a sense of injury which her letters show had become another mania. "I explain

                                                                                       to you, exactly &

truly, how we are

circumstanced. A greater portion of our means is unavailable, consisting of a house in S. [Springfield] & some wild lands in Iowa. Notwithstanding my great & good husband's life was sacrificed for his country, we are left to struggle in a manner. .. of life  undeserved. Roving Generals have elegant mansions showered upon them, and the American people leave the family of the Martyred President to struggle as best they  may! Strange justice this." She refers to U.S. Grant, war hero, who was presented with homes in Galena, Philadelphia, and Washington.

So ended Mary Lincoln's sad summer onEast 53rd. Street in Hyde Park. A year later she would settle into a home of her own in Chicago, a row house on West Washington, between Ann and Elizabeth streets, no longer standing. Erratic, she did not stay there long. Scheming ceaselessly to raise cash to pay off $20,000 in shopping debts which she had concealed from her husband, who had been busy with the Civil War, she would later sell some of her Washington Street furniture to the Hyde Park Hotel for $2094.50. Mind the fifty cents. The furniture probably burned up with the hotel in the late 1870s. Mary Todd Lincoln, dressed always in high-fashion black, lived seventeen unhappy,  troubled  years  as  a  widow. A pathetic  ruin  by  1882,  when  she was 64, she died in Springfield in the home of her sister, who had urged her not to marry Abraham Lincoln  in the first place.

As Mary Lincoln read the Chicago Tribune in the Hyde Park Hotel in the summer of 1865, her eyes could not have escaped front-page advertisements exploiting her husband's murder. There was an ad for the "New and Beautiful Music" of "Abraham Lincoln's Funeral March." Also a "Beautiful Lithograph," one yard square, of "The Dying President" surrounded by his cabinet (one dollar). She would also see that, despite the nation's woe, the Italian Opera opened in Crosby's Opera House on June 5 with "Faust," followed on the 6th with "Norma." And there was grave news about the national debt.  After four years of war it had risen to $2.6 billion. -J.S. When Robert Lincoln rode the ICRR from Hyde Park to downtown Chicago daily in the summer of 1865 he could look out the window at 33rd Street and see Camp Douglas, the Civil War prison where 4500 Confederate soldiers had died in the last 31/2 years.   (See Hyde Park History, March 1994.) Six months after Appomattox, 6000 POWs were still there. On May 9 the Tribune claimed that "They have nearly all signified their wish to take the oath of allegiance, and it is expected that all but about 200will   be  allowed   to   do  so   and   be discharged." On May 17th the Trib's Camp Douglas reporter, who had been often wrong but never in doubt, added that "Quietly but surely the inculcation of right and patriotic principles is going on among the prisoners of war confined in our /word illegible/ camp. Out of the whole six thousand rebels in the prisoners' square, there are not half a dozen who have not given up every rebel hope and are ready to abandon treason and come out." -J.S.

Hyde Park Hotels: The Early Years, 1880-1915

A New Exhibit

at HPHS Headquarters

On display are 27 large format views of hotels that were once landmark institutions in the communities of Hyde Park, Kenwood and Woodlawn. Many were built for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. Some became elegant centers of social and cultural life in their communities and resort destinations for visitors  to Chicago from all over the world. Featured are such hotels as the first Chicago Beach Hotel, the early Del Prado and the original Windermere.

The sources of the views used in this exhibit are photographic and printed postcards, most of which were composed and published from the  years  around  1907 until  about  1915.   The photographer  most  represented by these images is Charles R. Childs, one of the more prolific and able photographers and postcard publishers of his day in the Chicago area. They have been enlarged for easier viewing through the use of a laser print copier.

StephenTreffman, HPHSArchivist, prepared this exhibit, and will present a program on Early Hyde ParkHotels on Sunday, June 21, at 2pm.Do plan to come and get acquainted with early HydePark…

by Stephen Treffman, HPHS Archivist

Paul Robeson (1898-1976)

The100th anniversary of the April 9, 1898 birth of the famous African-American singer, actor, and activist is being celebrated throughout the year at hundreds of sites in Chicago and other cities around the world. From 1945 until 1958 Robeson often appeared on stages in or near Hyde Park.Five of his concerts were presented at the University of Chicago's Mandel Hall, 57th Street and University. Four were under the auspices of various student groups and a fifth was sponsored by Earl B. Dickerson (1891-1986) who was an African-American alumnus of the University's LawSchool(1920), Supreme Life Insurance Company executive and a civil rights lawyer who played an historically significant role in overturning the legal basis for racially restrictive covenants.

On September 1, 1940, at the Chicago Coliseum,!Robeson sang for theAmericanNegro Exposition,:major organizers for which had been Dickerson and his!wife,Kathryn. Robeson also performed at several concerts in Washington Park at 53rd Street near Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Drive and in such settings as the Corpus Christi Auditorium at 4600 S. King Drive, the Rose Ballroom at 4724 South Cottage Grove Avenue, Du Sable High School at 4934 S. Wabash Avenue, and the Pershing Hotel at 64th and Cottage Grove Avenue. When in Chicago, Robeson was a guest of the Dickersons, at their home, 5027 S. Drexel Boulevard. At his death, Dickerson lived at 4800 S. Chicago Beach Drive.

Hyde Parkers listed as honorary members of the Paul Robeson 100th Birthday Committee include, Timuel Black, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, Leon Despres, Ishmael Flory, Harold Rogers, and Dr. Quentin Young, M.D. Anyone with any knowledge about Robeson's Hyde Park connections is invited to call our society or the Paul Robeson committee at 312-344-7114   or   its   internet home page(http://www.pobox.com/-robeson/).

Frank Lloyd and Japan: A Chicago Celebration

Frank Lloyd Wright's first encounter with Japanese architecture was the Ho-o-den temple which was installed on Jackson Park's Wooded Island for  the 1893 World's  Columbian  Exposition.  This contributed to Wright's life-long fascination with Japanese art and architecture, one of the few influences he ever acknowledged. Although the Ho-o-den no longer exists, its surrounding garden has been renovated by the Park District and Chicago officials have renamed the area Osaka garden in honor of our Sister City.

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of Wright's Oak Park studio and the 25th anniversary  of  the Osaka Sister Cities program, there will be a special weekend celebration, July 18 and 19, at  Wright's Robie House and Osaka Garden.

On Saturday, a family oriented street fair will be held on 58th Street at Woodlawn Avenue in front of the Robie House, and will  feature  Japanese performing arts, crafts and cuisine. Sunday lectures and films will focus on topics such as the 1893 World's Fair, Wright in Japan and Japanese gardens. Tours of the Robie House and Osaka Garden will be offered in Japanese and English on both days. Transportation between the two sites will be provided. "An Enchanted Evening in Osaka Garden" will be a highlight of the festival. There will be tours of the garden, and Tatsu Aoki, founder of the Chicago Asian­ American Jazz Festival, will perform jazz music based on Japanese compositions with his trio. A Japanese dinner, a Bento, prepared by Totoya will be served, followed by a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony in the pavilion presented by the Chicago chapter of the Urasanke Tea School.  Reservations for this evening

event are limited. Foundation volunteer Robert W. Karr, Jr.  chairs this event which is co-sponsored by the Chicago Park District and others including Friends of the Parks, the University of Chicago and the Osaka Sister City Program. Watch for more information.

Volume 20, Number 2 & 3

Paul Cornell from Chicago and it’s Makers

S

uccessfullawyer,founderofHydeParkandGrandCrossing,PaulCornellhasleftthroughhisuntiringeffortsabeautifulsystemofparks

to be the playgrounds of the millions who succeeded him as residents of Chicago. What greater tribute can be paid to one of Chicago's pioneers than to say through his efforts we have Washington and Jackson Parks with the system of boulevards and smaller parks that makes the southern portion of the city entitled to membership in the City Beautiful.

Pioneer blood of the earliest in America flowed in the veins of Paul Cornell. Born in White Creek, Washington County, New York, August 5, 1822, his family traced back through the father to Thomas

Cornell who left Essex in 1638 ro settle in Boston. His mother was a descendent  of Samuel Robinson, founder of Bennington, Vermont.

Paul's father died during his infancy, and  the mother (Elizabeth Hopkins} became the wife of Dr. Jonathan Berry and moved with her son to Adams County, Illinois. Here Paul worked on a farm and attended  the public schools in winter. Soon he was able to teach and in 1843 began  the study of law, which he continued in an office at Rushville, Illinois and at Joliet. Finally, he was admitted to the bar, and on June 1, 1847, set out for Chicago on a Frink and Walker stage coach.

Carrying his earthly possessions, consisting  of an extra suit of clothes, a package of  business  cards and one and  a half dollars, he entered  the Lake House at Lake and Clark Streets and  applied  for lodging. While he registered someone helped himself  co  the  bundle and young Cornell was left without resources. John M.Wilson, an attorney with whom he had studied, however, came to his rescue and he secured his first employment with Wilson & Freer. A very successful career for a young man at law followed, but Cornell saw greater opportunities in real estate. In 1852 he had hired John Boyd co make a topographical study of the district now known as HydePark and the following year he bought 300 acres along the lakefront. Sixty acres of this he sold to the Illinois Central Railroad on condition that they  would maintain service of at least one train daily from Chicago and return. He was forced co agree to pay the difference between  the cost of operation and  the sale of tickets, a sum amounting at one time co $70 for three months. A receipted bill for chat amount is preserved in the Hyde Park Hotel, signed by George B. McClellan of  the railroad, who lacer became  general-in-chief  of  che United Scates Army.

Bue Cornell opened a subdivision, and the  town, after a few hesitant months, flourished. He built the old Hyde Park Hotel, and when it burned, planned for che present structure, which belongs to his estate.

In the meantime a railroad accident on the south side had led co the general order that all trains crossing an intersection of two lines must come to a full stop. Cornell saw the possibilities in the order and bought land at the intersection of the two roads, subdividing it as Cornell, Illinois, but later changing the name  to Grand Crossing.

Possessed of a clear vision Mr. Cornell was one of the original agitators for the South Park System of great playgrounds for the multitudes to come, and of boulevards. The winter of 1867 and 1868 he spent in Springfield fighting against hearty opposition for the South Parks bill. He won and was made one of the first commissioners, serving for fourteen years. He was an organizer of the Chicago Coal and Dock Company, which worked the Calumet.

Mr. Cornell married Helen M. Gray of Bowdoinham, Maine, July 24, 1856, at che home of her brother in-law, Orrington Lune, of Chicago. They had five sons and two daughters, Elizabeth, Walter G. and Orrington, George Kimbark Cornell, John Evans Cornell, Paul and Helen. Mr. Cornell died March 3, 1904.

Another Link with Lincoln:------

Springfield June 2, 1857

Messers Cornell, Waite & Jameson Chicago, Ills.

Gentlemen: Yours of the  29th  was duly received. This morning  I  went  co the Register with four hundred dollars in gold in my hand and tendered to che Register of the Land Office a written application co enter the land, as you requested, all of which the Register  declined.  I have made a written memorandum of the facts,

deposited the gold with J. Bunn (who furnished it

to me on the draft you sent) and cook his Certificate of deposite (sic). which certificate and memorandum I hold subject co your order.

Now, if you please, send me ten dollars, as a fee.

Yours Truly

A. Lincoln

The focus on Paul Cornell (1822-1904) in chis issue of Hyde Park History arises out of Len Despres' presentation co the 1998 annual meeting of our Society and the visit last May by Cornell's grandson, Paul Adrian Cornell, to Hyde Park and his enlightening offering at our program ac Robie House. In this issue's "Notes," we look more closely at aspects of Paul Cornell's life and business career in Hyde Park and Grand Crossing and at responses we received co our Harold Washington memorial issue.

Cornell in Hyde Park

When Paul Cornell came co Chicago in 1847  he lived in the central city. After becoming involved in developing Hyde Park and marrying Helen Gray (b. 1833) in 1856, he and his new wife took  up  residence in his new community, probably in 1857. Cornell constructed a house for his family on the southwest corner of Laurel (51st Street/East Hyde Park Boulevard) and Jefferson (now Harper) Avenue. The two story frame house, designed in the then popular Italianate architectural style, was essentially rectangular in shape. le was oriented from east co west along 5 lsc Street on a lot that was 50 feet on its east and west edges and 150 feet on its north and south boundaries. In the accompanying illustration, the house's main entryway appears in the forefront, which would indicate that the photograph was taken from Jefferson (Harper) Avenue rather than from 51st Street. The address ultimately became 5104 S. Harper Avenue. The cupola on the roof probably served to draw light into the center of the house. From the porch, Cornell and his family could see the smoke and flames from the Great Chicago Fire of October 9, 1871 that, in the process, also destroyed his downtown office and its records.

The presence of this imposing house so close co the Illinois Central railroad  lines meant  that early travelers and potential investors in Hyde  Park  property  could easily see it  when  arriving at or passing Hyde Park  by rail. In a sense, it served as Hyde Park's first "model home," an explicit  vision  of  what  could  be established on this open and essentially empty land that was close enough to downtown Chicago via a short train ride but distant enough to be removed from its congestion. According to city directories and grandson Paul  A. Cornell, Paul and Helen continued  co live in the house until  their  deaths,  in  1904  and  1914  respectively.  It was demolished soon after her death. Commercial structures, once including a branch of one of America's early fast  food  chains, "House of  Wimpy's:  The  Home of the Glorified Hamburger,"  now occupy the site. The land remains the property of the Cornell family, making it the oldest parcel of Hyde Park real estate owned continuously to this day by one family.

Cornell built Hyde Park House at a cost of $70,000 around the same time that he constructed his house and may even have been resident  in  the  hotel  while  the house was being  built.  When  the hotel  opened  in 1858, it had a capacity for 200 guests and was, as Jim Stronks pointed out in our last issue, an attractive retreat for well-to-do Chicagoans. Because of additions to the Lake Michigan shoreline in lacer years, some confusion has crept into identifying the hotel's original  site.  A  map from 1868  indicates  that  it  stood  at  the  southeast corner of 53rd Street and what is now South Hyde Park Boulevard, where  the  Del  Prado  Apartments  now stands. The building  stretched  lengthwise  north  and south along the lake shore.  Its  front  facade,  the  long side in the view in the accompanying illustration, faced west toward a landscaped driveway. According  to Andreas, Cornell  leased  the  inn  co managers  in 1858

and  then sold  it  co J. Irving  Pearce and Schuyler S.

Benjamin  in 1865. Although  the new owners enclosed che hotel's wooden frame  in  brick,  the entire building was consumed by fire in  1877 at an estimated  loss of some $310,000, most of it uninsured. These owners, it would seem, bore that loss, not Cornell.  lncidently, another hotel called "The Hyde Park"  existed  in  the 1870s at the southeast corner of 63rd and Stony Island Avenue in Woodlawn but whether  Cornell  had  a financial interest  in  it is not known. After Cornell  built his new hotel  in  Hyde  Park,  the Hyde Park Hotel on 63rd Street ceased co operate under that name.

Paul Cornell and Grand Crossing

By 1870, Paul Cornell and his wife had had five children, two of whom, ac ages four and six, had died of diphtheria early in that year. He was 47 years of age, a well-established lawyer and a South Park Commissioner which, no doubt with some pride, he reported as his occupation in the 1870 U.S. Census. Financially, the 1860s had been quite a boon for Cornell. He cold the 1870 census enumerator that he owned  $600,000  in real estate and $6000 in personal property, a combined figure twelve times the amount he had claimed in the 1860 Census. A significant portion of his real estate holdings consisted of hundreds of acres of land chat he had acquired in 1854 and developed around a railroad intersection at 75th street and what is now South Chicago Avenue. In 1853 two trains had  collided  at this rail crossing with a loss of forty lives and many more injured. This led  to   legal requirements  that, by the mid-1870s, had 210 trains of six different rail companies stopping ac this junction  every day. This land became the basis for a new community originally called Cornell, but ultimately named Grand Crossing.

Accordingtotheoriginalplatenteredwiththe CookCounty'sRecorderofDeedsin1872,theborders of Grand Crossing  ran essentially from  71st Street on the north to  83rd  Street  on  the  south  and  from Stony Island on the east to Cottage Grove on the west.

The strategy that Cornell used in developing Grand Crossing was roughly similar to the one he used in the town of Hyde Park but with a wrinkle that notably differentiated it from his earlier effort. The center of the new town was arranged around a railroad stop and depot. He built a  hotel (the Grand  Crossing  at  76th and Woodlawn) near the depot, established a small community park (at 76th and Greenwood) and donated land for a church (at 76th and Ingleside) and for  a public school (at 76th and Drexel and named for Cornell), all of which was, essentially, a basic review of what he done before in Hyde Park Center. The twist on the model was that, immediately south of the park, Cornell constructed a large watch factory in 1870 that would serve not only as an anchor for Grand Crossing and, perhaps, a rewarding financial investment but also as a defining symbol of the community's character.

Cornell envisioned Grand Crossing as a center for

manufacturing supported by unusually good rail access for shipping and travel and the availability of good housing. Cornell offered manufacturers land at very attractive prices in the expectation that the workers drawn to these factories would  then purchase housing on land which Cornell could also provide. The watch factory might help prime the pump, so to speak. In the case of Hyde Park, the direct parallel to the factory, in theory, was Cornell's donation of land for a Presbyterian Theological Seminary south of East End  Park, but it was never built. In practice, it would be his house and his hotel that served  to identify the town of Hyde Park in its early days as a middle- and upper-class residential suburban community linked closely to Chicago. Grand Crossing, however, was intended to be a far more self­ contained and self-sustaining economic entity.

The Cornell Watch Factory stood on the south side of 76th Street between Greenwood and Dobson, at what would now be about 1035-53 East. The gray structure, oriented east to west and facing north, was three stories high and perhaps half a city block long. An early example of the so-called American system of mass production, the plant had fifteen separate operating departments and employed perhaps as many as three hundred men using sixty-five different machines, some driven by steam, that Cornell had purchased from a defunct New Jersey watchmaking company or had constructed expressly for his factory. For its time, the building was probably as modern  a  manufacturing plant as could be found anywhere in the Chicago area. Natural light came through the building's  unusually large windows and the landscaped area in front of the building provided a parklike setting. The company prided itself on its policy of employing only men. Women and children, whose labor might have suggested a lower quality product or otherwise possibly been deemed exploited, were expressly excluded from employment.

A singular snapshot of Hyde  Park  history  was captured when the company  differentiated  among  the nine models it offered  by identifying  them by the names of real people, all of whom, but one, had historic connections  to Hyde Park and  Cornell. The  top of the line model was the Paul Cornell, a nineteen jewel stem winder. More modest models, those with fewer jewels, were identified by the names of friends and business associates, some or all of whom may also have served as directors of the company: C. T  Bowen, Chauncey  M. Cady, Homer N. Hibbard, George F. Root,John Evans,]. C. Adams, E.S. Williams, and George W. Waite.

Bowen, Cady, Hibbard, and  Waite were active early

collaborators with Cornell in the development of Hyde Park. Chauncey T. Bowen is linked to a subdivision in Hyde Park Center that included much of what is now Nichol's  Park. He played  a major role in lobbying for passage of the South Parks legislation and was, with Cornell, a commissioner on its first board. He was president of the first Calumet and Chicago Dock and Canal Company, in which Cornell was also an investor. The company developed significant portions of the southern part of Hyde Park Village. Chauncey M. Cady (1824-1889) was the vice-president of the Cornell Watch Company. In partnership with George Frederick Root (1820-1895 ), Cady also owned Chicago's largest music publishing firm (founded 1858), with offices at the famed Crosby Opera House. Cady was president of the first Hyde Park Board of Trustees from 1868 until 1874.

Homer Nash Hibbard (1824-1897), Cornell's law partner in the 1860s, led the  move  to  incorporate Hyde Park Village in 1861 and was associated with Cornell in founding its first public school. The present Kenwood Avenue from 51st to 55t·h Street was originally called Hibbard Street  or  Court. Hibbard also held investment property in Grand Crossing.

George Washington Waite  (b.1819)  was employed as chief engineer for several railroads and was linked closely to Hyde Park's village government. At various times he held positions as Hyde Park trustee, revenue collector, town clerk, and supervisor. He was Hyde Park's first postmaster and, in 1872, the first Chief Engineer for the South Park Board of Commissioners.

Dr. John Evans  (] 814-1897),  an  obstetrician  and active real estate investor, was related to Cornell by marriage. He was associated with Cornell in creating Oak  Woods Cemecary in 1853. He lent his name to the town of Evanston, Illinois and was founding president    of    Northwestern    University's    Board of Trustees. Cornell named one of his sons after Evans. By 1870, however, Evans was resident in Colorado.

Erastus S. Williams was a lawyer,  circuit  court judge and, as was Hibbard, an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Hyde  Park  of which  Cornell was a founding member.

The one model  "name" chat does not fie  naturally into this group is that of J.C. Adams and his is an interesting story. According  to the 1870 Census, John C.Adams, who then lived in Chicago with his wife and three children, was born in New York State in 1835 and had been apprenticed as a watchmaker and jeweler. The first machine manufactured(interchangeable part) watches in the United States were made in1854 by theWaltham(Massachusetts)Watch Company.In1864, Adams, fascinated by the potential of this technology, with associates drawn from the Massachusetts company and monies invested by a group led by a former mayor of Chicago, founded the National Watch Company, in Elgin, Illinois. Cornell somehow became acquainted with Adams and decided to back him financially in establishing a new watch company in Grand Crossing with machinery purchased from a defunct watch company in Newark. Adams left the Elgin company  and joined the Cornell Watch Company as its  general agent or manager. He likely was the  Cornell company's central figure in working out the details of production, employment, and distribution and likely had a hand in aspects of the design of the factory itself. The still existing small park that Cornell established across from the plant, at 76th Street between Dobson and Greenwood Avenues, may well have been named after Adams and retains that name to this day.

Using the names of private individuals to differentiate between a company's watch models was not unusual among manufacturers of that period but most appear to have been of persons involved directly in the business. While it is not known whether the Cornell watch "names" were actual investors in  the company, using those names illustrates Cornell's capacity to draw a core of close friends and relatives around him with whom he shared the  risks and rewards   of   his       major projects or

otherwise obtained  their support

and approval, whether  in Hyde Park,  Grand  Crossing,  the South Parks or Calumet. Those connections, however, have led historians  to  conclude  that those   behind   the   campaign for  establishing  the   South Parks system, that  is, Cornell and his close associates, were influenced by the prospect of increasing the value  of  real estate near the parks as well as for providing "lungs for the City." In 1871 the Cornell Watch Company was profusely praised by an editor of a perhaps because of, the new technology, it was still a capital and labor intensive business and efficiencies in production may have been difficult to achieve. In 1871, the company's manager claimed, perhaps overstating reality, that the firm had invested $500,000 building and equipping the factory and planned to devote another $500,000 for further development. Still, investment and labor costs had to have been substantial. As that trade journal editor had warned in  1871, despite a company's willingness to invest large sums to "secure perfection in the manufacture of their goods they may nor at all rimes receive the ample pecuniary return their enterprise deserves."

For Cornell to recover the costs of their manufacture and make a profit, a great many watches would have to be sold and that may have proved difficult to achieve in the face of stiff competition and a deteriorating economy. For example, in that same 1870 to 1874 period, Adams' old company in Elgin probably manufactured as many as four rimes the number of watches Cornell produced Offering nine different watch models, instead of just a few, while flattering to his friends and associates, may nonetheless also have raised  Cornell's costs of production and further dampened his company's ability to compete. The Chicago Fire of 1871, in turn, played havoc with Chicago's economy, the closest large market for Cornell watches. Moreover, a sharp economic downturn in the United States watch trade journal for making began  in  1873  causing  wide­ "the best watch the ingenuity of man has as yet produced" and for having a "liberal management". A glowing future was predicted. In 1874, however, Cornell suddenly sold controlling interest in the company to a California group headed by Leland Stanford, organizer of the Central Pacific Railroad and the man who hammered that famous spike at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869. Most of the watch factory's machinery was shipped off to San Francisco along with sixty of its skilled workers who had elected to remain with the company.

The reasons for the sale of the Cornell Watch Company have never been fully explained. On its face, the Grand Crossing company seemed to  be  thriving; from  1870 to 1874  the company  may  have produced, by some estimates, perhaps as many as ten to twelve thousand watches. The problem was that despite, or spread unemployment and wage cuts for many of those who were employed, particularly railroad workers, a prime market for watches. These factors also would have affected the ability of Cornell to raise funds to keep the company going in difficult times. Cornell's own investments were rather illiquid and his major interests, as well as those of most of his associates, were, after all, far more wedded to real estate than to watchmaking. For his friends Cady and Root,  the Great Fire was a disaster. When the Crosby Opera House went up in flames, so did their business, throwing it into bankruptcy. Cady left Chicago in 1873. By 1874, then, in the face of factors internal and external to the company, it is likely that the Cornell Watch Company was experiencing difficulties in achieving profitability, actual or desired. Given these circumstances, Cornell probably welcomed the opportunity to sell control of the company to other players.

The California group apparently believed that the company had a better chance for survival in a different market. Its strategy was to lower its labor costs at its San Francisco plant by hiring Chinese workers, then available in large numbers after completion of the transcontinental railroad line. The  skilled  workers who had come from Chicago, however, protested and went on strike. Conditions for the company continued to deteriorate and the company closed  its  doors 10 1876 and sold off its assets  to watch companies in other cities.

Back in Grand Crossing, in 1875 Cornell sold his former watch factory building to the Wilson Sewing Machine Company, along with 300 lots of land. By then the community already had over seventy-five dwellings. In 1876, he put his Grand Crossing  Hotel up for sale. Although he continued to maintain

•   significant  holdings in Grand Crossing  until  the end of his life, Cornell, by the lace 1870s, had probably completed the most active phase of his involvement in development of that community. The factory itself became something of a  community  landmark, standing until at least the middle of this century. The site is now vacant. J.C. Adams moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he organized the Adams and Perry Watch Manufacturing Company only co see it go into receivership in 1876. In 1885, however, he returned to Illinois to organize and presumably make his fortune with the Illinois Watch Company in Springfield, Illinois which made watches there until 1932. The Elgin Watch Company, the one from  which Adams left to join Cornell,  became the largest  manufacturer of watches in the United States and produced watches until the 1950s.

Grand Crossing's contribution to the history  of Hyde Park Village lies in its role in encouraging the development of areas  to its  north and south. This led to an increase in the village's population with accompanying greater social and economic diversity which, in turn, gave rise to political forces competing over community resources, eventually challenging the old line powers in Hyde Park Center,  including Cornell himself, in support of annexation to Chicago.

One of the earliest aspects of Grand Crossing's pre­ development was the establishment, in 1853, by Cornell and others, of Oak Woods Cemetary at 67th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, today one of the great historic cemetaries of Chicago. Cornell and most of his immediate family are buried there in lot 1-1. In 1888, Cornell installed there a dignified  twenty foot tall monument cast by his own American  White Bronze Company, then located only blocks from the cemetery at 73rd and Woodlawn  in Grand  Crossing. A relief of his face is set in place half way up the monument, which is possibly the last surving structure whose construction was personally supervised by Cornell. It has held up very well and is accessible to the public.

The Hyde Park Hotel

When Cornell built his new Hyde Park Hotel on the south side of 51st Street between Lake Park and Harper Avenues (now site of the Village Center Shopping Mall), he did so in two stages. Although sources conflict on the matter, the east half,  along Lake Park, was apparently built first, in  1887. The west half, along 51st Street/Hyde Park Boulevard to Harper Avenue, was added in 1890. This may account for early references to two different addresses for the hotel: 5122 Lake (Park) Avenue and 1511 E. Hyde Park Boulevard. An addition to the rear  of  the building was constructed at some  date  later  than 1907. At the time it was built it was the largest residential structure in Hyde  Park  with  ultimately 300 units of two to five rooms. Framed internally by a metal skeleton, it was proclaimed "fire proof' because of its then new fire restraining wall construction.  On its first floor, an elegant marble lobby opened into a well-regarded dining room, various public meeting rooms and a smoking materials and  newspaper stand. It also had a barber shop and pharmacy. An elevator took residents to their floors. A veranda that stretched along its north and west facade allowed visitors  to relax and enjoy the street scene. Lake Michigan was then only a little more than a block away from  the hotel and the large windows in each apartment  not only brought in a good deal of natural light  but allowed lake breezes to cool  the rooms during the summer months. Over the years the well-regarded hotel was host co celebrities and many community social and cultural activities. The Old Settlers Club, something akin to a local historical society, met there regularly during the early years of this century.

Architecrual historian Carl Condit praises the hotel, designed by Theodore Starrett and built by the George

A. Fuller Company, as perhaps the earliest residential example of what has come to be called the Chicago School of Architecture. These innovative forms and structures first emerged in downtown Chicago during the early 1880s as spacious metal framed office and commercial buildings, many of them constructed  by the same Fuller Company. Planning for such large buildings, argued its advocates, should be rational, empirical and systematic. The structures that emerged should project simplicity, stability, dignity, and efficiency. Artistry derived from functional elaborations, not from adding on useless embellishments.   In  other   words,  it  fit   important

emergingaspectsoflate19thCenturybusinessphilosophy-andCornell-likeaglove. Condie ignores Cornell when he considers the hotel, preferring to focus on the architect's achievement, the building's influence on ocher hotels, and its divergence from older building traditions. Indeed, its design was decidedly not the reigning architecture of the Columbian World's Expostition although the hotel certainly housed a goodly number of visitors to the fair. The face remains, however, chat Cornell commissioned, approved and financed  the planning and construction of chat very special and historically important  hotel and his contribution deserves co be acknowledged. Hyde Park House, the watch factory, the lase Hyde Park Hotel, even the American White Bronze Company, seem all of a piece: among the largest and best built buildings of their type in their  time and place, reflections of Cornell's commitment to quality and innovation. The Hyde Park Hotel not  only belonged to Cornell, it epitomized his values, his career and the identity that he wanted for himself and the community he had founded. While ochers in  Hyde Park may have built what were considered temporary structures for the fair, Cornell constructed a hotel whose intended permanence was self-evident. In so doing, he introduced a form of alternative housing into the community-the first class residential hotel-chat would ultimately become very important to Hyde Park's development in succeeding decades. Cornell's funeral was held in the hotel on March 5, 1904. The building itself came down in 1963 during the community's urban renewal era.

Remembering Paul Cornell

Historian Donald Miller appraises Cornell's  career and accomplishments sympathetically. "Cornell," he writes, "was  more  than  a  building  speculator...(He) had a deep interest in the city's betterment  and  the hope...  that  parks and  cultural  institutions  would  act as restraints on Chicago's runaway materialism." The park system Cornell helped bring into existence "was Chicago's first effort to shape a development process dominated by unruly improvisation and to plan entire areas in advance of settlement for public,  not  private use. It was also the first successful effort in the city's history  to break  the  monotonous  spread  of the grid." Mi Iler concludes, "Cornell's career as a town and park builder is an example of  the combination  of high and low motives, of risk caking in the interests of both personal and civic gain chat had been behind  nearly every major municipal improvement since...(che early days of Chicago's history)." As  he walked  to his car after his visit co Robie House lase  May,  Paul  A. Cornell offered  his own down-to-earth  assessment  of his grandfather, "Given the curbulaoce of 19th century America, he had a lot of guts."

Cornell Avenue and Cornell Drive, of course, are named in honor of Paul Cornell. There is also a park named after him, Cornell Square, at 1809 W. 50th Street. In the main hall of its refectory, there is a painting of Cornell on the wall and  a bust of  him dated 1900, probably cast by American Bronze. An administrator there cold me the story that, years ago,

The two parks about which I was requesting information turned out  to be on one or the other of their lists. In the case of Adams Park, there is another one by that name on Chicago's  north  side.  The District had no historical information in their current files on Grand Crossing's Adams Park but  I could share our research, tracing it back at least to the 1872 plat, thus placing it among the older named  parks in the over 500 parks currently in their system, and suggesting a possible source of the Adams name. "Harold Washington Park" may be designated as the official name for the area previously categorized as a playloc. Moreover, though raised tentively by a staff member working on this project, there is a possibility that the entire area including the playlot and the park land west to Hyde Park Boulevard, chat is, what once was officially labelled East End Park, might be renamed "The Harold Washington Memorial Park." While such decisions are made ultimately by the Park District Board, with recommendations from the park's cop level administrators, community impuc in chis process seemed genuinely welcomed. Persons wishing to convey their sentiments about these matters should direct them to Dr. Gwendolyn Larouch, Director of External Affairs, Chicago Park District, 425 E. Mcfetridge Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605.

Incidently, although  Harold  Washington  was che

only sitting mayor of Chicago  to have  made  his  home in Hyde Park, in  the  course of the  research  for chis

issue, I learned that Edward J. Kelly, while mayor in

the 1930s, lived at 4821 South Ellis Avenue in the Kenwood community.

In 1876, an "old settler," possibly Cornell himself, was asked "what will Chicago be twenty­ five years from now?" "Why sir, I am afraid to tell you, for fear you will laugh at me, as all my friends did, when I prophesied that in 1865, Chicago would have 100,000 inhabitants; in 1870, 150,000, and in 1886, 200,000; and

yet you see I did not set it half high enough...(By 1900), if manufacturers come in to help us, as I believe they will, I expect Chicago will be built up in that time as compact as she is now, down south to the Indiana State Iine."

From: D.H.Horne, Chicago As It Is To Be, 1876

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Another response to our  Harold  Washington memorial issue came from Charles and Yolanda  Hall who have organized the "Chicago Friends of  The Lincoln Brigade." They report that honorary Spanish citizenship was granted to surviving members of the Brigade in 1997. Six of chem were  Chicagoans,  of whom two, Dr. Aaron Hilkevitch, M.D. and Emanuel Hochberg, were Hyde Parkers.  Mr.  Hochberg  died April  28,  1998. Their research, drawn primarily from che Brigade's archives at Brandeis University, indicates that  more  than  a dozen  students from  the  University of Chicago went to Spain, including Nathan Meyer Schilling who was killed in battle there. Schilling had lived at 5610 S. Dorchester. Charles Hall is also a Brigade veteran and he and  his  wife  once  lived  in Hyde Park. Further information on che plans and activities of the new group may be obtained from the Halls at 5320 N. Sheridan Road, #1902, Chicago, IL 60640 or, by phone, at 773-769-2665.

Selected sources: A.T. Andreas, History of Cook Co11nty (Chicago, 1884); Jean Block, Hyde Park Homes (Chicago, 1978); Chicago Trib11ne, March 4, 1904; Paul Gilbert and C.L Bryson, Chicago and its Makers (Chicago, 1929); Carl W. Condit, The Chicago School of Architecture: A History of Commerical and Public Building i11 the Chict1;:,o Arect, 1875-1925 (Chicago, 1964); John Drury, "Grand Crossing," Landlord's G11ide (Chicago),

Vol. 38,  no.  10 (Ocrober, 1947); Dena J. Epstein,

Mmic Publishing in Chicago before 1871: The Firm of Root and Cady. 1858-l 871 (Detroit, 1969); Everett Chamberlin, Chicaf!,O and its S11b11rbs (Chicago, l 874); Paul A. Cornell, Pa11I Cornell: The Father of Hyde Park (Chicago, 1978 and 1998); Donald R. Hoke, The Time Mme1m1 flistorical Cataloiue of American Pocket Watches (Rockford, Illinois, 1991); D.H. Horne, The City of Chicago That ls To Be.' The Village of Hyde Park and her Tou·ns.' Grand Crossing (Cleveland, Ohio, 1876); Hyde Park I-leralcl, August l l, 1938; Ann Durkin Keating, B11ilclinf!. Chicaf!.o (Columbus, Ohio, 1988); Paul Markum, "Village Problems and City Solutions," Hyde Park I-Iistot)' 1 (Chicago: Hyde Park Historical Society, 1980), pp. 5+82; Donald L. Mi Iler, City of the Cent11ry: The Epic of Chicaf!,O and the Making of America (New York, 1996); Cooksey Shugart, The Complete Guide to American Pocket Watches (Cleveland, Tennessee, 1981); The Watchmaker and jeweler, Vol. 2 (May, 1871) and Vol. 3 (September and November, 1871); A.N. Waterman,  Historical  Revieu1  of Chicago and Cook  County (Chicago, 1908) Andrew Yox, "Hyde Park Politics: 1861-1919," Hyde Park History 2 (1980). Thanks to Bernard Edwards and Cooksey Shugart for leads regarding the Cornell Watch Company and to Julia Bachrach and Anita Salazar of the Chicago Park District.

A 1908 post card view of Adams Park and the old Cornell Watch Company in Grand Crossing was a key to identifying the then location of the old watch factory at Ease 76th and Greenwood Avenue. At the time of chis photograph, the building was occupied by  A.C.  Clark and Company, a dental supply manufacturer. Although the building no longer exists, Adams Park, at least 116 years after it was established, still does, on the north side of 76th Street between Greenwood and Dobson Avenues diagonally across the street from the much larger Grand Crossing Park. Adams Park may have been named after Cornell Watch Company official John C. Adams.

By 1876 Hyde Park Village consisted of twenty-eight towns: Cleaversville, Forrestville, Kenwood, Hyde Park, South Park, Woodlawn, South Shore, Oakwood, Brookline, Englewood,Grand Crossing, South Chicago, Clark's-Point, Irondale, Stony Island, Indian-Ridge, Colehour, Chittenden, Burnside, Roseland, Kensington, Riverdale, Wildwood, Dalton, Kingston, Anthony, Binford, Egandale, and Fernwood.

Volume 20, Number 4

Hyde Park Houses: An Enduring Gift Twenty Years Later from Jean F Block

Written by Steven Treffman

Twenty years have passed since The University of Chicago Press published the lace Jean Friedberg Block's groundbreaking Hyde Park Houses: An

Informal History, 1856-1910 in the Fall of 1978. It is as

well, the tenth  anniversary  of her death.This presents an opportunity to look back at the significance of this book and at Jean Block's life.

When introduced to the public, Hyde Park  Houses was characterized by its publisher, on one hand, as a "detailed architectural history of Hyde Park's first fifty years"  and, on  the other, as "a charming  and informative  guide to  the  historical  domestic architecture of one of Chicago's oldest

neighborhoods." Thar these are not guire the same things may have reflected some difficulty on the part of this world-class academic press about just how to characterize the book. In fact, it was the first book of its type ever published by the UC Press. The book consists of four distinct sections: first, a general history, with illustrations and maps, of the development and evolution of nineteenth century Hyde Park-Kenwood; second, photographs by Samuel W. Block Jr. of seventy-six houses as they appeared in 1978, accompanied by a contemporary map showing their locations; third, in an appendix, biographical notes on more than forty architects along with listings of their Hyde Park buildings; and fourth, in a second appendix, a checklist of over nine hundred dwellings in Hyde Park and, where known, their architects and the names and occupations of their original owners organized by streets and street numbers. The book concludes with a bibliographic essay that reflects the wide and unusual range of sources she used and remains instructive to this day.

The book, which had a printing of 10,000 copies, was well-received and found wide distribution.

Currently it may  be found in at  lease fifty-five academic,  state, and  municipal  libraries in  Illinois alone and may be found in many major libraries throughout the United States. Several  years ago, the Hyde  Park  Historical  Society gave copies of the  book to  public schools  in the community  and  also maintains a copy in its headguarcer's library. The Blackstone Library catalog lists eight copies in  its collection  and The University of Chicago's Regenstein Library has copies at several locations.

As a guide to histori chomes in Hyde Park and Kenwood, it was to  many a revelation  of the  rich and accessible architectural history chat existed throughout  the community.  There simply  had  never been any publication on Hyde Park quire like it before. Familiar old houses now  had  names and daces attached to chem: they had  their own  histories.  In addition, for the first time and for an audience beyond  local boundaries, a general history of Hyde Park now existed that provided a narrative context not only co the houses but to the community  in which  they stood. It is chat which transformed Hyde Park Houses from what might otherwise have been viewed only as a guidebook into something more substantial and, as well, historic in its own right.

The publication of Hyde Park Houses in 1978 may be

viewed something of an unofficial proclamation of the end of the great period of urban renewal in Hyde Park. Beginning around 1950, local forces frorri religious institutions, The University of Chicago, community

•         organizations and  political  activists drew  together  co hale the physical deterioration of  the  community's housing  stock,  revitalize  its  infrastructure and  establish a more inclusive and constructive social situation.  The long years of economic depression and  war had stifled new construction in Hyde Park and a combination of housing shortages, social conflict, discrimination, and population changes appeared co threaten the viability of the entire community. The result, funded in  part  by federal grants,  was  the  demolition,  during  the  1950s and 1960s, of large areas of residential and commercial property  in  Hyde  Park and, perhaps  co a somewhat lesser extent, in Kenwood.

Visitors  to  our exhibition of Vi Fogel Uretz' paintings and her slide presentations on urban renewal in Hyde Park at our headquarters  in  the  1995-96 season could only marvel at the images of sheer physical destruction that she recorded. It was almost as if the ravages of war in distant lands chat had been seen only in newsreels and magazines had somehow, incredibly, been visited upon Hyde Park. While the resulting new development was lauded nationally as a remarkable achievement in urban revitalization through federal and local partnership, the human impact was substantial.

Several hundred small businesses were affected. Many of

them simply closed while ochers scrambled to find new locations in Hyde Park or left the community. Some residents, by choice or by circumstance, found homes elsewhere in Chicago or fled the city entirely and moved co the suburbs.

Forthose HydeParkerswho remained,thoughbuoyedbyhope, idealismand determination, as thesmall shops, grocery stores,restaurants,houses,hotels,apartmentbuildings,houses of worship,theaters,gasstations and garages, eventhepost office andthepolicestationthathadbeen so much a partof thelandscape oftheirlivesdisappeared;theywereleftonlywith memories of what  had  been. Whether  or nor one favored the course and effects of urban renewal, the changes it wrought were, for many people, undeniably painful and, for some, accompanied by a sense of loss chat only mellowed over the years. It is no surprise chat Vi  Urecz'  talks in  1995 and  1996 were  to standing room crowds.

What Jean's book did, in effect, was to celebrate chat portion of Hyde Park-Kenwood that had survived the tumult. That success could  be attributed  co  the combined  efforts  of a  range of community  institutions, a mobilized citizenry, enlightened  political  leadership and investments of large amounts of time, effort and, especially, money, government and private, in the community.   Although  Jean  alludes only  briefly  to these developments in the preface, an important aspect of the philosophy that propelled Hyde Park's urban renewal effort does make its way into the text. At one point, in describing the emergence of activist

community organizations at the turn of the century, she writes (page 70): "Protection, improvement, betterment-the words imply that the community was less than perfect, and yet they also carry with them the implication that its citizens believed in their own power co affect the physical and moral conditions of life." That underlying subtext, the connection between the long-past and the then-immediate past, spoke co anyone familiar with--or who had lived through­ Hyde Park history during the third quarter of this century.

Also reflected in the book was the emergence of new attitudes regarding the preservation of older buildings. During the most  intense period  of urban  renewal, postwar  modernism   dominated  new  construction design and older buildings were either physically eliminated or cast  almost  into a fashion  shadow.  In time, however, the idea of respecting and rehabilitating older housing designs and forms became a compelling value in the minds of many residents and homebuyers. Older  homes and  apartment  buildings,  they  decided, had an aura and meaning worth nurturing. While this development  was  not  unique  to Hyde  Park-Kenwood, of course, Hyde Parkers were among chose who played pioneering roles in that process here in Chicago.

Recently, a letter  from  long-time  Hyde  Parker Richard Orlikoff appeared in our local newspaper, The Herald (December 9, 1998). In the letter, he claims that the oft-quoted comment about Hyde Park and urban renewal that entertainers Elaine May and Mike Nichols made famous, originally had been his: "Here we stand, black and white, shoulder to shoulder against the poor." Oversimplification  or  not,  the  line  reminds  us  that there were winners and losers in the urban renewal process. It does not at all detract from  the achievement that Hyde Park Houses represents to note that the houses chat appear within it belonged co many of the winners.

Houses and the HPHS

The idea of a local historical society was not new in Hyde Park but Jean's book played a role in helping to actually establish one. The  Old  Settler's Club existed for awhile in the early part of this century, apparently until the old settlers were no more. In 1939, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the annexation of Hyde Park to Chicago, Paul Cornell's niece, Alice Manning Dickey, an active participant in the event, publicly urged establishment of an historical society in the community. World War II and its concerns intervened, however, and the proposal did not progress. The vision was reborn, however, in the mid-1970s by resident Clyde Watkins who engaged Jean and Muriel Beadle in the project at its very earliest stages and then drew other prominent and committed residents into the planning and fundraising that led to t'he founding in 1977 of the Hyde Park Historical Society and its installation in our current headquarters on Lake Park Avenue.

Aside from Jean's personal involvement with the

HPHS, her book presented the tableau of a community whose history was worth remembering  and, thus, bolstered the attempt to do so through an actual organization. Sensing the legitimacy and impetus  the book would provide their organizing efforts, writers in early issues of the Society's newsletter expressed eager anticipation of the book's publication. After it appeared, the book quickly became the standard history of early Hyde Park and  the starting  point  for anyone  interested in studying the development of the community. The society stocked copies for sale to the public. Finally, and this cannot be overstated, the essential work that Jean Block did  to produce her book  made it  possible for others not only to expand upon what she found but to strike out into other areas of research.

If Hyde Park Houses hadn't been written, we might still be bogged down in trying to uncover  and connect the materials and details Jean spent at least three years of her life determinedly cracking down. There are local historical societies and community groups elsewhere, both near and distant from Hyde Park, caught  in precisely that situation today.

Beyond the local community, Hyde Park Houses found its place in very respectable company. In the book's introduction, the distinguished historian Kenneth T. Jackson placed it within "the new urban history," a still emerging body of literature chat examines local or neighborhood history as a way to  understand  or illuminate larger issues in the development of

America's cities. The book appeared at a time when "documenting the built environment" was a clarion call among preservatists. Jean was conducting research that almost directly responded to needs articulated in such prominent publications as, for instance, The  National Trust for Historical Preservation's America's Forgotten Architecture (New York, 1976). Since then, Hyde Park Houses has earned its way into the footnotes and bibliographies of a wide range of books and articles published by writers not only on local  history  but, as well, on various aspects of architectural, Chicago, and general  urban  history.  Indeed,  its  seeming awkwardness,  that segmentation  of its  parts, has provided hooks for researchers coming at topics from varying angles and allowed them to use the book in different ways. This book which, Jackson noted, used "neither  the methodology  nor  the  jargon  of the academic profession" (something that troubled some professors on  the Press' editorial  board),  has, nonetheless,  served   that   profession-and  other intelligent readers-well.

Hyde  Park-Kenwood   is  not  an  ancestor-worshipping  community.   When  I  began  to  look  into  its  past, I  found  few  letters,  diaries,  or  books  annotating  or  commemorating  it.  Its  first  public  buildings-the town hall, the churches, the public school, the original  Illinois  Central  stations-have  long  since disappeared. But we  do have  the  houses.  They  are the  material  remains  of  the  early  culture  of  the first  fifty  years ...  They  are  the  tale  and  signature  of  the   past,  unwittingly  bequeathed  by  their owners and builders.                                                                                          Jean Block, in her preface to Hyde Park Houses

Who Was Jean Block?

Jean was identified in the book and accompanying promotional materials only as the president of Midway Editorial Research and a lifelong resident of Hyde Park. Samuel W. BlockJr., the  book's contributing photographer,  receives  only an expression  of gratitude for his photographs in Jean's preface, but no direct information about him appears anywhere in the text, on the flyleaf or on any of the promotional material. How much of this reflected Jean's choice or a university publisher's uncertainty about how to present a non­ academic author, an independent scholar, is difficult to assess. Looking back, however, one can only conclude that it was hardly adequate.

The inner workings  of  much  of Hyde  Park's  history is women's history in the sense of the leadership, service and commitment women have given to o'ur local educational, charitable, religious, cultural, recreational, business and political history. A major problem in recalling women's history, however, is that so much of it has tended to be carried out quietly, unrecognized, unrecorded and neglected. One of Jean's important contributions in Hyde Park  Houses  is her documentation of some of the social and cultural activities that women organized and sustained in early Hyde Park-Kenwood history.

Jean Block's life, a life of service,  was part  of  this local history and she was active in a variety of community organizations. She was a board member  of The University of Chicago Laboratory School's Parents Association, serving a term  as its  president, and  co­ edited  its newsletter  with  Ruth  Grodzin. She  was one the voices in favor of greater democratization within the University  Colony  Club and  actively  supported  the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, the Fortnightly Club and International House. She volunteered as a research associate at Regenstein Library. Already noted was her role in the founding of the Hyde Park Historical

Society and its early success. She served not only as one of our early presidents but also organized  our archives and negotiated its home at Regenstein Library. She was also a member of K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation.

Since Jean has been described as a more behind the scenes type of person, the full extent of her community involvement-her public life, aside from her publications-has been difficult  to document  and  is here almost certainly incompletely reported. That is a problem not just in Jean's case but, as well, for  many other women throughout this community's history who have found or created roles for themselves in the community beyond the family. In  that process they have devoted much of their lives to giving texture to our community's history, articulating its moral and ethical issues, and making this neighborhood, through all its years and its changes, a better and more vibrant place in which to live. Rendering that history remains a challenge.

It is instructive to examine Jean Block's life and

family history, not only because it provides some background about her but also because it has a rough similarity to  the stories  of other accomplished  Hyde Park families. There is inspiration, too, because, as one soon learns, Jean was a very sturdy human being. Jean's grandfather on her father's side, Cass Friedberg (1848- 1924), came  to Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania  from Kovnos,  Lithuania  in  1861 at  the age of 13.  He outfitted himself as a peddler and worked  his way  west to Kansas. He opened a successful dry goods store in El Dorado, Kansas in the 1880s, but closed it in 1900 to become president of a wholesale bedding company in Leavenworth, Kansas. In  1875 Cass  married  Laura  Abeles (1853-1882), born in Leavenworth, Kansas to Simon and Amalia Abeles. Cass and  Laura  Friedberg  had  three children, one of whom, ultimately Jean's father, was born in 1875 in Chicago and given  the  name Selig. Later, he would take the last  name of Abraham  Lincoln's Secretary  of War as his first name, Stanton.

Simon Abeles, Jean's great-grandfather on her mother's side, was born in Bohemia in 1817. His father had been a rabbi and his mother the daughter of one.

Simon, literate  in  both  Hebrew  and German, had started out as a teacher of Hebrew and the Talmud but in  1837 found  employment  as craftman of violin strings. He decided to start life anew in  the United States, however, and immigrated to St. Louis in  1840. He ultimately settled in Leavenworth, Kansas and became a successful clothing merchant,  founder of a bank and real estate investor. He died in 1890. Stanton Freidberg, Sr., Jean's father, grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas, where his family had  returned after his birth, and attended its public  schools.  His higher education began with a year of study at the University of Michigan but, having decided to become a physician, he returned to Chicago in 1893 to attend Rush  Medical School from  which  he graduated  in 1897. He became an ear, nose and throat specialist of national reputation.  He invented  a number  of specialized instruments, one of which facilitated the extraction  of diaper pins from  infant  throats and  was the first to remove tonsils and adenoids as a measure

to cure diphtheria bacillus carriers. He served and taught at several Chicago hospitals and medical schools including German Hospital, Rush Medical College, Anna W. Durand Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital (its first Jewish physician), and Cook County Hospital. He joined the staff of the latter in 1903, became attending otolaryngologist there by civil service examination in 1906, and was, from 1913 to 1919, chief surgeon in that hospital's department. The year 1906 also marked the date of his marriage to Aline Liebman (1886-1954),  the daughter of Louis and Henrietta Liebman of Schreveport, Louisiana where her father was a prosperous merchant. They met while she was visiting relatives in Chicago.

Jean Friedberg--our Jean-was born in Chicago on June 12, 1912  to Stanton and  Aline and  was  the second of three children. She had an older brother, Stanton A.,Jr. (1908-1997), who, as an adult, also became a prominent Chicago otolaryngologist, and a younger sister, Louise Friedberg Strouse (b. 1915 ), who now lives in California.

In 1912 the family resided at 4907 S. Washington Park Court, a short street a block from Grand Boulevard, now King Drive. Dr. Friedberg served as a medical officer during World War I but only eight months after returning to Chicago to resume his practice, he died in 1920, age 45, of a mastoid infection. Jean was eight years old.

During the 1920s, Aline Friedberg and her children lived  at  5816 S. Blackstone.  Adolf  Kramer, Jean's uncle (he was married to Stanton Friedberg, Sr.'s sister Rachel) and founding partner of the real estate firm of Draper and Kramer,  provided  assistance to Aline and her three children. The children obtained  their elementary and secondary education at the Laboratory Schools of The University of Chicago. Jean graduated from Vassar College in 1934, returned to Chicago and taught at the Francis Parker School until her marriage.

On November 7, 1940, Jean married Samuel Westheimer Block, born in St. Joseph, Missouri on February 14,  1911, the son of one of the  owners of Block Brothers, a prosperous dry-goods store. Samuel had what could only be termed an elite education and prestigious career, then or now. He graduated from the Worcester (Massachusetts) Academy in 1929, obtained his A.B. from Yale University in 1933 and received

his LLB. fromHarvardUniversity's Law Schoolin1936.He cameto Chicago,was admittedto theIllinoisBar in1936 andjoineda law firmwhichevolved ultimatelyintoJennerandBlock.During World  War II,  he served as a member of the  U.S. Army, rising to the rank of captain. After the war Jean and Samuel made their home at 5719  S. Blackstone.

He became a partner in his law firm in 1948. Throughout his career Samuel was active in pro bono work, particularly in the area of civil rights. In addition to sitting on several corporate boards, he was a board member and officer of the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, the Faulkner School, and the Community Music Program, sponsors of the Merit Music program. Samuel died suddenly in 1970 at the age of 59. Jean was 58.

In the almost two decades before Hyde Park Houses

appeared, Jean labored at honing her skills as writer. Her work on the Lab School parent's  newsletter provided one such opportunity.  She also enrolled  in The University  of Chicago and,  in  1963; was awarded a master of arts degree in the  Humanities. Jean  was then 51. That same  year Jean  with  Ruth Grodzins, Ruth Goetz and Elaine Halperin, formed Midwest Editorial Research. It provided university faculty, graduate students, business and civic leaders and organizations assistance  in  editing or developing printed  materials  and speeches.  The  partnership wound down when some of the partners moved out of town  or took other  jobs. Jean  then  turned  her attention more directly to architectural research. Jean also took a course on  writing while  actually  working on Hyde Park Houses. That the book, which was published  when Jean  was 66,  is as gracefully  written as it is was not an accident.

Samuel W. Block, Jr., the photographer for  Hyde Park Houses, was the eldest of Jean and Samuel Block's three children. He was born May 2, 1943 in Dayton, Ohio, where his parents lived briefly.  As did  his younger sister, Elizabeth, and brother, Michael, he underwent his primary and secondary education at the Laboratory Schools of The University of Chicago. He received a B.A. from Knox College in 1964 and later completed a two year program in photography at Chicago's Columbia College.  Described  as brilliant even by persons not in the family, Sam was an early student of computer applications for business.  During the 1970s he was employed by a large meat refrigeration warehouse company for which he wrote a complex and pioneering spreadsheet  program  that linked financial, storage and processing variables for management and audit purposes.

Photography,though,remained Samuel'sfirst love.Hiscameraofchoicewasatripod-basedlargeformat4x5" Burke and James (Chicago) View camerathatrequiredphotographicplates(ratherthanrollfilm)andtheuse of a black clothhoodby thephotographer.AlthoughhisseeminglystraightforwardphotographsinHydeParkHousesseemintunewiththe"informal World  War II,  he served as a member of the  U.S. Army, rising to the rank of captain. After the war Jean and Samuel made their home at 5719  S. Blackstone.

He became a partner in his law firm in 1948. Throughout his career Samuel was active in pro bono work, particularly in the area of civil rights. In addition to sitting on several corporate boards, he was a board member and officer of the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, the Faulkner School, and the Community Music Program, sponsors of the Merit Music program. Samuel died suddenly in 1970 at the age of 59. Jean was 58.

In the almost two decades before Hyde Park Houses

appeared, Jean labored at honing her skills as writer. Her work on the Lab School parent's  newsletter provided one such opportunity.  She also enrolled  in The University  of Chicago and,  in  1963; was awarded a master of arts degree in the  Humanities. Jean  was then 51. That same  year Jean  with  Ruth Grodzins, Ruth Goetz and Elaine Halperin, formed Midwest Editorial Research. It provided university faculty, graduate students, business and civic leaders and organizations assistance  in  editing or developing printed  materials  and speeches.  The  partnership wound down when some of the partners moved out of town  or took other  jobs. Jean  then  turned  her attention more directly to architectural research. Jean also took a course on  writing while  actually  working on Hyde Park Houses. That the book, which was published  when Jean  was 66,  is as gracefully  written as it is was not an accident.

Samuel W. Block, Jr., the photographer for  Hyde Park Houses, was the eldest of Jean and Samuel Block's three children. He was born May 2, 1943 in Dayton, Ohio, where his parents lived briefly.  As did  his younger sister, Elizabeth, and brother, Michael, he underwent his primary and secondary education at the Laboratory Schools of The University of Chicago. He received a B.A. from Knox College in 1964 and later completed a two year program in photography at Chicago's Columbia College.  Described  as brilliant even by persons not in the family, Sam was an early student of computer applications for business.  During the 1970s he was employed by a large meat refrigeration warehouse company for which he wrote a complex and pioneering spreadsheet  program  that linked financial, storage and processing variables for management and audit purposes.

Photography,though,remained Samuel'sfirst love.Hiscameraofchoicewasatripod-basedlargeformat4x5" Burke and James (Chicago) View camerathatrequiredphotographicplates(ratherthanrollfilm)andtheuse of a black clothhoodby thephotographer.AlthoughhisseeminglystraightforwardphotographsinHydeParkHousesseemintunewiththe"informal nature of the book (e.g., some include automobiles parked on the  street), in fact, like the  rest of Jean's book, the photographs were carefully planned. Samuel and Jean selected  times of the  year when  foliage did not obscure views of the houses and natural lighting could be optimized to help strengthen the images.

During the 1970s, Samuel moved to the Near West side of Chicago where he had purchased a duplex for renovation. On  June  11, 1982, as  he  was  alighting from his automobile near his workplace on Pershing Road, he was struck by a passing car and suffered severe head injuries. He lay in a coma for weeks at The University of Chicago hospitals, his mother at his bedside every day. On August 15, he died without ever recovering consciousness. He was 39 years old. The motorist who hit him and fled was never apprehended. Jean was then age 70.

Some of Samuel's Hyde Park House photographs have

appeared in other publications. Four of them may be found in Virginia and Lee McCalester's Field Guide to American Homes (New York, 1984) and another was used for the cover of a novel published in the early 1990s. The negatives for all the House photographs are in our archives at Regenstein Library. His portraits of relatives and friends are treasured  by  their owners and a series of his photographs of old Wisconsin barns remain in demand. Two views of the family summer home in Wisconsin are still on display at the refrigeration company for which he had worked.

Again, as she had done after her husband's death, Jean found solace in work and produced   three important publications, two of them a result of her involvement as a volunteer with Regenstein Library's Special Collections Department preparing catalogs for their exhibits. The first, was The Uses of Gothic: Planning and Building the Campus of the University of Chicago 1892-1932 (1983), a now classic work which is still in print, and Eva Watson Schutze: Chicago Photo Secessionist (1985). The third, an outgrowth of some of her research for Hyde Park Houses, was a chapter entitled "Myron Hunt in the Midwest" in Jay Belloli and others, Myron Hunt 1868-1952: The Search fora Regional Architecture, (Los Angeles, 1984). Jean was 72 when Uses of the Gothic appeared. In the ensuing years Jean focussed on establishing our archives at Regenstein and planning a follow-up to Houses on apartment buildings in Hyde Park that was still in its early stages of development before her death, on June 16, 1988. She was 76.   Houses went out of print in 1993 but staff from The University of Chicago Press have told me that the press is considering reissuing it in paperback but not before the year 2000 and then only if they can figure out a financially feasible way to do it.

I regret that Jean and I became acquainted only in

the last year of her life. Despite her physical discomfort caused by illness, she graciously took  the time to walk me through the mechanics of organizing the archives and she talked a bit about Hyde Park architecture. She told me, for instance, that, as a rough rule of thumb, the presence of verandas distinguished Hyde Park's 19th Century suburban houses from those built after annexation. I used that idea in the recent exhibit on old Hyde Park hotels to suggest that one purpose of their verandas was to connect architecturally with  the older  residential  setting within which they stood. When we discovered that we were both postcard collectors, for some reason she asked if I had a card depicting  the Eleanor Club One on 59th Street, which ultimately became

Breckenridge House. I did not. About a year and half ago, going through a box of postcards at  a show, I found an Eleanor Club One view and from sight to thought only an instant passed, "Got it, Jean!"

On the north side of Regenstein Library there is a small parklike enclosure,  accessible  to  the public, which Jean's family sponsored.  On  the east  wall  there is a memorial  marker:  "This garden  honors  the memory of Jean Friedberg Block 1912-1988" and lists the library's call numbers  for her  three  books.  Her ashes were spread upon the grounds of her beloved summer home near Mill Pond, Wisconsin.

Thanks to David Aftandilian, Judith Getzels, Ruth Grodzin, Douglas Mitchell, Grace Mary Rataj, Ann Rothchild, Harold Wolff and, especially, Elizabeth Block for their assistance. Published sources include: Julia Kramer, The House on the Hill: The Story of the Abeles Family of Leavenworth, Kansas (Chicago: 1990); Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 10, nos. 3-4 (October, 1988); History of Medicine and Surgery and Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago (Chicago, 1922); Who's Who in America Vol. 34 (Chicago, 1966) and various city directories.

Steve Treffman is the Society's archivist and a contributing editor of Hyde Park History.

Newsletters 1997

Spring/Summer 1997

Summer/Fall 1997

Winter 1997-1998

Steve’s Lunch Diner

Volume 19 Number 1

From the late 1940’s to 1965 the Hyde Park Historical Society’s headquarters was the Steven’s Lunch Diner

As told to Alta Blakely by Steve's grandson, GregThorson

In about 1948 or '49 Steve Megales, my grandpa, acquired the business at 5529 South

Lake Park; that is, he owned the furnishings but never the building, which we think remained the property of the Illinois Central Railroad.

Although he was Greek, he served more traditional American bacon and eggs and pancakes for breakfast, franks and hamburgers at lunchtime.

From his third-floor walk-up apartment at 1535 East 55th Street, near Cornell Avenue, under the I.C. tracks and around the corner from the cafe, he and his wife Rose would come to open the restaurant at 4:30 in the morning, serving breakfast, then lunch, and closing at about three in the afternoon. Sometimes he would stay to prepare food for the following day, especially a beef stew or a pot roast or a ham. Standing all day was hard on his feet.

Tables for customers were small. There were perhaps four, each used for two or three people, to the right of the double doors as they entered, perhaps one or two tables to the left.

The counter was in the middle of the room, running about half or two-thirds the length of the building, starting from  the south  end. Then,  just north of it, was the cash register, where Steve's second wife, Rose, presided. (She also had an interest in fortune-telling.) Steve did the cooking behind the counter, along the east wall, next to the railroad tracks, where there was a stovepipe and a chimney for the oven and grill. In the small north room Steve kept supplies, money,and perhaps a small bed. A washroom that end.

I remember visiting my "Papuli" (as Steve signed his cards to Greg) with my mother when I was about five, watching him in his tall chefs hat, flipping eggs. Breakfast with two eggs was thirty-five cents. I used to sit on the call counter stool, next to the first stool in the row. I liked to play "bus driver" with that first counter stool, turning it this way and rhar--ofren even spinning it nearly off its post!

Steve had a good business. Many University of Chicago students were his customers. If they had almost no money to pay, he would say, "That's okay. You just go and be the best doctor or lawyer you can be."

SergeantEarl Jackson, of the Chicago Police Department, was a customer who also became a good friend. He called Steve "Pops." He

would often stop in his squad car. I remember his telling me that he said to my grandpa, "Hey, you dirty Greek, when are you going to wash that apron?" or "What do you have under that hat, Pops::>" One early morning Sgt. Jackson saw two men preparing to attack Steve. They were in a black car waiting. Sgt.

Jackson and a fellow cop rook them in.

Many trains went by "Steve's Lunch" (officially, Steven's) in those days-the City of New Orleans, the City of Miami, the Seminole, the Carolina Special, the Panama Limited, Michigan Central and the "Big Four" (Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Sr. Louis). All roared by on the embankment overhead, as well as South Shore and South Bend commuter trains and Illinois Central local electric trains.

Toward the end of my grampa's Hyde Park "Steve's Lunch" days, he was diagnosed as a diabetic, and he began to look for a buyer for his business.

By 1963,he had purchased a house in the town of Knox,Indiana, in Stark County, about two hours drive from Chicago. However, he still had the apartment on East55th Street and was still working in the restaurant while looking for a buyer. By1963"Steven'sLunch"was mostly open only on weekdays, and he andRose went to their Indiana home on weekends.(Wherever they were, I remember they never wanted to miss the Ed Sullivan Show onTV onSunday evenings.) My grampa had probably sold the business by sometime in1966--perhaps to a Hyde Parker called "PapaJoe"or"PapaJohn”.

Megales (Steve) had come from Klessura in southwestern Greece in 1915. He stayed in Kansas City for a while, sponsored by a cousin. He was a "gandy dancer" (track worker) on the "Frisco" Railroad. He worked in Warren, Ohio in 1916 and then came to Chicago where he had relatives.

My mother, Olga Lambropoulos, was his first wife, whom he married in 1923. That year he bought a home in the Hegwisch community near 130th Street on the far south side. He worked for Republic Steel, in South Chicago, at the open-hearth.

During all the years, from about 1927 to 1953, he was sending money to family members back in Greece--during the Depression probably $25 a month, later more. Bue the nine-month strike in 1937, with the disagreements between the A.F. of L. and the CIO were very hard on our family.

We had the first telephone in the area (our phone number was South Chicago 9590).We were responsible for twelve families at the steelmill. The phone might ring at midnight, the mill telling us they wanted so-and-so to come in and work. We had to get up and go to tell them.

Our Hegewisch home became like a little Hull House. Relatives kept coming from Greece. As they did, we children would have to give up our beds and sleep on the floor until the relatives were able to find work and move out. From the 1930s there were never fewer than seven people in our home. We had a goat, a cow, lambs and chickens. My mother did lots of canning.

In the late 1950s Steve sponsored his brother Harry (Aristedes), who had been a Marine soldier in Greece during World War II, to come to  the U.S. In Hyde Park Steve taught him the restaurant business. Harry, in turn, sponsored his eight children and the family of his sister Constantina Apostolou.

Harry's children and Constantina's all worked in Harry's large restaurant in Humboldt Park (The Parkside) that he bought after Steve retired. Harry taught his sons and nephews the restaurant business well. Now they own prosperous restaurants in Chicago, Niles, Burbank, and Lombard. John Apostolou owns or franchises the Giordano's

Restaurants and Pizzerias-in Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Kissemmee, Florida (near Disney World); and thirty-five in Illinois; he is corporate president of Giordano's. All of these young men have become wealthy.

When Steve Megales retired to Knox, Indiana, he had little money. But he was happy; he had helped his family to a fine legacy. He died January 30, 1969.

Editor's    note:

Mrs. Donald Robert Erickson (Cathy) was liaison for these interviews, thus making this story possible.

We welcome our readers' additions to the history of 5529. For example, was there a restaurant on the premises before 1948 or '49? Dev Bowly remembers a rather widely held story that Steve was given the business by a railroad as compensation for a railroad-related injury, but Greg Thorson and his mother say this is not so. Who remembers the history of the property after 1966? Please address replies to Alta Blakely or Theresa McDermott, Hyde Park Historical Society, 5529 S. Lake Park Ave., Chicago 60637.

Robie House Becomes Historic House Museum

As you know, the Frederick C. Robie House-Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie masterpiece has been leased to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation by the University of Chicago so that it can be restored and operated as a historic house museum.

Considered an architectural masterpiece, this quintessential Prairie house features sweeping horizontal planes, dramatic cantilevers and long ribbons of art glass windows. Neighbors were shocked by its revolutionary design in 1910, but more than 80 years later the building remains a cornerstone of modern functional form.

Robie House was commissioned by Frederick Carleton Robie, a young bicycle manufacturer, whose interest in cars led Wright to build him one of the first three-car attached garages in the world. The house remained a private residence until 1962 when it was acquired by the Chicago Theological Seminary, which used the building as a dormitory and dining hall for students, but was mainly interested in re-developing the site.

In 1941, learning that the house was to be demolished, Wright led a campaign to save the building. In 1957,  the 90-year-old  Wright  led another successful  battle for  its preservation.  In 1963, Robie House was donated to the University of Chicago and designated a National  Historic Landmark; it was subsequently used to house the University's Office of Alumnae Relations.

The Foundation will undertake a comprehensive restoration of the Robie House, provide  regular tours of the building, and offer a number of educational programs related to Wright and the Robie House. Presently tours are offered daily at noon; visitors can purchase tickets at the main entrance on Woodlawn. Adults $8. Seniors (65 +) and Youth (7-14) $6. For tour information, call 708-848-1978.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio

Announces Volunteer Training for Robie House

Applicants are being accepted for the third Robie House interpreter training program which begins on

May 31. This intensive course will meet for three consecutive Sarurdays-May 31,June 7, and June 14-from 9am until 12 noon, and on Thursday,June 5, from 7 to 9pm.

If you are interested in sharing with visitors from around the world one of the country's most historic structures-Wright himself called it" the cornerstone of modern architecture"-you are encouraged to register.

You will learn about Wright's life and work through slide presentations, in-depth tours of the home and outside reading, while examining the principals of successful architectural interpretation. For more information or to register, call Robie House Operations Manager Janet Van Delft, at 773-834-1362.

A promotional flyer

featuring "Sky Eyes" that

probably dates from the 1940s or early 50s has recently been donated to our archives by Helene E. Brewer, a long time Hyde Park resident now living in Connecticut. Sky Eyes, pictured here, is described as an accomplished singer and lecturer on Native American spirituality with references from such diverse groups as the Executives Club of Chicago, the Ottawa Illinois Home bureau, the Pure Milk Association, and the Commonwealth Club of Greenwood, Mississippi!! The brochure lists an address at 5321 South Cornell. If any of our readers has more information about Sky Eyes, we would be delighted to include it in a future newsletter.

Mrs. Brewer, once owner of the Hyde Park florist in the Del Prado Hotel, was active in the south side Zonta organization and in the Hyde Park Business and Professional Association. Among her other gifts to us are a Zonta membership list from the early 1950s, a copy of the 1962 HPBPA annual program and director's list, and several items related to the Chicago Osteopathic Hospital, where her late husband, Dr.

Darl Brewer, D.O., was affiliated and where Mrs. Brewer also served a term as director of volunteers.

These materials have considerable potential for researchers into our community's history. We are very grateful for Mr. Brewer's gifts as well as for similar donations: from Alta Blakely-the 1959 annual report of the Hyde Park YMCA; from Roberta Siegel and Joan Dix­ various editions of the Hyde Park High School's "Aichpes" dating from the 30s and early 40s; and from Frances Guterbock-decades of programs and membership records from the Hyde Park Music Club.

When you come upon similar bits of Hyde Park History, please consider giving them to the Society.

Historical Happenings...

 Did you get to our Annual Meeting?

We were royally entertained at our annual meeting on February 22nd when members of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, led by those inimitable G & S practitioners, Bob Ashenhurst and Roland Bailey, presented selections from The Sorcerer.

It was a delightful performance and the Society is very grateful to all members of the cast: Roland and Helen Bailey, David Currie,...

This year's meeting was dedicated to the memory of John McDermott who had passed away during the summer. John was a long-time friend of the Society having served on the Board of Directors for several years and as MC at our annual meetings since their inception.

Our Paul Cornell Awards this year went to:

Andre W. Carus, Owner, and John Thorpe, Architect, for the renovation of the Cams house at 5537 S. University.

Wilbert Hasbrouck, Architect, for the renovation of the bridge at 59th and South Shore Drive.

The University of Chicago, Owner, for the exterior renovation of the commercial building at 57th and Kenwood.

Congratulations Awardees!

On-going exhibit at HPHS Headquarters:

The 57th Street Art Fair: Fifty Years

Be sure to stop at HPHS Headquarters co see the wonderful display of 50 years of our Hyde Park Art Fair. At a special presentation on May 4th, John Parker helped us remember some of those early days. In a video interview we heard of the very beginnings from Mary Louise Womer, founder of the Art Fair. The 1997 Fair is coming up on the weekend of June 7-8; it might be even more interesting to you if you have delved a little into the history of this very special Hyde Park event.

From the

Hyde Park Herald

of Yesteryear:

WANTED: A good boy to learn the printer's trade. He must have a fair English edu-cation, must live at home, with his parents, relatives or guardian. He must leave smoking, chewing, drinking liquor and beer, as well as swearing, entirely with the editor. Such a boy will find a situation at the office of the HYDE PARK HERALD, where he will be taught the entire business so that he may be able to do any and every part of the work, on a newspa-per or in a job office.

All debts due to the Hyde Park Publishing Company must be paid at once. We pay as we go; now come and settle up every mother's son of you.

Friday, November 25, 1887 

An explosion which gutted the house and upset the neighborhood

►                        occurred on West 55th St. last night. The affair brought to light a custard pie factory which had evidently been

►                        operating for some time under the innocent guise of a gambling house, its true purpose unsuspected by the authorities. Federal agents who were quickly on the scene in search of evidence confiscated four rolling pins and a pie-board.

October 13, 1922

Volume 19, Number 2-3

Steve Lunch: Part II By   Alta   Blakely

At the end of our story "Steve's Lunch" in the Spring/Summer issue of Hyde Park History,

we asked our readers, if they could, to expand on the history of our HPHS headquarters building at 5529 Lake Park. We have had some gratifying responses. The first came from Richard Kadlec of Kokomo, Indiana, who told us about the restaurant that was here before Steve Margalis's "Lunch." (See his letter on page 3.) This clears up the long­ standing mystery about what restauranteur was given the concession because of physical injuries sustained while working on the Illinois Central Railroad. Three others provided us with more details on Steve's Lunch.

Sidney Ervin Williams, former HPHS Board member (who in 1974 ran for alderman of the Fifth Ward) was the first to respond: In the early 1960s I was a student at Brete Harte Elementary School at 56th and Stony Island. A lot of tmcks stopped at Steve's. There were trucks with Michigan and Indiana license plates-steel trucks, coal trucks, lumber trucks. Early in the morning they'd even be double-parked in front of Steve's. (Those were the days before power steering. so you'd see these truck drivers with their enonnous arrm.)

There was more than one phone at Steve's at that time,

so these men would stop in-perhaps headed to 39th Street the other side of the Dan Ryan-to phone their final destinations. They would call, "I'm at Steve's Lunch. I'm coming on in."

The cops from the police station at 53rd and Lake Park were also regular mstorners. They would get right out of their police cars and go in for morning coffee.

I seem to remember that there were three or four small sheds on the side ,south of the building. maybe for keeping coal or refrigerating milk; there wasn't much room inside. Actually, I have two or three pieces of the original benches from the building, from the time it was the cable car station. I got them from Betty Meyer, a neighbor of ours who lived at 5325 South Dorchester. They are of oak, rounded on one edge, almost two inches thick. There's a total of maybe nine feet.

You should go down to 57th Street and talk to the man at the barber shop. His name might be Pete. Or to the man at the shoe repair shop. His name might be Nick. They'd remember Steve and Rosie.

In the cool of  the  morning  on July  24th, I trekked down to 57th street, first to the University Barber Shop at 5700 South Harper. It turned out that Pete Macknicki, the Polish one-time owner, had died many years ago, but Frank Parisi had lots of memories:

Yes, Pete sold the shop to Floyd Arnold in 1952. It used to be at 1453 East 57th. I came to work for Floyd in 1955, then bought the shop in '67. I sold it to that man at the first chair, but I continue to work here.

Sure I remember Steve and Rosie. Everybody ate there.

For lunch there would be corned beef and cabbage, pot roast, stews. The portions were so big, I got up to 150 pounds. One of the customers would say, "Rosie, take it easy on the potatoes." She'd say, "If we give you too much, go eat somewhere else." Or a man would say, "Please Rosie, not such a big piece of pie." Rosie would answer, "If you don't want such a big piece, go to Walgreens.'"

Rosie had trouble with her legs. They were almost always wrapped One time an ambulance had to come to get her. Maybe a burst vein or something.

Our next stop was at the Hyde Park Shoe Rebuilder, at 1451 E. 57th. Outside we found "Gus" (Constantinos) Lukis sitting on a stool. We went into the shop:

Sure, I remember Steve's Lunch. My uncle and I would buy breakfast there almost every morning when we came to work. My uncle, John Richards, used to have the shoe repair shop on the north side of 55th near Blackstone.

Hanlin's Drug Store was on the corner, then the shoe shop, then Jewell Foods. Well, yes, I know that John Richards doesn't sound like a Greek name. He was John Psihitsas until he fought in France in World War I.

But he opened the shoe repair shop in 1914. When the buildings along 55th were all torn down during Urban Renewal, he moved the business down here to 57th Street. The family was living at 5440 Dorchester. My uncle and I would go by Steve's and pick up breakfast and bring it on down to the shop. There wasn't very much room at Steve's.

Rosie was a character. She'd tell you right out what she thought. She was the talker. Steve didn't say too much.

When my two boys were taking accordion lessons, Rosie was taking lessons too, from the same Italian teacher. (The man in that picture that you called a worker in the

restaurant - I don't think he was a worker. It was always just Steve and Rosie.)

The food at Steve's was delicious. For breakfast there'd be bacon and eggs, potatoes, fried onions, toast, tomatoes, omelet. There was beef stew or liver and onions for lunch.

When Steve wanted to retire, he sold the business and moved to Indiana. One of the policemen who'd been a mstomer and friend-named Johnny - used to go out to Indiana sometimes to visit with Steve and Rosie.

I don't remember the name of the new owner.No, "PapaJoe"or "Papa John" doesn't ring abell.But he only lasted about two months. The food wasn't the same. And you've got to joke with the customers.He just didn't have the personality that Steve and Rosie had.

Looking Back

In response to Alta's request for more information on the history of HPHS headquarters...

By   Sidney  E.  Williams

Many people have long forgotten how raucously bustling the pre-Urban Renewal thoroughfares of Hyde Park were. Both Lake Park Avenue and 55th Street were lively major commercial strips, teeming with loud pedestrian, trolley and vehicular traffic until late into the night. Street life was quite intense. Commercial and residential population density on the business strips was high even by today's standards.

At that time Hyde Park was still largely a blue collar, working-class community. Lake Park Avenue and 55th Street were mostly the domain of workingmen. You may remember that one of the continual arguments that Julian Levi made to advance Urban Renewal was the fact that there were over fifty (50) bars on 55th Street and Lake Park Avenue. Those bars served mainly the working-class elements.

Not only were there many bars meeting the drinking needs of workingmen, but there were a host of eateries catering to their food needs. Steve's Lunch was the one that mostly served the early-morning trucker/ livery crowd I also remember newspaper, milk and laundry delivery men along with assorted other professional drivers stopping there.

You may remember that south of the cab stand at 56th and Stony was a hot dog shack called Ed's Lunch. Next to Ed's was the Gateway Garage which also had within it a Sinclair gas station. (That building still stands.) Gateway, along with abo11t three other large garages on Lake Park, housed the many limousines and private cars that serviced Hyde Park's lakefront "Gold Coast." Chauffeurs, car jockeys and mechanics from Gateway, Hyde Park Chevrolet, and neighboring garages all used to frequent Steve's Lunch.

And    a    letter  from   Richard   Kadlec

of Kokomo  Indiana:

Dear Ms. Blakely:

I enjoyed reading about Steve's Lunch in Hyde Park History. Here is some additional information. Prior to Steve's, another restaurant was in the same location. It was run by two brothers and one of their wives. One brother was named Harv. Their father was an IC employee who lost both of his legs in an accident. For this reason, from the end of the thirties, the IC let them use the building rent-free.

This information is all hearsay. It is mostly based on the recollections of my cousin, Earl Koukol. My father and Earl had garages (Kadlec's Auto Service) at 5422 Lake Park from 1936 until they moved in1943. Their new location was on Harper, 2 doors north of Cable court. The business remained there until Urban Renewal. They often ate breakfast at the "Hole in the Wall" restaurant: thirty-five cents for large servings of hash browned potatoes, bacon, eggs, and oatmeal.

I lived at 5436 Dorchester from 1936 to 1951 and look forward to receiving each new edition of Hyde Park History. Keep up the good work.

Sincerely, Richard Kadlec

National Landmark Skeet Shooters Clubhouse Comes Down Devereux Bowly's Letter to the Hyde Park Herald, March 5, 1997, explains how it happened.

To the editor:

On February 18 the Chicago Park District demolished the Skeet Shooters Clubhouse at 68th Street and the lake, in South Shore Cultural Center Park (formerly South Shore Country Club). The building was on the National Register of Historic Places, and was demolished without  a permit, without regard to the city's Lakefront Protection Ordinance, and without a public  hearing.  I and others spent years trying to convince the Park

District to preserve the building, which was the little gem of the South side lake front. The second evening after the demolition I went to take a last look at the pile of rubble which had been the building, but was turned away by a security guard. It is ironic that for a decade the Park District declined to protect the building from vandals but posted a guard there after its demolition.

Signed: Devereux Bowly

 Rose Garden on Wooded Island...

11the garden Chicago inherited from the World's Fair''

from The Chicago Tribune, June 20, 1901

With a wealth of roses which has made it famous in late years, Wooded Island in Jackson Park now offers its annual display for the inspection of the public. Thousands of roses of many hues and filling the air with their fragrance, have opened their petals at this popular flower garden, presenting a picture excelling those of previous years. But they are not the only flowers. Great bunches of many colored iris-purple, yellow, and blue in combinations, yellow poppies and lemon lilles combine to produce many fine effects in the hedged inclosure that is the especial pride of Head Gardner Fred Kanst.

Washington Park as described by  Charles  Dudley Warner  in his  article "Studies  of the Great West-Chicago" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, May 1888

Washington Park, with  a slightly  rolling  surface and  beautiful  landscape gardening,  has  not only  fine driveways, but a splendid road set apart for horsemen. This  is a dirt  road, always  well sprinkled, and  the equestrian  has a chance  besides of a gallop over springy  turf.  Water  is now so abundantly  provided  that  this park is kept green in the driest season. From anywhere in the south side one may mount his horse or enter his carriage for a turn of fifteen or twenty miles on what is equivalent to a country road, that is to say, an English country road. Of the effect of this facility on social life I shall have occasion to speak. On the lake side of Washingotn Park are the grounds of the Washington Park Racing Club, with a splendid track, and stables and other facilities which, I am told, exceed anything in the country of  the  kind. The dub-house  itself  is very handsome and  commodious,  is open  to  the  members  and  their families summer and  winter, and  makes a favorite rendezvous for  that  part of society  which shares  its  privileges.  Besides its  large dining and dancing halls, it has elegant apartments set apart for ladies. In winter its hospitable rooms and big wood fires are very attractive after a zero drive.

 Dear Hyde Park Historical Society Members and Friends:

The fourth quarter of 1997 is almost here and your Historical Society, like most other organizations, will be closing its books for 1997. We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest, attendance at our events and for your financial support. Our members are both loyal and generous.

As you are aware, our Historical Society pays all operating expenses from membership dues. We have an annual budget of just over $5000 and currently our dues meet these expenses. I am happy to advise that we do have a balanced budget and no debt. On the other hand, we have very little excess cash for ernergencies, planned maintenance or restoration. At the present time we are looking forward to replacing our roof, tuckpointing and limestone restoration on the front facade. We expect approximately $20,000 in expenses over the next 3 years.

May I ask for some special favors from you?

•     Encourage friends and relatives to become members ( or give them a holiday gift membership).

•Bea Contributor, Sponsor or Benefactor at renewal time.

•      If your employer has a matching gift program, please submit our name.

•     Remember us in your will.

We wish to thank everyone for such genero11,s contributions during 1997. We have listed them so that you too can thank them.

Just a reminder that renewal time is drawing near for 1998 membership. Please help 11,s to keep Hyde Park History alive.

Sincerely,

Tom Pavelec, President

General

Patricia Collette

Gayle Janowitz

Nancy Rosenbacher

Membership

Alex Coutts

Sheridan A Jansen

Mr. & Mrs. Edward Rosenheim

Khazan & Joan Agrawal

Thelma Dahlberg

Elsa L. Johnson

Dr. Wallace Rusterholtz

Estrella Alamar

Ida B. DePencier

Richard Kadlec

Riyo Sato

Jane Teresa Alayu

Bernard J. DelGiorno

Margaret & Winston Kennedy

Daniel & Mary Schlessinger

Robert & Deborah Aliber

Erl & Milly Dordal

Fred & Mary Beth Kopko

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Schloerb

Rita & Dick Allen

Yaffa Claire Draznin

Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Krell

Arthur & Carol Schneider

Anita Anderson

Jori & Rose Dyrud

William Kruskal

Lillian H. Schwartz

Douglas Anderson

Peter & Janice Elliot

Sue B. Latham

Kevin Shalla & Victoria Ferrera

Linnea 0. Anderson

Terry P. Ellis

Carol Lefevre

Soubretta Skyles

Mark Ashin

Mrs. Morton B. Epstein

Howard F. Lewis

Mrs. Richard L. Stevens

Roland & Helen Bailey

Bill & Nora Erikson

Eileen Libby

William B. Stone

Lawrence W. Bay

David & Joyce Feuer

Allen County Public Library

Mr. & Mrs. Edward G. Stroble

Bert Benade

John & Sally Fish

Delphine Lutes

Mrs. King C. Stutzman

Carol Benade

Sue & Paul Freehling

Inge Maser

David & Linda Tartof

Marjorie Benson

Edlyn Freerks

Jane & George Mather

Florence Teegarden

Mrs Edwin A Bergman

Roger & Madelon Fross

Georgie Maynard

Jane Noyes Thain

Beatrice Blackiston

Judith Getzels

Janet & David Midgely

Antoinette Tyskling

Alta M. Blakely

Ethel & Julian Goldsmith

Aurelia Moody

Vi Fogle Uretz

Sophie Bloom

Margaret H. Grant & Family

Bob & Shabron Newton

Frank & Betty Wagner

Berence A. Boehm

Audrey & Ronald Grzywinski

Ward & Dorothy Perrin

Martin Wallace

Patrick Bova

Nancy Harlan

George W. Platzman

Margaret Walters

Devereux Bowly

Chaucy & Edith Harris

Elizabeth Postell

Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Watkins

Carol & Jesse Bradford

Kiyo Hashimoto

Mr. & Mrs. James Ratcliffe

Conrad Wennerberg

Edward A Campbell

Sr. Rosemary Hollerich, OP

Miriam Reitz

Mrs. Warner Wick

Judy & Cedric Chernik

Eugene & Imogene Huffine

Robert J. Rigacci

Kale & Helen Williams

Eva Cohen

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Jaffe

Dolores M. Rix

Mildred J. Williams

 Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation

Contributors

Mary S. Allen Robert Ashenhurst Oswelda Badal

Jim & Jane Comisky

Irene & .Charles Custer Leon & Marion Despres Margaret C. Fallers Frances & James Flood Jane & Roger Hildebrand Knox C. Hill

Dorothy & Emile Karafiol Stella & Margaret Keck Margaret S. Matchett Margaret S. Meyer

Hans & Katherine Morsbach Mr. & Mrs. Jay Mulberry Marion Pendelton Obenhaus Robert, Rita & Kitty Picken Clemens & Judith Roothaan Alice Rubovits

Margaret R. Sagers

Alice & Nathan Schlessinger Frank & Karen Schneider Fred & Nikki Stein

Mrs. Gustavus F. Swift Harold Weinstein

Ruth & Quentin Young

Sponsors  Spenser & Lesley Bloch Dorothy & David Crabb Mr. & Mrs. Edward Levi

Mrs. John A. McDermott Tom & Georgene Pavelec Harriet   Rylaarsdam Diane & Louis Silverman Constance M. Thorson

Benefactor

James B. Stronks

Special Bequests

Jean Block Foundation

Volume 19, Number 4

HPHS Headquarters Building Becomes Less Endangered by Alta Blakely

Board members are breathing sighs of relief now that the shoring up of the Metra embankment behind our building has been completed.

Bert Benade, Board member in charge of the physical plant, had been particularly concerned that the embankment  had been pushing on our roof and gutter on the east side. About sixteen years ago the Illinois Central Railroad had shored up the embankment,  but the job had been done with only  wood  pilings-and those not driven deeply enough into the ground. They have continued to rot away. Devereaux Bowly, co-chair with Bert on the physical plant, had been after the railroad, now Metra, for about four years to replace the rotting pilings. Work was begun last October. For many weeks a large truck crane (and a Port-o-Let) stood on the street in front of headquarters, dwarfing it in size. (The construction work meant that the October 19th program on Robie House had to be postponed.)

The large sign south of Headquarters proclaims  that this

"HydeParkRetainingWallRehabilitation"isa"Federal TransitAdministration Project... sponsored bythe NortheasternIllinois Regional Commuter R.A.CorporationD/BIA Metra the U.S. Department ofTransport; and the Regional Transportation Authority(RTA)." It is "Federal Project No. IL-03-0194, RTAProgramNo.CRD-034.}

On   one mid-week day in October, when a Board  member was entering headquarters, two of the construction crew members asked if they could look around inside. Bob Pritchard, of Hickory Hills, whose job it was to run the air compressor was excited by what he saw. Later, when Bea Blackiston was on duty on Sunday,  November  2nd, Mr.  Pritchard  came in and carefully removed all our pictures off the walls and gently and neatly laid them on a table. He  was afraid that the vibrations from  his  air  compressor would shake the pictures off the walls and shatter the glass. "I like things old to be preserved," he said. (The Board, at its November meeting, asked Secretary Margaret Matchett to send him a  letter  of  thanks, which she has subsequently done.)

 Thanks to Mr. Pritchard, we were able to contact Harenfra Namgrola of the Sumit Construction Company of Skokie, in charge of the project. He told us that the work on the embankment behind our building amounted to the sum of $150,000. They had been allowed sixty-five working days for the job; however, he said, they finished in far less time. The final phase, the cement work, was laid during Thanksgiving week. The question in our minds has been whether or not this job was part of the larger Hyde Park Retaining-Wall Rehabilitation, --including the Metra embankment  from  47th  to 57th Street. Mr. Margrola seemed to think not.

Looking our from the windows on the east side of headquarters one dark evening, Dev. Bowly was delighted: "There's a foot of space between the embankment and our roof! I can see the stars!" !

Follow Up:

The Shooting Lodge

The feature on the South Shore Country Club's Shooting Club in our last issue brought forth some relevant material sent to us by Leon Despres. The area where the Country Club was built, around 71st Street and Lake Michigan, was once considered a hunter's paradise said to be virtually unique along the lake shore. Immense flocks of migrating pigeons flew past along with jacksnipe, plover, wild duck and Canadian brant.

When the Club was built in 1906,  a small shack was built to accommodate shot gun enthusiasts among its members. A wooden cottage replaced it in 1908 but was razed eight years later for construction of the more permanent and stylish brick "shooting lodge" illustrated in our Fall, 1997-, issue. Reflecting the site's link to an earlier era, the walls of the lodge were hung with antlers, stuffed animal heads and similar trophies. Club members, however, confined  themselves to trap shooting, targeting only clay pigeons. This activity lasted until quite late in the history of the club.

Mayor Harold Washington, 1922-1987 On the Tenth Anniversary of his Death

 by Stephen Treffman

These political pins from our archival collection date from the triumphant 1983

and 1987 mayoral campaigns  of  the late Mayor Harold Washington. Mayor

Washington,   the   only sitting mayor of Chicago ever

resident in the community of Hyde Park, made his home in Apartment 66 of the Hampton House Condominium, 5300 South Shore Drive. Across from that building is Hyde Park's oldest park, established by Paul Cornell, Hyde Park's founder. Originally called East End Park, it was renamed in memory of the late Mayor after his death. Washington  had a very substantial and enthusiastic base of supporters from our community's diverse racial, social and economic groups. A number of persons from Hyde Park-Kenwood were recruited into high level administrative, advisory and policy-making roles in city government during his administration.

One of Harold Washington's essential characteristics was his capacity to reach out and engage persons and groups not necessarily considered part of the historic political mainstream but whose goals and principles intersected at some point practically or symbolically with his. It should not be surprising, then, that among his last official acts before his sudden death on November 25, 1987, was a proclamation      issued on November 18 declaring November 21 "Oliver Law

andAbrahamLincolnBrigadeDayinChicago."The letter,reproducedonthenextpage,waspublishedinthe program for a 50th Anniversary memorial

celebration of the Brigade held that day in Chicago.

In 193 7, three thousand Americans calling themselves the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (ALB) volunteered to join an international force in defense of Spain's elected government against insurgent Fascist forces militarily supported by Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. Two hundred of the volunteers came from Chicago,  including  at least one long-time Hyde Park resident, the late Milton Cohen (1915-1996?), and an African-American by the name of Oliver Law (born c.1900).

Law was one of some one hundred black Americans to join the ABL. He had served six years as a private in the segregated U.S. Army during and after World  War I.  He  then  moved to Chicago where he  worked  as  a  stevedore, cab driver and small restaurant manager.  With the  onset  of  the  Depression  he  was  attracted to various organizing efforts among the unemployed in Chicago, ultimately  joining the Communist Party and leading public protests of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. He left with the Brigade for Spain in January, 1937. His previous military experience and demonstrated  valor in  battle led to his appointment as commander of an ALB battalion made up mostly of white Americans, the historic symbolism of which he was fully aware and to which Washington alludes in his proclamation. On July 9, nearly six months after his arrival in Spain, Law was mortally wounded while leading his forces in a battle near the town of Brunete.

Eight hundred ALB volunteers died in the Spanish conflict. Although many surviving ALB volunteers went on to serve with the American armed forces in World War II, they were deemed suspect by the U. S. government duri,ng and after the war for having been "premature" in their enthusiastic antifascism and, in some cases, their real or supposed radical ideological and political commitments.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine any post-war Chicago mayor before Washington, himself a World War II veteran, issuing such a letter. The proclamation reflects some of the profound values and aspirations that characterized Harold

Washington and made his administration so unusual in Chicago history.

OFFICE OF THE  MAYOR

CITY OF CHICAGO

HAROLD WASHINGTON

MAYOR

P R O C L A M A T I O N

WHEREAS, this year marks the 50th Anniversary of the entrance of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as volunteers in defense of democracy in the Spanish Civil War; and

WHEREAS, over 200 Chicagoans joined this international movement to stop the spread of fascism; and

WHEREAS, Oliver Law, a leader of movements for relief of t-h---ec---p"'o=or crm:t eor pu-litical rights for Bracks and working people in Chicago in the early 1930's, was a commander in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, thus becoming the first Black American to lead an integrated military force in the history of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the long-neglected historical significance of Oliver Law is being recognized in a program on November 21, 1987, sponsored by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the 50th Anniversary Committee, which will honor the continuing legacy of international solidarity represented by Oliver Law and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Harold Washington, Mayor of the City of Chicago, do hereby proclaim  November  21, 1987, to be OLIVER LAW AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE DAY IN CHICAGO and urge

all citizens to be cognizant of the special events arranged for this time and the importance of this history. Dated this day of November, 1987

Sources: Peter N. Carroll, The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, Stanford, 1994; John Gerassi, The Premature Antifascists: North American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War 1936-39, An Oral History, New York, 1986; Arthur H. Landis, The Abraham Lincoln Brigade, New York, 1967. Thanks also to

Alderman Toni Preckwinkle for her assistance in providing information about Mayor Washington's residence.

 Letter to the Editor...

We are very grateful to Jim Stronks, author of many outstanding articles which have appeared in this publication, for the delightful and touching letter below:

Dear Edi tor:

I don't know if it is Hyde Park History, exactly, but then isn't almost everything history in some sense? I hope so, because I have read something that I think your readers would find interesting.

In 1895 William Rainey Harper hired a young professor-poet named William Vaughan Moody for the new university on the Midway. And that is where Moody, a bachelor of twenty-seven, lived at first-on the Midway, in the old Del Prado Hotel on 59th Street, where International House stands today.

Late in the afternoon of February 15, 1896, Moody escaped his office for an hour of ice-skating. Later he wrote about it to a friend in a paragraph that reaches across one hundred years to touch us with its humanity.

"DearDan,"Moodybegan."YesterdayIwasskatingonapatchoficeinthepark,underapoverty-strickenskyflyingaragofsunset.Somelittlemuckerswereguyingaslimraw-bonedIrishgirloffifteen,whocircledanddartedunde their banter with complete unconcern. She was in the fledgling stage, all legs and arms, tall and adorably awkward, with a huge hat full of rusty feathers, thin skirts tucked up above spindling ankles, and a gay aplomb and swing in the body that was ravishing. We caught hands in mid­

/light, and skated for an hour, almost alone and quite silent, while the rag of a sunset rotted to pieces. I have had few sensations in life that I would exchange for the warmth of her hand through the ragged glove, and the pathetic curve of the half-formed breast where the back of my wrist touched her body. I came away mystically shaken and elate. It is thus the angels converse. She was something absolutely authentic, new, and inexpressible, something which only nature could mix for the heart's intoxication, a compound of ragamuffin, pal, mistress, nun, sister, harlequin, outcast, and bird of God, - with something else bafflingly suffused, something ridiculous and frail and tender."

Fortunately Dan did  not  throw  away  the letter, and that young girl is as alive today as she was that afternoon in 1896-because a poet captured her on the head of a pin.

Moody died in 19101   aged 41.

 Yours   truly, Jim Stronks Iowa City, Iowa

You are cordially invited to attend The Annual Members' Meeting

of

The Hyde Park Historical Society

Saturday, February 21, 1998 'the Quadrangle  Club

57th Street & University Avenue

Paul Cornell will speak about his grandfather:

PaulCornell,VisionaryFatherofHydePark

Special Events coming up:

Robie House: Its History and Its Future

Sunday, March 1st, at 2pm HPHS Headquarters

A slide presentation by Jay Champelli, long-time member of the Speakers' Bureau of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation.

Join us to learn more about this historical and architectural treasure presently being restored to its former glory here in Hyde Park.

 Free Tours of Robie House for Hyde Park Residents

Saturday & Sunday, February 14 & 15

A Valentine event to convey "Heartfelt Thanks to the Community," tours will be offered continuously from 11am to 3:30pm on each day.
Exhibits in the Months Ahead

An exhibit entitled Hyde  Park's  Hotels: The Golden Age, 1888-1940 will be opening soon at our headquarters. An exhibit on the White City Amusement Park is also planned for later in 1998. Curated by our archivist Stephen Treffman, both exhibits will be accompanied by programs presented by various members of our board. Further information on these and other events will be forthcoming in Hyde Park History and in other commumty sources.

Readers who have photographs, printed materials or other memorabilia related to any of Hyde Park's hotels or to the White City Amusement park are encouraged to write or to leave a message at our headquarters. Our phone number is 773-493-1893.

Newsletters 1996

Spring/Summer 1996

Autumn 1996

Winter 1996

Volume 18, Numbers 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 1996

Ray School-A Brief History

This history dated February 19, 1949, was written by Mrs. Leonora Root Wilson who described herself as "retired, but a teacher at Ray far45 years and seven months." She was the first teacher to start work in the original Ray School building known as the "South Park School". Our thanks to Rebecca ]anowitz for providing this article.

The first school in this vicinity was in the south end of the lot at the southwest comer of Monroe Ave. (now Kenwood) and 57th St. This lot was shaded by large oak trees; and the school house. which consisted of one room and a dressing room. was surrounded by beautiful lilac bushes. Pupils came from as far as 55th St. and Cottage Grove Ave. across what was then known as "Gansel's Prairie." This little school building was later made into an attractive two story house for one of the early settlers of Hyde Park.

My father, James P. Root. was president of the board of education of the Village of Hyde Park in the pioneer days. He was very anxious  that a site should be secured in this neighborhood upon which a high school could be built at some future time. Many of the board of education members laughed at him and said that such a building would never be needed  in "the bush", as this section of Hyde Park was nicknamed. However, in due time, the northeast comer of 57th St. and Kenwood Ave. was purchased as a school site. I believe there is a clause in the deed which reads that this property must always be used for school purposes. Here was built a two story frame building, used only for primary grades, and it was called "the South Park School." It was eventually moved to the section of the south side, then known as Parkside, and was used as a community church.

In June, 1886, the new Hyde Park High School was dedicated. At that time, Mr. WILLIAM H. RAY was principal of the high school which was at the northwest comer of 50th St. and Lake Park Ave., then known as Lake Ave. Mr. Ray and Carter H. Harrison, mayor of Chicago, addressed the

audience. 1he first floor of this building was used for elementary classes, as the high school then required only the upper floors, and Mr. Ray had the supervision of them, as well.

At this time an elementary school east of the Illinois Central was greatly desired by many of the parents whose children, in order to attend  school. had  to cross  the tracks which were not elevated until 1893. Some of the property owners seriously objected to a school house in that residential section. Mr. lewis favored the plan and two of the members of the ''buildings and grounds committee" of the  Hyde Park Board of Education who agreed with him were Dr. Henry Belfield, then president of the Chicago Manual Training School. and my oldest brother, Frederick K. Root.

In the summer of 1889, Hyde Park Village was annexed to the City of Chicago. Mr. Ray died in July of that year, and one of the teachers, William McAndrew, became principal of the high school. The elementary classes then acquired a separate supervisor, Miss Hattie A Burts, who had been principal of another Hyde Park elementary school, known as the Fifty-fourth Street School.

By 1892, the rapidly increasing high school enrollment made it necessary to find  other quarters for the  elementary  pupils using the  Kenwood Avenue building. These students were dispersed to three schools: Jackson Park School (on Fifty-sixth Street just east of the Illinois Central Tracks, the site of the present Bret Harte School), the Fifty-fourth Street School, and a temporary two-room building, known as the "Chicken Coop", which stood at the north end of the lot at 5631 Kimbark Avenue. At the same time construction of a new Hyde Park High School began on this lot. During the Columbian Exposition of 1893, students at the Chicken Coop were entertained alternately with Viennese waltzes from the Midway and hammering from the high school.

In September. 1894. the high school pupils were in the new building. and  the  former high school building on Kenwood, remodeled for elementary classes, was named the 'William H. Ray School".

Mr. William H. CW French was the first principal of the school, and also of the "Ray Branch", formerly the Jackson Park School. In his fifteen years as principal. Mr. CW French established the remarkable spirit of loyalty and friendship among his teachers which has persisted at Ray, and his death in July. 1910, was felt as a great loss in the community.

Mr. Arthur 0. Rape, principal from 1910-1930, supervised the transfer of the Ray School from its first location to the present address. Again the high school needed more room, and after the completion of the present Hyde Park High School at Sixty­ second Street and Stony Island Avenue, the old building on Kimbark was remodeled for an elementary school. On Friday, March 13, 1914, principal. teachers, pupils, and name moved to the present Ray School site.

Did you know?...

In July, 1916, Father Thomas Vincent Shannon was appointed pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish. " ... his examination of the old parish school had convinced him that it wouldn't do. Fortunately, the old Ray Public School, three blocks away at Kenwood and

57th Street, was vacant. Father Shannon rented it and had a great semicircular sign placed over the doorway:

School of St. Thomas the Apostle.

When the school opened in September, 486 children were enrolled... the number of sisters was increased from six to twelve.

Uniforms were introduced-military for the boys (America was nearing her entry into World War I) and simple dresses for the girls. The children were proud of their uniforms... it gave a fine sense of democracy to the youngsters to find that they were all dressed alike, and that no one knew who was poor or who was rich." (from Centennial History of St. Thomas, 1969)

The old Ray Schoof was used by St. Thomas until 1929, when a new parish school building was completed.

THE    NEW     BUILDING

 C.W. French, Principal

from the Hyde Park High School yearbook, 1893

Although the new high school building is not yet visible to the naked eye, it is by no means a "Castle in the Air." Toe necessity for it is obvious and pressing, and the delay in commencing  work will, no doubt. be a short one.

It will be located on the east side of Kimbark avenue, between Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh streets, and will be complete  in every particular. The  details of the building cannot yet be definitely given, but its general features will be much as follows:

There will be two floors above the basement, with a large hall, forming a third story, which will be large enough for all the public exercises of the school. A gymnasium, with a hardwood floor, will occupy apart of the basement and first story. There will be three laboratories, especially fitted for biology, chemistry and physics, with all the necessary apparatus.

Another important feature will be a large art room. arranged for both mechanical and freehand drawing.

Instead  of the  old assembly room system, the pupils will be seated in class rooms, each room accommodating about fifty, while the whole building will have  a seating capacity  of 1,000,  nearly double that of the present building. The  ground  plan will be so large that all the work can be done on two floors, thus doing away with the necessity  of so much passing up and down stairs, an advantage that will be highly appreciated.

Toe old building is the center of many hallowed associations, and its walls are redolent with sweet memories of past joys and triumphs. Yet it is hoped that the new building may receive as its inheritance the successes of the old, and that it may maintain the honorable reputation which the past has established.

Cornell Awards 1996

To the Parish of St. Thomas the Apostle for the restoration of the church's terracotta tower which had been badly damaged by lightning some

year sago. The process required taking apart the uninjured tower, shipping the pieces to a firm in California where molds were made from those pieces, new terra cotta formed in those molds, and all shipped back to Chicago and assembled again.Dorothy Perrin, Chairman of the Art&EnvironmentCommittee atSt. Thomas accepted the award from BoardMember Devereux Bowly.

To the Public Building Commission of Chicago for the restoration of, and the addition to, the William H. Ray School both of which have been done with thoughtful and appropriate care-the replacement of the  multi-paned  windows,  the roof  and  tuck  pointing and  the new addition. Chris Hill, Executive Director of the Public Buildings Commission, Adela Cepeda, Commissioner, and Cydney Fields, Principal of Ray School, accept the award.

To the Architectural Firm of Hasbrouck, Peterson, Zimoch and Siriratturnrong for providing the research for the restoration of the Washington Park Refectory. Architect Wilbert Hasbrouck in accepting the award told us that the cost of restoring this wonderful building was far less than tearing it down and building another.

Playground Memories

by Stephen A. Treffman

We have a tendency, sometimes, to assume that whatever was in place when and where we grew up had always been there or at least been there first. The remarkable new addition to the William Ray Elementary School stands on what was, for many years, the school's south playground. It is not an uncommon belief among Hyde Parkers that the playground must date to the same time that the school itself was built in 18g3. As this photographic postcard coop" and some ancillary structures, which stood almost directly across from 5630 S. Kimbark, had to be removed. Finally, stretching across the south end of tl1e block from the comer of Kimbark east to the alley were seven brick buildings, probably of mixed residential and commercial use.

Within a few years of this photograph, major changes were occurring in and around the school. The school population of Hyde Park and its surrounding neighborhoods had grown beyond the numbers that could be accommodated comfortably by a from 1910 clearly indicates, however, that was not the case; homes occupied the land that later would become the school's south and north playgrounds. In fact. at least by 18gJ, the half-block on which, three years later, the school would be built, was already well along in its residential and commercial development.

Homes and businesses could be found on three sides of that half-block area; the fourth side was an alley that split the block from north to south, a portion of which still exists. Six houses, most built in the 18&:Js, lined the north end of the half-block, where the primary class building now stands. Around the comer, on the east side of Kimbark Avenue, there were single family homes at 5611, 56r7, 5619, 5621 and 5647. At least some of these appear in the photograph. When the school was constructed, apparently only the "chicken configuration of public schools iliat reflected conditions of a much earlier period. Reflecting Hyde Park's dramatic population growth, its school enrollment rose from 76oo in 1gx, to 27,000 in 1912. Similar growth was occurring in Kenwood and Woodlawn, as it was throughout the city itself. Indeed, Chicago's population rose fifty percent from 1gx, to 1914. (Report of the Chicago Tmction and Subway Commission, Chicago: 1916) A new Hyde Park High School was built and opened in 1913 at 62nd and Stony Island Avenue. Students from the school on Kimbark transferred to ilie new high school. Students in ilie old Ray elementary school, pictured elsewhere in iliis issue, were shifted to the high school, which became the Ray School that we know today.

Progressive educational practices of the time called for young children to have opportunities to develop healthy bodies through outdoor play and recreation, hence, the need for elementary school playgrounds. Thus, as plans progressed to transform the old high school into an elementary school, establishing playgrounds for its students would have been one of the priorities. County records indicate that, by 1912, the Chicago Public Schools had begun condemnation proceedings against the East 57th Street buildings and probably all of the homes on the Ray School block. as well.

Changes in location of just one of those 57th Street businesses can be useful in suggesting to timetable for creation of, at least, the south playground. In the 18gos, Thomas A Hewitt opened a bookstore in one of those brick buildings on 57th. In 1 5. Hewitt, in partnership now with Vernon A Woodworth,  moved the store a few doors west, to the larger and more prominent comer lot at 1302 E. 57th Street, apparently confident in the stability of that move. In early 1913, however, a building permit was issued  to Woodworth, by then sole owner of the business, allowing construction across the street of the three story building that still stands at 1311 E. 57th. 1he building that housed the old store was demolished on April 24, 1914. It is likely that at about the same time, all of the houses along the Ray School block were razed or otherwise removed from their lots. It would appear, then, that the year in which that land, at least at the south end of the school. was converted into a playground was 1914, twenty-one years after the school itself was built.

Memories of the homes and stores that once were

there have long faded. Woodworth's book and school supplies store, however, remained in business in the building he had constructed, until it closed in 1972. Joseph O'Gara's bookstore then took over the space until recently, when he moved to new quarters two blocks east on 57th. Tracing the historical lineage of their business to Hewitt and Woodworth, O'Gara and his partner Douglas Wilson now lay claim to ownership of the oldest continuously operating bookstore in Chicago.

1he playground, where some of the defining events in the history of our community took place and, as well, in the lives of generations of many of its children, has now itself become a memory.

Envisioning those scenes again is made more difficult in the context of what is now so expansively new.

Sometime soon, young children will walk into the new school addition and have no awareness of the playground that so long existed there. A new cycle of memories will begin. Most everywhere one looks in Hyde Park, layers of its history abound that, once uncovered, challenge our perceptions of its past as well as of our own.

THE COLLAPSIBLE COLISEUM AND THE CROSS OF GOLD

Volume 18 Number 3 Autumn 1996

In the summer of 1895 "The Greatest Building on Earth" (so said the flag on its roof) was going up on 63d Street, a block west of Stony Island Avenue.

Inland Architect said "The Coliseum" was the biggest building erected in America since the Columbian Exposition, and its statistics were indeed awesome.

Longer than two football fields, it covered 51/2 acres of floor space and would seat 20,000 easily. Eleven enormous cantilever trusses spanned 218 feet of airspace, enclosing nearly a city block. A tower twenty stories high would dominate the neighborhood, its elevators rising to an observatory/cafe, with a roof-garden music-hall atop that, and at the pinnacle a giant electric searchlight visible for miles.

The Coliseum's mammoth steel skeleton was all but completed ...and then it happened.

At 11:10 p.m. on August 21 the immense framework collapsed. The appalling roar scared people off a standing train as far away as 47th Street.

Atdawnthenextmorning engineerswith long faces inspectedthe ruins todeterminethecause.Newspaperreporters licked their pencil points, eagertopinblameandexposeascandal.Buttherereallywasn'tany.Thecollapsewasevidently causedby some 75 tons oflumber having been stacked on the roofso as to bear too heavily upon the lasttruss put into place, one which was notyet completelybolted into the structureas a whole. There was no scandalinthedesign, declaredAmerican Architect andBuilding News (Boston): "Both architectandengineerbearnamesofthebestreputeinthe country." Justthe same, itdidnotnamethem

The engineer of the steelwork was in fact Carl Binder and the architect was S.S. Beman.

Solon S. Bemen, age 42, had designed the Pullman Building in his twenties, planned the whole village of Pullman, built the Studebaker-Fine Arts, the Washington Park Club at the racetrack, the Grand Central Station on Harrison at Wells, and the Mines and Mining Building at the world's fair. In Hyde Park/Kenwood, Beman designed Blackstone Library, the Bryson Apartments, Christ Scientist churches on Dorchester and Blackstone, eight or

ten private homes, and supervised the Rosalie Villas project (Harper between 57th and 59th). He himself lived on East 49th, moving later to

5502 Hyde Park Boulevard.

Of the collapsed Coliseum Beman spoke with authority. There was no doubt as to the correctness" of engineer Binder's steelwork, and construction would resume with no change in design as soon as new steel  could be delivered. Barnum and

Bailey's Circus, booked there for October, would have to be cancelled, as would a fat stock and horse show.

But with 600 men working three shifts the Coliseum could be finished in 80 or 90 days, in time for a football game scheduled there for Thanksgiving Day. The Coliseum occupied the block just west of where Hyde Park High School stands today, between 62d and 63d Streets. Thus it stood exactly where Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show had ripped and roared during the world's fair in 1893. On the east and west it was bounded by Grace and Hope, interesting street names (they have been given confusing new ones lately), but the entrance to the Coliseum, as shown in our Harper's Weekly picture, was on 63d Street.

The Coliseum's tower gives the historian a problem. It has been so badly drawn in our Harperls picture as to be quite false---S.S. Beman could never have designed that thing. Was it added by a different hand when the sketch was mailed to the editors in New York?

Conceivably the $75,000 loss on the collapsed steelwork forced the Coliseum Company to curtail Beman's elaborate concept for the tower. But that there was finally a tower is suggested by the name given to the Tower Theatre, built on the identical spot after the death of the Coliseum. Old Hyde Parkers will remember a small steel latticework "tower" playfully capping the facade of the Tower Theatre as late as 1950.

Curiously, "The Greatest Building on Earth" is quite unknown today, and has apparently never had its story told before. A recent fat scholarly history of Chicago architecture from 1872 to 1922 knows nothing of it. Not even an authoritative 1985 study of Beman 's total work (which cites more than 100 of his buildings, including commercial projects) reveals any awareness of his mighty Coliseum. The reason must be its brief life. It rose, it fell, it rose again, it burned down-all in little more than  two years. Sic transit gloria mundi. But before it died in flames, The Coliseum enjoyed one splendid moment of national fame.

That big moment came on July 7-11, 1896, when The Coliseum staged the Democratic National Convention, where William Jennings Bryan, age 36, made his famous Cross of Gold speech and was nominated for President of the United States.

The Chicago Tribune called the Coliseum arrangements "a grand success." Harper's Weekly compared The Coliseum to Madison Square Garden in New York, pronounced it typical of Chicago in its hugeness, and scoffed that no speaker could ever possibly be heard by all 20,000 sitting in that vast hall.

As for convention politicking, a headline declared it a horse race:

LEADERS ALL AT SEA.

No Certainty As To Probable Nominee.

Chicago papers printed dozens of portraits and cartoons of prominent Democrats. They ran reams of interviews with the leading candidates. But none of the portraits or cartoons or write-ups were about young William Jennings Bryan from Nebraska. That would change on the third day when the convention bosses let him speak.

The Cross of Gold was not a keynote speech, nor nominating or acceptance speech. Its purpose was to "conclude debate on the platform." It concluded it, all right. Bryan actually spoke about only one plank in the platform, the silver plank, but with it he ran away with the convention. It was like a classic myth, the one where the handsome young idealist from the provinces wins out over the old professional courtiers and is crowned prince.

The Democrats in 1896, at leastthe dominantfaction who engineered a plurality at the convention,werecallingforthefree,unlimitedcoinageofsilverbythe U.S. Mint at a ratio of 16to 1 with gold. "Wedemand,"saidtheplatform"thatthestandardsilverdollar be full legal tender, equally with gold, for alldebts,publicandprivate." Itdoesnotsoundradicaltoustoday,butin1896itwastomanygoodpeopleashockinginflationaryproposalto subvert a sacred gold standard. Some pro-gold, "sound-money" Democrats walked out and formed a splinter party.

In the severe depression of 1893-1894 there was a shortage of money in circulation. Bryan and other silverires in the agricultural West and South-for it was very much a sectional cause-believed that unlimited coining of silver would increase the money supply and thus ease the suffering of farmers and workingmen and small businessmen slipping toward bankruptcy.

It was a simplistic argument, no doubt-that Free Silver could cure complex economic ills, and social ones rising our of them. Bur by the summer of 1896 Free Silver had acquired a powerful appeal to the debtor class, and in his speech Bryan milked it to the maximum. He himself was sincere in feeling it nothing less than a holy cause.

I have lately read the Cross of Gold speech-it seemed the least I could do for this paper--expecting to be bored. Instead I found it fascinating: ardent in emotion, rich in striking metaphors, a masterpiece of old-fashioned populist oratory. No wonder its dramatic rhythms raised pulses in the Coliseum on July 9, 1896, when spoken out in Bryan's wonderful voice, with masterful timing and inflection, and clearly audible to all 20,000 in that enormous hall. (One marvels, since most Hyde Park ministers need a microphone to reach 50 listeners.)

That the Cross of Gold speech was nor to be a technical discourse on monetary policy was evident at once in Bryan's throbbing opener:

The humblest citizen in all the land,

when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error.

One cannot imagine Mr. Clinton or Mr. Dole trying to get away with that kind of language in 1996. But the transcript of the Cross of Gold speech which appeared in newspapers all over America the next day tells us of constant interruptions by applause from a thrilled audience. Bryan's listeners were soon rising to their feet to shout approval at nearly every other sentence of his attack on the bankers and gold­ standard capitalist money-centers of the East.

Bur it was Bryan's pro-silver finale that really set off

the fireworks. It has been a fixture in American folklore ever since:

We have petitioned [said Bryan]

and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated,

and our entreaties

have been disregarded; we have begged,-

and they have mocked

when our calamity came.

We beg no longer;

we entreat no more;

we petition no more.

We defy them .. !

We will answer their demand for a gold standard

by saying to them:

You shall not press down upon the brow of labor

this crown of thorns,

you shall not [with outstretched arms] crucify mankind

upon a cross of gold.

Seconds later The Coliseum erupted in roaring delirium. Most accounts say the demonstration lasted nearly an hour. The Tribune reporter said fifteen minutes, bur then he objected to Bryan's "profane" last sentence, and besides, the Trib was a Republican paper and was supporting McKinley. The reporter for The Record, none other than young George Ade, another Republican, confided later that, "I didn't believe one word of thar'Cross of Gold' oratorical paroxysm, but it gave me the goose-pimples just the same." Byran, "The Boy Orator of the Platte," never much of an intellectual, had featured emotion over reason, and style over substance. Indeed, during the sustained tumult Governor Altgeld said to the man next to him, "I have been thinking over the speech. What did he say, anyhow?" And Clarence Darrow replied, "I don't know." Later, Senator Foraker, an old-guard Republican, made the wicked  quip that in Nebraska the Platte River is "one inch deep and six miles wide at the mouth."

But in the Coliseum at the time, Bryan's speech was a sensational triumph, which swept the Democrats into an ecstasy of jubilation and made Bryan an instant national figure. Newspapers the next day showed him being carried on delegates' shoulders-"as if he had been a god," wrote Edgar Lee Masters. When Bryan could get away from the pressure cooker in The Coliseum, he and his young wife rode the El back to their Loop hotel, the modest Clifton House, where reporters again swarmed about him relentlessly. Bryan did not even attend the convention the next day when the delegates nominated him, at age 36, the youngest candidate for President in history.

The campaign of 1896 was a bitter one. To admiring throngs who turned out for Bryan's appearances, wrote Professor Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, Bryan seemed "a sort of knight-errant going about to redress the wrongs of a nation." But readers today would scarcely believe the apoplectic vituperation which gold standard advocates and

G.O.P. papers showered on Bryan and Free Silver.

In November he lost to McKinley 46% to 51% of the popular vote. He was nominated  again in 1900, and (with Adlai E. Stevenson as veep) lost to McKinley again. A third time, in 1908, he lost to Taft.

Bryan and Free Silver and the unlucky Coliseum itself had seen their finest hour that day 100 summers ago down on 63d Street.

Notes from the Archives

by Stephen A. Treffman,

HPHS Archivist

The Hyde Park Historical Society has, over time, acquired for its archives a variety of older small artifacts and memorabilia from various businesses and other groups that once were or are still active in and around Hyde Park.

Among  these have  been such  items as a miniature barrel bank from the University State Bank, a tape  measure  from  the Acme Sheet Metal Works, a measuring glass from R.S.

from the Quadrangle Club, a 45 rpm record of piano music entitled "An Evening at Morton's," postcards, offering brochures for various real estate projects, and even stationary from the Woodlawn Businessmen's Association. If you would like to donate any older items imprinted with the names of businesses, clubs, groups or organizations in Hyde Park, we would be delighted to evaluate them for inclusion in our collection.

We also maintain a small collection of political memorabilia, primarily candidate pins, from various Hyde Park campaigns. Here again, if you have any items that you think might be appropriate for our archives, please write us a note or drop off donations enclosed in an envelope or other package at our headquarters at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637.

To the Editor:

I was very interested in your article on the Ray Schools in Spring/Summer issue. My mother and father were classmates at the original building-the St. Thomas the Apostle more recently. They would have been married, had they survived, for 96 years last June 8th.

In their class was one Matthew Brush-later  to make  millions  on the short side of the stock market in 1931-35. My mother's maiden name being Hair their classmates took great joy and every opportunity to introduce Mr. Brush to Miss Hair.

I was born and brought up in Hyde Park. Our first home after I married was at S721 Kimbark where we lived on the third floor for several years and brought our first child home from the old Sc. Luke's Hospital in 1937.

We all miss Jean Friedberg Block.

Sincerely, Haward Lewis

Spanish Fort, Alabama

To the Editor:

The following note from Len Despres was written on the card above:

June 10, 1996

The accounts of the Ray School and William Ray are excellent. Some day someone might want to unravel the mystery of the "Skee Slide" at 47th and Drexel. Did it ever exist?

The photo below, from a book titled Chicago and its Makers, by Paul Gilbert and Charles Lee Bryson, published in 1929, seems to prove it did exist at 44th, not 47th, and Drexel. Too bad we've given up such local amenities!

Newsletters 1995

Winter 1994-1995

Spring 1995

Summer/Fall 1995

Winter 1995-1996

 Volume 16, Number 4 Winter, 1995

 This  wonderful  photo  which  HPHS  Archivist  Steve  Treffrnan  has just acquired from the Chicago Historical Society for our headquarters was taken on November 6, 1915. lL shows Lhe LC. Sta Lion at 57th Street; the tracks just behind it r:1ised :is Lhey are Loday.

Jean Block, in her book Hyde Park Houses, describes the opening of the first station (Hyde Park al 53rd Street in 1856 and  the  second  (Kenwood  at 47th SLreeL) in 1859. She  continues. ''A third  railroad  station was opened at 57th Street. initially known as Woodville, because thal was where  the  train  refueled. later it was called South Park."

After its years of service as ;1 depot. including the ;11Tival and departure of thousands s of visitors to the 1893 World's Fair, this enormous station (consider Loday' skimpy pldlform shclLers!l was for , time home to the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club! Sec Eleanor Campbell's article on the next page.

Eleanor Campbell l1as been associated with the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club since 1944 when she became staff as a group 1mrhcr. lfltcrsl,c1ms cmc of11i11c clw,trr members 0Ft/1r Business and Professional Auxiliary in existence for37 t;ew before it disbanded. Sl1e is a long-ti1 1c board n1rmbrrhaui11g sc,vcd as clwinna11 of several committees m1d as president.

Currently she is a professional geneologist and family historian 1citli a11 i11tcrnatio11af clic11trle.

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Club

by Eleanor Campbell

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Club has served the south side of Chicago since its founding in December 1909.

Created ;is a settlement house and a neighborhood center. it continues today as a multi-program soci,d se1vice agency in our economic1lly diverse and rncially mixed community.

ln its formative years the Club operated its programs out of an abandoned railroad depot. originally huill Lo accommodate the thousands of visitors arriving at the 18g3 World's Columbian Exposition. lnter the Club made use of unoccupied store fronts, empty second floor rooms over businesses. and ;111 old fire station. lL varied its activities with the space available and the needs in the community. Originally designed "to promote Lhe physical and moral welfare of Lhe children in the area" its programs have always included ,adult activities.

From 1931 to 1g48 the Club rented the buildings at 56th and Dorchester, which had been the University Congregational Church sanctuary. its Fellowship hall. and parsonage, for $1 a year with the congregation maintaining the outside of the buildings; the Club kept up the interior. The church had merged with Hyde Park Presbyterians and worshiped in their building at 53rd and Blackstone Ave. This much larger space allowed the Club to expand its programs for the first time in its history.

During the Depression years, the Club's ,activities took on a different dimension. There were family fun nights, a soup kitchen and activities which assisted the entire fomily. An annual "human" circus was held every spring ;:is ,1 culmination of months of preparing paper mache' animal costumes. complete with a bandind a circus parade. When a large apartment building went up in flames the Club was there to provide temporary housing and meals with the assistance of the Red Cross. With the aniv;:il of the Second World War, women came to the Club to roll bandages and learn first-aid procedures. These buildings were alive throughout the d,1y ;:ind into the evenings with activities for children and ,adults.

When the church buildings were sold in 1948 the Club operated decentralized programs for six years in local schools. churches, empty store fronts and with its offices localed in the local police station, which was just of- 53rd St and Lake Park Avenue. Owing Lhal time the directors of the Club had to decide if the agency would continue. When one of them offered Lo buy some property. which was ,1v,1ibble in Lhe center of the community. their future was secured.

ln 1953. a one story structure was erected al 55th and Kenwood, in which is now Nichols Park. Liter addition since the have included more meeting rooms. ,1 shop. a post-war quonseL-sLyle gym--replaced in 1888 with high school sized gymnasium and expanded meeting ,and activity rooms. This Liter space w;1s m,1de possible by renovating the old gym into sun-filled room which can be divid into smaller ;areas by closing folding doors. The present totals 25,&o square feet.

Over the years the importance of the Club's work in the community has been evident in is willingness Lo sec new needs and lo make the changes necessary programs accordingly. Today this community house offers   programs   and services lo ;1l1 age groups including a pre­ school indoor Tol Lal and ;1 full-day activities and Lu Luring for element,1ry age children before and after  11001. a growing youlh program for ages 11-17. a drop-in center and Golden Oinerc; noon for seniors. and an Older Adult 0,1y center for more fragile adult_. There is also a job placement program for those over fifty and adult classes. Programs run all year with summer full-day camp included.

ln order to Furnish improved se1vices for the more than 2CXX) people aided by the Club. ils staff of 12 full­ time and 28 part-Lime workers is headed by Mrs.

JureIlene Rigsby, M.S.Ed., Executive Director since September 1994. As Child Service Director of Community Services South for 14 years she managed a variety of programs including day care, counseling, parent empowerment. group homes. foster care. and emergency shelters. She has a strong youth OiientaLion and is familiar with the Chicago network of social service agencies and funding sources.

A community board of three dozen men and women manage the affairs of the Club, now in its 86th year. The budget of $888.B&J come from individual, corporate, and foundation money. T11e United Way, government funds, program fees ,and rentals.

Volunteers are also pa1t of the support staff of the agency is and has been, a communitypartner.developinganddeliveringse1vicesinresponseloidenlifiedcommunilyneeds

Paul Cornell Awards

1994

by Tom Pavelec. Vice President HPHS

The Paul Cornell Award is presented yearly by Lhe Hyde Park Historical Society to honor individuals or groups who foster and  preserve  Hyde Park  hislory. Over Lhe years we have given a variely of these awards. c,ich well deserved in its own way.

The Society presented three ;1wards at ils Fehrtwry 26, rgg4 annual dinner meeting.

The firsl was presented Lo Lhe managing truslces of the Promontory Apartments at 5530-32 Soulh Shore D1ivc. This building. designed hy Mies van der Rohe in 1947. h;1s recently undergone some 111,)jor structuralwork. As you pass this building you probably won't secondly change in the exterior. And is exactly why they received th is award.

The Truslees forced some hard decisions when Loki of Lhe repairs necessary Lo the structure. While Lhc basic integrity of the structure was al tisk. Lhey could reconstruct Lhe foundation, windows and apron suLTOLlllding the building exactly as 01iginally designed, at considerable cost. or take the less expensive route and change the facade dramatically.

Th Promontory owners felt that they were more than property owners, but rather custodians of architectural history. They chose to take the more expensive route that 111;1inlained the integliLy of Lhe original design. We applaud their foresight and thank Lhem for preserving this design.

The Managing Trustees are Don Norlon. Alan Shefner and William McGhee.

The blocks of 57th to 59th on Harper Avenue are known as Rosalie Court ;md the residences as Rosalie Vi lbs. ;1 significanl ,md hisL01i slreet in Hyde Park.

Ln Jenn Block's r978 book Hyde Park Houses she talks about the 1885 planned development along Harper Avenue. To quote from Jean's book, ··Many of these houses have since been remodeled. but the one al 5736 Harper is unaltered."

Our second award was presented  to Tom Jones and Steve Weiner for the restoration, preservation and reconstruction of their home at 5736 Harper.

Tom and Steve have taken this "unaltered"  beauty and with great care and sensitivity have enhanced its original beauty into a pure delighL thc1t even architects of the late r&:lo's would have admired.

Ln addition to exterior and interior restoration of this Queen Anne home. they have constructed a rear addition that blends with the original design perfectly, leaving one to wonder where the original ends and the new begins.

They endeavored to maintain the original design by removing the entire brick facade, adding a three story addition, and Lh n reconstructing the original facade. They accomplished their mission. ln addition, they scoured the city to find door and  window  hardware Lhal exactly matched the original wherever it had been replaced by previous owners.

Exterior paint chips were analyzed to determine original colors and all missing wood members replaced. They researched landscaping of the era and have duplicated it as closely .:is possible.

Kudo Lo Tom and Steve for a job well done and our thanks for their determination to reconstruct history.

The final HPHS award, but no less significant, was presented to students and faculty of the William H. Ray School for fostering and encouraging the history of Hyde Park.

The HisL01ical Society believes that the study of history must be encouraged in young minds and hearts. Last year. the Ray School's 100th anniversary, Lhcir students were challenged to find out 1d10 was William H. Ray?

lt was an interesting exercise for Ray School students, giving them a sense of the history of Hyde Park. They learned and grew from the expelience, exploring the path from past to present.

You should Know About...

The on-going exhibit at HPHS Headquarters:

University Church Celebrates 100 Years

This interesting exhibit was prepared by Eleanor Campbell. Church member and historian who recently has published 1  book on  the Church's  long years here in Hyde Park. The exhibit features a roo year Limc-linl'

;:-is well as photos. documents. and m,rny ol<jecls rebting lo the church's history. Don't miss it!

The upcoming exhibit and program:Forty Years of Urban Renewal

Be watching for notice of our HPHS Spring Focus commemorating  the 40th anniversary  of Urh;in Renewal in Hyde Park. We plan to h1ing together memo,ies. photographs. maps. elc. Lo document and presc,ve that strategic moment in our recent  hi Lory. LF you have any m,1leri,1ls or memo,ies you would like to shme, please call Program Chairman Alice Schlessingcr.

 The Annual Meeting of the Hyde Park Historical Society

Saturday, February 18, 1995 The Cliff Dwellers Club

Orchestra Hall 220 S. Michigan Ave.

 HPHS Exhibit The White City As

It Was Wins Award for Excellence

This wonderful exhibit of exceplioml 18g3 half-tone photos hy Willi,1111 Henry Jackson ;is well ac; m;I11y items of inlercsl - from poslctrds ,111d Lickcts to souvenir chin;1 plates - w,Is mounted hy HPH members Ed Cimphell ;111d Steve Treffm:111 to commcmor:1Le 1893 Columbian Exhibition World’s Fair. He received an Award tor Excellence from the Association of Illinois Museums and Historical Societies statewide awards. HPH S won two!

Recollections of Ted Anderson

l Firsl mel Ted Anderson when I was ;1 small hoy

:md my bmily were cuslomers of his slore ;:iL 1444 E;1sl 55Lh Street. lL was a large. old fashioned hardware store .jusl the sort of place a boy who liked to work with his hands loved to hang mound. 1i1e store was delighLl·ully messy. wiLh hundreds of boxes and hins full of misc llaneous pmls and g;1dgeLs. nothing like the bland. s,mitized horne ccnler slores of Laday. where everyLhing is in plasLic hags. ln tho_c days Hyde P,irk h.td ;1 half dozen or so good hmdwarc slores. on 57Lh

Lreel. especi,tlly 55Lh. ;md 53rd SLreel.

1i1c only one who knew where cvcryLhing was in his

<,Lore. of course, was Ted. ;ind Lhe cnlirc operalion revolved ,trl)Und him. He knew mosl of Lhe cuslomcrs by 11;1mc. ,md :dmosl everyone who c1me in Lo Lhe '>Lore soughL him out tor ;idvicP on whal merch,mdise Lo buy. or how  to do ;1 p,1rlicubr repair. The slorc w;1s

,d<,o ;1 g;1Lhering poinl forjanitors in Lhc are,1. who

<,Lood ;iround Lhe nickel Coke machine Lo sw;1p slories ahoul Lheir Len;inls. m;:iny of whom were studenl<; or professors. who did1i'L h;ive enough "common scn<,p" nol Lo pul gm1se down Lhc sink. or Lo lock themselves oul ot Lhcir ;ip,irlmenls.

Yc;irs Liter. when l goL Lo know Ted much heller. ill' hr;igged Lo me Lh;it he h:id only one joh hi'> enlire life. He w;1s horn in Hyde Park in 1908. .inc.I allenc.lec.l R;1y School ,ind Hyde P,irk High School. where he loved Lo work in Lhe shops Lh;iL were i.tl('r moved oul when

hit ;1go Voc,tion;il High School w;i<., huilL. When he w;is 10 ye;1rc; old. in Lhe Fourlh gr;1de. he h,,d a friend whose Lither owned Lhe Im.ti h,1rdwarc slore. Thl' hoy Loki Ted Lh,1t his bLhcr needed ,1delivery hoy. ,md he gol Lhc joh. Eighteen ye;irs J;1Lcr he houghL the slure. hy Llwn owned by the W;igner 13roLhcrs. ,md renamed il

A.T. Anderson Hardware.

During the Depression Ted kepl Lhe sLore going hy purch;1sing Lhe slock of olher South Side h;irdw,1re '>lore<; LiwL were going oul of business. and by buying dislresscd merchandise from wholes,1lcr<; al bargain p1ices. For ex;1mple. he once boughL 75 broken wooden ironing bo;irds for Lwe11Ly-five cenls e;ich. horn which he

was ;1blc Lo rep.iir 50 or oo of Lhem. Lo sell for $5.cx) a piece.

The wood slove in the he;idquarlers w;1s purchased by Ted ;1L ;1 b,mkruplcy sale and sal in his g;ir.ige for alrnosl 50 years before being used for Lhe firsl Lime. ln order Lo mike ends meel. Ted also did ;1 loL of repai1ing of small appli,mces ;1L Lhe slore. and he was ;i m;1sler locksmilh.

Ted and his wife Lillian raised Lheir three children in Lhe large frame house al 5627 Kenwood. He could oflen be <;een smoking his cigars on the front porch. because his wife didn't like him Lo do it in the house. He was extremely active in the Hyde Park Methodist Church. which was late torn down. and The congregation merged wilh Lhe United Church of Hyde Park on 53rd Street. He loved music and often led singing al the church. He and his family could usually he seen ealing Sunday dinner. afler church. at the Tropical Hut restaurant on 57Lh Street

Ted spent an enormous amount of Lime involved in various volunleer  activities  in  the communily. He  w;:is a member of Lhe local DrafL Board for 20 years. a matter of  no small inlere  L lo me and my m;:ile contemporaries. since we were of draft age during the Vietnamwar. He was also active in and usually chairman of. a virtual "wh0’s who" of Hyde Park organizations, including Lhe YMCA. Kiwanis Club, 5Lh Ward Citizens Committee. Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, Southeast Chicago Commission. 55the street Businessmen's Association.

Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, Mason's. and Schrincr's.

When the Historical Society was formed he was in charge of selling 100 Charter Memberships ;1L $100 each. which provided thc nucellus of funds to rehabilitate the headquarlers. We worked very closely Logelher on Lh;il projecl.

In Lhe I.iLe t95o·s, Ted's 01iginal store w;is slated for demoliLion ;,s p;1rl of Lhc urhan renewal pb111. He moved Lo ;1much smaller inlcrim localion. ;it 1215 Easl 55Lh Slreel. helween Kimb;irk and Woodlawn. where he wa lornLed for 8 years. 1i1e ,iclual move was made by a p.tmde ot volunleers c1nying Lhe merchandise   from one sLore Lo another in ho1Towed Co-op Food Store shopping rnrls. Evenlu;illy   he and olher merchanls. '>uch ,1<; "Mr. G... built Lhe 53rd Street and Kimbark Shopping Plaza where his store was recolated. A few years later he retired after 55 years in the hardware business. The dean of Hyde Park merch,mls.1i1e store Lh1ives Locby. of course. now known as Anderson's Ace Hardware. enlarged ;md owned by his protege George Alguire. George recently himself celehrated 50 years in the hardware business.

ln rg8o. afler his wife died. Ted moved Lo Hawaii where his son Ronald is an engineer. He shipped his (·urnilurc. belongings and Lools in an enormous conL.1iner. Lh,1L ,ilso included his beloved Mercedes Benz ,1ulomobile. H' died in Haiwaii on J;:inuary 18, 1994. ,md a mcmo1i,1l sc,vice was held for him nt the Actually. the  Quadrangle  Club had  a number  of homes before what is now Ingleside H,111 was constructed. as  Ed  conectly  notes. on  the  southeast comer of Fifty-eighth  and  Univer   ity. the  site  now of Lhc Oriental Institute. O1iginally.  the  club  was orgm1ized by and for University of Chicago male b ulty in 18g3 at the old Del Prado Hotel. than called the Barry Hotel. where many of the club's early members lived. lnlernalion;1I House st;mcls there now. The club was incorporated in 1895 ;111d ;1 three story red brick lub house was built on th,1L Fihy-eighth ;md University

c-orner ;111d opened on June 19. 18g6. ln r8g7, however, il experienced  three successive  fires. li1e  third. on December 25. 1897. caused such extensive damage that lll,)jor  reconstruction  w,1s  m,1de  necess;iry while, a well. ,11lowing expansion of the old building. For

approximalely six months  thereafter  the club mentioned temporary quarters at a building once stood  at  what is now 1358-136o  East Fifty-eighth. On July 26. 18g8, the new club  house.  now  twice  the  size of its predecessor hut retaining the original focade. w,1s onc,e1gain opened lo its members. The  brger  quarters were needed because of an increase in the club's membership whicl1 occured when a change  in requirements allowed  men  to join  who were not University of Chicago faculty. By 18g7. these "community" men made up almost half of the club" Quadrangle Club.

Volume 17, Number1 Spring 1995

THE CLIFF DWELLERS: The Hyde Park Connection by Scott Elliot

The Society is grateful to Scott Elliot, chairman of the Cliff Dwellers' Art Committee, who spoke at our Annual Dinner which was held at the cliff Dweller

Good evening, and welcome to the Cliff Dwellers Club.

The exhibit you see on the walls traces the history of the club from its inaugural dinner in this room in Ig:Jg until just about the present

1he founders were men of letters, artists, architects. and musicians as well as lawyers and businessmen.

Today the membership is made up more of businessmen than artists. but we have managed to keep alive the spirit of the place and have tried to maintain the ideals or our predecessors.

Like Hyde Park. the Cliff Dwellers Club is to a considerable extent an outgrowth of two historic Chicago events. First, the World's Columbian Exhibition of 18g3, which brought artists, builders. poets, and creative men and women of all descriptions to the boom town that Chicago had become in the twenty-year aftermath of the Great Fire. Second was the founding of the University of Chicago.

Having spent some years in two university towns - New Haven. Connecticut, and Evanston, Illinois. I know that the relationships between universities and the general population are not always as happy as they might be. But from my vantage point it would appear that Hyde Park's relationship with the University of Chicago is a close and largely positive one, not unlike, until quite recently. that is. our relationship with the Chicago Symphony Orchestral Association. Now, after eighty-seven years of harmonious and mutually beneficial coexistence, we have been slapped with a notice of eviction from the home that we built with our own resources - and in which we believed that we were secure - at least as long as Orchestra Hall is still standing.

Not only did we buildthis club house. butseveral ofourfoundingmemberswerealso

Cliff Dwellers    continued From pag,e

largely responsible for building and financing Orchestra Hall, as well as the orchestra itself. Daniel H. Burnham was the architect and the chief fund-raiser for the building. Charles L Hutchinson was a founding member of both groups and a major financial supporter of both.

Burnham died of a sudden illness on a trip to Europe in 1912. When his dear friend and fellow Cliff Dweller, the grand old maestro, Frederick Stock. learned of his death just before a concert, he conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the funeral march from Wagner's Gotterdiimmerung as a final tribute to its greatest patron. When Hutchinson   died in 1924 heleft a legacy of $5,exx> and one-tenth of the income from a

$250,exx> trust to his beloved club, no doubt in the belief that its future was secure. It is not hard to imagine what he would make of the present situation - one of the many of Chicago's cultural institutions which he helped to create (including the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago) turning its back on another. In Hutchinson's  day commerce and the money produced therefrom was at the service of art

He saw the fine arts and the humanities as the ultimate reward of commerce and industry and as a redemption from their darker, more sordid aspects.

In no place, more than in this room, were these ideals nurtured and cultivated. In those days the Fine Arts Building down the street was burgeoning with the studios of illustrators, muralists, craftsmen, and musicians. Downtown was full of bookshops, galleries, theatres, recital halls, and restaurants crowded with enthusiastic and idealistic "dilettanti," Bohemians, bibliophiles, academicians, journalists, typographers, tradesmen, and captains of industry in the pursuit of culture. The cliff Dwellers is one of the last survivors of this era.

The old fire may have burned down somewhat, but

the embers still have a healthy glow to them, and with a bit ofluck and a lot of perseverance, its warmth and light will be rekindled for a long time to come.

Many of the early Cliff Dwellers lived inHyde Parkwhere they foundthe same kind of congenial,comfortable,unpretentious,yetstimulatingatmosphere.FrankIloydWright,whowasaCliffDweller for a short time, and hisfriendand fellowarchitect,HowardVanDorenShaw,whowasafoundingmemberandalife-longCliffDweller bothbuiltanumberofhousesinHydePark.Shawdesigneda house for sociology professor, George Vincent; Mrs.William RaineyHarper; Edgar J. Goodspeed,theorientalist, in1919 Henry Hoyd Hilton,the publisher on Woodlawn, which later became the residence of the chancellor, Edward Morris, on Drexel Boulevard; and the Quadrangle Club in 1920.

Wright designed a house for George Blossom and one for Warren McArthur in 18g2, both in the 48oo block of Kenwood; the Isadore Heller house in 18g7 on Woodlawn; and, of course, the Robie house on Woodlawn in 1go8-og.

Alfonso   Iannelli,   the sculptor whom Wright brought from California in 1912 to work with him on the ornament for the Midway Gardens at Cottage Grove and 6oth Street (it was, tragically, tom down in 1929) also collaborated with Barry Byrne (another Wright protegel on the decorative elements of the Church of St. n1omas the Apostle on Kimbark. Charles L

Hutchinson, who grew up in Hyde Park. had a home at 5n5 Cornell Avenue until the early 18gos, after which he moved to Prairie Avenue. Martin A. Ryerson, who, like Hutchinson, was a member of the original board of trustees of the University of Chicago and its president from 18g2 until 1922 was also a Cliff Dweller. Ralph H. Norton, who was a student at the university and later became head of Acme Steel lived at 4930 Woodlawn.

He was a trustee of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy until it was absorbed by the University of Chicago, as well as a trustee of the Orchestral Association and a governing life member of the Art Institute.

Lorado Taft, the sculptor of the Fountain of Time, at the end of the Midway, lived at 5&n Dorchester and had his studio at 6016 Ingleside Avenue. Leonard Cnmelle, and Frederick devel and Hibbard were also sculptors who lived and worked in Hyde Park. All three

were founding members of the cliff Dwellers. charles Francis Browne, Frank V-rrgil Didley, and Frank charles Payraud were painters who lived there. Robert Jarvie, the silver and metalsmith who designed our famous silver punchbowl which was presented to the club by Charles Hutchinson in 1910, had a studio at 1340 East 47th Street.

William K. Fellows of the architectural firm of Nimmons and Fellows lived at 4530 Lake Park Avenue.

Leo Sowerby. the composer. Joseph Zeisler, and Allen Spencer, the concert pianists, also lived in Hyde Park. Sowerby was president of the club in 1962. William 0. Goodman, who was president of the cliff Dwellers in 1919-20 and his son, Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, lived at 5026 Greenwood in a house with a ballroom wiili a stage where Kenneth developed his theatrical talent.

He joined ilie Navy in World War I and died in 1918. His parents gave ilie Goodman Theatre (which had its first season in 1925) to the Art Institute in his memory. Thomas Wood Stevens lived at 57o6 Jackson Park Avenue. He was an author, teacher of mural painting at the Art Institute, a lecturer on ilie history of art, and director of the Goodman Theatre from 1925-30.

Hamlin Garland, our founding president, lived at

6427 Greenwood. He wrote many books including Main Tmvelled Roads and a Son of the Middle Border and won a Pulitzer Prize. He was married to Lorado Taft's sister.

Garland ruled the club with a whim of iron until 1914 when he moved to New York. He was one of iliose writers of whom it was said that they came to Chicago riding ilie rails and left in Pullman coaches.

Bert Leston Taylor, newspaperman, known as ''.B.LT.," whose column "A Line o' Type of Two" ran in the Chicago Tribune, lived at 5526 Everett Avenue.

Pierce Butler,a professor of bibliographical history and lecturer online history of printing;

Cliff Dwellers   

Wmfred Ernst Garrison, a history professor. poetry editor, and president of the Cliff Dwellers from 1944-45; Ralph Waldo Gerard, professor of physiology; William A Nitze, professor and head of the Department of Romance Languages and Literature and a Chevalier of the legion of Honor in France; Percy H. Boynton, English professor and Dean of the Colleges of Arts, Literature and Sciences; Robert Herrick novelist and professor; Robert Morss Lovett, author and English professor; William Vaughan Moody. poet, playwright, and English professor (Lovett and Moody collaborated on A History ofEnglish Literature in 1g:>2}, Harry Pratt Judson, president of the University from r ::n-27; George Herbert Mead, professor of philosophy and author of Mind. Self and Society, published in 1934; Rollin

D. salisbury, professor of history: and Paul Shorey, classical scholar and professor of Greek from 18g2-1933, all were Cliff Dwellers and Hyde Parkers.

The pennanence of the relationship between Hyde Park and the University of Chicago is, of course. ensured. But this is primarily based on geographic and economic realities. For better or worse, they are inseparable. It is to the credit of both partners in this marriage that a mutual appreciation of one another seems to flourish. Sadly for us, our situation is altogether different. Instead of (sensibly) building on terra fmna we chose a rooftop (albeit a rooftop that would not exist but for our efforts and fmancial support). Our partnership with the Orchestral Association has over the years and from the beginning been based on trust and friendship. This has worked pretty well for more than eighty years.

We live in a tough world where money is - well,

almost- everything. But if we lose sight of the past, the things that bind us together, old values. old friends, a sense of honor, we also risk losing the capacity to appreciate and enjoy- even to recognize - whatever good things may be in store for us in the future.

The important thing is to keep the fire burning!

HYDEPARK

In the year 1855 the undersigned made the preliminary survey of the village of Hyde Park and at that time first conceived the idea oflaying out a town, destined to be. what it now is. the most desirable suburb of the city of Chicago: and now offers for sale at very low prices, much lower than speculators can sell, Seven thousand feet front (150 and 175 feet deep), near the GREAT SOUTH PARK in the vicinity of the fine brick depot just completed at Hyde Park. comprising some of the choicest Lake shore residence sites.

This property has the advantages of fine macadamized roads, sewerage. gas. and is supplied with lake water by the Holly Water Works which affords abundant domestic supply and protection against fire.

The Hyde Park train now affords better accommodations than any other Chicago suburban train, running every hour night and morning and at suitable intervals through the middle of the day and night. The beautiful ride on the cars along the lake shore to and from the city without crossing a single street until it reaches the village of Hyde Park, thus enabling the train to run more speedily than any other suburban route. renders it the most desirable place to

live in the vicinity of Chicago. STATEMENT MADE BY THE MAYOR Of HYDE PARK IN HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE.

He stated that when elected about sixyearsagotheassessedvalueofRealEstateinHyde Park was $8oo, while at the present time it was about $15,CXX>,oco;and also. aftercomparingwiththeassessor,JosephH.Gray.Park he found the taxes in Hyde Park to be just one-fifth of those of the city; yet Hyde Park possessed all the advantages of the city.        David Truitt speaker at the Society's Annual Meeting, described the history of the Jackson Park Yacht Club and its many ups and downs - into the water, that is. As you can see from the postcard below, the club was built on the water and was accessible to the shore by way of a gangplank. Weather, wear, wind, and wavesLetters to the Editor

To the Editor:

Anyone who remembers Ted Anderson at all will be grateful for Devereaux Bowly's recollections n the Winter 1995 issue of the Society's consistently Newsletter. An addendum  may be of interest  to some.

As a member of the house committee of my University of Chicago college fraternity in 1947. I quickly became acquainted, and delighted, with AT. Anderson and his Hardware Company. It was a maivelous. unbusinesslike, hodge podge of quotidian essentials and artifacts that might come in handy. some day. for someone.

My bride and I bought our first hous in1954. It was at 5430 South Blackstone - built circa 18go for 1he Fair and, we were told, first occupied by the elephant trainers. Ted Anderson was always available: for plumbing. for locks. for trade references, for a chat with a confused young householder or an old widow who needed a 5¢ fuse but didn't know what size. The janitors waited their tum with the  rest of us. They knew  that. in their time, they would get the same full attention and the same leisurely. reliable counsel.  None of this was very efficient. All of it was very winning.

Mr. Bowly noted Ted's numerous civic commitments - including the draft board. It was during this nation's ghastly entanglement in Vietnam. I only accepted an appointment because Ted asked me, and it was a painful experience for all: life and death power over young men known and unknown, none of whom wanted to go (why should they?). Well-advised ones, mostly white. who knew how to use the system to escape. Un-advised ones, mostly black. who didn't. Never again? Please, God, may it be so.

Kind regards, Charles F. Custer

Revisiting Urban Renewal

1he  Historical  Society's headquarters  were open on Sunday afternoon. April 23, 1995. for people to come in and reminisce about the days of urban renewal. 1955-196o. About forty people dropped in. A powerful stimulus to memory was a ?i_splay of photocopies of pictures of pre-demoht10n H de Park, which Mary Irons had obtained from the Chicago Historical  Society. Trying  to identify buildings  and to remember  what stood  where proved very intriguing to those who came. .   .

Archivist Steve Treffman provided a bnef questionnaire, which visitors were encourag d to answer. on their assessment of our commumty's gains and losses through urban re?- wal. W hop to acquire other materials for an exlubit on this topic.

1he Hyde Park Neighborhood club, through the good offices of Eleanor Campbell. con b_uted a painting by Vi Fogle Uretz of the demoht10n of ne large building. This painting is extremely evocative of the days of Hyde Park A and B, and will be a cornerstone of the new exhibit.

We encourage members to bring in their own memorabilia for the exhibit. as well as their comments and reflections on forty years of urban renewal.

On May 21, Oswelda Badal, who was actively engaged in the grassroots process. reviewed for the_ Society the history of Hyde Park's Urban Renewal: its phases. projects, ups and down , legacy - its, continuing role in the commumty. Mrs. Badal s expertise gave us a fitting conclusion to the discussion which began with Ruth Knack's presentation in March. .

We hope to bring you highlights of her talk rn a future issue of the newsletter.

Volume 17, Numbers 2 & 3 Summer/Fall 1995

by Oswalda Badal Growth of the Community  Oswalda (Ozzie) Badal, an early volunteer and staffmember The chronological development of Hyde Park ofthe Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference during the Kenwood started when the "town of Hyde Park" was  50S and early 60S, saw the development ofHyde Park's urban incorporated in 1861, and Paul Cornell known as the  renewal from its pre-planning days to its fulfillment Her talk father of Hyde Park, became its flrst elected  to the society put the many aspects ofthis enormous project supervisor. By the time the City of Chicago annexed  in a nutshell, so to speak. She has generously allowed us to the Town of Hyde Park in 1889, its boundaries  reprint it here. encompassed far more area than the present day  community. The follOwing year (18ga), the University  

The community of Hyde Park-(South) Kenwood of Chicago was founded by a gift from John D.  was the first area in the nation designated as an Rockefeller. At that time the community was  'Urban Renewal Project". Its boundaries run from 47th primarily composed of single family homes with the  to 59th Streets, Cottage Grove to Lake Michigan. It is a larger, more fashionable mansions being built by  colorful community with an interesting history. wealthy families in Kenwood continued on page 2 

continued from page 1 between 1885 and 1895. With the  announcement and plans for the Columbian  

2  

~~  

increase in the population of the area from about  65,300 in 1940 to 71,700 in 1950. By the end of the  

Exposition of 1893, which located at the southeastern  edge of the community, a tremendous real estate and  building boom resulted in the addition of many  spacious walk-up apartment buildings. In the 1920S,  small apartments and hotels were built to meet the  needs of an increasing number of elderly people and  single men and women. In the same period and  through the 1930S, stores, churches, banks and  schools were built leaving little open space in the  interior of the community.  

During World War II, Hyde Park-Kenwood like the  rest of the nation underwent the pressures of a  severe housing shortage for people draym to the city  to work in the defense industry. Many of the large  private homes and spacious apartments in the area  were converted into smaller units-many of these  conversions were illegally made and were  accompanied by a noticeable decline in  

maintenance.  

Up until World War II the residents of the  community were mostly well-to-do families. In  addition to faculty and staff of the University living  in the area, there was also an unusually high  percentage of professional and business people. 1he  newcomers who entered the community during the  war years and occupied the converted units were for  the most part oflower income-people coming from  rural areas and the South seekingjobs. The  conversions of apartments and homes begun during  the early I940S continued after the war with no new  building occurring.  

The changes in the housing stock resulted in an  

I94OS, the community was showing signs of  deterioration because of conversions, decreased  property maintenance, and increased population all  of which were overtaxing the community's facilities  and services (schools, parking, police and fire  protection).  

In the 1940s, to the north and west of Hyde Park Kenwood, the population was largely African American and rapidly increasing in number by  families migrating from the South. Chicago's overall  African-American population increased by 42%  between 1940 and 1950. Adding to space problems in  those particular areas was massive displacement for  the Lake Meadows and Prairie Shores developments  so that by the time restrictive covenents were finally  outlawed in 1948 (which opened up areas previously  closed to African-Americans), it was not surprising  that in the late 1940s, that population began to grow  in Hyde Park-Kenwood.  

new and old neighbors  could meet, know each other and find common  grounds on which to work cooperatively.  

An extensive survey, developed by a Conference  committee headed by St. Clair Drake and Everett  Hughes and utilizing people in the new block group  organizations was carried out in the area in 1950. The  results pinpointed the vast number of problems, and a  program which defined general community objectives  was developed. This survey served as an important  factor in future planning activities for the area.  

The program that evolved identified five speCific  aspects to the program: (I) the panic and fear of the  white residents, and the block busting techniques of  unscrupulous real estate brokers needed to be  combated through a program of education and  through presentation of facts; (2) a self-help program  to arrest continued deterioration in the community  through strict enforcement of zoning and building  code laws needed to be developed; (3) additional  space for overcrowded school facilities and for  playground and recreational facilities needed to be  found; (4) improvement of city services (such as  street cleaning, garbage collection and street lighting)  was needed; and (5) redevelopment of pockets of  slums and a conservation program were needed.  

In 1952, as a result of public indignation about the  rising crime rate, and sparked by the abduction and  attempted rape of a University faculty wife, a  "Committee of Five" headed by the now u.s. Judge  

Hubert will formed another organization-the South  East Chicago Commission which directed much of  its efforts toward improving law enforcement. The  Commission also devised more comprehensive and  effective approaches to the problem of the more  serious illegal conversions of buildings often using  such power tactics in getting insurance and  mortgage cancellations for slum buildings. In some  instances, its executive director Julian levi along  with other attorneys from the community served as  "special" Assistant Corporation Counsel, without  compensation, in trying cases involving violations of  single family zoning. The Commission's most  important program, however, was its role in urban  renewal. The Commission's major support came form  the University of Chicago and it attracted additional  support of business, real estate and other  institutional interests. It represented the  community's conservative interests who looked with  concern at the Conference's idealistic goals for a  stable interracial community.  

The role of the University administration was an  asset and vital factor in many of the  

accomplishments for the community. While  community residents were moved to action by the  deterioration and racial changes earlier, the  University had remained aloof until the effects of  increased blight and crime brought the community's  problems onto its front door. Reduction in  enrollment because of fear for the safety of students  indicated to the University that it could no longer  remain disinterested. It could not afford to move the  University elsewhere so it decided something had to  be done to improve the climate of the community.  

Over the years, there were many conflicts and disagreements between the Conference and the Commission. Each had its own constituency-the Commission represented the University and the Conference represented the grass roots residents in the area. A constant effort was made, however, for recognition and consideration of the needs of both groups, and in the final analysis these efforts benefited both the University and the community residents Embarking on Revitalization  

The long range conservation program for the Hyde Park-Kenwood area involved three separate projects. The first was a slum clearance project called Hyde Park A andwebb & Knapp of New York City, was selected as the  

developer for this project. The Hyde Park Shopping  

Center, which houses the Co-op, highrise apartments  

and about 250 townhouses were built on the cleared  

land.  

The second major project was the SO]Jth West  

Hyde Park Neighborhood Redevelopment  

Corporation Project. It was organized and  

spearheaded by the University of Chicago under a  

State authorized program in order to provide needed  

student housing. The plan under this project  

(approved in 1956) involved the acquisition and  

demolition of about 15 acres ofland between 55th  

and 56th Streets, Cottage Grove and Ellis Avenues,  

plus a rehabilitation program for the remaining  

buildings running south of 56th Street to 58th Street  

covering an additional 40 acres. This project, after  

court battles establishing its legality, was not  

implemented until the end of 1962. The cleared land  

had been designated for student hOUSing but  

eventually was developed into open playing fields for  

University sports activities. During the long delay  

due to the litigation, student hOUSing was provided  

Ozzie Badal speaks to HPHS  

through the University acquiring and rehabilitating  many existing small unit apartment buildings  scattered throughout the community. These were  primarily structures built in the 1920S. In the final  analYSiS, this approach to the problem served the  community well since there was no market for these  apartments and the buildings were increasingly  becoming a problem.  

The third and main project was the Hyde Park Kenwood Urban Renewal Project. When the Chicago  Land Clearance Commission agreed to investigate the  possibilities of a clearance project in the community  in 1953, it was on the condition that they would  undertake the project only if it was a part of a larger  conservation plan for the over-all community.  

Because of this condition, it was necessary for the  community to take steps to begin such planning. The  University of Chicago and the Commission worked  on two fronts toward this end. They jOintly applied  

for and received a $100,000 grant from the Field  Foundation to establish a "planning unit" to begin  planning a conservation program. They also worked  closely with other private and public organizations  toward the enactment of the U.S. Housing Act of  1954 to provide federal financial assistance for this  type of conservation program. Upon the passage of  the 1954 Housing Act, the process of designating  Hyde Park-Kenwood as the first urban renewal  project in the nation began and the city  

subcontracted the planningjob to the planning Unit  established by the University and the Commission.  

~~~  

Planning Begins  

The Conference had worked closely with city  agencies in the development of the clearance project.  They now insisted that there be full continued on page 7  

The Community Reacts  

In 1949, a few people in the community felt action was necessary to stem the growing physical deterioration and to work at developing good race relations. Amongst these early leaders were Rev. Leslie Pennington of the First Unitarian Church, the 57th Street Meeting of Friends, Rabbi Louis Weinstein of KAM, academicians Harvey Perloff, st. Clair Drake, Herbert Thelen, financial and real estate leaders Earl B. Dickerson, Oscar Brown Sr., and Jerome Morgan.

Down Memory Lane...  

55th Street Pre-Urban Renewal  by Sister Bennet Finnegan, D.P.  

Sister Bennet grew up in Hyde Park, on Kimbark - where  

6  

~~  

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Club was in the  

bank building - we read there and looked at stereop ticon slides.  

The Home for Incurables was in the red building,  part of which is still standing, just south of Ellis  Avenue. We went there for concerts in the garden  

Urban Renewal gave us Nichols Park. Living next door to the  Finnegans was Alonzo Stagg and his family. She went to  school- and eventually taught - at st. Thomas. Sister, now  retired and living at the Dominican Motherhouse in  Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, recalls the 55th Street she knew:  

Fifty-fifth Street is a lonesome road for those of us  who lived in Hyde Park in the twenties and thirties.  Parker Dry Goods Store on the comer of 55th and  Kenwood (succeeded by Bears and then by  Breslauers) was where I worked during their sales  when I was in school. The important thing to  remember was not to tell people what color thread  they wanted but to let them choose for themselves.  There was a yardstick fastened to the counter so that  you could measure yard goods. I enjoyed working  there. o  

Hazel Hoff Keifer had a store across from the  University State Bank where I also worked several  times.  

The best memory of 55th was the Frolic Theater  with the clown above the marquee who bobbed up  and down. We saw Jackie Coogan and Mary Pickford,  Our Gang Comedies, etc.  

At the comer of 55th and Ellis was Greenberg'S  Delicatessen where we got delicious poppy seed  twist bread. o  

Halfway down the street was the Chocolate Shop  and the Piggly Wiggly.  

At Wolfs Toy Shop we bought Chroma Packs - a  set of twelve pictures from story books to color. They  were 25 cents.  

The shoe man was at 55th and Woodlawn - his  nephew is now at 57th and Harper. Watson's Watch  Maker was at 55th and Woodlawn and Bourgeau's  Hardware store was farther up the street. Feinstein  was the Oculist and VanDyke was the photographer,  and Finnigan's (spelled with an "i") was at 55th and  Woodlawn. Cowhey's Mens Store was near Ellis.  

outside.  

Later, Walgreen's was at 55th and Dorchester and  the A and P was next door. wolfs was the magic  store, Eggers the fine grocery and Flori's did hair cuts  and manicures. o  

Where the Bixler play lot is now, we went to Saint  Thomas the Apostle School. at 57th and Kenwood.  We attended st. Thomas church at 55th and Kimbark  where I was baptized and made my First  Communion.  

When we go down 55th Street now, I often think  of the ghosts of those buildings, especially  Greenbergs, the Frolic, Parkers, and Watsons. III  

Are you aware that there is a bold, unprece dented plan already formulated to revitalize  this neighborhood? Every major housing  agency in the city, public and private, will join  in the effort to conserve this area. Eyesores will  be eliminated, new housing and new streets  will be constructed and new traffic solutions  will be worked out. Top sponsors of the project  are the University of Chicago, the South East  Chicago Commission and the Chicago Plan  Commission. This is no chimerical plan; it is  well on the way to realization. It is worthy of  everyone's support. The second annual open  meeting of the South East Chicago  

Commission will be held at the Hyde Park  Church S.W. Corner of 56th & Woodlawn  Ave. You are urged to attend the meeting, pre pared to ask the questions you want  

answered.  

The Date: Tuesday evening, May 11, 8:00pm  

From a St. Thomas The Apostle Church Bulletin,  May 2, 1954  

blacks to whites in a free flow without regard to  race. (The Kenwood Open House Committee  

Conference and the community were very fortunate  in that Jack Meltzer, the director of the planning  Unit, wanted citizen participationjust as strongly as  the residents insisted upon it.  

In 1956 the area was officially designated a  Conservation Area and a Conservation Community  Council (CCC) consisting of II residents of the  community was appointed by the Mayor which for  most of its years of existence was led by Edwin A.  Rothschild. The CCC is responsible for the first step  in the approval process of an urban renewal plan and  subsequently plays the same role for amendments to  the plan with respect to changes in property  acquisition and land use deSignations. The HP-K CCC  also undertook reviewing redevelopment proposals  to make its recommendations to the city although  this was not one of its legally required functions.  

That same year (1956), the Preliminary plan was  completed and approved, which enabled the federal  government to reserve $25,835,000 of federal money  

for the project. These funds would be released  provided that (r) the final plan was satisfactory and  (2) the City of Chicago would provide an additional  one-third of its share of the total estimated cost of  $39,500,000. The Preliminary plan was then presented  to the community, too.  

By this time, progress had been made toward  checking deterioration in the community through  the efforts of the block organizations and the staffs  of both the Conference and the Commission. Both  organizations worked very closely on several court  cases which served to enforce the single family  zoning for the mansions in Central Kenwood,  returning mansions previously converted into  rooming houses back to single family use.  

While these two organizations were fighting those particular cases in court, a group of young matrons living in the area embarked on a positive program of attracting families to purchase these large homes for single family use. The Kenwood Open House, an event where several homes were opened to the public each year for a tour, and the development of enticing brochures which were taken to large  concerns in the city in an effort to attract young  executives to their area, were the two major means  used by the Kenwood "Ladies". Needless to say, their  efforts were extremely successful. Kenwood was the  earliest area within the community to stabilize and  where homes are sold by whites to blacks, and by  

continues to meet and to serve as the watchdog for  that part of the community.)  

In Hyde Park itself, by 1956 block groups were so  alert to watching for and reporting to the Conference  any signs of illegal conversions in its many  apartment buildings that it led the Building  Commissioner to comment that even a stick of  lumber for a bookcase could not be delivered into  the area without a report being made to the Building  Department. But much remained to be done to  improve the maintenance of standards in apartment  buildings, many of which were owned by absentee  landlords. Block groups had also achieved some  successes through close cooperation with the city for  such services as street cleaning, garbage collection,  clearing ofvacant lots for playlots and the like. In  many instances, they supplemented these services  by doing thejob themselves. The city's program of  posting for street cleaning was born out of the  posting of flyers by block groups in order to get  streets and curbs cleaned.  

The planning Years - 1956-1958  

When the Preliminary plan was presented, a  special "planning committee" of the Conference  undertook the role of the middle man in the citizen  participation program that followed. Members of this  committee were residents of the community and  was mostly composed oflayrnen although there  were a few who were profeSSional planners. The  members of this committee presented the proposals  of the Preliminary plan to block group meetings, got  the reactions, comments, criticisms, and suggestions  from the residents and relayed them to the planning  Unit. These initial meetings were often followed by  block groups meeting directly with Jack Meltzer  where the difficulties and problems of proposals  were discussed, debated, argued and sometimes  changed or modified.  

Over 300 block and area meetings were held during the two years the plan was discussed in the community. There were many changes in the plan as a result of the interaction between planners and community-some were major and some minor. The people in the community were asked to look at the plan not in terms of their own property or block, but in terms of the overall community needs and conditions-a highly  difficult undertaking. By the time the discussions  came to an end, those who were concerned about  standards were clarified, and there was a reduction  of clearance in the northeast comer of the  

community.  

any proposals under the plan knew more clearly the  reasoning behind them even though, regardless of  the logic presented, many felt the planning was done  for the direct benefit to the University and other  institutions and with less regard for the  community's residents.  

Because discussions of the proposals in the  program were held via the block group organizations,  the participants in its development included  residents of all economic, cultural and racial levels.  It was interesting to note that on several occasions  where strong protest arose over similar proposals one of which would be in a lower income, working  class, block and another in a middle class University  faculty block-the arguments raised by both were  identical with the only exception being the  difference in their articulation of the protest but not  in the feeling or the meaning.  

The "final plan" was released for community  discussion early in February 1958. After a month of  meetings to review it at the block level, public  hearings were conducted in March by the Ccc. There  were additional changes and modifications made  and the ccc approved the plan and submitted it to  the city. When the final revised plan was presented  to the City Council late in 1958, it received wide  community support. The City Council's Committee  on planning and Housing held its public hearings on  the plan. There were 135 witnesses, go of whom were  individuals or representatives of groups from within  the community, who testified at the five days of  hearings. Major opposition to the plan came from  Msgr. John Egan representing the Catholic  Archdiocese of Chicago and was backed from within  the community by a local group of residents known  as the Hyde park Tenants and Homeowners  Association. Their opposition centered on the failure  to provide public housing in the plan, and to secure  definite commitments for new middle-income  housing. The destruction of sound buildings, the  prospect of displaced families being relocated into  crowded neighborhoods, and the ambiguity of  rehabilitation standards were also questioned. In  response to some of these concerns. prior to the  submission of the plan to the full City Council. a  commitment was secured from the Chicago  Dwellings Association to provide two million dollars  of new middle-income housing. the rehabilitation  

There was. in spite of-and in some cases because  of-the vigorous opposition of the two above  mentioned groups. overwhelming community and  city-wide support for the plan. The Committee on  planning and Housing unanimously recommended  that the City Council approve the plan with a strong  recommendation that a minimum of 120 public  housing units be included in implementing the  program.  

On November 7. 1958. the City Council approved  the Hyde Park-Kenwood Urban Renewal plan and the  federal government authorized the City of Chicago to  

proceed with its execution in January 1959.

The Urban Renewal plan  

The urban renewal plan called for the clearance of  lor acres ofland. This was about 20% ofthe area  excluding the land clearance project and the  University's campus area. of the buildings proposed  for demolition. 78% were substandard. An integral  part of this project was the large scale rehabilitation  program involving close to 2.400 remaining  structures.  

The plan provided for expanded space around  existing schools for building new plants or additions  to the old ones. or for needed play space. At the time  these proposals were made. schools were  overcrowded. but as the population dropped in  succeeding years. school expansion was not  necessary in many instances. Some of the designated  school sites still provide open space for the schools  while others have been redesignated for other uses.  

Although the community is almost surrounded by  park land-Jackson Park on the east. Washington Park  on the west. and the Midway on the south. there was  little in the way of park and playground facilities  

within easy walking distance in the interior of the  community. These were also prOvided for in the plan  and except for one park/playground site. the  Conference's Parks and Recreations Committee  headed by Barbara Fiske. provided the vehicle for the  community to participate in planning the new parks  and playgrounds. John Hawkinson. a local artist.  helped the committee and the block groups in  designing the parks and playlots in their immediate  areas through the creative use of sand boxes and  centers. Most of the displaced businesses either  closed or moved out of the community. Some  remained in the community and moved into existing  spaces not scheduled for demolition. Several  displaced businesses banded together. formed a  cooperative and built the Kimbark Shopping plaza  with several of the key businesses still in  occupancy-Mr. G's. Breslauer's. Ace (Anderson's)  Hardware. and Mitzie's Flowers.  

Space was also provided for institutiemal  expansion for churches. hospitals. private social  welfare agencies. as well as for the University.  

Small spot clearance areas were deSignated for off street parking. The community wanted off-street parking but it turned out that residents did not want to pay for the privilege. Therefore. most of these sites were later redesignated for other uses. usually for hOUSing development.

The remainder of the land cleared was for the  development of about 3.000 new dwelling units. The  Chicago Dwelling Association built its commitment  of $2 million of middle income hOUSing in the multi apartment structure hOUSing elderly persons and  families at 51st and Cottage Grove. Additional  moderate/middle income family housing units were  developed under special FHA insured programs  including the cooperative built by the Amalgamated  Clothing workers Union at 48th and Lake Park. The  CCC adopted the Conference's recommendation that  the public hOUSing sites should be scattered and  after much heated discussions and hearings. six  family units were designated and built in the 5600  Dorchester block. another six in the 5100 Blackstone  block. and 18 "modular" units at 50th and Blackstone.  Two developments for elderly housing were built-18  units at 55th & Woodlawn and 8 units at 53rd &  Woodlawn. Another 64 units of family hOUSing is  located in a Chicago Housing AuthOrity (CRAJ  building at 50th and Cottage Grove on land the CHA  had acquired prior to the approval of the Urban  Renewal plan and was the only site of public hOUSing  built on the periphery of the community. These 120  newly constructed units were supplemented in  subsequent years by public hOUSing eligible persons  and families using CHA issued Section 8 certificates  

eligible family or individual pays 30% of their income  toward the rent and CHA pays the landlord the  balance. There has been a constant danger of  concentration instead of dispersal of low income  households through the use Section 8.  

The rehabilitation phase of the urban renewal plan  was slower in getting started and did not really begin  until 1964 after it was stimulated by new  development on some of the cleared sites. It  continued at an accelerated rate in the 70S and 80s  and most often occurred when properties (single  family and multi-family) changed ownership or  when rental apartments were converted to condos.  As hOUSing prices rose. more rehab took place. and  areas where it was felt no change would ever occur.  are even nowjoining the rehab/condo parade.  

Officially the Urban Renewal plan will come to a  close within the next three and a half years. There  are still some problems-maybe they'll be resolved by  closing time or maybe they will be resolved later  when renewal activities in North Kenwood-Oakland  finally get underway. Nonetheless the purpose of the  urban renewal program-to stimulate the physical  up-grading of the community-has certainly occurred  throughout Hyde Park-Kenwood marking it a  successful program.  

It was not. however. just an Urban Renewal  project that made the revitalization of Hyde Park Kenwood a reality. It was the in-depth involvement  and participation of hundreds of its residents to  make the program work. They are too numerous to  name but they were blue collar workers. white collar  workers. postal workers. school teachers. small  business owners. government workers. executives.  lawyers. University faculty. staff and students.  Leadership came from all walks oflife-especially at  the block group and regional area levels.  

Looking back. those were noble goals that were set some 45 years ago by the organizers of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference-to build and maintain a stable interracial community of high physical standards. To the credit of those early leaders. and the dedicated and enthusiastic involvement of the community's residents. the goal has been achieved.

Volume 17, Number 4 Winter 1995

A Childhood in Early Hyde Park

by Helen Mathews Miller

Helen Mathews Miller has captured here life i11 old Hyde Park. We are delighted to be able to share her memories with our readers.

In 1894. my father. Shailer Mathews. left Colby College in Waterville, Maine. where he taught history and political economy. to join the new University of Chicago being built under the Presidency of William Rainey Harper. He was Dean of the Divinity School for 25 years until his retirement in 1933. He built the three-story brick house with white trim at 5736 Woodlawn Avenue. It was said that no frame houses were permitted after the great Chicago fire of 1871. My mother joined him after the birth of their son and the three lived in the old Del Prado Hotel on 59th and Washington. now Blackstone. while the house was being completed. It was the second house on  the block. Woodlawn Avenue was unpaved; cows were pastured across the street; rats scurried under the wooden board sidewalks. and it must have seemed a dreary spot to my mother coming from her New England home. The house was equipped with both electricity and natural gas ("in case the electricity should fail"). the roof was of slate shingles brought from Maine as were the kitchen sink and laundry tubs. The interior woodwork was all golden oak. so popular at that time. There were transoms over each bedroom door which could be dosed or opened for ventilation. and a speaking tube from the front bedroom to the kitchen  through  which one could send a piercing whistle to attract someone's attention for the message to follow. Two of the bedrooms had gas grates for extra warmth which gave a great "plop" when lighted  and smelled  faintly of gas. A  chute from  the 3rd  floor bathroom to the basement disposed oflaundry. All the pipes in the house were of lead.

I was born in r8g8 and  recently came across  the bill for my delivery by Dr. Frank Carey: $75. My sister Mary arrived 4rh years later. Up to that time we had had no telephone. depending on the Quadrangle Club.

then around the corner on 58th Street. for phone calls. With her birth imminent. it was thought wise to install our own phone to call the doctor.

The Quadrangle Club was later moved on rollers across the campus to make way for the building of the Oriental Institute, and the present club was erected at 57th St. and University Ave.

Other professors arrived and built their homes up and down Woodlawn and Lexington Avenues from 55th St. to the Midway. Soon there was quite a group of children my age on our block, all boys except Clarinda Buck and  me, and all very kind, thanks to my brother. in allowing us to join in their track meets and King Arthur Tournaments. There were the Jordans, the Bucks, the Herricks, the Vincents, the Loebs (who covered their back yard with gravel because it was more sanitary than grass), the Hales and  the Donaldsons. In the winter we flooded  the yard for ice skating and built forts and a toboggan slide out of huge snow balls. We had "hose parties" in hot weather.

Papa was in great demand as a lecturer and preacher at colleges and churches all over the country. so he was away from home a great deal. Once I asked him if speaking even to smaller groups was worthwhile. He said, 'Yes, if I can enlarge their outlook even a little." He was never ordained as a minister, preferring to teach and write. He was the author of some 20 or more books, among them 'Toe Social Teachings of Jesus," "Is God Emeritus," 'Toe Faith of Modernism," 'The French Revolution,"  and his autobiography, "New Faith for Old."

He was also very active in the Hyde Park  Baptist (now "'Union") Church, was President of the Federal Council of Churches, and on  the  boards  of  the Northern Baptist Convention, University of Chicago Settlement.   Chautauqua   Institution   and  Church Peace Union, and Kobe College, Japan. He started and edited a news  magazine  'The World Today." My mother, too, was busy with outside activities: the Needlework Guild of the World, Camp Farr of the U of C Settlement  and Women's  Society of  the  Baptist Church. She was a member of Mrs. George Glessner's Monday morning reading class at 18th and Prairie Avenue and of the "Once a Weeks," a group of close friends in the neighborhood and on the board of the Chicago Orphan Asylum.

Nahnally. the faculty children went to the

University Elementary and High School (being given half tuition). The school had developed from the old John Dewey School my brother attended at 58th and Ellis. I reveled in classes in art, weaving, clay modeling. woodwork and copper shop, sewing and cooking (for both girls and boys) and especially in Miss Stillwell's print shop where we set up type by hand and printed our own booklets of poems and

Greek and Norwegian mythology, illustrating them with drawings done in our art class. There were the usual academic subjects also, starting French in the 4th grade, though American history seems to have been somewhat neglected. We were taken on field trips to the Japanese tea house on the Wooded Island and to the Indiana Sand Dunes to study bugs and weeds. We were taken  to the fire station on 55th Street to see a demonstration on instantaneous response to a fire alarm and to Lake Michigan to view the three Spanish ships (the "Caravels"), reproductions of those in which Columbus sailed when he discovered America. then anchored off the land  where stood la  Rabida Convent, all these donated by Spain to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.

One day, when I was alone in the house, I decided

to climb down the outside to the ground. I went out the window in Papa's 3rd floor study, dropped to the small balcony below, climbed over the w'ooden railing. slid down the downspout to the roof of the front porch and went over to the north end where I could climb over that railing and slide down the long post to the porch railing below. an easy jump from there to the ground, but I confess I arrived  shaken. No one ever mentioned this exploit to me so I assume it was not known.

On Spring Saturday mornings. Connie Mclaughlin. Clarinda and I would climb into the low branches of the old willow tree in the field now occupied by Ida Noyes Hall, where we read aloud "David Copperfield" as we munched gumdrops and horehound candy.

Clarinda and  I sat on the back  porch steps reading the endless "Green Fairy," "Blue Fairy," "Red Fairy," stories and the "little Colonel" books. She believed she was a witch because she had red hair. Carrell Mason and I were champion 'jack" players, inventing new tricks for that ancient game. She had a Shetland pony and would take me for drives around Washington Park.

Special treats were monthly concerts by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra held in Mandel Hall, and the Fuller Sisters who sang old English songs accompanied by harpsichord and harp. Sunday afternoons the children on our block were invited to Gardner Hale's house where his mother read aloud Scott's "Ivanhoe," a little advanced for me, being four years younger than the others.

Carrell, Connie and  I would  wait until the workmen had left a  new house just being built and then explore to see what we could find to collect, climbing up ladders and over loose boards. We specialized in acquiring drops of lead left by the plumbers and once were richly rewarded to find a whole cup oflead in the Frank Lloyd Wright house (called the Dreadnought). being built across the street. The first theatre I ever went to was 'The Deceitful Dean," given by the student players 'The Blackfriars." As a member of the University Athletic Board, Papa could get free tickets to all the games. so he. Mr. Buck. Clarinda and I attended football games in Stagg Field and basketball games in Bartlett gymnasium.

I learned to swim in Mr. White's swimming class in the Bartlett gymnas.iµm pool. Miss Hinman conducted a social dancing class that met in our various homes. Once a week I rode my bicycle to my music lesson with Miss Van Hook on Rosalie Court and could finally play 'When Morning Gilds the Skies" on the piano.

For Christmas we decorated the  tree with strands of popcorn and cranberries and lighted it with real candles which  miraculously  never caused a fire. I was usually sick with the grippe and was brought downstairs Christmas morning wrapped in blankets and full of calomel. The German band would play the old Christmas music outside each house. In  the Spring the scissors sharpener man would appear, ringing his cheery bells. and the organ grinder, with his flea-ridden monkey. would arrive. I can still feel his icy little hand  as he clutched  my penny and doffed his cap in thanks.

When the wind blew from the northwest. the air was filled with the heavy odor of the Stockyards and we would close all our windows. But all summer the air was also filled with the beautiful strains of music from across the street as Fannv Bloomfield Zeister, the concert pianist. practiced her scales.

We had a "poor family" living on the West Side whom we gave clothes and food to, but whom we never got to know personally. Yet they served to remind us that many were less fortunate  than we were and needed help. Many of our neighbors employed Mr. Riley. a private watchman. to make the rounds at night to check windows and doors, but it was generally believed he came around only once a month to collect his modest salary. Once I tested this and  strung a black  thread  from post to post across the front porch. It was intact the next morning. Yet no one thought it wise to dismiss him.

Our family were all members of the Hyde Park Baptist (now "Union") Church. After Sunday school and church it was good to dash home to a dinner of roast chicken and chocolate ice cream. There were often guests. a visiting preacher or foreign missionary. or two college girls, as our parents were counselors of Kelly Hall, one of the University dormitories.

Every evening Larry. the lamp lighter. would stop his horse in front of our house, lean his ladder up against the lamp post and light the gas lamp. Fire engines terrified me as the horses galloped down the street pulling the steaming engine and hook and ladder. and we were reassured only when they had passed our house. Other familiar sounds were the 'Uxtra. Uxtra" of the newsboy calling out some exciting news, and we would run out to buy a copy.

Help seemed to be plentiful; a cook and "second maid" lived in and a laundress came once a week. Miss McKenzie came Saturday mornings to shampoo our hair; Miss Helmar once in a while to sew and mend; John Halstrom shoveled snow and tended the furnace in winter and mowed the grass in summer.

We loved all the horses that delivered packages to our door: the grocery horse. the milk wagon horse. Marshall Field's handsome pair of dappled grays. the hardware  store horse and  Gus  Chear's  horse who wore a straw hat over a wet sponge  to keep him  cool on his long trip from South Water Street bringing vegetables and fresh fruits. We would slip lumps of sugar into their feed bags whenever possible.

At Halloween we carved our pumpkin and put it, lighted up, in the oak tree in the back yard. The boys would sneak up to the Deke fraternity house, ring the bell and run. If caught, they were likely to be held under a cold shower bath. The urge to reminisce once yielded  to, is difficult to stop. From my eighties, these memories reflect my deep gratitude for a childhood spent in this pleasant and stimulating neighborhood. II

Newsletters 1994

March 1994

July 1994

October 1994

Winter 1994-1995

Volume 16, Number 1 March, 1994

All the Dead Young Men: Camp Douglas and Oak Woods Cemetery

l,y Jim Stronks

 We arc very grateful, to Jim, HPHS Board Member,jormer English Professor, and great History Rmarrherjor this though!ful rejlection 011 earlier years and wars.

Mass graves arc always dr::nnatic. One of the world's biggest is in our neighborhood, where 4357 Confederate soldiers lie, without headstones, under the silent grass at Oak  Woods Cemetery.  Alive,  the 4357 would  make up J small army themselves, but they died one-by-one at Camp Douglas, the union  army's Civil War  prison  on the lakefront between 31st and 33rd Streets.

Our bird's-eye picture of the camp from Harper's Weekly in 1862 is fairly accurate. The view is southward, toward Hyde Park, with Lake Michigan on the left and suburban prairie all around. Camp Douglas was both an induction center, where some 30,000  recruits  were sworn in, and, walled off separate from it, a military prison holding from 500  to 12,000 POWs at any one time.

The first large contingent of Confederates at CampDouglas were surrendered at the battle of Fort Donelsonon February16, 1862, after three days of assaultinbit­ter weather by a force under Ulysses S. Grant. When theCSAcommander,withtheromantic name of Simon Bolivar Buckner, asked for terms, Grant's curt reply was "unconditional surren­ der," giving new meaning to his initials. Buckner, calling the terms "ungenerous and unchivalrous," which may reveal a faulty mind-set in what was a modern war, sur­ rendered  his 13,000  to 15,000 hungry, half-frozen  men at once. Grant hustled them aboard boats on the Cumberland River and sent them  down  to  Cairo, Illinois, where 4500 were sent on to Chicago,  many on the Illinois Central. Rolling through Hyde Park on Thursday, February 20th, they unloaded at the Central Station yards and were marched two miles through the streets to Camp Douglas, 3200 arriving on the 20th and

:mother 1259 on the 21st, for a total of 4459. Prison camps were often not prepared for an influx  on  this scale, and neither were the banacks at Can;ip Douglas.

I will speak of this first large group in some detail, as typical of others, but with the caveat that prison camp statistics and dates arc highly unreliable. The  best sources disagree with each other in details, and some­ times even with themselves, so my numbers will be edu­ cated approximations. I also suspect from my reading of the day-by-day Tribune coverage of "Affairs at Camp Douglas" (always on page 4, column 2)  that it too must be taken with a grain of salt, for its tone and coloring appear to me to be slanted in favor of the camp's admin­istrators. It figures.

Chicagoans were thrilled by Fort Donelson, the first major victory for the North, and the Tribune said the camp was "besieged by thousands of citizens, anxious to obtain a sight of the secessionists." Visitors could  ride the horsecar to 32nd Street ( the stop there was called Cottage Grove), and if they could not wangle entree into the camp  itself,  as  many did  in  the  first days, could pay I O\t to look over the fence from a tower atop the hotel opposite the main entrance (discernible in our bird's-eye view).

A Tribune reporter who did get in to mingle with the prisoners found them "haggard and war-worn" and still hungry and cold. The sickest had gone into the camp hospital, but the merely sick lay in the crowded barracks, infecting others. Some Mississippians and "sharp-shoot­ers from Central Texas" were "pale and actually had attacks of ague chills" (malaria) as they stood shivering

:imid the alien snow in the prison yard. "It  may have been from exposure and low diet," said the Tribune, "but they were all sallow-faced, sunken-eyed, and apparently famishing." Their lightweight southern uniforms were "just no uniforms :it all." Few had overcoats-this in a Chicago February-and "supply their pbcc with horse blanket , pieces of carpet, coffee sacks, etc." (See our sketch of "Rebel Prisoners.") Undoubtedly, many of the Confederates who would die in Camp Douglas were in poor condition when they arrived. It hardly need be added that there were no hot show­ ers and blow dryers. There was exactly one cold-water hydrant for  the whole 7000 men  in camp at this time, and observers invariably said the men were "crawling with vermin." Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), diarrhea, and influenza were everywhere. Pneumonia, dysentery, typhus, cholera, and smallpox, not all at the same time,

were common. In the camp hospital,  no  matter  how

well-intended, the medical science was that  of  I 862. The results were inevitable. In seven  months, February to September, 800 southern soldiers died at Camp Douglas.

In April 1862 a new trainload of POW s had aJTived from Shiloh, among chem a 21-year-old who had enlist­ ed in the dashing Dixie Greys in Little Rock. He was Henry Morgan Stanley, who nine years later in Africa would say, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" Late in Life, Stanley wrote about Camp Douglas in his autobiog­ raphy. The prisoner's clothes were "rotten and ragged, and swarming with vermin," but worse were the men's "ash-colored faces," their "emaciated condition," and their chronic dejection amid the mud of the great yard. They were "sunk in gloomy introspection, staring blankly, with heads between knees, at nothing; weighed down by a surfeit of misery, internal pain furrowing their faces hopeless."

Stanley's words are vivid and dramatic,  so  they have been quoted and taken at face value by seemingly every writer on Camp Douglas, probably unaware  that Stanley's own  biographer has lately pronounced him to be paranoid and given to self-pity and lying. Yet he sure­ ly spoke for many of his comrades when he charged that the camp authorities "rigidly excluded every medical, pious, musical, or literary charity that might have allevi­ ated  our  sufferings  .... Wewere  soon  in  a  fair  state  of rotting while yet alive." Not himself, however, for the turncoat Stanley, an operator, and a survivor, rather promptly renounced the CSA, joined the union army on June 4, was discharged with dysentery on June 22, later joined the U.S. Navy, and deserted it too. In contrast, some Mississippians, when the Tribune asked their opin­ ion of Camp Douglas, "said  that they would  wait till they 'got well out of this scrape' before they said any­ thing about it- their air and bearing, though courteous, betokening that they were ready to  continue  the fight and carry it to the bitter end."

Winter was bad at Camp Douglas, but summer could

beworse.OnJune9theupbeatTribune claimedchat"The location of the camp itself is very healthy." Onthecontrary, a later photograph shows standing water inthegreat yard, and the trouble was precisely the lakeside site:lowmarshylandimpossibleofproperdrainage.Thatmonth the Post Surgeonwarned that "The surface of thegroundisbecomingsaturatedwithfilch

and slop from the privies, kitchens, and [barracks] and must produce  serious  results  to health as soon as the hot weather sets in." The president of the Sanitary Commission, a civilian watchdog organization, wrote the commandant  that "nothing but a spe­ cial providence .... can prevent it from becoming a source of pestilence before another month." He cited overcrowding, and soil reeking from  unspeakable latrines.

Actually the Confederates from Fort Donelson and Shiloh were comparatively fortunate, by  Civil  War prison  standards,  for  in September  1862 all 7800 men in camp except those in the hospital were "exchanged" back to  the South in a 1:1  swap for union soldiers held by the CSA. The Tribune ( and it sounds as if a new

reporter was on the beat) expressed  th  humane view that, "It is only a wonder the whole 8000 filthy hogs did not go home in pine boxes instead of on their feet."

The shocking mortality rate is the nub of the Camp Douglas story. Item: when 3800 new prisoners taken in Arkansas arrived in

January 1863 they  may have brought smallpox with

them.  But  whatever   the  cause, of 3884 men in camp, 387 died

in February alone. This was IO%

in four weeks, nearly l 4 every day for

a   month.   Hundreds   more    jammed   the camp hospital. In early April the Tribune said 700 had died in ten weeks.

As the war ground on, the quality of Camp Douglas administrators improved, too slowly. More fresh-water hydrants were added,  too  lace, and  in July 1863 (the time of Gettysburg and Vicksburg) a proper sewer was dug, too lace. But there was official bitterness too. When the commandant requested improvements in the camp buildings, the War Department  replied  chat  the Secretary of War (the vindictive Stanton) "is not dis­ posed at this time, in view of the treatment our prisoners arc receiving at the hands of the enemy, to erect fine establishments for their prisoners in our hands." Lacer, when the horrors of Andersonville in Georgia became known, the president of the Chicago Board of Trade actually urged Lincoln to retaliate by setting  up an equally brutal prison in the North.

The population  at Camp  Douglas  constantly  fluctuat­ ed between empty and overcrowded. There was  excite­ ment in November 1863 when much of the post burned down, the Confederates cheering like mad. The camp's layout was changed, from the quadrangles shown in our 1862 bird's-eye view to parallel streets of  barracks  run­ ning east and west, as seen in our photograph showing a

throng of prisoners in the yard. The wooden fence was made stronger and raised to twelve feet, for there were escape attempts of every known kind, some extremely ingenious and some successful. In three years, about 320 Confederates made  it over or  under, or out  the front gate  itself,  if  only  briefly.  There  were  eight  tunnel

escapes  in all, the soft sandy soil cooperating,  once by

nearly 100 of John Hunt Morgan's cavalrymen, most of whom were soon corralled. (I like the sound of that out­ fit because they circulated a newspaper in camp, "The Prisoner's Vidette," four pages, handwritten.)

A more sinister  threat came  in  November  1864 with the "Chicago Conspiracy," when it was believed that southern sympathizers and  "imported  thugs"  would attempt release of the 7500 prisoners in a massive jail­ break. The plot was neutralized by the arrest of leading suspects on the outside, to the especial relief of citizens living near the camp. Ir was about chis time ( the fall of Atlanta) chat the camp's population touched 12,082, its highest point.

Such a number is numbing. Look instead at our  photo  of twelve prisoners who sat for their picture one day. Herc are the actual men themselves, and they bring con­ c rcrc   particulars   to  my  general

account of the camp: in their ragged pants, their thin  cigars,  their  individual ways  of   wearing   their  hats,  the  deadly

sober faces. Young men hanging out  together.

Not one smiling.

After Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox  in April 1865, Camp Douglas soon emptied and was torn down (except for one building which is said to have sur­ vived as lace as l 940). A purifying fire would have been best. More Confederates had died there, in our midst, than in any other northern prison, because Douglas was the largest and longest-running. In rough figures, about

4500 men died at Camp Douglas in 31/2 years, out  of a

transient total of nearly 30,000, for a mortality rate of 15%.

Throughout the  war,  dead  prisoners  were  carried  to

the city cemetery at the southwestern corner of what is today Lincoln Park. When that burial ground was removed they were brought to Oak Woods Cemetery in April 1867 and reinterred in concentric circles in a two­ acre plot purchased by the U.S. government.  Also brought in at chat time were those who had died of smallpox and been buried in a special plot near Camp Douglas.

In 189 l an association of ex-Confederates in Chicago raised money for a monument, a 40-foot column of Georgia granite erected in July l 893, during our Columbian Exposition, and dedicated in May 1895 with President Cleveland and cabinet members present. Congress later decreed that graves must show each sol­ dier's name, so huge metal plates were affixed to the base of the column and today we can read the names (99.9% British), the CSA army unit, and the home state of 4357 of the 4500 who died at Camp Douglas, from Ezekiel Able to J.L. Zollicoffer.

According to the War Department Register at  Oak Woods there are 32  nameless "unknowns," a few sailors, a black man, not one officer, and l 43 instances in which bodies were "removed" and "sent home" (virtually all to Kentucky addresses). Every southern state is  represented, the cast  coast  the  least;  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and Texas  the  most.  Today,  hundreds  of  southerners   visit the Confederate Mound every year.

For each name and number lying at Oak Woods there was also a desolated southern home where he was son or husband, father  or  brother. He  joined  up, and as a sol­dier followed the flag-and could  never  have conceived that he would die in Chicago.

In 1992 the Confederate Mound was nominated for local landmark status for its importance in Chicago his­ tory. The proposal became politically untouchable in the city council when an alderman called it, according to the S11n-Times, "very offensive to  thousands of black people in this city." To  grant  landmark  status  would,  in  his view, show official approval of the dead Confederates' attempt "to continue slavery for millions of blacks."

Meanwhile, the mass grave in our neighborhood, and the dreadful prison stockade it reminds us of, remain terrific facts in Chicago's past, unique, intensely sugges­tive to the historical imagination.

DOUGLAS ANDERSON TO SPEAK AT HPHS ANNUAL DINNER MEETING

Doug Anderson, expert on Jackson Park, its history (including its 189 3 glory days), its flora and fauna, guide for the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and charter member of our Historical Society, will speak to the Society's Annual Dinner Meeting on Saturday, February 26, 1994, at the Quadrangle Club. His topic will be: The Columbian Exposition in Retrospect. He is pictured here with HPHS members at the site of the 1893 Fair as he led them through the Fairgrounds during a lecture and walking tour which he graciously gave for us last October.

Confederate Mound is easily reached by Hyde Parkers in automobiles by entering Oak Woods Cemetery at its south­ west comer, Cottage Grove at 7 I st Street, and driving straight east, Parallel to 7 I st, for about a block. Gates close at 4:30. The HPHS has con­ ducted guided tours of Oak Woods in the past and will do so again if memb rs express interest. The grounds are most beautiful in early sumn1er. Among the notable persons buried there are Paul Cornell ( the first secretary of the cemetery association), "Cap" Anson, Walter Eckersall, Clarence Darrow, Kenesaw Mountain    Landis,    Enrico

Ferrn.i, Jesse Owens,  Harold Washington,andothers.

Monument to Stephen A Douglas near the site of Camp Douglas, prison for captured Confederate soldiers

Volume 16, Number 2 July, 1994

Notes from the Archives

by Stephen A. Tnjjma11, HPHS Archivist

From time to time letters arc received by the Hyde Park Historical Society from persons asking for information about individuals, families or institutions that have some connection  to  Hyde  Park.  Recently, we  received  a request which provided an unusual opportunity for us to xplore some of the early social  history of  our  communi­ ty. The following is an edited example of that exchange,

elaborated considerably for the benefit of our readers.

Dear Sir.·

My h1da11d and I are are involved in research 011 the life ef Lt. Cd Richard Swain Thompson. Born i11 Cape May Co11rt House, Nnv Jersey, he served i11 the Army ef the Potomac during the Cillil

Wiir. After thr war, he ,111d Ins wifr C1theri11e moved to Hyde Park, thrn a  rn/,11 r/1  ef Chirngo, ,111d built  a  house there at  Chest1111t  and Park A1•e11111'S. The address was later rha11ged to 5--106 East End

Avm11e.

He practiffd law i11 Chirngo, al/ended St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and was a member ef The Union League and The Kmwood Cl11l,. He was  presidmt ef the faller orga11i::atio11Jor l 89 l-92.

He, his wife and cme daughter arc buried i11 Oak Woods Cemetery. l ha\le /,een searrhi11gfo1· i1iformatio11 011 the Kmwood Cl11l1 but

soJar have Jo11nd 11othi11g. My q11estio11s are:

l. What type ef rh,l, was the Kenwood:> Political, social or other?

2. When was the cl11bjou11ded and by whom?

3.  Is it still in existence?

--f. Do yo11 have a11y other i1iformation a/,0111 the Thompso11Ja111ily?

Mrs. G. Poriss, Williamsburg, Virginia

Our Response:

The Kenwood Club is said to have been informally organized in the 1870s but its own directories note February 27, 1884 as the date of its incorporation. Its

Kenwood Club House, 1886            

founders were accomplished and well-to-do men ( most, if not all, of them Protestants like Thompson) who had settled in or near  Kenwood,  then  part of the larger Village of Hyde Park. Its first president after the club received a state charter was Edwi.n Potter, a banker and manufacturer, who lived at 4832 Madison (now Dorchester) Avenue. The club obtained a large frame house for its members' use on 47th Street near Lake

( now Lake Park) Avenue in 1884 and made substantial

:idditions to it in 1886. Later the club purchased title to the adjacent full corner lot where it expanded the club­ house with a large brick addition.

Abowling alley, diningroomandkitchenwere locat­edinthebasement.Theentryhall, office,receptionroomsandballroomwereonthe first floor and, onthesecondfloor,were cardrooms,billiardroom, readingroom, smokingroom, library,andthe ladies'and gentle­mens' dressi.ngrooms. Adjoini.ngthe clubhouse,fourtennis courtswerebuilt andtournamentsandparties ofall kinds wereheld there. Privilegeswere extendedtothefamiliesofmembers andtheirwives and daughtersorga-nizeddrama,literaryandmusical programs. In 1893 E. Burton  Holmes                                          I870s, became the controlling stockholder in the I880s presented one of his famous travelogues there. Gambling    of one of Chicago's early professional baseball teams, the and the use of alcoholic beverages on the premises were White Stockings, from which, under other ownership, prohibited by the club.            the Chicago Cubs evolved. He was a major force behind

The club's by-laws initially allowed a maximum of                  the establishment of professional baseball's National 400 resident members but that figure was raised to 450      League and was elected, posthumously, to the Baseball

in the early I900s. In actuality, however, its resident                    Hall of Fame in 1939. His personal wealth derived from membership never reached those levels, certainly for the      the famous sporting  goods  company  he  founded  with first twenty-five years of its history.     his brother. Like Thompson, Spalding and several other

The membership fee in 1892 was $100 and annual                  Kenwood Club members also maintained membership in dues were $40, then among the highest charged by simi- the Union League Club.

lar clubs in Chicago. Hyde Park organizations were                         The Kenwood Club and its clubhouse arc long gone. allowed to use portions of the Kenwood Clubhouse at The club dtsappe:i.rs from city directories in the mid- specified times. Individual membership in the club, how-             I 920s when it apparently  ceased  to  operJte as a club. ever, was obtained by written application and sponsor-    The lists of deceased members' names as well JS those of ship by two resident members who were required to                                                                                                 members living outside of Kenwood or Hyde Park  had send the governing board a written statement including     grown longer  with  each successive edition  of the club's the name of the proposed member, his occupation and    annual publication. By the end of  the first decade  of  the his home address which was then assigned to a three           new century the so-called "non-resident members" could man membership committee  for consideration. The                                                                                                 already  be found at addresses  not  only elsewhere  in names of the proposed member and his spon-                      Chicago but in such outlying suburbs as

sors were then displayed on the club's bu!-                                                       Highland Park, Kenilworth, Flossmoor, letin  board  for at least  ten days.                                        OaPkark, Glencoe. and  Winnetka  as Membership was ultimately ?ecided by                                     well. The clubhouse itself apparently

the club's board, made up ot eight   was not razed until the 1950s, during directors and the clubs five, later four,                                                 the era of urban renewal. On the site

officers. Negative votes by any two of . these men resulted in denial of the                      - application. Early  directories listing today stands the Lake Village East

                   Apartments, a high-rise apartment building constructed   in the I970s. Kenwood members of the club and their residences  remains one of the more beautiful  communities in Chicago. Many of the homes Historical Society.   

may be found at the library of the Chicago     built there during the latter part of the I800s and on Richard Thompson was a charter member of the                 through the l 920s remain and have been carefully Kenwood Club, and he remained a member of the club             restored. One of chem, an early Frank Lloyd Wright

until his death in I 9 I 4. Another early member of the                  design built in 1892, stands at 4858 Kenwood; it Kenwood Club was Paul Cornell, the founder of Hyde belonged to George Blossom, a Kenwood Club member Park and one of the organizers of the cemetery where   who joined in I 895 and later became one of its officers. the Thompson family is buried. Cornell lived four                                                                                                          Reflecting population growth and increasing social blocks south of the club, at the Hyde Park Hotel which         complexity of the community, there were at least six

he built and owned. The Village Foods shopping plaza               other primarily men's social or sports clubs formed in is now located there. Richard R. Donnelly and his son.           Hyde Park and Kenwood during the I880s and 1890s. Reuben, principals of the famous printing establishment,  The Kenwood Club outlasted all but one of them.

belonged to the club and provided it with printing ser-                    The Kenwood Country Club, located on the west side vices. Richard lived at 4609 Woodlawn  and Reuben at of  Ellis  Avenue  between  47th  and 48th  Streets,  was 4746 Kenwood. John G. Shedd, the man who later    formed for the promotion of sports and, in particular, endowed Chicago's lakefront aquarium, and after whom         tennis. It  was  chartered  in  1895 and, while  there appears it is named, joined the club in 1896 and, at the time,        to have been a considerable overlap of membership with lived at 4628 El1is. Another member with whom          the Kenwood Club, Thompson's name is not found Thompson would have been acquainted was A.G. among them. The club's grounds consisted of a club- Spalding, who lived at 4926 Woodlawn. Spalding, a                                                                                                 house and at least ten grass tennis courts. A photograph highly regarded professional baseball pitcher in the  of it suggests that it must have covered most of one side of the block, making it the largest in area of any of the clubs in the community. Its membership  procedures were the same as those of the Kenwood Club. Widows of members could retain membership after the deaths of their husbands.

There were at least two earlier groups formed around sporting interests elsewhere in the comrnunity. One, the Hyde Park Boat Club, is said to have had 87 members and 25 boats in 1889 and was located on the northwest corner of what is now Harold Washington P:1rk. The other, the Kenwood Equestrian Club, was organized

November 2 I. l 885 at the residence of A.G. Spalding

and is reputed co have had over 200 members  within  a few years of its founding. Much local travel then was by carriage and, as a result, there were many horses stabled in the community and blacksmith's shops were not unco1nmon.

A fourth group was the Hyde Park Suburban Club, a men's social club housed at the northwest corner of Dorchester Avenue and 5 Isc Street, the site now of the Madison Park Apartments. Although the dace of its actu:il formation is uncertain, its members built and ded­ icated their clubhouse in 1890. Among its directors in

1892 was William  Kerr, one of  the  two aldermen  elect­ ed to represent  the community in  the first election  after the annexation of the  Village  of Hyde Park  to  Chicago. He and his wife lived at 4906 Lake Avenue, lacer the site of the Bryson  Hotel and  now  a grass lot  about a half block south of the Blackstone Library.

The fifth, the Park (or Sou ch Park) Club of Hyde Park, was organized in 1886 as a family club. It occu­ pied a four-story building bordered by verandas and, within, contained an assembly hall, billiard and pool

r oms, card rooms, bowling alleys, and  a cafe. Built at a cost of$  I 5,000,  ic was  located  on  the southeast  corner of  57th Street  and  Jefferson  (Harper)  Avenue  across from the Rosalie Music Hall. Paul  Cornell and  his son were counted  among  its members,  as was William  H. Ray, for whom one of our community's public schools is named. The clubhouse later became a hotel and was eventually razed. Powell's Bookstore is  now situated  at chat location.

Thesixth andlase ofthese groups,the QuadrangleClub,foundedin1896, was originally locatedat whatisnowthe siteofChicagoTheological Seminaryat 5757UniversityAvenue.In1922itmovedto a new structure at the southeast corner of 57th Street and University Avenue. Ir is the only one of the clubs from that earlier era to have survived to the present, due in large p;m to its relationship with the University of Chicago.

As for Thompson's house, Rasher's Arias of Hyde

Park for the year 1890 shows an  outline of  it at  the 5406 address and it appears to have been a two and a half story frame house set back on the southwest corner of the intersection. The evolution of the street name of their address was as follows: Chestnut Street ( the cast­ west street) did become 54th Street but Park Street, the north-south street (also called Park or Hyde Park Avenue), was changed  first to East End Avenue and then, finally, to Hyde Park Boulevard. There appear to have been no houses on the cast side of Hyde Park Boulev:1rd in 1890. As a result, except for Jack Sulliv;:in's creamery or milk depot loc;:ircd on the corner at what is now 533 7-45 South Hyde Park Boulevard diagonally across the street from his house, Thompson and his family would have had an unobstructed view of Lake Michigan, then only a block cast from where they lived. Over the years that shoreline has been extended into the lake with landfill to create its present configuration of bkefront buildings, parks and roadways.

The lot on which Thompson's house stood is now covered by a modern five story multi-family residential

structure, the Hedgerow Condominium at 5400 South Hyde Park Boulevard. Ir spans some five lots south along Hyde Park Boulevard and is one of the more prominent buildings in the community. In 1902, Thompson built a new home for his family down the street at 5450 South Hyde Park Boulevard. The large two and a half story red brick house still stands at that address. Its architects were George Borst and John T. Tetherington.

Richard Thompson was born in New Jersey on December 27, 1837 and died in Chicago on June 5,

19 I 4. He was a descendant of families which had settled in New Jersey in the mid-I 700s and his father, elected

to that state's legislature in 1837, had extensive land­ holdings in South Jersey.  Thompson's  education  includ­ ed the study of law at Harvard  College. In  August  of 1862, Thompson, then 24 years  old, organized  a  regi­ment in Philadelphia for .ervice in the Union  Army, le,1ding it with distinction in at least seventeen major engagements,  including  the  battles of  Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He was mustered out in February, 1865 afrer having been severely wounded at Ream's Station, Virginia. He  moved  to Illinois  where he met and  mar­ ried       atherine Stoval on June 7, 1865, after which they moved to Chicago and, by 1869, serried in the Hyde Park-Kenwood area. A Republican, he was elected an Illinois State Senator representing the Second Senatorial District, which included Hyde Park and Kenwood, from 1872  to  I 8 76. He  was also  the attorney  for  the Village of Hyde Park for the years 1869 through 1875 and for the South Park Commission from 1875 to l 880, a time when p;irklands around Hyde Park were still being accu­ mubted. According to Oak Woods Cemetery records, Thompson's wife, Catherine, died in 1926 and their daughter, Mary Thompson Sage in  1959. The Thompson f.1mily plot lies in the same cemetery where arc buried the bodies of those thousands of Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Douglas, the Civil War pris­

oner-of-war camp in Chicago which was so movingly described by James Scronks in the last issue of chis newsletter.

We arc rarely able to respond  to an  inquiry  to  quite this extent. In this case, howc\'cr, finding reasonably accessible material allowed us to draw  together  in one place information about persons and institutions in our community's early social history that expanded upon the

base that Jean Block previously established in her Hyde Park Houses (Chicago, 1978). Sources were found in the holdings of  the  Chicago  Historical Society,  The University of Chicago's Regcnstcin Library.  and  in  our own Society's library and archives. Readers who have further information about these early dubs or about the Thompson family arc invited to share it with the Society and chis newsletter.

The Society was saddmed to hear of the death of Muriel Beadle.

Her vision a11d enthusiasm were essential to the founding of the Hyde Park Historical Society. We are grateful to Clyde Watkins, a fellow fou11der,for this remembrance.

Muriel Beadle -

Our First President

I believe I first met Muriel Beadle on the day I gradu­ ated from U-High in 1962. George Beadle was rhc pres­ ident of the University, and that meant  rh:1r  Muriel  was on the scene as well. From the beginning she w 1s a University citizen of the first order. Ir w:_is pretty excit­ ing for us as high  school students  to  meet  chem  both after he spoke at our gr:1duation ceremonies. I w:_is espe­ cially enthusiastic  because  I was entering the  U.   f C. as a freshman  (make chat "first year student''.)  the  follow­ lllg autumn.

Needless to say, while an undcrgr:1du:1tc I was almost totally oblivious to the entire :idministration, wirh rhe possible exception of  the dean  of students. who  refused to Ice me enjoy my well deserved  obscurity. Ir w;1sn'r until after George's retirement and  my own  graduation and subsel1ucnt return to the university as an employee, that I really became consciou of Muriel's  continued activity in - and impact upon - Hyde Park.

Surprisingly, perhaps, I had to read about it. My  par­ ents gave me a copy of Where Has All the Ivy Gone, Muriel's charming memoir of  their years  as  the University's  first couple. (I  would  be willing  to  bet almost anything that he who inadvertently referred  to Muriel Beadle as "First Lady" received an instantaneous look  which  carried  permanent  affect.)   This was about the same time I myself began to get involved in commu­ nity activities. Suddenly it was as if she were  everywhere, or at least that's how people talked. Any time Muriel got involved in anything she made her presence known immediately.

Muriel was more than a catalyst, which is the most chat some of us can aspire to. I don't know chat she actually pursued many personal ambitions beyond her writing and the general well-being of her community, however she chose to define that at the time. People used to  try to recruit her because they knew that any­ thing she said she would take on would receive her total concentration and effort. So once you got her to say yes, all you had to do was to get out of the w:iy and do as your were told!

This is pretty much how the Hyde Park  Historical Society got started. A few of us couldn't understand how a community as important, interesting, and  self-deter­ mined as ours had never gone about chronicling and

George and Muriel Beadle

promoting its history. Our own local historical society seemed to be an obvious nced.. Indced ir w:_is as if it was already there, cnc1scd  in  the block  of  marble. All clue was 1n1uircd was a Michelangelo,  perhaps  with  a  touch of John  Henry  thrown  in. Jean  Block  and  I. having drawn the short straws, were elected to meet with Muriel

,ind gain her support.

Somebody must have tipped her off because ir was ;is if she knew we were coming. W c were greeted with her characteristic good humor and that  ever-knowing  twin­ kle in her eye. She agm:d in  about  three  minutes  and then set about correcting all the planning errors we had already m:idc. (I hasten to add chat she was right, of coursc.) In an hour she sent us on our  way feeling a curious mixture of triumph, gratitude :ind relief!

Now chat I have  lived elsewhere  for a  decade, and have at least a small bit of perspective on Hyde Park and its mystical hold on  its inhabitants,  I can sec  how smart we were to go after Muriel for this important bit of his­ torical sculpting. One of the most exciting -  yet frustr:it­ ing - characteristics of Hyde Park is chat everybody, and I mean everyone, has an opinion on every subject.

Further, they have to let you know where they stand. Somctimcs you can sit in a meeting and feel with ccr­ tainry chat you will grow old and die before anything gets resolved.

Muriel Bc;.idlc didn't let that happen to us. We all sounded off, to be sure, and she Ice us, then she cold us what we were going to do and  made  it  happen. Two years later we had a membership, a headquarters, a newsletter and a regular ongoing series of programs. I don't believe anyone else could have done chat for us. Thank God for Muriel Beadle, who was already a piece of Hyde Park history before we had a society  to  cele­ brate her. May there be othcrs like her lying in w:iit. I doubt it don't you?

University Colony Club History

The Hyde Park Historical Society is collecting information on the history of the University Colony Club. Persons, whether or not they were actually members of the club, with memories of the Colony Club's

activities, knowledge of its history or thoughts on the role it has played in the school or community are invited to share their recollections. Respondents may send a written statement or, if they wish, submit their names for a possible interview. Information provided about the club will be treated with discretion but may be used in an article on the Club's history that will appear in a future edition of our Society's newsletter. Submissions should be sent to the Hyde Park Historical Society, in care of the archivist, 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637. Messages may also be left on the Society's answering machine at 493-1893. Those responding should note their years of club membership or, if they were not members, the time period during which they were familiar with the club's activities.

 Social Note

From the Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1902:

"After a luncheon given to the Grand Duke Boris and his party by Baron Schleppenbach, Arthur Caton drove the visitors, the Baron, and Dr. W.R. Harper about in his tallyho. The university was visited, as well as Jackson Park. After the drive, Mr. Caton entertained at the

Washington Park Club."

 When "Chicago Day" Came to Hyde Park (What the Books Don)t Tell You) By Jamcs Stronks

It is astounding but true that 761, 942 people flooded into Jackson Park and  the Midway on "Chicago  Day" at the World's Columbian Exposition. It was October  9,  !893, and the 22nd anniversary of the Chicago Fire.

The anniversary fell on a Monday, but the proud city declared it a major holiday. They closed the stores and offices and schools, left saloons open, and half the town set out for the Fair.

Hyde Parkers, who could easily walk over to the p:u-k, may have stayed home to avoid the crush. Chicago Day was going to be historic, a once-in-a-lifetime event, but they had been visiting the Fair all summer. They could read about  the crush in the Tribune the next day:

The Xerxes claim was vintage Windy City brag. But the accountants' final total of 761, 942 is a solid fact, recorded in the Report of the President to the Board of Directors (1898), page 407. The New York Ti111es the next day (after explaining that Chicago means "Where the skunk dwells") conceded it to be "the largest concourse of people ever known."

The 761, 942 people at the Fair that day were more than lived in Boston, or Baltimore, or St. Louis. Indeed, the U.S. Census of l 890 proves that the Chicago Day crowd was greater than the combined populations of Albany, Rochester, Toledo, Nashville, St. Paul, Kansas City, and Indianapolis - all compressed within the fences of the fairgrounds.

What was the impact of this human ti-:fal wave along Stony Island and Cottage Grove, and what did it mean for Hyde Park?

The answers are not to be found in the published literature of the World's Columbian Exposition, though it is enormous. The official records and histories are excellent in their way, and we will draw on them here for some statistics. But they arc institutional, limited to the precinct of the fairground, with formal photos of white facades amid deserted spaces, described in idealized generalities.

This present paper, on the contra1y, is interested mainly in people, and specifics, whether in or outside of the fairgrounds, especially people on the streets of Hyde Park, a place the insu­ lar, whitewashed histories do not know exists. Our informa­ tion here will com.e from the lively newspapers of October, 1893, with due care and discrrrion in using such fallible sources: the Trib1111e, the lnter-Ocea11, the Times, the Herald, rhc Record and Daily News, the Evmi11gjoumal, the Evmi11g Post, the scruffy Mail, and the exposition's own Daily Columbian.

Actually it was not the reporters on these dailies but their editors who wrote most extravagantly about Chicago Day. The Tribu11r op/ cd page said the Fair showed "carping critics and envious rivals" (i.e., the New York Times) that Chicago's rebuilding after the Fire, and irs maturing ever since, were a triumph nor merely commer­ cial, for the new Chicago could also "out-do the old artistic

centers of Europe on their own ground." In all probability, boasted the Trib, the next twenty-five years will sec "the removal of the National Capital from Washington to this, the

real center of influence and power."

Meanwhile the Chicago Times ( owned by Mayor Carter HaITison and edited by his son) was indulging rich language of its own: "With imperial mien and gracious courtesy," Chicago "has received the undivided homage of the globe," and the fairgoing multitude has "tendered its spontaneous allegiance to the imperial city of the western continent."

Chicago day was only one of many "days" at the Fair - promotions to stimulate attendance. Their pull reached  well into the into the hinterland. Some 25,000 had' come to Wisconsin Day, and 60,000 to Iowa Day. Now, on rhc eve of Chicago Day, the city was swollen with out-of-towncrs:

 CHICAGO DAY OVERTAXES CAPACITY OF ALL HOTELS.

Railroad Trains from All Directions Are Overloaded.

 HOTELS ARE PACKED TO THE DOORS.

Why would non-Chicagoans (among them a reported 20,000 from St. Louis) flock to Chicago Day on more  than 350 trains, some trains in as many as 12 separate sections, in the 24 hours previous? The  answer was simple economics. The  railroads had withheld low  round-trip fares  to Chicago all summer, and the financial panic of 1893 had caused many visitors to delay coming to the Fair. But now the exposition was nearing its close, and Chicago's twenty railroads smelled a bonanza. They cut their prices:

 ROADS ALL SWAMPED.

 Paralyzed by the Influx of People for Chicago Day.

 Excursionists Taking Advantage of Very Low Rates.

Several newspapers said trains were bringing 400,000 or 500,000 people, but let us not believe everything we read in the papers. It is a fact, however, that thousands were unable to get Loop hotel rooms and gravitated  hopefully  toward Jackson Park. The histories and coffee table books have no idea what Hyde Park/Woodlawn looked like  the evening before Chicago Day, so we are fortunate thar a breezy Times reporter preserved the scene for us.

To his eye, and it

was a point made in many papers, usually with

a tinge of mockery, these tourists were "in large measure bucolic; every farm and hamlet within a radius of 200 miles must be deserted." The Illinois Central, he went on,

dumped them by hundreds al eve,y stalio11 between 53rd a11d 67th Streets. In droves the people surged toward the nearest hotels; they crowded the lobbies and  demanded beds and food.  I'hey go/ 11either.

From the swell hotels dow11 to the big bamlike world's fair hotels it was the same story. Way down at 5ls1 Street the Hyde Pa,·k Hotel had 4 50 g1-1esls in 1he house a11d had turned away 50 by l 0 o'clock. Across the way the Chicago Beach Ho1el had 900 gues/s in the ho11se and was tumi11g away people willing to pay any price.

There and al the Hyde Park cots had been p11t in every corridor. At the World's  Inn (60th at Dorchester) there were l 250 people

Thoma11ds wandered aboHt the streets hr the vicinity of Jackson Park until 111id11ight, unable to find a place to sleep. They thronged the restaurants during the early part of the e ening a11d ate the hours away. They went to Bi!lfalo Bill's (wild west show, a block west of Stony Island between 62nd and 63rd) and he tu med away a good l0,000. They went against everyflim1lamgame, shooting gallery, a11d variety pe,jorma11ce 011 Stony Isla11d Avenue, 63rd Street, and Cottage Grove Avenue. They filled the Midway and made the after oriental's heart rejoice and his pocketbook fat. By l l o'clock the fakirs along Stony Island Avenue had fumed their shooting and book shops into sleeping places.

The Inter-Ocean said thousands did not go to bed at all but slept in doorways or, sleepless, "lived on nervous excitement," the Dai News adding that "tricksters fleecing World's Fair visi­ tors" supplied some of that, for example in crooked gambling games in rents near Ease 63rd Street. Probably many cud find rooms in the 220 "world's £-ur hotels" between Kenwood and South Shore listed in Donnelley's IAkeside Direaory for 1893, even if some of these 220 may have been merely lodging house .

Chicago Day dawned cloudless, "a crystalline day of diaphanous atmosphere," sang the Evening Post, the Tribune adding that the lake was sapphire and amethyst and turquoise. Over th.is spark.Lng sea, which was surely the loveliest way to go to the Fair, a dozen passenger boats (steering wide of the Hyde Park Sands at 49th Street) shuttled back and forth all day and half the night, carrying an estimated 40,000 from the Van Buren Street dock to Casino Pier at 63rd Street and back again.

Ocl1ers rode to the Fair in the 500 to 600 ca.tTiages, bug­ gies, wagons, even one haycack, "anything which would carry people," which the Times claimed were parked all day on Dorchester, Kenwood, ;md Kimbark, each with its patient horses waiting to go home.

But most of the Chicago Day crowd, well over half a mil­ lion people. came to Hyde Park/Woodlawn on the Illinois Central and on streetcars. The ICRR ran 35 non-stop steam trains to Jackson Park, departing at 5-minute intervals, while a ciry-widc swarm of streetcars (horse, cable, md electric) bore down on Hyde Park from eve1y cLrcction except cl1e east.

Seventy additional gripmen had been brought in from Kansas City to help operate cable cars ilirough what was cer­ tain to be a long day of bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go, wicl1 cars sometimes only a few feet apart, free-loaders clinging to cl1e outside and perched on cl1e roo( The Cottage Grove line was prepared to carry 138,890 people in "cable trains" (3 cars each) to the west entrance of me Midway, a major "gateway". an enchanted White City as in a utopian vision, found it difficult to stroll at all. Many were unable to get into the wondcrfol buildings because the buildings were already packed with human bodies, and people inside couldn't get out because of the tens of thousands waiting to get in.

"To add to the general discomfort," said one reporter, "nearly everyone carried a huge valise or picnic basket of some sort."

In Daniel Burnham's massive Final Qfficial Report, the offi­ cers of the Columbian Guard reported chat some doors were broken off their hinges and d1ain fences torn up. bur they called the fairgoers individually cooperative. Collectively, however, chis "human avalanche" was another kind of animal: "Eve1y avenue was filled with what looked a solid mass of people," wrote the captains of the Guard, and "anyone who desired to change his position simply had to let the tide drift him along toward his destination." (It was a good line, but they stoic it verbatim from the Inter-Ocean of October 10th.)

With 761,942 people on the grounds, problems abound­ ed, little and big. How far upwind could you hear the band play "The Chicago Day Waltz"? (Not very far.) If you were penned immobile while a fountain rained on you steadily, what could you do? (Nothing.) How many arre ts of all kinds were there? (57) Did pickpockets score big? (No, the crowd was too chick.) Of the 33,139 children on the grounds, how many got turned in to Lost & Found? (73. and according to two papers, who gave plausible-sounding derails, 19 of these hadn't been picked up yet by 9 o'clock the next morning, but isn't our leg being pulled?) Did the scores of restaurants run out of food? (Of course.) Did the 3116 water closets prove adequate? (What do you chink?) Some people gave up and

started home as early as 3 P.M.

Two grand parades had been advertised. The evening affa_ir would be a gorgeous procession of electrically illuminated six­ horse floats making a long loop through the grounds, each float an allegorical tableau or an aspect of Chicago's rise from Indian village to world-class metropolis. A map in the papers had shown the parade route so that a family could stake out a fine vantage point. But it did not work out chat way.

As the parade came north up Stony Island, some 5000 people waited in the street to sec it enter the fairgrounds at the 62nd Su-cct gate. Inside rhc park. the multitude there began to surge through the parade's route, halting its progress, first for twenty minutes, then at the Woman's Building for two hours. Reaching the lakcshorc, cast of the Manufactures Building, where by now hundreds of thousands of people had planted themselves to sec the fireworks. only 4 of the 21 floats could get through. The other 17, engulfed, were aban­doned, their lights turned off. the horses taken out. The parade was wonderful, but untold thousands saw little of it.

By now dusk had come and with it the advertised climax: GRAND FIREWORKS. PIECES FOR CHICAGO DAY

OF UNRIVALED MAGNIFICENCE. One would sec a marvellous show from any point on the grounds -  and hap­pily this proved true. One had only to look up.

The highest, loudest aerial blasting came along the lakcshore, from the deck of the U.S. Illinois and from the cast end of Casino Pier. Ir shook rhc Hyde Park heavens and woke babies from 47th Street to 63d (and killed a fireworks man). Simultaneously the vast sea of people in the Court of Honor watched their own splendid pyrotechnics, while over their heads "a slender figure in red tights walked across a trembling wire" stretched between the Music Hall and the Casino.

On the Wooded Island, which the Times had called "char pretty little place," but now "black with people" and ankle­ deep in picnic litter, a total of 500 pounds of magnesium "turned night to day" and"15,000 fairy lamps outlined the walks and flower beds." In the lagoons around the isfand, said the T n'b1111e, "3000 aquatic novelties burned in every form-­ geysers, torpedoes, fiery dolphins, flying fish, and fairy foun­ rains--onr mass ofliving, writhing fire."

Gerting 761,942 people to the fair had amounted to a monster popuLnion shift spread over eighr hours. But the thought of getting them out again all at the same time, afrer the fireworks, was a mind-boggling logistical prospect.

Fortunately some had already gone home. As early as 6 PM

:ill departing trains were full--hang the parade '.md fireworks. The T crminal Station with its multiple platforms was pre­

pared to send off 80 loaded trains per hour and to run all night

if necessary. IC trains, 8 to 12 cars long, departed Hyde Park at 5-minute intervals. Others left the Alley L Station, by the Transportation Building, where the crowd on the stairs was tightest, most emotional and dangerous, at 2-minute intervals. Our on the Hyde Park/Woodlawn streets, cable cars filled instantly and rumbled away less than a minute apart, while Cottage Grove cars were said to have run only IS seconds apart.

The Trib1111c had compured char trains, streetcars. and boats could carry away only 367,208  people  between  9:00 P.M. and 12:00, but in fact only about a thousand were left in the fairgrounds and midway at midnight, some of chem well lubricated witl1 Budweiser.

An epic exodus transpired in Hyde Park chat night. On the

morning after, the Chicago papers filled page after page with a niagara of reportage about packed masses of people waiting, tired, hung1y. disheveled, many fainting, as they inched toward jammed exits, with every Hyde Park intersection a swarn1ing crossroad.

Inevitably it was dangerous. City-wide, said the newspa­ pers, in column after column describing accidents, at least 22 people were seriously injured in Chicago Day traffic, many of chem out-of-towners involved with moving cable cars. Five people were killed, two on the fairgrounds. Some papers reported chat Mrs. John Tucker of Red Bud, lliinois, had a baby at the 60th Street critrance, but I could not verify this

 In Cook County's bureau of Vital Statistics, so we must regretfully disregard it.

In the end, the main thing about "Chicago Day" was not the World's Columbian Exposition. The Chicago Times put it best: 'The story of the day was the crowd."

But how can we comprehend or visualize chis ocean of 761,942 people? How imagine their physical mass? Let us try:

Consider chat a man in his shirtsleeves measures 18 inches acros his chest, from shoulder seam to shoulder seam. Stand him next to another  man, their shoulders  touching, and together they arc 36 inches wide, or one yard. There arc 1760 yards in a mile, thus 3520 men per mile. Now line up the whole Chicago Day host in chis fashion, shoulder-to-shoulder, and you have an unbroken wall of warm bodies for 216 miles, or the distance (as the crow flies) from Hyde Park to a point well  beyond  Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Or  to  Toledo, Ohio. Or from New York to Washington. Or from London to Paris.

It is a haunting image, a fantastic Christo dream, chis con­

tinuous wall of humankind undulating over hill and dale west­ ward for 2 I6 miles, clear across lliinois, across the Mississippi, and well into the cornfields beyond.

Now red in chis 216 miles of bodies and pack chem together inside the fairground fences -    and no wonder Hyde Parkers probably stayed home to avoid chat crush. It was a perfect Indian Summer day. They could rake leaves.

Wr are very grateful to Sam hair who previous has shared his mother's recollections with us. Hm he takes us back to Hyde Park in the l880s -

this time with his father, Thomas J. Hair.

A Reminiscence by

Thomas J. Hair

from a hol.ograph copy in pencil

I started in the first grade at the old Marquette School on West Congress Street, about two blocks from our home.

After about a year, Dad sold our Congress St. house and we occupied Uncle John's house in Lawndale, then a distant sub­ urb of Chicago, reached  by street-car and a long walk, for a few months while they were at Harbor Point, Michigan, their summer home. In the meantime, Dad had bought a lot and started building a three-story house on Lake Avenue -    now Lake Park) in the suburb of Hyde Park, south of Chicago and adjacent to it, where we soon moved. We three children then entered the Greenwood Avenue School where I was placed in the second grade.

Hyde Park was almost a rural community at that time (1886). The streets were not all paved, and d1e vacant property across from our home was forested with enticing trees and play spots. In the rear of the property, Dad and a few neighbors built a toboggan slide which in the Chicago climate was a boon to children. I still remember the importance attached to the right make of toboggan, and later still to the right make of skates.

The Greenwood Avenue School was outside of the Chicago school district. Its principal was Miss Phillips, called familiarly "Miss Floppy", no doubt partly on account of her figure, a dynamic person. Our teacher was Miss Agnes Ehnendorf. who came from Bellows Falls, Vermont, and taught for seven years in our sd1ool, moving up wid1 d1e orig­ inal second grade to the third and fourth grades. She was unique in personality and never to be forgotten. A devour Episcopalian, she occasionally invited one or more of her pupils to attend the Episcopal Church with her for Sunday worship. I remember going wirh her to a church loc.itcd on the old Am1our Institute grounds around 33rd Street and Cartage Grove Avenue, where lacer was located the Illinois Institute of Technology. She once took us as a class, also, to

suburb of Hyde Park was annexed to the City of Chicago, separation of city and church took effect, and prayer was abolished. However, Agnes Elmendorf devoted our first ses­ sion each morning to the singing period, thereby working in a song-prayer as a part of the music hour.

One morning a week, proverbs were called for, and in regu­ lar order a few pupils each day gave their choices. Herc is where I first heard, "Lost, yesterday between sunrise and sun­ set, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes.

No reward offered, for they arc gone forever." The quotation remains with the picture of lovely little Helen Leland, who later lost her life in a New York hotel fire. Her father owned and operated  the Leland  Hotel in Chicago for many years, and where Helen gave a supper and party to Miss

Elmendorf s class. With Helen, I led the grand march of the class, and I a shy boy!

The Leland home was on Drexel Blvd. and 47th Sc. Helen

was proud and amused :it the figure of Diana on the roof of the gazebo atop the house. She laughed with us about it. Her funeral was held from that house, which I attended long after our boy and girl friendship had become a fond memory.

Another feature of the unique Elmendorf class was its classroom. Each desk was covered with thin oilcloth cut to fit the desk top, with a hole cut out over the inkwell. The oil­ cloth was furnished by classmate Arthur Tobin at a cost to each of us of 10\t -               quite ::t financial operation. Later in Lfe, Arthur became head of a merchandising firm in Chicago, and we were friends until his death many years ago.

For each desk, the pupil brought a small basket which he or she tied to the side of the desk for waste paper, thus avoid­ ing the constant traveling to   the large basket in front and at the side of the teacher's desk.

Below each desk was a strip of carpet to deaden the scuff­ ing of active feet. These pieces of carpet represented the left­ overs of carpet in the homes of class members -    a motley assortment. Once a week the honor of cleaning the carpets went to two of the boys who collected them, took them to the school yard, and be:it them against a tree. These were the days of student help!

On Friday afternoons we held ::t spell-downs. This was ;111 important feature, for at the end of the year a prize was awarded to the one who remained at the head of the line the longest ,md most often. One of my prized possessions now is the Museum in downtown Chicago over the the silvcr quarter with :i ribbon attached, and won by my hard famous Gruenther Candy Store.

Miss Ehnendorf s room was different from any other class­ room I have known. It had a room motto done  in  colors  by the mother of one of the boys, Marshall Hayes, whose house was just across 46th Street from the school. I remember the group of eight boys who formed the Washington's Birthday celebration, and who rehearsed in W cllington  Park  just next to Marshal.l's house on the east. A few of these were Marshall Hayes, John Neems, Gordon Sibley, and myself

Miss Ehnend01f opened the class each morning with a short prayer - quite unique even in our school. When the effort in spelling contests.

Through the year each morning Miss Elmendorf c:11.lcd for a show of handkerchiefs, and forty hands waved in the air, ead1 clutching a purportedly fresh handkerchief I will never forget d1e occasion when one resourceful boy held aloft a crushed piece of paper as a substitute for a handkerchief Our class conscience was so clean that the other members feared that he would come to a bad end Many years later, he became a prominent real estate developer of Chicago suburban property.

Later,inupperarithmeticclasses,welearnedhowtopaperaroom.Forexample,aroomis20ftby12ft,andIOfthigh

with two doors each 3 by 7 ft, and three windows each 2 by 5 ft. The wallpaper is 24 inches wide, and comes in rolls of 20ft. How many rolls arc required?

One song that we sang with feeling in Miss Elmendorf s daily music half-hour was on Memorial Day:

"Gn'm War has smoothed his wrink&d front, And through our land 110 more

Is heard the sound of his alarms And cannon's awful roar.

B11tjarjro111 home and kindred On this Me111orial Day

Arr !Jing many loved OllfS

vflho died in Wars array."

For this was only a score of years since rhe end of the Civil

Wa1:.

On the wide window-sill in Room 9 was a saucer of water and another of seeds -         feed for the crow which had become the room's pct, and whose keeper was one of the pupils who had won this coveted post by superior scholarship in some particular study at the third grade level...

 Volume 16, Number 4 Winter, 1994-1995

 This  wonderful  photo  which  HPHS  Archivist  Steve  Treffrnan  has just acquired from the Chicago Historical Society for our headquarters was taken on November 6, 1915. lL shows Lhe LC. Sta Lion at 57th Street; the tracks just behind it r:1ised :is Lhey are Loday.

Jean Block, in her book Hyde Park Houses, describes the opening of the first station (Hyde Park al 53rd Street in 1856 and  the  second  (Kenwood  at 47th SLreeL) in 1859. She  continues. ''A third  railroad  station was opened at 57th Street. initially known as Woodville, because thal was where  the  train  refueled. later it was called South Park."

After its years of service as ;1 depot. including the ;11Tival and departure of thousands s of visitors to the 1893 World's Fair, this enormous station (consider Loday' skimpy pldlform shclLers!l was for , time home to the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club! Sec Eleanor Campbell's article on the next page.

Eleanor Campbell l1as been associated with the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club since 1944 when she became staff as a group 1mrhcr. lfltcrsl,c1ms cmc of11i11c clw,trr members 0Ft/1r Business and Professional Auxiliary in existence for37 t;ew before it disbanded. Sl1e is a long-ti1 1c board n1rmbrrhaui11g sc,vcd as clwinna11 of several committees m1d as president.

C11rre11tly sl1e is a professional gc11rnlogist and family l1isto1ia11 1citli a11 i11tcrnatio11af clic11trle.

The hyde Park Neighborhood Club

by Eleanor Campbell

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Club has served the south side of Chicago since its founding in December 1909.

Created ;is a settlement house and a neighborhood center. it continues today as a multi-program soci,d se1vice agency in our economic1lly diverse and rncially mixed community.

ln its formative years the Club operated its programs out of an abandoned railroad depot. originally huill Lo accommodate the thousands of visitors arriving at the 18g3 World's Columbian Exposition. lnter the Club made use of unoccupied store fronts, empty second floor rooms over businesses. and ;111 old fire station. lL varied its activities with the space available and the needs in the community. Originally designed "to promote Lhe physical and moral welfare of Lhe children in the area" its programs have always included ,adult activities.

From 1931 to 1g48 the Club rented the buildings at 56th and Dorchester, which had been the University Congregational Church sanctuary. its Fellowship hall. and parsonage, for $1 a year with the congregation maintaining the outside of the buildings; the Club kept up the interior. The church had merged with Hyde Park Presbyterians and worshiped in their building at 53rd and Blackstone Ave. This much larger space allowed the Club to expand its programs for the first time in its history.

During the Depression years, the Club's ,activities took on a different dimension. There were family fun nights, a soup kitchen and activities which assisted the entire fomily. An annual "human" circus was held every spring ;:is ,1 culmination of months of preparing paper mache' animal costumes. complete with a bandind a circus parade. When a large apartment building went up in flames the Club was there to provide temporary housing and meals with the assistance of the Red Cross. With the aniv;:il of the Second World War, women came to the Club to roll bandages and learn first-aid procedures. These buildings were alive throughout the d,1y ;:ind into the evenings with activities for children and ,adults.

When the church buildings were sold in 1948 the Club operated decentralized programs for six years in local schools. churches, empty store fronts and with its offices localed in the local police station, which was just of- 53rd St and Lake Park Avenue. Owing Lhal time the directors of the Club had to decide if the agency would continue. When one of them offered Lo buy some property. which was ,1v,1ibble in Lhe center of the community. their future was secured.

ln 1953. a one story structure was erected al 55th and Kenwood, in which is now Nichols Park. Liter addition since the have included more meeting rooms. ,1 shop. a post-war quonseL-sLyle gym--replaced in 1888 with high school sized gymnasium and expanded meeting ,and activity rooms. This Liter space w;1s m,1de possible by renovating the old gym into sun-filled room which can be divid into smaller ;areas by closing folding doors. The present totals 25,&o square feet.

Over the years the importance of the Club's work in the community has been evident in is willingness Lo sec new needs and lo make the changes necessary programs accordingly. Today this community house offers   programs   and services lo ;1l1 age groups including a pre­ school indoor Tol Lal and ;1 full-day activities and Lu Luring for element,1ry age children before and after  11001. a growing youlh program for ages 11-17. a drop-in center and Golden Oinerc; noon for seniors. and an Older Adult 0,1y center for more fragile adult_. There is also a job placement program for those over fifty and adult classes. Programs run all year with summer full-day camp included.

ln order to Furnish improved se1vices for the more than 2CXX) people aided by the Club. ils staff of 12 full­ time and 28 part-Lime workers is headed by Mrs.

JureIlene Rigsby, M.S.Ed., Executive Director since September 1994. As Child Service Director of Community Services South for 14 years she managed a variety of programs including day care, counseling, parent empowerment. group homes. foster care. and emergency shelters. She has a strong youth OiientaLion and is familiar with the Chicago network of social service agencies and funding sources.

A community board of three dozen men and women manage the affairs of the Club, now in its 86th year. The budget of $888.B&J come from individual, corporate, and foundation money. T11e United Way, government funds, program fees ,and rentals.

Volunteers are also pa1t of the support staff of the agency is and has been, a communitypartner.developinganddeliveringse1vicesinresponseloidenlifiedcommunilyneeds

Paul Cornell Awards

1994

by Tom Pavelec. Vice President HPHS

The Paul Cornell Award is presented yearly by Lhe Hyde Park Historical Society to honor individuals or groups who foster and  preserve  Hyde Park  hislory. Over Lhe years we have given a variely of these awards. c,ich well deserved in its own way.

The Society presented three ;1wards at ils Fehrtwry 26, rgg4 annual dinner meeting.

The firsl was presented Lo Lhe managing truslces of the Promontory Apartments at 5530-32 Soulh Shore D1ivc. This building. designed hy Mies van der Rohe in 1947. h;1s recently undergone some 111,)jor structuralwork. As you pass this building you probably won't secondly change in the exterior. And is exactly why they received th is award.

The Truslees forced some hard decisions when Loki of Lhe repairs necessary Lo the structure. While Lhc basic integrity of the structure was al tisk. Lhey could reconstruct Lhe foundation, windows and apron suLTOLlllding the building exactly as 01iginally designed, at considerable cost. or take the less expensive route and change the facade dramatically.

Th Promontory owners felt that they were more than property owners, but rather custodians of architectural history. They chose to take the more expensive route that 111;1inlained the integliLy of Lhe original design. We applaud their foresight and thank Lhem for preserving this design.

The Managing Trustees are Don Norlon. Alan Shefner and William McGhee.

The blocks of 57th to 59th on Harper Avenue are known as Rosalie Court ;md the residences as Rosalie Vi lbs. ;1 significanl ,md hisL01i slreet in Hyde Park.

Ln Jenn Block's r978 book Hyde Park Houses she talks about the 1885 planned development along Harper Avenue. To quote from Jean's book, ··Many of these houses have since been remodeled. but the one al 5736 Harper is unaltered."

Our second award was presented  to Tom Jones and Steve Weiner for the restoration, preservation and reconstruction of their home at 5736 Harper.

Tom and Steve have taken this "unaltered"  beauty and with great care and sensitivity have enhanced its original beauty into a pure delighL thc1t even architects of the late r&:lo's would have admired.

Ln addition to exterior and interior restoration of this Queen Anne home. they have constructed a rear addition that blends with the original design perfectly, leaving one to wonder where the original ends and the new begins.

They endeavored to maintain the original design by removing the entire brick facade, adding a three story addition, and Lh n reconstructing the original facade. They accomplished their mission. ln addition, they scoured the city to find door and  window  hardware Lhal exactly matched the original wherever it had been replaced by previous owners.

Exterior paint chips were analyzed to determine original colors and all missing wood members replaced. They researched landscaping of the era and have duplicated it as closely .:is possible.

Kudo Lo Tom and Steve for a job well done and our thanks for their determination to reconstruct history.

The final HPHS award, but no less significant, was presented to students and faculty of the William H. Ray School for fostering and encouraging the history of Hyde Park.

The HisL01ical Society believes that the study of history must be encouraged in young minds and hearts. Last year. the Ray School's 100th anniversary, Lhcir students were challenged to find out 1d10 was William H. Ray?

lt was an interesting exercise for Ray School students, giving them a sense of the history of Hyde Park. They learned and grew from the expelience, exploring the path from past to present.

You should Know About...

The on-going exhibit at HPHS Headquarters:

University Church Celebrates 100 Years

This interesting exhibit was prepared by Eleanor Campbell. Church member and historian who recently has published 1  book on  the Church's  long years here in Hyde Park. The exhibit features a roo year Limc-linl'

;:-is well as photos. documents. and m,rny ol<jecls rebting lo the church's history. Don't miss it!

The upcoming exhibit and program:Forty Years of Urban Renewal

Be watching for notice of our HPHS Spring Focus commemorating  the 40th anniversary  of Urh;in Renewal in Hyde Park. We plan to h1ing together memo,ies. photographs. maps. elc. Lo document and presc,ve that strategic moment in our recent  hi Lory. LF you have any m,1leri,1ls or memo,ies you would like to shme, please call Program Chairman Alice Schlessingcr.

 The Annual Meeting of the Hyde Park Historical Society

Saturday, February 18, 1995 The Cliff Dwellers Club

Orchestra Hall 220 S. Michigan Ave.

 HPHS Exhibit The White City As

It Was Wins Award for Excellence

This wonderful exhibit of exceplioml 18g3 half-tone photos hy Willi,1111 Henry Jackson ;is well ac; m;I11y items of inlercsl - from poslctrds ,111d Lickcts to souvenir chin;1 plates - w,Is mounted hy HPH members Ed Cimphell ;111d Steve Treffm:111 to commcmor:1Le 1893 Columbian Exhibition World’s Fair. He received an Award tor Excellence from the Association of Illinois Museums and Historical Societies statewide awards. HPH S won two!

Recollections of Ted Anderson

l Firsl mel Ted Anderson when I was ;1 small hoy

:md my bmily were cuslomers of his slore ;:iL 1444 E;1sl 55Lh Street. lL was a large. old fashioned hardware store .jusl the sort of place a boy who liked to work with his hands loved to hang mound. 1i1e store was delighLl·ully messy. wiLh hundreds of boxes and hins full of misc llaneous pmls and g;1dgeLs. nothing like the bland. s,mitized horne ccnler slores of Laday. where everyLhing is in plasLic hags. ln tho_c days Hyde P,irk h.td ;1 half dozen or so good hmdwarc slores. on 57Lh

Lreel. especi,tlly 55Lh. ;md 53rd SLreel.

1i1c only one who knew where cvcryLhing was in his

<,Lore. of course, was Ted. ;ind Lhe cnlirc operalion revolved ,trl)Und him. He knew mosl of Lhe cuslomcrs by 11;1mc. ,md :dmosl everyone who c1me in Lo Lhe '>Lore soughL him out tor ;idvicP on whal merch,mdise Lo buy. or how  to do ;1 p,1rlicubr repair. The slorc w;1s

,d<,o ;1 g;1Lhering poinl forjanitors in Lhc are,1. who

<,Lood ;iround Lhe nickel Coke machine Lo sw;1p slories ahoul Lheir Len;inls. m;:iny of whom were studenl<; or professors. who did1i'L h;ive enough "common scn<,p" nol Lo pul gm1se down Lhc sink. or Lo lock themselves oul ot Lhcir ;ip,irlmenls.

Yc;irs Liter. when l goL Lo know Ted much heller. ill' hr;igged Lo me Lh;it he h:id only one joh hi'> enlire life. He w;1s horn in Hyde Park in 1908. .inc.I allenc.lec.l R;1y School ,ind Hyde P,irk High School. where he loved Lo work in Lhe shops Lh;iL were i.tl('r moved oul when

hit ;1go Voc,tion;il High School w;i<., huilL. When he w;is 10 ye;1rc; old. in Lhe Fourlh gr;1de. he h,,d a friend whose Lither owned Lhe Im.ti h,1rdwarc slore. Thl' hoy Loki Ted Lh,1t his bLhcr needed ,1delivery hoy. ,md he gol Lhc joh. Eighteen ye;irs J;1Lcr he houghL the slure. hy Llwn owned by the W;igner 13roLhcrs. ,md renamed il

A.T. Anderson Hardware.

During the Depression Ted kepl Lhe sLore going hy purch;1sing Lhe slock of olher South Side h;irdw,1re '>lore<; LiwL were going oul of business. and by buying dislresscd merchandise from wholes,1lcr<; al bargain p1ices. For ex;1mple. he once boughL 75 broken wooden ironing bo;irds for Lwe11Ly-five cenls e;ich. horn which he

was ;1blc Lo rep.iir 50 or oo of Lhem. Lo sell for $5.cx) a piece.

The wood slove in the he;idquarlers w;1s purchased by Ted ;1L ;1 b,mkruplcy sale and sal in his g;ir.ige for alrnosl 50 years before being used for Lhe firsl Lime. ln order Lo mike ends meel. Ted also did ;1 loL of repai1ing of small appli,mces ;1L Lhe slore. and he was ;i m;1sler locksmilh.

Ted and his wife Lillian raised Lheir three children in Lhe large frame house al 5627 Kenwood. He could oflen be <;een smoking his cigars on the front porch. because his wife didn't like him Lo do it in the house. He was extremely active in the Hyde Park Methodist Church. which was late torn down. and The congregation merged wilh Lhe United Church of Hyde Park on 53rd Street. He loved music and often led singing al the church. He and his family could usually he seen ealing Sunday dinner. afler church. at the Tropical Hut restaurant on 57Lh Street

Ted spent an enormous amount of Lime involved in various volunleer  activities  in  the communily. He  w;:is a member of Lhe local DrafL Board for 20 years. a matter of  no small inlere  L lo me and my m;:ile contemporaries. since we were of draft age during the Vietnamwar. He was also active in and usually chairman of. a virtual "wh0’s who" of Hyde Park organizations, including Lhe YMCA. Kiwanis Club, 5Lh Ward Citizens Committee. Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, Southeast Chicago Commission. 55the street Businessmen's Association.

Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, Mason's. and Schrincr's.

When the Hislorirnl Sociely was formed he w,1s in charge of elling 100 Charler Memberships ;1L $100 each. which provided Lhc nucellus of funds to rehabiliLale Lhe headquarlers. We worked very closely Logelher on Lh;il projecl.

In Lhe I.iLe t95o·s, Ted's 01iginal store w;is slated for demoliLion ;,s p;1rl of Lhc urhan renewal pb111. He moved Lo ;1much smaller inlcrim localion. ;it 1215 Easl 55Lh Slreel. helween Kimb;irk and Woodlawn. where he wa lornLed for 8 years. 1i1e ,iclual move was made by a p.tmde ot volunleers c1nying Lhe merchandise   from one sLore Lo another in ho1Towed Co-op Food Store shopping rnrls. Evenlu;illy   he and olher merchanls. '>uch ,1<; "Mr. G... built Lhe 53rd Street and Kimbark Shopping Plaza where his store was recolated. A few years later he retired after 55 years in the hardware business. The dean of Hyde Park merch,mls.1i1e store Lh1ives Locby. of course. now known as Anderson's Ace Hardware. enlarged ;md owned by his protege George Alguire. George recently himself celehrated 50 years in the hardware business.

ln rg8o. afler his wife died. Ted moved Lo Hawaii where his son Ronald is an engineer. He shipped his (·urnilurc. belongings and Lools in an enormous conL.1iner. Lh,1L ,ilso included his beloved Mercedes Benz ,1ulomobile. H' died in Haiwaii on J;:inuary 18, 1994. ,md a mcmo1i,1l sc,vice was held for him nt the Actually. the  Quadrangle  Club had  a number  of homes before what is now Ingleside H,111 was constructed. as  Ed  conectly  notes. on  the  southeast comer of Fifty-eighth  and  Univer   ity. the  site  now of Lhc Oriental Institute. O1iginally.  the  club  was orgm1ized by and for University of Chicago male b ulty in 18g3 at the old Del Prado Hotel. than called the Barry Hotel. where many of the club's early members lived. lnlernalion;1I House st;mcls there now. The club was incorporated in 1895 ;111d ;1 three story red brick lub house was built on th,1L Fihy-eighth ;md University

c-orner ;111d opened on June 19. 18g6. ln r8g7, however, il experienced  three successive  fires. li1e  third. on December 25. 1897. caused such extensive damage that lll,)jor  reconstruction  w,1s  m,1de  necess;iry while, a well. ,11lowing expansion of the old building. For

approximalely six months  thereafter  the club mentioned temporary quarters at a building once stood  at  what is now 1358-136o  East Fifty-eighth. On July 26. 18g8, the new club  house.  now  twice  the  size of its predecessor hut retaining the original focade. w,1s onc,e1gain opened lo its members. The  brger  quarters were needed because of an increase in the club's membership whicl1 occured when a change  in requirements allowed  men  to join  who were not University of Chicago faculty. By 18g7. these "community" men made up almost half of the club" Quadrangle Club

Newsletters 1993

February 1993

October 1993

Volume 15 Number 1 and 2, February 1993

Annexation- Just in Time for the Fair

by Richard C. Bjorklund

Had it been up to long-ago voters in Hyde Park and Kenwood, Chicago now would be a smaller city bounded by 39th Street (Pershing Road), Fullerton Avenue, Pulaski Road and Lake Michigan, girded by strongly independent suburban municipalities.

In June, 1889, Chicago grew to four times its size, from 41 to more than 167 square miles, through votes favoring an­ nexation with the city in the City of Lake View, Jefferson Township, the Town of Lake, part of the Town of Cicero and the Village of Hyde Park. By this annexation, Chicago took its place as America's "Second City" with a population in excess of I million, more than any metropolis except New York.

Tne Great Annexation of 1889 was the second time Chicago had attempted to broaden its territory and tax base by annexing the Village of Hyde Park which in I 887 "won and lost (being part of Chicago) through a legal technicality," according to the Chicago Tribune.

That "legal technicality" barring annexation was found by Melville Weston Fuller, a lawyer for George "Duke" Pullman, who was vigorously opposed to his company town

- within the confines of Hyde Park - becoming part of the City of Chicago. By 1889, Pullman's lawyer was Mr. Chief Justice Fuller, appointed by President Grover Cleveland to serve 21 undistinguished years on the nation's highest court.

In the 1889 annexation vote, voters in the Village of Hyde Park turned out in significant numbers as 8,368 men, two­ thirds those eligible, cast 5,207 votes for annexation and 3,151 votes against, giving annexation a plurality of 2,046.

Communities within the Village of Hyde Park that strong­ ly favored annexation included Hegewisch, Grand Crossing, employees of the Illinois Steel Company as well as Colehour and Cummings which, the Tribune noted, were recently "visited by destructive fues" and were therefore inclined to want better fire protection.

Kenwood, "the aristocratic residence district par excel­ lance of the village", according to the Tribune, voted to stay out, 287 to 146. Hyde Park, the seat of the village government, rejected the proposition by a vote of 598 to 277. A harbinger of today's "lakefront politics" could be found in the vote of Edgewater and Uptown which also rejected annexation

There is a considerable irony in the rejection of annexation by Hyde Park and Kenwood because no area of Chicago immediately benefited more from the Great Annexation of 1889, called one of the four most significant dates in Chicago history by authors of "Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis."

Annexation was supported by civic and business interests in the city as well as by Chicago's newspapers because it was seen as a necessary prelude to the World's Columbian Ex­position of 1893, the greatest civic achievement in the city's history, staged in Hyde Park on the Midway Plaisance.

Chicago wanted annexation to present to the world the image of a large and thriving urban area, one more expansive than the scant 41 square miles it had accumulated since incorporation in 1837. More than that, the city planned to float a $5 million general-obligation bond issue to support the creation of the Columbian Exposition; annexation would broaden the property-tax base.

Successive mayors Carter Harrison I, John Roche and Hempstead Washburne encouraged annexation, which was tried through the Cook County Board in 1887 and achieved through popular and City Council vote in 1889. Harrison was elected "World's Fair Mayor," only to suffer assassination at the hands of a disappointed job seeker only hours after he pronounced:

"Genius is but audacity, and the audacity of Chicago has chosen a star. It has looked upward to it, and knows nothing that it fears to attempt, and thus far has found nothing that it cannot accomplish."

Another annexation irony is found in the election of John Hopkins to succeed Harrison for the 1893-95 mayoral term. Hopkins, then an executive of Pullman Palace Car Co., op­ posed Hyde Park annexation in 1887 as an agent of his boss, George Pullman. But by 1889 as independent operator of Arcade Trading Co. in Pullman and Secord & Hopkins Co., a Kensington department store, he vigorously advocated an­ nexation. Hopkins, incidentally, was the first of many Irish Catholic mayors of Chicago.

George Pullman represented one strain of annexation foes whose chief objection to the proposal was that they would lose personal and political power in a merger with the city. There were, however, great numbers of sincere private citizens who had legitimate objections to the annexation proposal in Hyde Park and elsewhere. They feared bringing the vice and corruption of the central city to their suburban­ like communities where saloons, prostitution, shanties and, they believed, political corruption were unknown.

So deep ran the mistrust for Chicago and its political works that Charles S. Baker, treasurer of the Village of Hyde Park, insisted that the village board adopt a declaration that read:

"Whereas, the treasurer of Hyde Park and the Town of Lake hesitate and delay to pay over to the City of Chicago the money in their possession unless indemnifiei:I and other officers hesitate and delay to pay over the monies in their possession belonging to Chicago "

Chicago thereupon adopted an ordinance indemnifying Baker and others, leading to Annexation of the Village of Hyde Park, which became the 32nd Ward of Chicago from 39th to 55th Streets and the 33rd and 34th Wards south of 55th Street to the center line of State Street and east to Lake Michigan and State Line Road.

Citizens favoring annexation now looked forward to ful­fillment of the promise of better municipal services, including water and sewerage, police protection and fire-department services. They also welcomed an end to petty rivalries among small, contentious units of government, including multiple school districts.

On July 15, 1889, Chicago added220,000citizens and 125 square miles of territory that became 34 of the city's present 50 wards and 53 of its 77 community areas. Forty-eight square miles of the new city land had been the Village of Hyde Park, which then contained the Chicago Jockey Club in Washington Park, South (now Jackson) Park that was soon to be the home of the World's Columbian Exposition, and Oak.woods Cemetery.

A meaningful footnote to the annexation of Hyde Park to the City of Chicago came on Saturday, July 15, 1939, when the Hyde Park Golden Jubilee Celebration was initiated in the Council Chambers of the City of Chicago to mark the 50th anniversary of annexation. Sponsor of the resolution for the jubilee was Ald. Paul H. Douglas (5th), who called attention to a community-wide celebration to be held from July 15 to

October 15 of 1939.

Letter  from the Fair - 1893

John A. Campbell ( 1836-1909) of Butler, Indiana was a school teacher, insurance agent, diarist, writer, traveler, correspondent for the local weekly Courier. He kept a diary for over 50 years and wrote many newspaper columns about his journeys by train in the late 1800's. Ed Campbell is his grandson.

Ed Campbell is also treasurer of the Hyde Park Historical Society and a talented photographer whose exhibit "Struc­ tures in Hyde Park" is currently on display at Society Head­ quarters. The column below, written in /893 by Ed's grandfather, tells of his visit to the "Great Fair."

Your correspondent, intent on visiting the great Fair, failed to remember the COURIER last week and to make amends will indite this letter. We reached Chicago on the eve of the 16th of May and found no difficulty in obtaining good room and board at $1.50 per day. Wednesday we spent in visiting points of interest in the city and making business calls. Thursday we started early and reached the fair gates an hour too early. The delay seemed tedious, but it terminated, and we entered the enchanted place, and if not a building was open, one would be greatly benefited to see only the outside of the largest and most showy buildings to be seen in a group anywhere in the world. Our day was spent mainly in fixing bearings, studying the geography of the city and learning to distinguish one monster building from another, and after spending much time and indulging much thought, the enchantment of the place would frequently entangle us and we would be compelled to ask the aid of one of the two thousand gentlemanly guards for information. We started to visit the state buildings and commenced with Indiana, and, while she is bringing up the scattered, demoralized rear, yet, she has a very pretty building, neat without and within, still incomplete, but enough done to make a show of what it will be. One feature of the building is admirable--wide stairways of easy ascent and a long, wide portico that will shelter thousands of poor hot, tired Hoosiers in the near future. The fair would be a grand affair if one could change his weary legs and blistered feet for new ones about four times a day. This difficulty may be slightly modified at $7.50 per day by getting one of the 2,000 roller chairs and a stout wheelman to push it. Yet this is only an aggravation as somebody is always between you and what you want to see and moves only after you are tired waiting and have lost interest in something more

distant that you will perhaps get no further view of. So the only really satisfactory way is to tramp, tramp, until you are completely done for and then sit down and rest. The Nebras­ ka state building is an ornament to that great state, and its exhibit is worth a trip to Chicago. Washington comes in for a large share of praise for a unique building. One nowhere else of a similar form is found. It is built of huge pine and walnut logs about four feet in diameter and fifty feet long, surmounted by a frame structure of difficult description. Her exhibits are wonderful and perfect. The Dakotas have some­ what similar buildings and many rare exhibits. Idaho has a wonderfully old fashioned round log building large enough to entertain a half dozen corn husking bees. Pennsylvania comes in with an old fashioned frame house. Wide doors and windows with small lights of glass. Liberty bell is carefully enshrined within and thousands view it with wonder and awe. New York is outdoing herself and creating a palace of mag­ nificence nowhere else equaled. Her Public Hall is said to be unequaled anywhere for magnificence. No exhibit in the building to speak of. Florida has an odd shaped building in the form of a fort and is filled with the products of that sunny slope. The fish, turtle and sea products are so real that we smell fish for an hour after leaving her building. West Vir­ ginia, the Carolinas and some other states have small, un­ pretentious buildings, Kentucky being partially an exception. Well, my letter is outgrowing my intentions and I must draw it to a close and possibly resume the subject in the near future. The only trouble is, we can't tell it as it is, and the only way to realize the magnitude and grandeur of the Fair is to visit it.

May 20, 1893                                               J.A.C.

The Society plans to exhibit personal memorabilia of the Columbian Exposition beginning March 1. Loans of letters, articles, souvenirs and curiosities are invited from the com­ munity. All items will be acknowledged and returned at the close of the exhibit in November. Please bring items for the exhibit to the headquarters on Saturdays or Sundays between 2 and 4 pm.

Steve Treffma,n, our Society Archivist, shares a bit of history - unpleasant, but our history nonetheless - with us.

Notes from the Archives:

by Steve Treffman

Restrictive Covenants: The existence of race restrictive real estate covenants in Hyde Park during much of the second quarter of this century has received mention in several recent articles. In the December, 1991, issue of our Society's Newsletter, Leon M. Despres noted the importance these then legally enforceable agreements between property owners had in promoting racial segregation in Hyde Park. Margaret Fallers, in our June, 1992 issue, characterized these restrictive covenants as among the more shameful elements of Hyde Park history. Elsewhere, Stewart Winger, in the Spring/Sum­ mer 1992 issue of Chicago History, described in some detail the University of Chicago's role in support of the covenants.

To give some sense of the concrete reality of these covenants, excerpts are offered here from two documents of that era which are illustrative both of the actual language of these covenants and of some of the ways in which they were enforced. The first is dated February 24, 1932 and is a standard real estate property owner's agreement form presently in the archives of the United Church of Hyde Park. The agreement requires that any_transfer, lease or other arran­ gement regarding real estate covered by the covenant was to be subject to two binding qualifications:

1.  The restriction that no part of said premises shall in any manner be used or occupied directly or indirectly by any negro (sic) or negroes, provided that this restriction shall not prevent the occupation, during the period of their employment, of janitors' or chauffeurs' quarters in the basement or in a barn or garage in the rear, or of servants' quarters by negro janitors, chauffeurs or house servants, respectively, actually employed as such for service in and about the premises by the rightful owner or occupant of said premises.

2. The restriction that no part of said premises shall be sold, given, conveyed or leased to any negro or negroes, and no permission or license to use or occupy any part thereof shall be given to any negro except house servants or janitors or chauffeurs employed thereon as aforesaid.

"Negro" was defined as:

every person having one-eighth part or more of negro blood or having any appreciable admixture of negro blood, and every person who is commonly known as a colored person.

Once signed by eighty percent of the owners of a block of contiguous properties, the form was then to be filed at the offices of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds or Registrar of Titles. It should be emphasized that this form was not unique to Hyde Park-Kenwood but was used throughout Chicago and, in similar formats, in other cities in the United States as well.

Community organizations were usually formed to promote and enforce the restrictive covenants. One such group, operating under the direction of a board made up of representatives of local real estate, banking and commercial interests, was the Hyde Park Property Owner's Association, Inc. with offices at 1548 E. 53rd Street. In November 1944, its executive director prepared a mimeographed two page "Special Report to Members," a copy of which now rests in our Society's archives. In this excerpt from that document, activities by the HPPO in support of the racial covenants were reported with pride:

1. In recent weeks this Association has investigated and eliminated the following incidents of Negro occupancy in Hyde Park.

(a)  In a residence south of 55th Street and east of Wood­ lawn Avenue a Negro family occupied a basement apart­ ment for several weeks in violation of a property owncrs' agreement. The Association negotiated with the owner who caused the termination of the Negro tenancy. The property is now occupied by whites.

(b)  In a rooming house south of 55th Street and east of University Avenue a room was rented to a white woman whose alleged husband was a Negro. These folks moved out subsequent to our investigation.

(c)  A merchant on 55th Street rented the rear of his store for living purposes to a Negro woman. When this mer­ chant was advised that his action constituted a violation of the restrictive agreements, he caused the eviction of his tenant. This entire manner was adjusted within four days.

(d)  the owner of a six apartment building near 53rd Street and west of Woodlawn Avenue contracted to sell her property through a Negro broker. She had been told that the purchaser was a Caucasian, but investigation by the Association disclosed that in fact the proposed purchaser was a Negro. The owner then authorized the Association to effect a cancellation of the sales contract (a)  Another violation recently occurred in an apartment building on Hyde Park Boulevard. The situation was satis­factorily adjusted after a discussion with the owner there­ of."

Ironically, the successes the HPPO executive claimed may have been as much signs of weakness as of strength. Obvious­ ly, some landlords, whatever their motives, were presenting challenges to the restrictive covenants. Moreover, a sig­nificant portion of the community's white population had begun to express fundamental repugnance towards the covenant's racially discriminatory premise. Ultimately, of course, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948 overturned legal enforcement of the covenants. With the onset of Hyde Park's post-war urban renewal, individuals rose to prominence who would become symbols of new community attitudes com­mitted to racial fairness. These men and women became leaders in the renewal process, with Mr. Despres’ an obvious, though by no means singular, example, and, whether through political careers or roles in a variety of public and private institutions, they helped shape what would be a new era in Hyde Park history.

Studies of these periods in Hyde Park history will, no doubt, continue to be written. There are probably many readers of our newsletter who have memories of personal experiences or who have reports or other documents related to the eras of the religious and racially restrictive covenants or of urban renewal in the Hyde Park area. If you would like to share those memories or relevant documents, our Society would be eager to have them in our archives and available to future researchers.

 For further reading: Julia Abramson, A Neighborhood Finds Itself (Chicago, 1959); Robert J. Blakely, "Earl B. Dickerson and Hyde Park," HPHS Newsletter, December 1986; St. Clair Drake and Howard R. Cayton, Black Metropolis (Chicago, 1945); Arnold R. Hirsch, Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940-1960 (Cambridge, 1983); Herman H. Long and Charles Johnson, People vs. Property: Race Restrictive Covenants in Housing (Nashville, 1947); Thomas L. Philpott, The Slum and the Ghetto: Neighborhood Deterioration and Middle-Class Reform, Chicago 1880-1930 (New York, 1978); Clement E. Vose, Caucasians Only: The Supreme Court, the NAACP, and the Restrictive Covenant Cases (Berkeley, 1967); Robert

C. Weaver, The Negro Ghetto (New York, 1948); and Stewart Winger, "Unwelcome Neighbors," Chicago History Spring/Summer 1992, pp. 56-72.

Lia Treffman, Carol Bradford and Theresa McDermott provided research assistance in the preparation of this ar­ ticle.

 World's Fair Footnote:

Some appreciation of the national magnitude of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 may be found in the adoption by both major political parties of planks in their 1892 party platforms endorsing and supporting the Chicago event.

Democrats meeting in Chicago said on June 22: "Recog­nizing the World's Columbian Exposition as a national undertaking of vast importance in which General Gorven­ment has invited the co-operation of all the powers of the world, and approaching the acceptance by many of such powers of the invitation so extended, and the broad and liberal efforts being made by them to contribute to the grandeur of the undertaking, we are of the opinion that Congress should make such necessary financial provisions as shall be requisite to the maintenance of the national honor and public faith."

Republicans meeting later that month in Minneapolis concurred: "The World's Columbian Exposition is a great national undertaking, and Congress should promptly enact such reasonable legislation in aid thereof as will insure a discharge of the expenses and obligations incident thereto, and the attainment of results commensurate with the dig­nity and progress of the nation.

THE WORK COTTAGE

The Chicago Landmarks Commission has decided against designating the Henry C. Work Cottage as a landmark partly because of its inaccessibility and partly because of the objec­ tions of the owner. However, the Commission has provided an interesting history of the house and its builder. We quote below some of their findings. If you would like to read the entire report, you can find it at HPHS headquarters.

The cottage at the rear of 5317 Dorchester Avenue was built by Henry Work in either 1859 or '60 and occupied by him and his family during the years of his principal songwrit­ing significance. In 1859, Work bought the property at 5317 Dorchester from the original subdividers, Paul Cornell and Hassan A. Hopkins, Cornell's uncle. His move to Hyde Park is corroborated by an 1859-60 directory as well as 1860 census data.

Residential settlement proceeded steadily during the '50s as Cornell began selling lots in the area bounded by 51st and 55th streets, Dorchester Avenue and the lake. As noted by Dominic Pacyga and Ellen Skerrett in Chicago, City of Neigh­ borhoods, "Hyde Park began to take on the characteristics of a small New England town, reflecting the background of most of its early residents." The character of the town was rein­ forced by its institutions, the First Presbyterian Church of Hyde Park being principal among them at the time. The congregation was organized in 1858, and built their first church at 53rd Street and Hyde Park Boulevard. Henry Work and his wife were among the organizers of the congregation. Work was also elected township clerk in 1864 and served two years.

TheWork Cottage is an example of the Carpenter's Gothic style. Characteristic features of the style visible on the Work House are the vertical board and batten siding and the steep roof pitch, both of which combine to give the design a strong vertical emphasis. The style also generally utilized pointed arch detailing, a shape seen in the window opening of the roof dormer on the north elevation. The abolitionist cause that Henry Work championed in song came naturally. Work was born in Middletown, Con­ necticut in 1832, the son of Alanson and Aurelia Work. His father was a militant abolitionist who, in 1835, moved his family to Quincy, Illinois, where the family's home became a station on the Underground Railroad. Though radical in his actions against slavery, Alanson Work's abolitionist feelings were not uncommon during the early-to-mid-nineteenth cen­ tury. The slavery issue was a persistent thorn in the side of American life from the time of the United States' inde­ pendence and as the nation matured, popular sentiment grew to eradicate the institution. Approximately 4,000 slaves es­ caped from Missouri through the Work homestead in Quincy. The elder Work was eventually tried and convicted by the State of Missouri for his a tivities. With the father's release from prison in 1845, the family returned to Middletown.

Henry Work received a standard education including study of Greek and Latin...through his studies Work also became familiar with musical notation. Musical composition proved a preoccupation as he wrote lyrics and melodies for his own satisfaction. By the time he was fourteen, however, Work's parents began to steer their son toward the more practical pursuit of learning a trade. Rejecting the tailoring profession suggested by his parents, Work found printing more suitable to his tastes, and in later years commented that whatever success he had achieved as a songwriter were attributable to the disciplines of the print trade.

At the same time Work was pursuing his printing career, he continued to teach himself music. The first recognition of Work's musical talents came in 1853 when Edwin P. Christ, of the Christy Minstrels, agreed to sing Work's We are Coming, Sister Mary at his concerts. Publication of the song gave Work more incentive to continue his song writing. Work was discouraged by his subsequent compositions and, by 1857 when he came to Chicago, he still regarded himself primarily as a printer.

The Civil War was a turning point in Work's songwriting efforts. The conflict and its nascent themes of patriotism and abolition apparently gave Work a focus for his songs which was not present before. In 1861, he wrote Brave Boys Are They, the first of a remarkable series of war songs. The song was bought by the Chicago music firm of Root & Cady and led to a contract for Work with that music publisher.

During the war years, Work produced a series of inspirational songs, including Kingdom Coming (1861), Grafted into the Army (1862), Babylon is Fallen (1863), Wake, Nicodemus (1864), and Marching Through Georgia (1865). Often the songs reflected the events and mood of the war, such as the somber tone of Song of Thousand Years (1863) revealing the prevailing pessimism of the Union following Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. The songs were enormously popular.

Within seven months of its publication, Kingdom Coming had sold more than 20,000 copies, but, more significantly, reports were heard that within weeks of the song's printing, Kingdom Coming was being sung as an inspirational verse by slaves behind the Confederate lines.

The popularity of his partisan songs notwithstanding, Work's best remembered song of the period is probably the temperance ballad Come Home, Father (1864). Often recog­ nized by its opening line, "Father, dear father, come home with me now," the song is unrelenting in its pathos-so much so that Root & Cady offered free copies of the sheet music to anyone who could read it without weeping.

Work continued to write songs for Root & Cady through 1870, though he left Chicago, presumably in 1867 when he sold his house in Hyde Park. With the close of the Civil War, Work's composing career floundered. For the most part, his post-War songs were ordinary in subject sometimes fell into the vapid melodramatic tones common to many songs of the period. His apparent frustration with the public response o his songs is suggested by the fact that between 1867 and his death in 1884, Work wrote a little more than half the number of melodies he had composed from 1861 to 1866.

The simple ballad evidenced the best features of Work's songs, as noted by a contemporary critic:

His melodies are simple and natural but as unlike and varied as the emotions to which they give expression; but, whether grave or comic, they possess inspirational qualities that, as musical compositions, arouse the im­ agination and fasten themselves upon the memory of the hearer. In his songs, Mr. Work is distinguished by his use of plain Anglo-Saxon words. He discards frothy adjectives, all rant, all extravagance of lan­ guage, and like Dickens, relies upon the situation he creates. This is the source of his power over the human heart.

Though he continued to compose songs, none of them equalled the public regard of Grandfather's Clock or hi Ci il War melodies. Henry Work died in Hartford, Connecticut 111 1884, a tragic figure who had never been able to regain his audience.

REFLECTIONS

by Carol Bradford, Outgoing President, HPHS

Reflecting on my two-year term as president of this Society, I am impressed most of all by the dedicated efforts of so many of our board members.

Theresa McDermott continues to produce a wonderful newsletter with the help of our members who contribute lively and fascinating articles of historic interest.

Our exhibits included one by our own Ed Campbell, on the structures in Jackson Park. Anita Weinberg Miller presented her exhibit on Clarence Darrow, with an opening program by her mother, Lila Weinberg, Darrow's biographer. Other programs done by our own members were Margo Criscoula' s presentation of the life and early music of Hen y Clay Work, Leon Despres' recollections of his early years 111 Hyde Park, and a program by Zeus Preckwinkle in honor of the 125th anniversary of the Harvard School.

We took a tour of Riverside, Illinois in August '91, or­ ganized by Mary Lewis; and in August '92 to Pullman, planned by Zeus.                                                      . .

We have devoted more attention to our archives 111 these

years, under the supervision of Steve Treffman. Some of our more interesting acquisitions are a golden anniversary book of the South Shore Country Club, and the great photo collec­ tion of Charles Bloom. The board voted to earmark funds donated by the Jean Block family for the purchase of materials to be preserved in the archives. The past two years, we devoted our August board meeting to preservation of our own organization records. This job is not yet complete, but we have made a substantial beginning.

We are especially grateful to the members of LILAC (Landscaping Initiative for the LakePark Avenue Corridor) for their work to beautify the railroad embankment south of our building. The Society contributed to this project by in­ stalling outdoor faucets to assure that the plants could be watered as needed. I'm sure all of you appreciated the im­ provement in the appearance of our block last summer and fall.

Finally, our society was the recipient of a generous bequest of $2,000 from the estate of Carol Goldstein. Ms. Goldstein was a regular volunteer at our headquarters for several years before ill health made it necessary for her to retire.

As I leave office, I want to encourage our members to become personally involved in activities of the Society. Alta Blakely is always in need of volunteers at the headquarters. Other ways to help include the newsletter production, pro­ gram, exhibits, and membership committees. Please let our new president know how you would like to help.

It has been an honor to serve as president of the Society.

Thanks to each of you for your continued support.

Volume 15 Number 3 and 5 October 1993

The White City As It Was Current Exhibit at Society Headquarters

by Ed Campbell

If you have ever wondered how the Columbian Exposi­ tion of 1893 was laid out in Jackson Park, this exhibit of W.

H. Jackson's photographs of the Fair will give you a con­ cept of the grand ensemble as well as detailed views of the important buildings. Arranged in a sequence around Wooded Island, the 26 large format photographs establish relationships and furnish vistas of the impressive sweep of the classical facades in the setting of lagoons and formal canals and basins.

Beginning at the Administration Building (south west corner of the fair) the buildings of the Court of Honor are displayed: Machinery, Agriculture, the Watergate, Manufac­ turers and Liberal Arts, Electricity and Mines. North from here and west of Wooded Island are Transportation, the Choral Building, Horticulture, and the Woman's Building. At the r.orth end are the Palace of Fine Arts and State Build­ ings. South east are the Fisheries and the U.S. Gove,mment Buildings. Buildings of foreign countries are along the lakefront between 57th and 59th streets, except for Japan which has buildings on the north end of Wooded Island.

The circuit of the structures surrounding Wooded Island is completed at the colossal Manufacturers and Liberal Arts Building which extended 1687 feet north from the Court of Honor to the mid-point of the lagoon east of Wooded Is­ land. West of Stony Island, extending to Cottage Grove and between 59th and 60th Streets, was the Midway Plaisance which provided the setting for ethnic entertainment and the famous Ferris Wheel.

This overview establishes the space and location of the buildings. You are encouraged, however, to stop along your tour to read the notes regarding the structures which were provided by co-curator and archivist, Stephen Treffman. Be­ sides being extremely informative, the comments reflect keen insights from the contemporary point of view.

To supplement the exhibit of photographs, a collection of fascinating memorabilia is being shown: postcards of other buildings in Chicago a the time of the Fair, guidebooks to the Fair, and many other souvenirs. One curiosity is a "passport" with a photograph of the owner and dated coupons for each day the Fair was scheduled to be open.

We are grateful to Sam Hair for sending us another of his mother's delightful reminiscences ...

A Memoir Of Florence Cummings Hair

Compiled by Samuel Cummings Hair

The World's Columbian Exposition was planned for Chicago, to open on the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America, 1492. But it proved to be so tremen­ dous an undertaking, it could not be completed until the spring of '93. It was the most colossal fair ever seen, up to then, and I think it has never been equalled in beauty. It was actually a World's Fair with all countries represented.

Father & Mother went to the grand opening and, the follow­ ing week father took me to Chicago with him.

After a visit to the Board of Trade (the noisiest place I had ever been) we took the Ill. Central to Hyde Park and passed thro' one of the many entrances to the Fair. I was ten years old. I have never forgotten that first sight of the Fair. A high fence surrounded the exhibit grounds and complete­ ly hid from sight any part of the grandeur within and as soon as we had passed thro the tum-style father stopped me, put his arms on my shoulders from behind and said, "Let's just look for a moment."

I have no words to describe the miles of curving streets, the beautiful lagoons, or the magnificent classical buildings

-- all white, and elaborate. The "Court of Honor", with the gold statue of Liberty and the Peristyle were unforgettable.

The state buildings were many of them remarkable. Illinois had a particularly fine one and I was one of those deeply im­ pressed with a huge "picture" landscape made from com kernels: a mosaic I think of colored kernels.

I went to the fair ten times before it closed but, to me, it is remembered as one of the most uncomfortable summers ever endured. We had, in Clifton, over 60 house guests -­ mostly father's relatives, mother would tell you! Marston was a year old, we had no rain for 102 days, the cistern went dry (due partly to careless use of water by our guests) and we were forced to use the water from one artesian well which was "hard" and utterly improper for use for washing. The guests found that it was less expensive to sleep in Clif­ton and commute to the Fair on a cd'mmutation railroad tick­ et -- a very low rate being in force. So we were flooded

with Fowler relatives and mother put in an awful summer.Irene and I were, of course, turned out ofour bedroom andhadtosleepinthesmallstore-roomabovethekitchen(laterthe bathroom). This had one smallwest window. It was attheheadofthebackstairswherethekitchenheatwasfun­nelled up most successfully and the room never cooled off.Thatrainlesssummerwasagreatworryforfather.Cropsburnedupandhehadmany"headaches

NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVES

by Stephen A. Trejfman Archivist to the Society

This summer the Hyde Park Historical Society has been celebrating the 100th anniversary of the World's Colum­ bian Exposition with an exhibition entitled "The White City As It Was." Curated by HPHS Board members Edward Campbell and Stephen Treffman, the exhibit features twen­ ty-six large format half-tone panoramic views of the fair selected from a set of eighty taken by the famed American landscape photographer William Henry Jackson (1843- 1942). Also on display at our headquarters are souvenirs of the fair and other related items.

Our Society is one of over fifty different institutions in the Chicago Metropolitan area which have joined in this centenary celebration through the presentation of a variety of programs and exhibits.1

Exhibits on Columbian Exposition themes, each varying in perspective, have been offered this year by such institu­ tions as the Chicago Historical Society, the Art Institute, the Harold Washington Library, the Terra Museum of

American Art, the Museum of Science and Industry, Glessner House, the Regenstein Library, the School of So­ cial Service Administration of The University of Chicago, the DuSable Museum of African American History and even Chicago's City Hall. Paralleling the experiences of these and other exhibits in the city, ours has been attracting large numbers of visitors. In response, the Board has decided to extend it through Sunday, November 28, 1993, one hundred years and a day after the fair, which had hosted over 27 million visitors, finally closed its doors.

The plan of our exhibit is to present the viewer with a sense of the overall layout of the exposition's fairgrounds. At the center of the exhibit is a map of Chicago published in 1890 that shows not only the city's new boundaries after annexation of Hyde Park Village but also the outline of the exposition's fairgrounds as they were first conceived and, with but one alteration, actually laid out. The Jackson prints are arranged in a manner suggestive of a walk through the fair from the Administration Building just east of the fair's main entrance at approximately 63rd Street and Stony Is­ land and, following a route north past the exposition's major buildings, arriving at the far edge of the fairgrounds at 56th Street between Stony Island and the lake. It ends by returning to the point where the "walk" began. To facilitate the process a map of the exposition and an exhibit guide have been prepared and are available to visitors at no cost.

The prints themselves hold significance beyond their subjects. Jackson and C.D. Arnold each have been charac­ terized as the exposition's official photographer. The confusion arises out of a set of circumstances that developed during the exposition itself. C.D. Arnold, in fact, was desig­ nated as "official photographer" by the Fair's Board of Directors and given the exclusive right to produce a range of photographic souvenirs of the fair. During that summer, however, a dispute arose between Arnold and the Board, ap­ parently over the copyrights to his photographs. This led the Fair's chief administrator, Daniel H. Burnham, to con­ tract with Jackson to produce a series of one hundred eleven-by-fourteen-inch negatives for a fee of $1000. The Board, however, chose not to use the prints and negatives that Jackson produced and turned them over to Arnold, who destroyed them. Fortuitously, Jackson had made a duplicate set of the negatives and, for another$1000, sold the rights to them to the White City Art Publishing Company. The publishing company then offered retouched half-toned reproductions of eighty of the prints to the public, either as complete books or by subscription wherein small portfolios of the prints were sent periodically by mail to subscribers' homes at atotal cost of$4.00. The series was entitled initial­ly The WhiteCity (As it Was) (1894)and later as Jackson"sFamous Pictures of the World"sFair(1895).2

The White City Art Company was very aggressive in promoting the sale of Jackson's series and their efforts were well received. As a result, Jackson's views of the exposi­ tion had wide public exposure and prominence not only in the years after the fair but also well into this century. Col­ lections of half-tone prints by Arnold and other photog­ raphers were also published but those by Jackson "swept the market. "3 The nature of the views, the quality of the processes employed in producing the half-tone reproduc­ tions and the marketing of the results apparently made the difference. Arnold also produced memorable images of the Fair, but the larger body of his work and his reputation have tended to be eclipsed, perhaps unfairly, by other 19th Cen­ tury American photographers, including Jack on. For ex­ ample, a recent encyclopedia of photographers' biographies

contains a long entry on Jackson, referring to him as the "of­ ficial photographer of the Fair," but makes no reference at all to C.D. Arnold anywhere in the book.4 Two Arnold "real" photographs of scenes from the Fair that probably were available for sale to Fairgoers are presently on display at Regenstein library. Arnold's rare platinum print photographs of the Fair's construction were displayed at an exhibit which closed at the Art Institute earlier this summer.

Public exhibitions of this large a selection of the Jackson exposition prints are unusual and, in Chicago this anniver­ sary year, our Society's exhibit appears to be unique. Al­ though the half-tone prints are not rare, through the years many complete sets have been broken up and sold off in­ dividually by dealers. The actual photographic prints that Jackson produced and which were the basis for the prints in our exhibit, are, however, extremely rare. Archivists at the Chicago Historical Society, which has twelve photographs from the original Jackson series in its collection, have reported that the only complete set of which they are aware is in the Library of Congress. Moreover, the twelve CHS photographs now housed in their archives are, in a sense, dying, their sepia images graduaJly fading and losing detail.

The images in the half-tone reproductions of the Jackson prints, on the other hand, have generally remained sharp and fresh, although the paper on which they are printed has become rather fragile. Chicago's R.R. Donnelly and Sons' Lakeside Press, according to that company's archivist, printed the series by means of a process called

"planogravure" and used a heavy paper that held the ink par­ ticularly well. The photomechanical reprints of Jackson's work, then, have actually extended their useful lives and given them a popular recognition they might not otherwise have been accorded had they remained only as photographs.

Half-tone black and white reproduction methods and color lithographic processes dramatically affected the way in which the works of Jackson and other photographers and artists were made available to the public in the 1890s. Im-

proved half-tone black and white mechanical printing proce­ dures had made mass production of photographic images

far more accessible and affordable to consumers eager for these products. As a result, there was considerable competi­ tion among publishers to meet the demand for pictures of the fair.5 One recent bibliography of World's Columbian Exposition printed material contains entries for 167 view­ books or portfolios of views focussing on the fair that were produced during and after it closed.6

Visitors to our exhibit may see examples of works by other photographers which appeared in Shepp's World's Fair Photographed (Chicago, 1893) and in The Dream City (St. Louis, 1894) both of which were distributed to the public in the same manner as were Jackson's, that is, as separate subscription folios or bound volumes. The strides made in half-tone techniques were matched and even sur­ passed by those in color lithography. Examples of such progress are evident in some exposition views from Daniel

H. Bumham's The Book of the Builders (Chicago, 1894)

which are on permanent display at our headquarters but have particular relevance during this exhibit. Technology and demand, it would seem, were feeding upon one another. All of the prints in our exhibit, then, not only helped capture images of the Fair but were, in themselves, symbols of the technological progress that the Fair itself was celebrating.

To an extent unparalleled for any Fair in this country's history up to that time and perhaps since, a flood of Colum­ bian Exposition souvenirs was produced for public con­ sumption. Included were such things as banks, fans, jewelry, historical glass, silk ribbons, tape measures, paper weights, watches, wooden pieces, knives, locks, corkscrews, and toys and the list goes on. An estimated one thousand varieties of souvenir spoons were cast, as well as two thousand different commemorative tokens and medals.

As for books and printed paper items from the Fair, there are over 2400 entries included in the Dybwad and Bliss bib­ liography and a supplement is in preparation. All in all, there may be as many as eighty distinct categories of memorabilia from the Exposition, each with subcategories.

Wearefortunatetobeabletopresentamanageablenumber of these souvenirs for display at our headquarters: aminiaturerubyredpitcher,amilk glasscommemorativedish,ametalbox,aworker'sticketpass,ametalpaper­weight, an embroideredhandkerchief and, of course, avariety of printed items, including an advertising map, a guide book, and some colorful postcards. Reproductions ofsixadmissionticketstotheFair as well as the first set of legally sanctioned picture postcards in the United States, is­sued in 1893 to honor the Exposition, are on display and are available for sale to the public a tour headquarters.

The World's Columbian Exposition had an enormous im­ pact on Hyde Park and some of its neighboring com­ munities as well. If nothing else, it hastened Hyde Park's transformation from a village to a part of Chicago's urban landscape. While the Museum of Science and Industry is often noted as the last building still standing from the Fair, the remnants of the now truncated Jackson Park elevated line, the Alley "L," built in anticipation  of the Fair and which carried many thousands of visitors to the 63rd Street

entrance to the exposition, also remains. Most of its parts date back to 1893. That track helped accelerate the growth of Chicago's South Side. Another line of access to the fair, the Illinois Central Railroad tracks, were elevated and the now familiar overpasses were first constructed in order to allow the safe entry of visitors to the Fair.

Then, there is The University of Chicago, built on land donated by one of the promoters of the Fair, Marshall Field. In 1894, Field would fund a natural history collection in the old Palace of Fine Arts, thus establishing the Field Colum­ bian Museum, which in 1920 transferred its collection to its new home in Grant Park and became the Field Museum of Natural History. Civic boosters and builders were aware that the Exposition would be built near and simultaneously with the University's campus. The juxtaposition of the two would demonstrate yet another significant cultural mile­ stone in a city risen from the bitter ashes of 1871. The University, in turn, would anchor, support and accelerate the process of community growth and development which the exposition had helped to spark.

The Society expresses its gratitude to Beverly Allen for her generous and timely contribution of a complete set of the William Henry Jackson prints to our archives. We are gratefulas wellto Joe Clarkfrom Art Werks ofHyde Parkforhis gift ofthe 1890 map ofChicagoandto Leon andMarianDespres for their donationofthe book, TheDreamCity, to the Societyand to our exhibit.We wishto thankEleanor Campbell,MargaretModelung,MarshallPatner,andHarrietRylaarsdamfor the color andrichnesstheybroughtto our exhibitthroughtheir loan of ColumbianEx­positionrelated itemsto the Society.A grant fromthe JeanBlockArchivalFundassistedintheunderwritingofthisex­hibit
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago '93 (Chicago, 1993).

2 Peter B. Hales, William Henry Jackson and the Transfor­mation of the American  Landscape, (Philadelphia, 1988), pp.202-209.

3 Ibid., p. 209.

4    Macmillan Biographical Encyclopedia of Photographic Artists and Innovators, (New York, 1983).

5    A review of this competition is expected next year with the publication by the University of Arizona Press of Julie K. Brown's book, Contesting Images: Photography and the World's Columbian Exposition.

6    G. L. Dybwad and Joy V. Bliss, Annotated Bibliog­ raphy: World's Columbian Exposition. Chica o. 1893, (Albuquerque: The Book Stops here, Publishers, 1992).

Our sincere thanks to HPHS Board Member Jim Stronks who found these wonderful word-pictures and most of the drawings in the century-old magazines indicated.

Preliminary Glimpses of the Fair

from Century Magazine-February, 1893

"Great is Staff"

Many of the smaller structures would be notable for beauty and for size if they were not here made pygmies by continuous grandeur. Like the larger buildings they were veneered with "staff." Great is "staff'! Without staff this free-hand sketch of what the world might have in solid ar­ chitecture, if it were rich enough, would not have been pos­ sible. With staff at his command, Nero could have afforded to fiddle at a fire at least once a year. One of the wonders of staff as seen at Chicago is its color. Grayish-white is its natural tone, and the basis of its success at Jackson park; but it will take any tint that one chooses to apply, and main­ tain a Ii veliness akin to the soft bloom of the human skin.

Staff is an expedient borrowed from the Latin countries and much cultivated in South America. Any child skilled in the mechanism of a mud pie can make it, after being provided with the gelatine molds and a water mixture of ce­ ment and plaster. How the workman appeared to enjoy seiz­ ing handfuls of excelsior or fiber, dipping them in the mixture and then sloshing the fibrous mush over the surface of the mold. When the staff has hardened, the resultant cast is definite, light and attractive. A workman may walk to his job with a square yard of the side of a marble palace under each arm and a Corinthian capital in each hand. While it is a little green it may be easily sawed and chiseled, and nails are used as in pine. Moreover rough joints are no objection, since a little wet plaster serves to weld the pieces into a finished surface.

In the rough climate ofLake Michiganstaffis expectedto last about six years, which the average life of the ablestEnglishministry.Greatisstaff!

 A Dream City

Excerpts from Harper's Monthly-May 1893

"Getting There'

... one may reach the fair by land or by water, starting from Van Buren Street Station by steam-launch or steam­ boat, or by steam-cars which are part of the grimy equip­ ment of the Illinois Central Railroad. If by boat, and the day is fair and mild, it is a journey of the blessed, and the liquid course seems made to waft one gently toward the celestial city.

That mortal, favored of the gods, who falls upon a lucky day to travel this opal road, may easily fancy himself gliding along the curves of a rainbow. He will be convoyed  by flocks of wide-winged_creatures--swans of boats, and ducks of boats, and tropical birds of boats, whose white-winged and red-winged sails drag long trails of reflected color, or throw it of in palpitating flakes upon the gold and blue of baby waves over which he sails. Whoever, tired of the flat­ ness of daily life, wishes to experience a vision of color which will re-create for him the floating hours of Venice, or the sapphire days of Capri, may have it in completeness by making this voyage on a heavenly appointed day, from earthly Chicago to the celestial city. 

But, if heaven fails to keep the appointment, and the un­ conscious and unhappy mortal holds to it, then, alas! hades opens before him; blackness is over him, darkness surrounds him. If he escapes with his life, he forever eschews the shin­ ing path to which heaven has lent color, and which canny Chicagoans have embellished with crimson sails and fairy floats, and he travels henceforth with mundane creatures on the rails of the Michigan Central.

Yet it is will for once to take the celestial  waterway, since it brings one in an artfully heightened and beatific mood to the culmination of beauty which awaits him. He comes to it, sailing in sight of a granite-lipped shore, backed by gray-leaved and brown-barked willows, over which gold­ en and crystal domes are soaring. He floats into a pile­ protected yacht haven which may be alive with craft of all nations, and finds himself under the shadow of the great peristyle, and within the calm regard of the majestic statue of the Republic, which towers in beauty between land and sea. And under that dominating presence he enters at once into an enchanted land.

 But to the traveller who seeks the fair by way of "The Central" there comes a different experience. He is but a private in the marching army. The great corporation of the road, foreseeing him and his kind, has been for months preparing a highway for him. For months it has been send­ ing laboring trains far out on the lake shore to dig and bring in carloads and acres and miles of sand, wherewith to build, high above the streets which border and pierce it, a con­ tinuous levee, broader than the walls of Babylon, whereon six chariots and their horses were driven abreast. It has for months, almost beyond the memory of troubled and hardly acquiescent Chicago, made of the lake shore a Sahara of sand, ready at any moment to join the lake winds in creating a simoom of suffocation and distress.

But thehighway is, at the period of this writing, ap­proximately made,and there on numberless tracks liesidebyside,andtheworldarmywillsoonbemarchingoverit.

Newsletters 1992

June 1992

October 1992

Volume 14 Number 1 and 2, June 1992

Annual Meeting Recalls

Hyde Park and the University of Chicago

 100 YEARS TOGETHER

At our Annual Meeting on February 8, 1992, members of the Society were treated to a most interesting look back at the University's 100 years in Hyde Park, by speaker Margaret Fallers, Associate Provost of the University and long-time member of our Historical Society. Her remarks follow:

THE RELATIONSHIP

You know what a "relationship" is. When you are not quite sure what the connection between two people is, you say that they have a "relationship." I am going to say a few words - cautiously - about a relationship which has lasted 100 years. I speak of the relationship between the University of Chicago and Hyde Park­ Kenwood.

There is nothing ordinary, calm,

typical, or easy about Hyde Park - maybe you've noticed. And, there is nothing ordinary, calm, simple, or easy about the University of Chicago. The miracle is that there ever was a relationship, let alone one that lasted 100 years! But, of course, the other way of looking at it is that really, the two parties can't exist without one another, that they cling to each other, even if occasionally spitting in each other's face while clinging, if you get the picture...

1890-93

This clinging started with the conver­ gence of vision, patronage and good luck. The relationship had the good fortune to blossom in a burgeoning new town. Part of this burgeoning was the establishment, through a combination of private and public foresight, of a set of beautiful parks, Washington Park and Jackson Park, with a long promenade between them.

Along the promenade, there was mostly swamp, but certainly room for develop­ ment. Hyde Park had already become a growing town but I just want to tell you that the relationship I am seeking to tell you about his evening, in its incipient stage, like many incipient relationships, almost didn't get off the ground. Half was ready to begin, the Hyde Park half, but the other half of the relationship, the Univer­ sity of Chicago, was very iffy at first.

v

The American Baptist EducationSociety had already seen a Baptist college fail in Chicago and there was much doubt about the viability of another. In fact, it looked very much as if the Baptist institution would be placed at or in New York City. It is wonderful to read about those three years between 1889-91; it was remarkably on-again, off-again. In fact, only at the last minute did the Society's mind, the money, the choice of the first President and the gift of land all fall together to allow the relationship to get off and running. And I mean, running. Between the time President Harper finally agreed to come, on his terms; and Mr.Rockefeller gave the first large sums, on his terms; and Mr. Marshall Field gave the first 10 acres, on his terms; and the Society agreed to support the undertaking, on its terms - between that confluence of events and the opening of the University of Chicago, only 18 months passed! The other half of the relationship was ready to begin.

I don't need to remind you that the World's Colombian Exposition was also coming into being during these same three years, and in just as iffy a fashion. The United States wanted to have a world's fair, but the national commission was very iffy about whether to put it in Chicago or in some other city. Furthermore, when the powers that were in Chicago finally persuaded Washington to have it in Chicago, these same powers couldn't decide whether to have it in the city center or out in the town of Hyde Park, taking advantage of the park system. Once the decision was taken to have it in Hyde Park, the fair also was created in whirl­ wind time - only a few months from beginning to end.

During the last two weeks I had the fun of reading the two most detailed contem­ porary accounts of the founding of the University of Chicago and one about the Columbian Exposition. The most remark­ able thing I found was that the University was not mentioned, not even one mention, in the book about the fair and the fair was not mentioned, even in passing, in the two accounts about the founding of the University! I have to guess that they didn't mention each other because both founding groups were so incredibly involved in

their own affairs during these years that they didn't have a moment to spare.

The relationship had ignited - and the world came to see.

Now if you're going to start a relation­ ship - that's the way to do it. Invite 25 million people on the first date.

FOOTBALL

I know it is only possible to smile now when football in Hyde Park is mentioned. But let me tell you that in those Stagg years, football greatly assisted the rela­ tionship to thrive - Big Ten teams, raccoon coats, the bells in Mitchell Tower playing each evening at 10:00 p.m. to indicate that athletes should be in bed, parties all weekend. If I am understanding it right, football dominated the fall both for the University and for the community, with the north and west stands filled with Maroon supporters and the south stand with those of the opponent.

Of course, it is true that by the time I can remember football in Stagg Field, anyone who could walk up the bleachers could get a ticket, usually for free, to sit in the west stands along with all the newspaper boys of Chicago. But football still needs to be mentioned here.

HOUSING AND BUSINESSES

Many of you know a great deal about the growth of Hyde Park and Kenwood. You know about styles and decoration as well as architects and planners. You know about businesses and restaurants which supported our community and our relationship as it grew. And, of course,

President had in mind not a college but a new creature called a graduate university and not a denominational institution but a secular and universal one. Except for the Board of Trustees, the Articles of Incorpo­ ration said that there would be no religious test "or particular religious

profession... held as a requisite for admission to the University or to any department belonging thereto."

Right after the turn of the century and up to the period of the Second World War, for the affluent families in Hyde Park there were increasingly fewer young women recently over from Europe to be house servants and the community  had very few restaurants of style, so families long accustomed to house servants and cooks, moved into the newly built apartment hotels which had family apartments and dining rooms. These apartment hotels ranged from rather modest ones like the Beatrice or the Blackstone to the Shoreland which was sumptuous. Jean was collecting informa­ tion about  these apartment  hotels when she died. She thought that it was an interesting, if brief, period in the history of our community and it was one of the many adaptations which the community made to keep itself diversified and comfortable.

CHURCHES, SYNAGOGUES AND SEMINARIES

Now this relationship has had a religious aspect  too. The  University started out to look like any other 19th century college established by a denomi­ nation to increase the number of educated brethren and to train clergy.  That  was what a great many of the Baptists thought they were doing when they pressed in the 1880's for a Baptist Training School in the Midwest to replace the one which had recently failed. However, partly through guile and slight of hand and partly in response to the new scientific spirit of the times, as the plan developed it became clear that the newly appointed first

He also committed the institution to sexual equality. The community liked it and the churches and synagogues which came to the community reflected the com­ munity's tolerance, ecumenicalism and expectation of learned clergy. In fact many denominations located their seminaries in Hyde Park at least partly because of the tone and atmosphere of the community and the University. We have Meadville­ Lombard Theological School, Chicago Theological Seminary, McCormick Seminary, Catholic Theological Union, Lutheran School of Theology, etc., and even more fun, (only in Hyde Park?) the Jesuits moved in with the Lutherans, the students from CTU take classes with the Baptists and the student clergy from these seminaries offer services, help and enthusiasm to the local churches and synagogues.

The seminaries and their faculties and students have greatly added to the sophis­ tication, ecumenicalism and diversity of the community. The connections with the University's divinity school and other academic units have added to the strength of the religious institutions of Hyde Park­ Kenwood. It is another part of the relationship.

The churches and synagogues have been stronger and more diversified because of the tone set by the relationship we are celebrating tonight. Important clergymen and rabbis came to lead these churches and synagogues because the University was here and because of their challenging congregations. And these churches and synagogues were not exclusive; many connections were made by the clergymen themselves as they combined to assist the community and each other. Students took, and take, courses in each others' seminaries and young people go to various churches or synagogues depending upon the program. I always like to tell people from outside Hyde Park about the Young Peoples' Church Club I belonged to when I was in high school in the Hyde Park Baptist Church at the comer of Woodlawn and 56th. Our president was at various times an Episcopalian, a Jew and a Catholic, as well as a Baptist. It was this kind of

community and understanding which

SOCIAL AGENCIES

From the first days of the University and the first days of Hyde Park there has been a mutually supportive effort to contribute to the community and the city with help for those less fortunate. In the early years, there was both University and community support for the University Settlement House, the Neighborhood Club, the Child Care Society and more recently, the Blue Gargoyle and Ronald McDonald House. The University has contributed faculty to help train social workers, it has provided a forum for discussion of social policy, and its faculty and students have been active in assisting in the social endeavors, along with many talented neighbors.

JAPANESE RELOCATION

Recently I went to Dr. Walter Palmer's 90th birthday party - many of you were there. At the party, I met an old friend of mine, an artist who lives in Hyde Park, the mother of a close friend of one of my daughters. I said to her "Natsuko Takehita, how do you know Dr. Palmer?" She said, "When I came out of the camps, I lived at the Palmers." That is a reminder of one of the times that Hyde Park and the Univer­ sity had an opportunity to use their unique talents effectively. As you know, after the shameful detention of the California Japanese in camps at the beginning of World War II, public opinion finally came to its senses and asked that those in the camps be relocated. The government chose 4 or 5 communities which had

major institutions to be pilot relocation areas; Hyde Park was one of those. In the beginning only young people could leave the camps and only when the community to which they were going could guarantee a job and a place to stay. Many of the detainees came to Hyde Park and we have benefited ever since by their many contributions.

URBAN RENEWAL

Any relationship has some features about which the parties are not proud or are even ashamed. The restrictive cov­ enants of the period from after the first world war to the second are such a feature; contracts which denied open housing to Jews and later to Blacks. But after the war, the University and the community agreed to take steps to eliminate these practices although it is probably necessary to say that in some cases prodding from the law was required.

But that said, problems remained.

Buildings in the neighborhood were deteriorating, there was a rise in crime and the nature of the community was chang­ ing. There was a short period when our relationship threatened to come apart; separation was considered. But as half the people here can testify, in spite of dis­ agreements as to what to do and even more disagreements as to how to do it, both halves of the relationship decided to buckle down and undertake urban renewal to try to stop the deterioration and to build and rebuild to make us a proud, integrated, diversified and open community. We have not solved all problems but we couldn't have done as much as we have done so far if it hadn't been for our solid relationship.

 SCHOOLS

There is so much to say about this relationship and schools that I dare not start. University and community members have worked endlessly to keep ahead of troubles. University students and others from the University work daily in the local schools to be of help. To keep our schools, public and private, supportive of, and helpful to, young people in the modem world is the greatest challenge this relationship has. We have done many things well in the schools, but we see much to do. We must not be overwhelmed or discouraged because we must do better. If it were the only thing the two halves of this relationship did in tandem for the next 10 years, it would justify the relationship.

BOOKSTORES

Our community has the best bookstores in the city, possibly in the United States, because of our relationship. Jack Cella tells me that someone from another city approached him with the idea of setting up a franchise of the Seminary Coop Book­ store and 57th Street Books. He explained to the man that it couldn't be done because they don't have Hyde Park!

CONCLUSION

On that note I will conclude, aware of the many things unsaid. What has made this relationship even more difficult over time, not to mention difficult as the conceit of my talk, is that the parties to the relationship are impossible to define.

What is the University? You know the wonderful story about the students in the 60's who had a huge petition with numerous signatures who wanted to give it to the head of the university. They took it one night to President Levi's house and he told them that he wasn't the head of the University, the faculty were the people who ran this university. The next day they approached the Spokesman for the University Senate to give it to him. He told them that he didn't head the Univer­ sity; the Trustees were the people in charge. They went to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and he said that at this university the Board of Trustees does not have anything to do with running the university, that they only devote them­ selves to the fiscal support of the univer­ sity. The petition didn't get delivered.

That may be confusing enough, but as we

all know faculty and students represent a wide range of opinions and characters; certainly they don't speak as one. What should I say when people approach me in the Coop and ask me, "What does the University think about parking permits?" "What is the University doing about the shopping center?"

Well, what about the other half of the relationship? Even you wouldn't claim that Hyde Park can speak as one. What does Hyde Park think about the new park on 53rd Street?

We will bring this to an end by saying that this relationship over the last 100 years has been one in spirit, not in opinion, and we trust that it will be thus for the next 100 years.

 Cornell Award to Augusta Bloom

by Stephen Treffman

The Board of the Hyde Park Historical Society has bestowed upon Augusta G. Bloom a Paul Cornell Award for her gift to our Society of many hundreds of photographic negatives produced by her late husband, Charles G. Bloom. The vast majority of these negatives are views of Hyde Park buildings and residents and date from the 1970s to 1980s. Enriching the gift were sixty photographs produced by Mr. Bloom, most of them views of Pullman but also some of Hyde Park.

Mrs. Bloom's gift is a very important addition to our archives and will, doubt­ lessly, be one of its more significant holdings. The negatives in this collection have been well-protected, and many of them are dated and labeled.

Charles Bloom was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on February 8, 1920, and he died September 16, 1987. He attended the University of Cincinnati but left in 1942 to serve as a flight navigator in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He attained the rank of First Lieutenant and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal with three clusters.

He capie to live in Hyde Park in 1946

and worked for many years as a New York Central Railroad switchman and yard conductor in the road's Englewood yards. In 1963 he received a master's degree from the University of Chicago and began teaching, first at Hyde Park High School and later at Kennedy-King College. He was very active in railway worker and teacher unions throughout his careers.

The political life of the community also drew his interest and he served in the campaigns for office of Abner Mikva, Leon Despres, and Robert Mann, and was, himself, an officer at the state level of the Independent Voters of Illinois. He became a professional photographer during the 1970s, working for the Hyde Park Herald and the University of Chicago. He exhibited at the Hyde Park Art Fair and locally.

Editors Note:

Another Cornell Award went to Janet Burch and Joel Juillory, who beautifully restored their 1903 home after it was ravaged by.fire in 1989. More on their

excellent work in our next issue.

Officers Were Elected/or 1992...

The Nominating Committee presented the following slate which was unanimously elected:

President               Carol Bradford Vice President    Bert Benade

Vice President        Zeus Preckwinkle Treasurer      Ed Campbell

Secretary               Mary Lewis

Juli Borst Paynter Teacher Grants, announced by committee chair Alice Mulberry, were awarded to two teachers from Hyde Park Career Academy: Elizabeth Kilburn and Elaine Weber.

Congratulations!

Double House Wins Cornell Award

by Mary C. Lewis

One of the Paul Cornell Awards presented at the Hyde Park Historical Society's annual meeting was given to Sheila and Robert Bator for the exterior restorative work done on their 1886 double house at 5418-20 South Blackstone. Since the Bators' double house is also owned and occupied by Alta and Robert Blakely, they were awarded honorable mention for sharing in the labor. Alta Blakely is a board member of the Hyde Park Historical Society and hence was not eligible for a full award.

Before the Bators and Blakelys began the work of applying a varied palette of colors, the two couples stripped 100 years of tan and brown trim paint from the front of the building. Then the two couples discussed various choices and agreed on six colors: royal blue and light blue, light and dark grey, cream, and bordeaux red. During July and August, 1991, with the help of Dan Smith, a graduate student at the University of Chicago Divinity School, nine coats of paint were applied meticulously to the siding, trim, porch posts and other decorative spots to both halves of the building. The result of their joint effort is a lively palette of colors in the style of a Queen Anne "painted lady" widely popular in San Francisco and growing in appeal among owners of Victorian homes in this area.

The joint venture is noteworthy for several reasons. Alta Blakely believes that double house owners need a great deal of neighborliness and consensus to team up for a project like this; she notes that even though she and her husband left on vacation during the summer of 1991, the work proceeded smoothly while they were gone. In addition, the couples undertook some further restoration when they decided to remove the oval medallions over the front porches. Hyde Park carpen­ ter Steve Cory built new frames for the medallions, hand scraped them to remove the former paint, and repainted them using the six new colors. The additional effort reveals a great deal of cared detailing and lends an eye-catching charm to the exterior.

The Cornell Award is the second prize won for the Bators' and Blakelys' efforts. Last fall the double house won first place in the South Chicago region of the "painted lady" competition sponsored annually by the Chicago Paint and Covering Association. The competition features winners from around Chicago and its collar counties.

Alta Blakely credits her daughter with getting them started on the idea of redoing the house in the "Painted Lady" style. She made drawings to show some ideas for color schemes, and that helped the two couples discuss the combinations they wanted. Although a few books exist about Victorian exteriors, Alta says that they relied mainly on their own brainstorming and other given notions. "We had to start with grey as a basic color," she explained, "because the siding is grey and we weren't interested in replacing that. We also like blue as a basic color." Most Victorian exterior restoration lends itself to basics such as those; brighter colors - such as the bordeaux red used by the Bators and Blakelys - are added to the details.

The paint job on the 1886 double house compliments that of a growing number of Victorian exterior restorations in Chicago, including three other houses in the 5400 block of South Blackstone. The Blakelys and Bators are glad that the colors they chose fit in well with others in Hyde Park. Now that spring has arrived, a walking tour of the neighborhood might give home owners some ideas for ways to brighten the exteriors of their own houses. For lists of houses to see, consult Jean Block's book, Hyde Park Houses, or a self-guided walking tour brochure, both available for purchase at the Hyde Park Historical Society, Saturdays and Sundays, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Correspondence

I had seen this show with Edgar Esson. I then had gone to Ottawa, Illinois, for a visit with Vera La Clair, whose brides­ maid I was to be in June.

I had been up all night, nearly, at a ball which announced the engagement of Vera

Sam Hair, from whom we have had such wonderful tales of early Hyde Park, has sent another of his mother's historic recollections. We are enormously grateful to Mr. Hair for his willingness to share these documents with us.

Please send us any of your family's (or your own) accounts of events which are important or interesting ( or both) for our collection and documentation of Hyde Park history.

Dear Editor:

You mentioned that you might be interested in my mother's account of the Iroquois Theater fire in 1903, so I am enclosing it herewith.

Considering that she was then 20, and her sister Irene 17, it is a singularly unemotional account. She and Irene were closest in age in the family of four daughters and one son, and were constant childhood and teenage companions, yet she says little about her own feelings in this tragic event where she was the one who had to identify the body.

Also enclosed is a brief biography of my mother. They then lived at 5135 Madison Ave., now Dorchester.

FLORENCE CUMMINGS HAIR, was

born April 11, 1883, in Clifton, Illinois. She went to local schools, and when the Cummings family moved to Chicago in 1894 she went to Hyde Park High School, Ferry Hall (Lake Forest, IL), and the University of Chicago. She married Thomas J. Hair in October 1906. They lived in Chicago until 1945, when they moved to Tryon, North Carolina. Her husband died March 1973, age 93 years, 11 months. She died in March 1975, age

92. There were three children - Thomas, Eleanor, and Sam. She kept a diary every day for 60 years, and also left some written reminiscences, of which the following survives.

WHATIREMEMBERABOUTTHE IROQUOIS THEATER FIRE IN 1903

by Florence Cummings Hair

In 1903, I was 20 years old, and my sister Irene was 17. My father, Robert Fowler Cummings, was graduated from Lake Forest Academy in 1867, never losing his interest in this fact, so it was natural that he should send his daughter, Marion, to do two years of college in Ferry Hall, graduating in 1897. I was also booked for my two years of college at Ferry Hall, to graduate in 1904.

That summer, Irene and I found a "Fortune Teller" who for $1.00 each, was said to be -    It was an awful price to pay, in those days. I think my "fortune" said I'd be the "power behind the throne" idea for a husband. But Irene's "fortune" said she was to have a very serious illness and her life would be saved by our family doctor.

The Iroquois Theater was new - what was called "an extravaganza." The key fact is that the entrance was at one side, not in front, and this confused the audi­ ence. The ingenue was seen to be in a huge swing. In flimsy, inflammable gauze, she was swung from back stage way back and out over the audience. When the swing became ignited, the audience did not know how to get out, and many deaths were caused by this confusion. Ralph Stevens' two sisters (friends of mine) were there and were saved from being trampled to death by pulling themselves up by grabbing a man's belt. Their clothing was burning but help was at hand for those two anyway.

Irene and Adelaide Baker and a third girl had bought first balcony seats.

Adelaide was living with an elderly aunt who was ill at this moment, and Adelaide insisted that she (Adelaide) stay home with the sick woman, who refused to let her. The third girl was living with her widowed sister (a Ferry Hall friend of Marion's and mine). This girl had had repeated dreams of being in a burning building, unable to get out. Perhaps it was natural for the older sister to talk her out of this repeated dream and to go to the theater as planned.

and Luther Perkins, so when I got an early start from Ottawa, that morning, I was very tired. When I heard about the fire, I sat in our parlor at 5135 Madison Ave. waiting for Dr. James W. Walker to call from some hospital saying that he had found Irene. When he did call, he said, "This is going to be a matter of identifica­

tion. ·no not let Mr, Cummin s come down to the "Loop" or there will be another to seek. I shall want Florence at 5

a.m. if she can get an hour or so of rest

until then."

That trip to the "Loop" was a horror.

Dreadful details were being told all around us. We heard later that 50 people were alerted to look for Irene.

Our first stop was at a building where some scores of bodies were awaiting identification. I saw our dentist's mother - a good friend of ours. From there we'd buy the last flash-editions of the papers, and we'd tramp in melting show, or take a streetcar, hour after hour. Finally there was just one more place to see - only four bodies there. And I said "And then what?" and the doctor said, "We'd have to start all over again."

I was able to recognize what was left of Irene's clothing (underwear, etc.) at twelve o'clock noon (we'd been looking since 5:30 a.m.). The doctor called mother and we got an lliinois Central train for 51st Street. I saw someone on the street that I knew and the doctor said, "You are not to say anythin to anybody about what we've done. I will tell your mother all that is necessary."

I remember that I went up to the 3rd floor front room (Lenore's bedroom) and slept for hours. Later the doctor called and said, "Someone has identified Irene's body as her sjster's bo<ly. Does that worry you?" and I said "No. I know that girl well. There is no mistake." The doctor said, "Those in the first balcony died of suffocation from smoke. The fire came later."

My father wanted to take mother away and planned a West Indies tour. At Ferry Hall, I was expecting to graduate in June and still had one paper to write. Miss Sargent (head of F.H.) insisted that I should go on the West Indies Tour and write that paper later.

Correspondence

Our Archivist, Steve Treffman, whose postcard photo of the old Ray School Annex (presently the site of the Brete Hart school) was pictured in our last newslet­ ter, shares this interesting correspondence from his fellow collector, Harold T. Wolff:

Dear Steve,

While researching a totally different topic, I came upon the following architec­tural references:

"Architect M. L. Beers:...For District No. 1, Hyde Park, four-room schoolhouse, to be erected on Fifty-sixth street, east of

I.C.R.R. track. The peculiarity of this building will be that it is to resemble in appearance a private dwelling, it being located in a private dwelling quarter, and the location being secured on these terms. It will be three stories high, with an area of 96 by 45 feet; the exterior construction will be stone, basement high, followed by pressed brick to the second story, and the remainder will be of slate; the interior finish will be in Georgia and clear white pine; cost about $15,000."

-"Synopsis of Building News," Inland Architect and News Record , Volume 13, Number 7, June, 1889,

page 91, column 2.

Note also the following, which appears on another page of the same issue and may be an earlier or later press release on the same building:

"Architect M. L. Beers: For District No. 1, Hyde Park, two-story school building, 30 by 90 feet; to be built at Fifty­ sixth street; cutstone exterior, slate roof; cost $15,000."

-"Synopsis of Building News," IM

Inland Architect and News Record, Volume 13, Number 7, June, 1889,

page 92, column 1.

Jean Block, in her book Hyde Park Houses

also recognizes Beers for his work in Hyde Park. She writes:

Beers was born in Ohio in 1847. His father was a builder and named his son after the French architect and writer Minard Lefever, known in this country for his Modem Builders' Guide (1833); Beauties of Modern Architecture (1835); and The Architectural Instructor (1856).

His father's ambitions for him being apparent from birth, Beers learned carpentry at home and then studied with Joseph Ireland, an architect in Cleveland, Ohio. Arriving in Chicago in 1871, he worked as a draughtsman for Otis Leonard Wheelock, and then went into partnership with Oscar Cobb for a few years. When he came to Hyde Park in 1877 he went into practice on his own. He built a number of houses in the area as well as schools and other public buildings. Unfortunately, only a very few examples of his work remain; unpretentious, simple family homes, dating from the late eighties and early nineties, they are representative of a much larger number, now demolished.

Minard Lefever Beers (1847-1918) 5411 Harper      1889

5318 Blackstone        1880

5410Harper              b. 1880 Beers, Clay and Dutton

5247 University         1891

5601-03 Dorchester    1892 

Volume 14 Number 3 and 4 October 1992

SHIPWRECKS OFF HYDE PARK

Jim Stronks, HPHS member, brings us some wonderfully interesting research about serious happenings right off Hyde Park's lake shore and some concurrent goings-on in the town as well. We are grateful to Jim/or his contribu­ tions (remember his follow-up on Brookins' prize-winning airplane flight?) to our store of Hyde Park history. lfyou have a story to tell, please share it with us

by Jim Stronks

One of our sister institutions is the Chicago Underwater Archaeological Society, an organization of scuba divers who locate and explore sunken ships. In a recent program at the Chicago Historical Society, their spooky underwater videos whetted my curiosity: were there shipwrecks in our Hyde Park waters? I found that there are indeed; they are lying out there this minute. I checked the divers' records against a variety of sources, especially old newspapers at Regenstein Library, to learn the story of these sinkings.

We do not realize the volume of shipping in Chicago's early decades. In one month, October 1869, four years after the Civil War, 1721 vessels docked in the Chicago River and its branches, sometimes double-parked. On November 15, 1869, which I cite solely because the microfilm of the Chicago Times happens to be legible for that date, no fewer than 119 ships put into Chicago in one day, and on some days there were over 300, most of them compara­ tively small ships, it is true.  Most were sailing ships, that is under canvas, and of shallow draft, thus vulnerable to Lake Michigan's hard blows from the northeast, which broke many a ship against the western shore and sent others to the bottom with all hands lost. In fact, on the very next day, November 16, 1869, there were 35 sailing ships wrecked on Michigan and her sister lakes, plus ten steam­ ers. Two days later the Times said the storm from the northeast "has been almost terrible beyond example," and reported a wreck not far from Hyde Park, at the foot of 35th Street, where the Ringgold had smashed ashore upon the property of the late Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Most early wrecks were well north of Hyde Park because shipping was usually headed for the river, bringing in mountains of lumber and coal (and once a young woman from Holland who became my grand­ mother). Later, the rise of Gary and Calumet Harbor meant more ships passing Hyde Park, and some of these ended on the bottom too.

For example, did anyone here see the Tacoma sink off Jackson Park on November 4, 1929? Lying today in 32 feet of water, the Tacoma is a favorite of underwater archaeolo­ gists (I love that name) because most of her hull and deck, 73 feet long by 18 feet wide, remain intact. Her blunt proportions tell her role in life; the Tacoma was built, in Benton Harbor in 1894, to be a dredge tug. And on the day when "the ancient tub sprang a yawning leak," as the Tribune elegantly put it, she was plying her honest trade, pulling two scows at a point 1.1 mile from the 68th Str et crib. It was12:30, noontime, when her wooden hull spht open and Captain Fred E. Stubbins blew four blasts, a distress signal. The Coast Guard at Jackson Park heard, dashed out, and saved the crew of six, while another tug arrived to take over the tow.

(But the sinking of the Tacoma and the storybook rescue won only two inches at the bottom of page 2. Bycontrast, the Tribune gave reruns of breathless copy that day to the Chicago Civic Opera's first performance in tis new skyscraper home on Wacker Drive. Hyde Parkers who missed the gala "Aida" could have gone instead to see Loretta Young in "Fast Life" at the Piccadilly, adults only, or down to 63rd Street to see Lionel Barrymore in "Myste­ rious Island" at the Tower, or Richard Arlen in "Four Feathers" at the Maryland, or Claudette Colbert in ''The Lady Lies" at the Tivoli.)

For a body of water seemingly so calm and beautiful, Lake Michigan has been a terror for killing ships and sailors, especially during that frightful autumn of 1929.

On September 9 the Andaste sank in a storm with 25 lives lost. On the 24th the ferry Milwaukee, loaded with 26 railway cars, went down in mid-lake with a loss of 52 lives. On the 29th the Wisconsin, combined freight and passenger, which had left Navy Pier for Milwaukee with a cargo of new automobiles, sank off Kenosha with 12 lives lost. On October 30th the Tribune summed up: "Three Shipwrecks on Lake Claim 89 Lives in Fifty Days"-but the lake was not finished. At noon on November 1, the freighter Senator, loaded with shiny new Nash cars, was rammed in the fog by the ore boat Marquette and sank in minutes off Port Washington at the cost of another 12 lives. Compared to these disasters, the sinking of the tug Tacoma four days later was small potatoes.

But it was big news when the majestic David Dows gave up the ghost off Jackson Park in 1889. A 5-masted barkentine of 1347 tons, 278 feet in length, 38 in beain, built in Toledo in 1881, the David Dows was designed to carry 140,000 bushels of grain from Chicago to eastern ports on the Great Lakes. On November 29, 1889, she was returning with 2053 tons of anthracite in bitter cold weather when, "SWEPT BY ICY GALES," her hold flooding, and "one mass of ice from stem to stern,'' she settled in 40 feet of water at 2:45 p.m. Her crew had time to lash themselves to the rigging, which extended well above the lake level, so were taken off safely by the tug Chicago. except that many of their severely frozen hands and feet would have to amputated. Later the Coast Guard dynamited the five masts sticking up out of the lake so as to clear that traffic lane for navigation, but the huge hull and deck, and some of the anthracite, are still down there right side-up and regularly visited by admiring scuba divers.

Four more shipwrecks off Hyde park have been mapped, but I have been unable to find their stories in the blurred microfilm of old newspapers. It is a matter of record that the schooner Hercules, 60 tons, the first known Lake Micpigan wreck, went down 3/4 mile off what is now 63rd Street on October 3, 1818. The lumber schooner

McKay sank 3-1/2 miles off 51st Street in November 1856. The tug E. L. Anthony burned and sank off 59th Street on July 8, 1885. And the Teddy. a little 8-ton steainer built in 

Manitowoc in 1903, foundered and sank off 79th on April 24, 1918, when all the papers were delirious with war news.

But the shipwreck closest home, and truly a Hyde Park event in its day, was the death of the Silver Spray only 200 yards off 49th Street. There, on Morgan Shoal, on the north edge of what was called Chicago Beach, she met her end on July 15, 1914. Her pathetic remains are still visible from the shore today.

A strong northeast wind had pounded the lakefront with waves on July 14, and four Chicagoans had drowned, but the wind seems to have subsided and was apparently not a factor on the 15th. Whatever the cause, the helmsman of the Silver Spray would seem to have been- unaccountably, amazingly- ignorant of the Hyde Park Sands, that extensive cluster of shallows and sandbars clearly marked on every sailor's chart, visible from high-rise apartment windows, and marked by a red buoy today.

The Silver Spray. actually the fifth boat of that name on the Great Lakes, was built in Ludington in 1894 and had at first been gaily christened Bloomer Girl. She was a pleasure craft, as the Tribune called her, the kind which people rode from the Chicago River to the Columbian Expo in 1893, or which later they boarded at Navy Pier for a Sunday ride upon the lake. Pictures of such craft suggest that she probably fit Mark Twain's adjectives for another boat, "long and sharp and trim and pretty."

Specifically, Silver Spray was a wooden passenger steamer of 95 tons, 109 feet in length, 22 in beam, valued at $10,000-but uninsured at the time of her death. On that day she was running close to shore because she had been chartered to carry 200 University of Chicago students to Gary to see the steel mills. From exactly which pier they were to embark is unknown; perhaps some Society member can fill in the story for us.

No passengers were aboard when Silver Spray (nee Bloomer Girl) ran aground in only eight feet of water in full sight of hundreds of bathers at Chicago beach. A powerful launch from the life-saving station at Jackson Park harbor and two excursion boats were unable to pull her free-and then it happened. She turned over, and according to one account killed three crewmen. Sailors will tell you it is considered unlucky to change a boat's name.

(On July 16 the Tribune gave the event only two inches on page 4- "Bathers See a Shipwreck; Silver Spray on Reef'-and the Daily News said nothing at all. Not that the papers were preoccupied with the approach of World War

I. The guns of August would explode soon enough, but Hyde Parkers might still have gone to the movies that July night with a light heart, if they liked the jittery 2-reelers of 1914. Summer people at the Chicago Beach Hotel on 51st Street could walk two blocks west to the Beach movie house to see a Keystone Comedy and "The Night Hawks," an Essanay film probably shot in Chicago. The Hyde Park Theatre, at 5314 Lake Park, where the bank drive-in is now, was showing "Lillian's Dilemma" with Wally Van; the Jefferson, at 1523 East 55th, where the Deco Arts Building is today, advertised simply "Feature Photo Plays Daily," 5¢ and 10¢; and the Campus, at 1316 East 61st Street, was showing "Women Against Women.")

But to return to the wreck of the Silver Spray on Hyde Park Sands, eventually the lake tore her top off, then slowly beat her to pieces, but her heart lies out there yet, that is to say her boiler and propeller. Richardson's    .

Chartbook and Cruisin Guide (1979) indicated that the wreckage extended above the surface. Today it lies ten inches below, but when the wind is right you can see the boiler heave into view, as big as a car, if you know exactly where to look and are patient. The best vantage point is looking straight out 200 yards from the "No Alcoholic Beverages" sign which is fifty paces north of the public telephone at 49th Street.

No buoy marks the spot, but on certain days when all the rest of Lake Michigan is quiet and smooth, you may be startled to see frothing white rollers mysteriously tumbling over each other for no visible reason at 49th Street. It is very striking. It seems a ghostly commotion. And indeed it marks the reef that killed the hapless Silver Spray. Hyde Park's own shipwreck.

Watch for it.
 

The South Shore Country Club was founded in 1906. On its 50th Anniversary in 1956, the Club published a very impressive Anniversary Book, a copy of which was recently given to the Historical Society by a thoughtful friend. Below we reprint from that book the story of the Club's beginnings as told on the Club's 40th anniversary by the founder himself, Mr. Lawrence Heyworth.

The Founders Own Story

Back in 1905 when I was President of the Chicago Athletic Club I conceived the idea of having a Country Club in connection with the Athletic Club so the members of the Athletic Club could enjoy dining and wining in a beautiful place out in the country instead of having to resort to dives and saloons, which at that time were about the only avail­ able suburban places.

This idea was taken from the New YG>rk Athletic Club which owned Travers Island, a beautiful country club about fifteen miles from New York City, situated on Long Island Sound.

The grounds of the South Shore Country Club were at that time owned by Elisha W. Willard of Providence, Rhode Island. On my trips out in the country I used to take the children to this spot and have old man Barnes, a fisherman, fry perch for us on the spot where the shooting lodge now stands. It was from these trips that I came to the conclusion that this would be an ideal spot for the country club.

I sent out letters to members of the Chicago Athletic Club with this project in view, but received only a few acceptances, not sufficient to carry out my plans on this project. Still determined to build the club on this very advantageous site, I asked Mr. Honore Palmer, son of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Harry Honore, her brother, Mason B. Staring and W. C. Thorne to join me as a committee and help promote the club.

We then sent out about 1,000 letters to the most promi­ nent people in Chicago and received only twenty-one acceptances, nearly all from members of the Calumet Club. This was a K.O. after I had already negotiated for the property through Bert Winston, and agreed to pay person­ ally $30,000 down and $245,000 in twenty-four years with interest at 4½% on deferred payments.

I was certainly holding the bag and upon thinking the matter over thoroughly as to what to do next, conceived the idea of getting some better known and bigger names as directors. I telephoned Ogden Armour and asked him if he would be a director of the proposed Country Club to be built out at Seventy-First Street and the Lake, and if I could use his name as a director on one circular letter only. This I wished to use for promotional purposes to help finance the club. He laughed and asked me what other obligations he would be under and I told him he would have to buy a perpetual membership in the club, if the club was success­ fully organized, and he replied, "All right, go ahead and use my name."

After I obtained Mr. Armour's consent to directorship I telephoned Mr. Black, who at that time was President of the Continental National Bank, and I asked him if I could use his name also. Mr. Black consented and then in the same manner I obtained the consent of Mr. Forgan of the First National Bank, Mr. Smith of the Merchants Loan Bank and Mr. John J. Mitchell of the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank. In fact, the presidents of seventeen loop banks consented to their names being used as directors on the second letter sent out to the public.

About this time a committee of irate Bryn Mawr-South

Shore residents walked into the Mutual Bank of which I was president, and threatened to stop the South Shore Country Club completely and to niake matters worse, they had the right to do so. This committee, as I remember, was com­ posed of State Senator Clarke, Aid. Bennett, Mr. French, a lawyer, and Mr. Brandenbury, who was Commissioner of Public Works, and several other prominent citizens. They said they were going to put a stop to the organizing of the Country Club, that 67th, 68th, 69th, and 70th Streets were to be extended through to the lake, that the City of Chicago owned this property and the City was going to open up these streets.

I asked all of them to step into the director's room of the

Mutual Bank and asked each of them individually where he banked and then told them that the presidents of their banks were directors of the Club. I then said to them, "Are you going to fight the presidents of your banks where you borrow money and stop the organization of a club of which these same gentlemen are directors?"

I then showed them the letter that was about to go out upon which appeared the names of the directors, headed by Ogden Armour, and consisting of all the Loop bank presi­ dents. After seeing this letter with the names of the directors listed thereon, they decided not to fight the Club and I told them that if they did not join the Club before they left the room not one of them would be allowed to step upon the grounds of the club so long as I lived which would be very detrimental to the social standings of their families.

They all joined and were very instrumental in passing an ordinance through the City Council trading the property owned by the City of Chicago located inside of the present fence for a forty-foot strip of land bordering the west side of the grounds from 67th Street to 71st Street. This particular strip was used for widening the present South Shore Drive to 60 feet from the old Bond Avenue 30 foot width. This also increased the ten foot grass plot bordering the club on the west side of the grounds to twenty feet.

The results from the second letter sent out were over one thousand acceptances for membership in the club, and in each letter of acceptance was enclosed a check for $100.00 as a initiation fee.

Thereupon we closed the real estate deal through Bert Winston who, at our request, showed his good fellowship by donating his commission of $7,000.00 as a fund to be used for promotional expense of the club.

We engaged Marshall and Fox as architects and copied a picture which I had in my possession of an old Mexican Club in the City of Mexico, leaving out th expensive embellishments shown in the picture.

The solarium of the club was originally developed from an open porch which was glassed in between the columns for protection from severe storms. This is how the beautiful solarium in both buildings originated.

The present ballroom is the original ballroom which was left in its present site when the new building was built. The acoustics of the ballroom were pronounced by Walter Damrosch and his orchestra as the best in America. In a comer of the ballroom, Mr. Damrosch played a high note on his violin which could be heard in any part of the ballroom and which he said was impossible in any auditorium in which he had played. This, of course, was just a lucky break in our favor.

We then started erecting the first South Shore Country Club. It was necessary to build it rapidly as we could not collect the club dues until we had the grounds and the building finished. Every member was called upon to donate his services, material and time towards the completion of the club.

About this period the Washington Park Club closed. I told Lawrence Young, president of that club, that if he would give us the greens and the lockers of the Washington Park Club we would make him a director of the South Shore Club later on when a charter was taken out. He was another loyal fellow and sold us the greens and lockers of the Washington Park Club, which was considered the finest English turf a that time.

We paid I¢ per square yard for the greens and fifty cents each for the lockers. We then used delivery wagons from the Loop stores to haul all of these greens and lockers over to the grounds of the South Shore Country Club. This line­ up of wagons was a quarter of a mile long and consisted of wagons from Marshall Field, Mandel Brothers, the Fair Store, Montgomery Ward and many others, and with their help we succeeded in sodding the grounds in a few days.

The club house was finally finished within two and one­ half months. Mr. H. I. Miller, who was then president of the Rock Island Railroad and had rebuilt the Pennsylvania road through Johnstown in twenty-four hours after the famous Johnstown flood, was the fellow we persuaded to finish up the terraces. We told him that if he would put in all the sod, grass and trees around the club within seven days we would make him president of the Club the second year of its existence. He put in temporary railroad tracks and with gangs of men finished the entire grounds in six days and gave all this to the club as a donation.

Mr. Worcester, the Vice-President of the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company, put in all of the lights and pipe lines for lighting up the grounds and building.

We opened up the club at the end of September, 1906, with a grand party which was a great success. The kitchen was not yet completed at that time and Mr. Southgate of the Congress Hotel and Mrs. Potter Palmer, owner of the Palmer House, sent out wagonloads of food, a manager and all necessary waiters and service for the opening party. It made a regular New Year's Eve celebration look like a tame affair.

CORNELL AWARD WINNER, AFTER THE FIRE

by Margo Crisroula

On Dec. 22, 1989, Hyde Park almost lost an historic house. 1361 East 57th Street, the end of a handsome brick row of professors' townhouses (built in 1903 by Mann, MacNeille, and Lindberg), suffered a serious fire. Walls and floors in the rear half of the house on all three stories were destroyed. The tile roof was breached, the windows shat­ tered, stairwell and millwork on the first floor charred beyond use. The homeowners, Janet Burch and Joel Guillory, were left with a wreck that many homeowners would have consigned to destruction. Instead, they brought their house back to vibrant life.

A great part of their task was replacement. Burch, who considers herself a "detail maniac," found a congenial collaborator in Cerwe Construction Co., a small firm with expert craftsmen able to rebuild cabinetry, fireplaces, and doorways, replace the diamond paned windows in many custom sizes, and produce a variety of beautiful wall treatments. They rebuilt the livingroom fireplace as an exact copy of the original, and duplicated millwork from a neighboring house to create a perfect match between replacements and survivors of the fire.

The plentiful woodwork on the first floor was-and is-oak.

For the upper storeys, Burch and Guillory replaced bass­ wood with basswood, despite advisors who argued for more oak. ''Though it is cheaper, to me it has a wanner, softer look for the upstairs," Burch says. The new wood has been stained and varnished to make a meticulous match with the old. All the original door hardware was spared. The only major casualty was the built-in hutch in the dining room, which was not replaced. An antique open cupboard does very well instead-maybe better.

The couple seized many opportunities large and small to improve upon the original.

The staircase had always been a grievance. Though close to the entrance, it was a narrow switchback that exuded a backstairs aura and exercised a stringent veto over furniture for the second and third floors. It was replaced with a more commodious square stairwell, its millwork coped from a neighboring house, that makes a graceful entrance directly into the living room.

The new stairwell opened an inviting path to the kitchen, which also benefited from the fire. ''With the kitchen and bathroom, you don't want to go back to the past," Burch says. The kitchen gained space from the old butler's pantry, and lost its "nasty old linoleum," which Burch had not replaced only because she dreaded a disruptive kitchen renovation, to Mexican quarry and decorated tiles. The breakfast nook, an earlier add-on at the back of the house, was given an eastward window; its sunny view of the backyard garden, with deck and patio, could never be improved. Second- and third-floor bathrooms were given modem fixtures, space-saving showers, lots of mirrors and light. Yet the feel of the house was preserved here too, with richly decorative tile.

Most imaginative of the changes was the addition of a half-bath next to the kitchen. The wall and French doors

between living and dining rooms were replaced by a deep archway, a shape echoing exterior decoration on other houses in the block. One of the spaces became a tiny but most convenient powder room. On the other side, the paneling lining the archway conceals built in storage for china and linen. Adding even a small space seems a near miracle in a house only twenty-five feet wide, yet the dignity of the living and dining rooms was actually en­ hanced.

Finally, the overall floor plan was opened up. Originally, rooms had been small and chopped up with doors. "It was the klutziest house of the row, with doors in all the wrong places," according to Burch. Now, the separate tiny entranceway is gone. The second-floor study, which had been divided by an unnecessary wall and French doors, is now opened out into a single expanse, lined on three sides by built-in shelves and drawers and the original fireplace (a surprise survivor), and on the fourth by variously sized windows. (The architects of the block favored lots of windows in lots of sizes for a picturesque look that probably seemed quite luxurious in comparison with the standard­ sized windows, one per wall, common in cheaper homes of the period.) Among the windows is a pair of French doors; the former sleeping porch, itself a later addition, has been updated as a sunny open deck.

The finished house now looks good for another 90 years.

It offers some practical lessons for those of us faced with the less drastic damage inflicted on older homes by age and changing modes of life. Watch the details, have a clear picture of the lovable and the unlovable of what you have to work with. And remember that your house is not alone. It has a peer group-other houses in the row or up the block, in Hyde Park/Kenwood or, at farthest, somewhere in Chicago­ that can suggest materials, motifs, large plans or small particulars. With their help, your house can run with the old gang forever.

A TOUR OF PULLMAN

by Mary C. Lewis

A unique area of great significance to Chicago's past was the site of a tour sponsored by the Hyde Park Historical Society, August 8. Several Hyde Parkers traveled to Pullman on that summer Saturday and were led by a volunteer from the Historic Pullman Foundation, which conducts tours for groups.

The first stop on the tour was the headquarters of the Historic Pullman Foundation on 113th Street, founded in 1973 and housed in a former "block" or boarding house. The group was shown a 30 minute slide show which provided background information about the formation of Pullman.

In 1881, railroad company president George M. Pullman began his official plans for the town, with Solon Spencer Beman as architect and Nathan F. Barrett as landscape designer. One year later, the town's population had reached 3,500 and by 1885 the number of residents had almost tripled, to 9,000. In 1889, although the majority of Pullman's residents voted against the decision, the town was included with Hyde Park when annexation laws made Pullman part of Chicago.

Within five years, economic upheaval and labor union struggles caused Pullman to emerge in the national news. The Pullman Strike of 1894 and subsequent violence brought a veil of notoriety to Pullman, and although the town won an 1896 international prize as the "most perfect town," the area began a downward slide. Sixteen years after he founded the town, George Pullman died. In 1898 the Illinois Supreme Court ordered all non-industrial property in Pullman to be sold, effectively ending the company's control. During the early 1900s, many workers bought the houses that they had been renting from the Pullman Com­ pany and they continued to live in the area.

By 1960 only a few owner-occupied homes were still well maintained and Pullman was designated a blighted neighborhood. Community residents then spent several years successfully fighting efforts to tear down the area's buildings or construct what residents viewed as undesirable developments. The residents' efforts also resulted in triple landmark status: state (1969), national (1971), and city (1972). In 1991, the State of Illinois purchased Pullman's Administration Buildings and Hotel Florence for a proposed Pullman State Historic Site.

After the slide show, the group of Hyde Parkers were given a tour of the area. This began with an interior visit to one of the renovated row houses for sale in the neighbor­ hood. (The Historic Pullman Foundation provides free listings and an informational exchange for interested buyers and sellers.) The Hyde Park group then strolled the sur­ rounding blocks while the tour guide described the shifting ethnic makeup of the town. During the late 1800s, when Pullman's sleeping cars were constructed of wood, the workers and their families were mainly of Swedish and Danish descent; then around 1910 when steel became the required building material for the railroad cars, the town's ethnic makeup changed to those of Polish, Italian and Greek ancestry.

As the group continued walking, several kinds of residences were noticed: workmen's cottages, the foreman's house, which was always placed at a comer of a block; and the larger residences of the plant manager, bandmaster, and town manager.

Across from the town's church was another large residence, built in the 1890s and meant to house a doctor for the town. The red brick Quadrant Building, constructed for Pullman's special guests who attended the Columbian Exposition of 1893, stands across from the Market Hall (a shopping area and bakery) and now houses apartments.

The group's next stop was the town's Greenstone Church, constructed of green limestone from Pennsylvania. The church's first minister was George Pullman's brother. Among the church's noteworthy details were its antique Steere & Turner Tracker organ, which included a plaque from the National Organ Historical Society, and the lack of any denominational or religious symbols-due to George Pullman's desire that the building be non-denominational so that all residents would feel comfortable attending services.

The final stop on the tour was the Hotel Florence, named after George Pullmans's favorite daughter. On the second floor of the hotel are several items of historical interest.

George Pullman's personal suite has been preserved to show the bedroom and sitting room furniture he used whenever he stayed at the hotel, and several photographs show his residence in the Prairie Avenue District. Also on display on the second floor are another, smaller hotel room and some artifacts from a Pullman sleeping car.

The Hyde Park group then enjoyed a lunch in the hotel dining room, which gave us a chance to discuss the many items of interest which had been seen that afternoon.

On-going at HPHS Headquarters

A Photo Exhibit by Edward Campbell "Readings from Our Past: Structures in Jackson Park"

On Sunday, November 15, 2pm "Henry Clay Work:

Hyde Park's Civil War Songwriter"

A Musical Program by Margo Criscuola

Newsletters 1991

April 1991

July 1991

December 1991

April, 1991 Volume 13 Number 1

Shaking the Family Tree

by Carol Bradford

It all started, as these things often do, at a funeral, with people wondering why the family only gets together when someone dies.

For our family, it was at the funeral of my father-in-law, Jesse Bradford, Sr., in July, 1988. And so the first Bradford reunion was held in Springfield, Illinois, in July, 1989.

Being only an in-law and expecting to meet many relatives who were previously unknown to me, I brought along notebook and pen for recording the family genealogy. It started with the "eldest child of the eldest child," who gave me all the names and dates she could remem­ ber. As the afternoon progressed everyone got into the spirit of the thing and children were corning to me asking if their names were in the notebook. One 12 year-old boy showed himself to be the record keeper for the next generation, for he knew the full name and birth date of every one in his family.

It wasn't until the second reunion, in July, 1990, that I began to think about searching back for prior generations. Present at that gathering were two of the three surviving offspring of George and Amelia (King) Bradford, the parents of my father-in-law. This aunt and uncle were able to give the names of some of their parents' siblings and additional birth dates. Armed with this information, I began my search at the local office of the National Archives. I found that searching the census records takes mostly time and patience, and sometimes a little luck comes in to enable you to find more than you had expected.

The Chicago Regional Office of the National Archives is located near Ford City Shopping Center at 7358 South Pulaski. Be sure to call ahead (phone 581-7816) to reserve a space at a microfilm machine, as viewing is by appointment only. It is helpful to take a few 1ninutes on arrival at the viewing room to familiarize yourself with its organization and the operation of the equipment. I found the staff very willing to assist me in getting started and to answer questions.

The viewing room is lined with cabinets containing the thousands of rolls of ce,nsus information in microfilm. In the center of the room are several rows of microfilm machines, about 30 in all. There are also machines to copy onto print the microfilm records. The most recent indexed census is 1910. But it is only complete for about half the states. The 1900 census is indexed for all states and contains the most complete information, including month and year of birth for each person listed, and relationship to head of household. The 1890 census was almost completely destroyed by fue, The index system for 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 is called "Soundex" and is organized on a numerical code based on the sound of consonants in the name. One must know only the state of residence and name of head of the household. The Soundex listing then tells in which county, Enumeration District, sheet, and line on which the household is listed in the actual census records. Notebooks give the number of the roll of microfilm for each county.

There are books of printed indexes for some

of the states and censuses not on the Soundex system. There are also several volumes of indexes of names on immigration records, indicating sources such as passenger lists and other records dating to the earliest years of colonial settlement.

With the use of Soundex, I quickly found the George Bradford household listing for both 1910 and 1900. It was on the latter list that I got a bit of luck to help me along. Next to the George Bradford listing on the county censµs, was the name of Anderson King, and his wife, America. We had no names for any siblings of Amelia King Bradford, but since these two were adjacent on a geographical list, I guessed that Andserson might be Amelia's brother.

From there, I went to the Soundex for 1880.

With the names of George•s siblings that I already knew, including one sister with an unusual name, it took just time and patience to search the list of all the Bradfords in Missis­ sippi to find the household of Stephen and Hannah Bradford. It included enough of the children we already knew to give positive assurance that these were indeed the ancestors I was seeking.

Then I went to the Soundex for the name King and very quickly found the family of Anderson King, Sr., with his wife, Ellen , and children Fannie, Anderson, Amelia, and Amanda. The dates for Amelia's birth coincided with those we already knew and provided a cross-check to assure that this was the right family.

So now, I had traced this African-Americanfamily back to the generation born before emancipation. first time in the 1870 census, the first in which all persons were listed equitably as "free inhabitants." Prior to that census, there was a supplemental listing of slaves, by state and name of owner. No names were given for slaves, only age and sex.

A word of advice to anyone undertaking a search in the census: these old records are written by hand, some more legibly than others. There is great variance in spelling of names, so one must be alert to s,earch for closely related names. For example, Amelia King was listed variously as "Melia" and "Cornelia".

Your search will be easier if it involves ancestors in rural or sparsely populated areas. It was not so time-consuming for me to go through a geographical list for a rural county when it was not indexed. Anyone searching in Cook County, Illinois, however, might be deterred without an index. Once again, luck was with me.And a word of caution: genealogy is un­ ending. The more you know, the more you want to know, so you may get hooked! Maybe I'll see you at the archives some day!

1991 Cornell Award Winners

by Mary C. Lewis

A multifaceted range of commendations - embracing the arts, recreation, business development, and architecture - was featured when the Hyde Park Historical Society announced its latest winners of the Paul Cornell Award at the society's annual meeting in February. Five awards were presented for outstanding individual achievement related to restoration in Hytle Park.

The recipients• varied accomplishments reflect the neighborhood's continuing vitality. Thanks to Nancy Campbell Hays' efforts, Hyde Parkers can enjoy the benefits of her many photographs and her tireless voice on behalf of open parkland. Another favorite pastime of many, eating out, was the focus of two other winners, Walter Arnold and Hans Morsbach. Their design and use of sculptured stone reliefs which now grace the entrance facade of the relocated Medici Restaurant on 57th Street makes this location a whimsical combination of the past and present.

Since business development has skyrock­eted, the issue of how to preserve Hyde Park's unique historical flavor has deserved our attention. Balancing business development while projecting an image of graceful, scrupulous restoration requires leadership of a special sort and award winner Timothy Goodsell, president of Hyde Park Bank was duly recognized for tackling the challenge. His efforts resulted in the removal of projected signage and careful restoration of the street level facade at 53rd and Lake Park Avenue.

Hyde Park's bounty of fascinating resi­dences was also represented. The award winning couple, Kitty and Jim Mann, and the restoration of their 1800's shingle style house on Harper Avenue provides a model approach: lovingly preserved exteriors, a well-blended expansion, and distinctive interior designs. All in all, the awards committee spotlighted the best of Hyde Park!

The HPHS Annual Meeting

by Margo Criscuola

The Annual Meeting, held February 9, at the Quadrangle Club, was, as John McDermott, Master of Ceremonies, stated, a "celebration of what we love about a special community, rich in history, rich in people, rich in problems," and even having "its own foreign policy." More than 120 members gathered to greet old and new friends, and discuss the past and recent events over a wine bar and a festive dinner - no small part of the mission of the Historical Society.

Then for the business of the evening. Zeus Preckwinkle, outgoing president, recounted with some pride the full schedule of exhibits and talks which enriched the past year, and thanked the members who made possible our increased contribution to the community. He especially thanked Anne Stevens for her taste, skill, and hard work in organizing the meeting.

Zeus also announced the winners of our contest to identify some of Nancy Campbell Hays' photos of changing Hyde Park: Alta Blakely and Norah and Bill Erickson. Norah explained her accomplishment modestly -

"it's just living here all those years." Perhaps a lively interest in the community played a part, too.

Bert Benade, chair of the nominating committee, then led us through an exercise in "guided democracy" that resulted in the election of a slate of officers and board members for next year, with Carol Bradford as president, and new members Julius Williams and Kevin Shalla.

Our past reviewed and our future secured, it was time to make the annual Paul Cornell awards. The Awards Committee, composed of Ed Campbell, chair, with Alta Blakely and Devereux Bowly, named the following recipients:

Nancy Campbell Hays, perennial photogra­pher of the Hyde Park scene and zealous advocate for the preservation of community parks.

Tim Goodsell, President of Hyde Park Bank, for the scrupulous restoration of the street level facade of the Bank building, 1525 East 53rd Street.

Kitty and Jim Mann, whose restoration of

their 1880's residence on Harper Avenue faithfully preserves the original Shingle Style in a subtle expansion, while creating interiors of eclectic distinction.

Hans Morsbach and Walter Arnold, for the relocation of the Medici Restaurant on 57th Street behind a "delightful entrance facade of whimsical historicism," which "juxtaposes the Medieval and the Modem with comeliness and wit." Morsbach and Arnold recognized the contractor Bruce Johnstone for his role in the success of the project; and Arnold recounted what a pleasure it was to "give a few gargoyles back to Hyde Park," thanking the Eriksons for the prize he won years ago as an art student in the neighborhood.

Ed Campbell accompanied the awards with slides showing the awardees' accomplish­ ments.

The grand finale of the evening was "Milestones and Monuments," a photo essay on Hyde Park history, by Ed Campbell. This slide presentation was originally designed as an introduction to Hyde Park, but so thorough was it in exploring all the aspects of the neighbor­ hood, social, historical, and architectural, that even dedicated long-term society members found they learned something new, as well as enjoying memorable views of fatniliar sights.

And now, Happy New Year, Historical Society!

Hyde Park: A History in Sculpture An Excerpt From the Prize Winning History Fair Project

by Margaret Gruen, March 1990 St. Thomas the Apostle School

FamousMen

Famous people are one of the most common subjects for sculpture. Hyde Park contains relatively few, and the ones that it has are all figures of men (no women) in history. The sculptures of famous men in Hyde Park tend to be placed away from the center of Hyde Park. Two are on the Midway and the other two are even further. Two of the four men in the sculptures are known for their intellectual accomplishments.

Several of the sculptures in Hyde Park commemorate famous people in history or in the neighborhood's development. The fountain in Drexel Square in the oldest of Hyde Park's sculptures. It was erected in 1882 by Henry Manger in honor of Francis Martin Drexel, who, although he never set foot in Chicago, owned all of the land between 47th and 51st Streets. He gave some of his land to the city to be used as a road, on the condition that the boulevard bear his name. After his death, his two sons wrote to the city and commissioned a statue to be built in remembrance of their father. Drexel stands proudly above the fountain, looking at all the land that he once owned.

The 40-foot tall Thomas Garrigue Masaryk Memorial stands at the far east end of the Midway directly opposite Lorado Taft's "Fountain of Time." Designed by Albin Polasek, this sculpture was cast in 1949 and dedicated on May 29, 1955. The sculpture is of Saint Wenceslaus who, as the legend goes, led a band of knights who slept under Blanik mountains in the center of Bohemia waiting for the opportunity to deliver their people from oppression. Thomas Garriguc Masaryk (1850.. 1937) was Czechoslovakia's first president, and the sculpture is there to symbolize his ideas of freedom, democracy, and humanity. The location of this sculpture so close to the University is fitting as Garrigue worked on the faculty there in 1902.

A secluded statue of Gotthold Ephraim

Lessing stands in Washington Park. It is a full­ sized bronze portrait of the German playwright, critic, and philosopher who is considered to be the father of modem German literature. The statue, by Albin Polsek, was completed in 1930 and faces the west so that it can receive most of a day's sunlight. The statue was funded by Henry L. Frank, who received a large inherit­ ance from his uncle Michael Reese and erected a hospital bearing his name.

A large statue of Carl von Linnaeus or Carl von Linne stands on the Midway directly in front of Harper Library. Carolus Linne was a Swedish botanist who devised the system for the scientific classification of plants and animals. The statue had originally stood in Fullerton Place but was reerected on the Midway and dedicated on April 19, 1976. For the Swedish-Americans in the city, the day was a holiday. The Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf came to rededicate and unveil the statue by Johan Dyfverrnan.

Correspondence

To The Hyde Park Historical Society:

I read.frequently about the Robie House, Frank Lloyd Wright's classic prairie house, in various publications, and I am always reminded of the Wilbers who used to live there. We lived at 5748 Kimbark, next door to the Miehe/sons (he was the first, I believe, American winner of the Nobel Prize in physics). Behind our houses was an alley and the other side of the alley was the brick wall surrounding the back yard of the Robie House at 58th and Woodlawn. When I was given a tennis racket at the age of eight I started practicing by hitting balls in the alley against the wall as a backboard. At the time Mr. and Mrs. Wilber were living there. The Stevens boys (whose father later built Stevens Hotel) who lived around the corner on 58th street were my companions at the time, and we would often go into the Wilber 's yard and climb on the walls and porches. Mrs. Wilber was kind enough to invite us in occasionally and give us cookies in the kitchen. A very charming, generous lady. To us children, Mr. Wilber was aforbidding,fierce-looking man we seldom saw and to whom we never spoke.

About ten years later, early in the depres­sion, I heard that they had moved out of the Robie House and I did not see or hear of them until the summer of 1934. I was a student at the University and a park ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park that summer and several summers thereafter. Mr. and Mrs.

Wilber drove into the Aspenglen Campground at the park where I lived alone in a little cabin and took care of the campground. I was 19.

They were pulling a house trailer behind their car, and they settled into one of the campsites and stayed all summer. As was true of many at that time, their financial circumstances had changed. They were both very proud people and never once complained about it. When they recognized me and we had several visits, I got to know them well. Mr. Wilber was ill with asthma and very weak. Mrs. Wilber was as active as ever. He was resentful of his illness as something which detracted from his dignity. I helped them a lot because in those days the campgrounds had no electricity and only a few faucet outlets for running water. This being a depression year, there were many who came to the campground in June and stayed until Labor Day. The Wilbers left in September and said they were going to Arizona. They left me with many pleasant memories of our conversations and of earlier days in Chicago. I never saw them again. Seeing Robie House when I visit Hyde Park brings all this back to me, and I am glad that it is now in the good hands of the University Alumni Association. -Sam Hair 1522 Stanford Pl. Charlotte North Carolina

Ed.Note We thank Mr. Hair for writing. How his boyhood memories bring to life the bricks and morter of Robie House! We are always delighted to hear from you, dear readers. Please write and share your memories with us.

Correction: In the September 1990 article "Hyde Park Park Art" we named Charles ("Carl") Dornbusch as "architect and also planner of Harper Court." A caller informed us that John Black was the architect for Harper Court. A plaque on a kiosk in Harper Court confirms that fact.

Fifteen Schools Mark GOINGS - ON:     

HPHS Fifteenth   :Anniversary 

To celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of its  

founding, the Society sent to the fifteen schools             

in the Hyde Park community copies of two books

dear to the heart of Hyde Park citizens:

  Leon Despres     5th Ward Alderman, 1955 to 1975                      

Sunday, April 14, 1991, 2-4 p.m. *

McGiffertHall, 5751 South Woodlawn

  Hyde Park Houses, that wonderful collection  of photos and information about the present   community as well as a concise and quite

    thorough history of the past, by the late Jean Block, historian and founding member of the  Society

           with Zeus Preckwinkle & Julius Williams         

Hyde Park's Harvard Connection:          Harvard School -   125 Years of Excellence 

 Sunday,April21,1991,2-4p.m.                      

Harvard School, 4731 South Ellis

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893, A   Photographic Record, a collection of photos   and descriptions of that great event.                      We hope these books will encourage our local    

young scholars to continue their study of our community history.

  A Tour of Hyde Park Sculpture with Margaret Gruen, History Fair Prize Winner in early summer - see page 4                

Volume 13 Number 2 and 3, July 1991

 Eighty Years Around Hyde Park -    What's Past Is Prologue

Excerpts from a talk by Leon M. Despres

before the Hyde Park Historical Society on April 14, 1991 Part One:

... Well, you asked me to talk about Hyde Park in the last eighty years, and it happens that this month, April, is exactly the 80th anniversary of my arrival in Hyde Park, of my first visit to Hyde Park. My family lived at 4127 Michigan Avenue, and they rented the first apartment at 5488 Everett Avenue. I remember coming one Sunday in April to see it and I was very depressed because the work hadn't been finished in the apartment. They took me to the room that they said would be the room I would occupy, and there were sawhorses in there and lumber. I did not see how I could play or sleep in such disarray. That was my first visit to Hyde Park. It was April 1911 and this is April 1991 so I can truthfully talk about my eighty years in Hyde Park.

Hyde Park started as a residential area in 1856 and is now 135 years old. I've

lived here 80 years. I have lived through

59% of the total life of Hyde Park.

Hyde Park has been a wonderful community to live in. I feel privileged and fortunate that my family decided to rent the apartment at 5488 Everett. Hyde Park is a community with exceptional vitality, exceptional creativity, independence, a strong sense of identity, and a remarkable agglomeration of shared values. It's a community that has been able to respond to crises over the years, and could do so again. At the moment there isn't a visible

crisis in Hyde Park but there will be and Hyde Park will respond to the crisis again. I think there are two stable continuing factors in Hyde Park that you have to think about. There's the enormous value of Hyde Park's geography and the presence of the University of Chicago.

The University's presence provides a continuing group of people who are attracted here because of the University. They work there, they teach there, they study there, or they just come to the community because the University is there and it provides a leavening and interest and support that's extremely valuable to the community. Those two factors have continued during all eighty years.

There have been a lot of changes. Some of them are changes that have occurred in other communities as well. They're not peculiar to Hyde Park, but they have influenced Hyde Park, while some changes are peculiar to Hyde Park.

Let's talk about the geography. When I moved here at the age of three, Everett Avenue was the easternmost street, and there was nothing, no structure except a small shanty, between the apartments on the west side of Everett Avenue and Lake Michigan. In the morning when I looked out through the sun porch windows, I could see the sun rising over the lake. I remember and I see it still overlooking the lake, but now on Stony Island Avenue from the tenth floor of Vista Homes. There were lots of empty lots in Hyde Park then, and across the street from 5488 Everett in the empty lot was a small shanty occupied by an old fisherman, Captain Petersen. He and his family lived there. He fished. There was still commer­ cial whitefish-fishing in Lake Michigan, and in the winter he would have his commercial fisherman friends pull their boats up and park them in that empty lot.

There were houses and apartments in Hyde Park, but until the 1920's I can't remember any high rise apartments (except the late famous Beatrice and Harcourt apartments at 57th and Dorchester). The first one that I remember is 5490 South Shore Drive which was built about 1920. It was very exciting to see this luxury, high rise apartment building being built. At about the same time, two hotels were built, the Cooper Carlton and the Sisson, now called the Del Prado and the Hampshire House. As the years went on, the topography of Hyde Park changed because many high rises were built. I think they have affected the community in a number of ways. To some extent they have crowded the community, but to some extent they also provide congenial and pleasant places to live. And to the extent that they're cooperatives and condomini­ums, they have created a stable ownership too.

The empty lots used to be good places to play, but they are all gone. In a small way they were replaced during urban renewal by the creation of valuable open spaces. And there was always Jackson Park. The Park is a continuing asset, but it has been greatly diminished since my childhood. It's been diminished by the construction of motorized highways through the Park, along the lake front. In my childhood, occasionally you would be taken for a drive along the lake front just to have a spin along the lake. I can't imagine people driving now just for the fun of the drive along the lake, but it happened then. There was horseback riding which is gone, there were row boats you could use, outstanding ice-skating, and the Midway too. There was a refec­ tory in the German Building, a castle on the Rhine left over from the World's Fair. That's gone. There was a stunning rose garden south of the three Japanese temple buildings. They are gone. There were replicas of Columbus's boats in the lagoon. And of course there was lots more green space and lots less parking. Hyde Park has responded by creating the Jackson Park Council, by defending the parks, and by supporting Friends of the Parks. But it is a continuing problem. I think back with regret and nostalgia about the diminution of Jackson Park over the years.

In my childhood, horses were very important. A great change that has come over Hyde Park has been caused by the automobile. In the 1912-1913 school year, I attended kindergarten in the Chicago Beach Hotel, a three story, gracious building on Hyde Park Boulevard between Hyde Park (then East End Avenue) and Cornell. Every morning Mr. Brown drove his carriage to pick me up. He picked up five or six other children and drove us to the Chicago Beach Hotel. For many years, at least until I was 17 or 18, when people got off the J.C. at 53rd street in the evenings there was a coachman who solicited rides to drive people home.

 That's the last carriage I remember in Hyde Park. The delivery wagons were nearly all drawn by horses. In the alleys there would always be grocery wagons. Every small grocery had a modest delivery wagon pulled by a horse. Coal was pulled by horses and delivered in the alleys.

There were at least five dairies, whose wagons came through the alleys daily. Ice was delivered by horse and wagon. The icemen came through the alleys with horses pulling the ice wagons and people would have signs out to show whether they wanted 25 or 50 or 75 or 100 pounds. And the iceman would chip the ice from the blocks, swing it over the pad on his left shoulder, and carry it upstairs. Then sometimes we would get on the wagon's back step and take a small piece of ice to suck on. The horse has disappeared, the personal street cleaners have disappeared, and the sparrow population has dimin­ished.

Those are changes which I suppose are common to all communities, but they've radically changed the appearance and the face of Hyde Park. The alleys were lively places. We used to play in the alleys. They were filled with people coming through them all the time. Except for the coldest winter weather, peddlers of all sorts came through, men selling fruits and vegetables. They would buy fruits and vegetables at the wholesale market, put them in a basket, carry the basket on their shoulders and go from house to house. They must have produced fresh quality fruits and vegetables, because I know my mother bought from them and she wouldn't have bought from them unless they were good. Knife sharpeners came through ringing their bells. Old clothes buyers came through all the time shouting, "Old clothes to sell, Rags, old iron," and then there were street musicians of all kinds. Organ grinders with monkeys, hurdy-gurdy grinders who would just come and play in the back yards until they got a few coins. There were German bands, bands with two or three brass instruments who would come through. Singers would come through. The alleys were places of liveliness, all of which has disappeared. It disappeared with the horse and disappeared also with the cheapness of labor.

There really must have been a lot of cheap labor at that time. Many of the street musicians were Italian, recent Italians, recent Germans. The peddlers were recent Italians and Jewish immigrants. There just was plentiful labor working for very low returns. That's why if you bought at a small grocery store there was no problem about delivery because the grocer could easily hire a delivery boy or delivery man for not much money. We had three mail deliveries a day, that's hard to imagine.

The Hyde Park Post Office was at 55th and.Kimbark and the mail men would come out with their bags over their shoulders and take the street car free, as they can now, and you had three deliveries a day. Mail was delivered from downtown by white, enclosed postal street cars.

For general transportation, there were automobiles in my childhood, but the horse was still very important. We relied very heavily on street cars and especially on the Illinois Central. The Illinois Central was the great link between Hyde Park and downtown. It's hard to imagine that there were trains every ten minutes. A ten ride ticket when I began buying it regularly was a dollar ten and the IC was our prized means of transportation. We were thrilled in the 1920's when it was electrified. Until then, Hyde Park's air was filled with cinders from coal furnaces and especially from the stacks of the J.C. locomotives. I haven't had a coal cinder in my eye for 30 years. Going downtown by car was a problem. During the day it took at least forty-five minutes. In my childhood, there was no Outer Drive and a car had to wander along the boulevards. And so our community was more self-contained than now, more solidly oriented toward only the Loop, and very dependent on public transportation. Today, we still have excellent public transportation in the bus

On the occasion of the 125th Anniversary of The Harvard School, we are delighted to reprint these reflections on its earliest days by John J. Schobinger, Headmaster for many years. First printed in the school's yearbook, The Review, in 1925, this document will delight Chicago and Hyde Park history enthusiasts.

The Early Days of The Harvard School and My Connection With It

by John J. Schobinger

The history of cities, like that of states, has its epochs, outstanding dates which stand as landmarks from which events are dated. Our country reckons before and since the War of the Revolution; the world at large will for generations count before and since the Great War; Chicago's critical event was the Great Fire in 1871. Before the fire was the old Chicago which we of today can hardly imagine, when Michigan Avenue, as far north as Van Buren, was purely a resident street; when Congress Street was in the midst of a resident section; when Wabash Avenue was the fashionable street where the merchant princes lived. Even when I saw it, after '73, I admired the large, fine trees that shaded it to Twelfth Street, as far south as I walked. There is not one of them left.

The beginnings of the Harvard School reach back into the prehistoric time "before the fire." As far as I have been able to find, it was born in 1865. Its founder was Edward Stanley Waters, of Salem, Massachusetts, a graduate of Harvard University, who named it in honor of his Alma Mater. He was a brother of Henry Waters, the foremost genealogist of America, who has done more than any other to establish the English connections of the early settlers and of "The Father of Our Country."

The first location of the school was at Congress Street, between Wabash and Michigan Avenues. It was scarcely established when the great fire came and wiped it out, scattering in every direction the families that had supported it. Mr.

Waters moved it west, to Sheldon Street, where it lived precariously for a year or two, and then to Sixteenth Street on the south side, where I knew it first. There was a row of narrow three-story brick buildings, three of them occupying a 50- foot lot. Mr. Waters had rented two of them, one being used for the school, the other for his living quarters. Three young bachelor business men shared his housekeeping expenses with him. I happened at the time to be foot-loose, as my engagement as tutor in a family had come to an end. Robert Collyer, a prominent Unitarian clergyman, with whom I had become acquainted, gave me an introduction to Mr. Waters, and it was my good fortune to become engaged by him for a few hours' science teaching for the remaining ten weeks of the school. By the end of that time, we had become well acquainted, and Mr. Waters proposed to me an engagement as a regular teacher for the following year.

Mr. Waters was a scholarly gentleman-I would underline both words-with extensive cultural interests, many more than he could make use of in his school. And the school was very small. There were just 19 boys when I joined it. Only two blocks away, on Eighteenth Street, was Mr. Babcock's School, and about that time Professor Allen, who had up to then been principal of Lake Forest Academy, opened on Twenty-second Street a school which soon became quite

large. I did not realize what this meant, but I think Mr. Waters did. He, no doubt, found it hard to make both ends meet. In addition to his school work, he gave lectures on Art to a club of ladies on Prairie and Calumet Avenues, whose, husbands were at the time the leading men in the Chicago business world. I need mention but the names of Marshall Field,

P. D. Armour, George Armour, Edson Keith, George Pullman, Sam Allerton, Charles H. Hamill, Wirt Dexter, W. B. Walker, J.M. Walker, John G. Shortall, Albert Sturges, W. G. Hibbard, Fernando Jones and others who are all well known to the older generation of Chicagoans. But the school did not grow. By the end of the year Mr. Waters got weary of the ceaseless struggle and, promising himself better returns from his real love as a dealer in objects of Art, agreed to sell me the school. This was in June, 1876.

I had been principal of a small high school in Switzerland for five years before coming here, and I had learned a good deal about keeping school. Had I known more about American business conditions, I might not have undertaken the venture with the alacrity I did. However, all the boys came back, and in two years, by new additions, the number grew to 35. Not that progress was easy. I gave up one of the two houses, lived on the first floor of the school, gave private lessons, worked night and day, cooked my own breakfast and lunch, and went out for supper. I bought 21 tickets for $5.C)O at a little restaurant that a man by the name of Philip Henrici had opened on State Street, south of Van Buren. His small beginnings prospered as mine have, and Henrici's of today, on Randolph Street, resembles his beginnings on South State Street about as the Harvard School of today resembles the school of 1876. The net income of that first year was just $360.00, so I was, like some illustrious followers in the great war, a dollar-a-day man.

The monotony of my daily fare was agreeably broken by the weekly invitation to Sunday breakfast by a kind neighbor, Mrs. Murry Nelson, whose New England codfish balls still stand in grateful remembrance.

In 1878, in anticipation of further increase, I gave up my Sixteenth Street quarters and rented, at a considerably higher rental, the house at 977 Indiana Avenue, later numbered 2101 Indiana Avenue. I found it very much out of repairs, in places that did not show at first sight, and the bills nearly broke me; but when once arranged, it proved very serviceable. The school was housed there until 1897, when the shift of population induced us to find new quarters. In the school year '79-'80, the number of boys reached 62.

In 1880, I formed a partnership with Mr. John C. Grant, a Yale man, who had been the principal assistant of Mr. Allen, of the Allen Academy, at Twenty-second Street. Mr. Grant was a fine, straight­ forward man, a good scholar, a strong disciplinarian, though with no apparent effort. He was somewhat stem, especially in his earlier years, but perfectly just and hence universally respected, and so absolutely straight and honorable that you might, with perfect safety, have left your interests in his keeping, even if there were a possibility of conflict with his own.

This perfect partnership lasted for 34 years between two men differing in origin, traditions, education and temperament, until Mr. Grant's death in 1914 dissolved it.

Meanwhile the school was growing. In 1881 we bought the building, in 1883 we enlarged it, added a third story and rearranged it internally, which made it very convenient for our purpose.

In 1890, we erected another building on the rear of the lot, which contained a gymnasium with shower baths below, and a kindergarten and primary department above.

But by the middle of the nineties, we felt that our neighborhood was rapidly changing. Business was encroaching, people were moving away. In 1897, we regretfully abandoned Indiana Avenue and rented a fine building at Forty-seventh Street and Lake Avenue that had been standing vacant for some time. After extensive (and expensive!) alterations, we moved into that beautiful building, and we should have been quite content to stay there, but realized, of course, that it was too expensive to purchase and that it must ultimately go into the market. While there, we absorbed first the Princeton-Yale School, and a little later the Cambridge School, then on Fiftieth and Lake Avenue. The Princeton-Yale School was then owned by Mr. Payson S. Wild, who became a member of our faculty for the next few years. He will address the graduating class at our commencement exercises in June.

But in 1906, the inevitable happened­ the building occupied by the Harvard School was sold, and we had to move.

There were not many choices open. After much search, we finally secured a lease­ again, unfortunately, a lease on precarious terms-of the building at 4651 Drexel Boulevard, where the late Forty-seventh Street Hospital now stands. It was limited in size, inadequate in construction, and seemed especially unsafe in case of fire, as it was, like other buildings we had previously occupied, entirely of good construction inside. But public understanding of the needs of better methods of building had grown, so that this building seemed worse than the others.

For that reason, and also because it was plain that in a neighborhood so rapidly building up, such a prominent comer called for a high-grade improvement, we had to come to the conclusion that the only way to secure the future of the school was to house it in a permanent home. In its fifty years of life, it had demonstrated its vitality; many of its fonner students were among the prominent citizens of Chicago, and there seemed to exist no reason why its services to the community should not continue indefinitely.

So, in 1915, after the first fright at the outbreak of the war had somewhat abated, I started the campaign for the organization of a building corporation that would put up a permanent home for the Harvard School. I first addressed myself to the former students of the Harvard School, many of whom are now prominent men of affairs. The response was surprising, the more so because none of these men had any present interest in the school. A special debt of gratitude is due them.

About half the stock subscriptions came from that source. Then I saw present patrons of the school whose sons would, for a time at least, profit from the better opportunities. The success among them was equally gratifying. By September, 1916, the architect, Mr. Charles H. Prindeville, had his plans completed; the building was begun, and on May 1, 1917, was occupied.

This is the only financial help the Harvard School has ever received, and this was not in the form of a gift, but of a loan, at low interest, to be sure, which is being repaid as fast as the income of the school will allow. There is no truth in the account which a Chicago paper gave last summer that the Harvard School had been founded by some rich men who wanted a school for their boys.

It would be invidious to discriminate between the good friends who have contributed to the success of the enterprise. But I can not close this chapter without naming, with grateful recognition, three men who for years, up to now, have ceaselessly, generously and gratuitously given their time and skill to the actual carrying on of the legal and administrative business of the building company and the school, which never could have accomplished otherwise what it did. They are Charles H. Hamill, Mr. James E. Greenebaum and Mr. Joseph E. Otis. Nor would it be just to close this account without grateful acknowledgment of the faithful service of a host of teachers who have done most of the work that has placed the Harvard School where it now stands. Mrs. Johnson took our Primary department when it had 30 boys; it now has 130, and a teacher for every grade. Mr. Ford, our second teacher as to seniority, has given his whole strength to the school, ever calling for more work. The faculty has grown from three in 1876 to twenty­

t o in 1925.

What has occurred since May 1, 1917, is recent history, known to all. The most important event, I should say, is the association of Mr. Pence as principal with me of the Harvard School. His energy and faithfulness are full of promise for the further prosperity of the school lines. The Illinois Central is still good, but greatly diminished, and of course there's tremendous reliance on the Outer Drive and the automobile. I know someone who lives at 5490 South Shore Drive who tells me what a wonderful thing it is that he can get in his car and be in his office in the Prudential Building in twelve minutes.

That is remarkable. But Hyde Park is now tied to many reachable parts of the city, and that's had an enormous effect on Hyde Park shopping and its stores.

In my childhood, 55th street was a linear street of stores from Hyde Park Boulevard to Cottage Grove Avenue. Just a succession of stores without interruption on both sides of the street. The establish­ ments were more varied and numerous than a busy shopping mall, but the units were small and the shoppers were mostly pedestrians. There were businesses for which there is no longer room - a huge greenhouse (Metz's) off 55th Street on Harper; a dairy off 55th Street at Univer­ sity that turned raw milk into butter, cream and milk for delivery; candy and ice cream stores that made their product on the premises; grocery stores of all kinds from convenience to gourmet; fine butcher shops; kosher butcher shops; stores with crates of live chickens in front; dry goods stores; soda fountains; aromatic bakeries; luscious delicatessens; well-stocked toy stores; and near Lake Park Avenue, saloons with swinging doors. I remember the 1918 excitement of the first chain store

- an Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company store just west of Blackstone. The A&P has disappeared, but the supermart is here to stay, and the variety of a mile-long linear pedestrian street like 55th is now just nostalgia.

Correspondence

May 26, 1991

To:       Editor:

Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter

From:   Sam Hair

1522 Stanford Place

Charlotte, NC 28207

You may be interested in this letter my mother wrote to my father in 1910...

A letter written by Florence Hair to her husband, September 29, 1910, describing the take-off of Brookins airplane flight from Washington Park, Chicago, to Springfield, Illinois:

1447 E. 52nd St.

Chicago, Ill. Sep. 29 - 1910

Dear Thomas:

While my washing is "on the soak" I'm going to tell you about seeing Brookins start off for Springfield this morning to win if possible the $10,000.00 the Record Herald offers for its aviation prize for the feat. For two days this daring fellow has attracted the most enthusiastic attention from hundreds of thousands who saw his trial flights in Grant Park. It will be interesting to know what estimate the Record Herald will make of the crowds that filled Washington Park this morning in the vicinity of the big meadow there.

Thomas, Lenore & I drove over about 8:50 after taking father to 42nd Street. Every person and vehicle seemed to be headed for the Park and the very air was

vibrant with expectation and awe.

The large meadow was kept clear by policemen, mounted, and a frame of human beings packed solid, a hundred feet deep, framed the entire open space. At the southwest corner of the meadow we could the frail aircraft. We drove near the

northwest corner of the meadow and got into the large car of Mrs. Houston with an excellent view of the field. Machines were thick everywhere. Finally the huge paddles began to revolve in trial revolu­ tions and the crowd began to hum like a bit of the machinery itself. Then the engine was started and the dainty ship with its one occupant, strapped and wired in so that he was a very part of it, made a running, lifting motion for an incredibly short distance, then rose directly up over the trees with astonishing grace and beauty. The loud noise the engine made seemed to be apart from that magnificent sight that was the most thrilling I ever saw in all my life. Brookins flew around the meadow about 200 feet high, going directly over our heads, then, slowly mounting higher and higher he sped away in the sunshine like a glistening gold dragonfly.

I can't tell you how affecting it is to see

it, with your own eyes. It is nothing to read about. You must see it. And the tremendous crowds and bands and the glorious sunshine all added to the occa­ sion. My one thought was to have you see it, too. I was glad little Tom was there, tho' he was engrossed in a door key! Shall we not enter this as "Red Letter Day" in his book? My whole mind is fixed on that aeroplane, speeding over the country this sunny morning. If he isn't afraid, what a marvelous ride for that fellow! It is 185 miles there and everything seemed to be propititious as he flew away. I'm sure that hundreds of thousands were unconsciously praying for his success. I hope we will hear this afternoon.

(Remainderofletterispersonal.)(signed)FlorenceCummingsHair

Editor's note:

Our special thanks to Mr. Hair. Imagine the thrill his mother must have felt - perhaps akin to what we felt when we watched men landing on the moon! And how beautifully she tells it!

Please send us your memories or yourremarkablehistorical documentsorphotographs. These precious bits ofhistorylovetobeshared

Fifteen Years on the Hyde Park Historical Society Board

Carol Brad/ord, cu"ent HPHS president, looks back on our fifteen years:

The first Historical Society meeting I attended was sometime in the winter of 1976-77. It was held at Hitchcock Hall and the program was a lecture on the Hitchcocks and the construction of that campus building. The only person there whom I knew was Ted Anderson, a fellow member of the United Church of Hyde Park, and at the time still owner of the hardware store at Kimbark Plaza. I signed

a sheet being passed around, indicating my interest in joining the society.

A few weeks later, I received a call, perhaps from Muriel Beadle who was president at the time, inviting me to join the Board of Directors. I recall being pleasantly surprised at the invitation, as everyone was new to me. My husband and I were relative newcomers to the area, having moved to our home at 51st and Woodlawn in 1971.

My first board meeting that spring was held at Robie House. Besides Ted and Muriel, the board members I recall from that time were Leon Despres, Al and Thelma Dahlberg, Jean Block, Betty Davey, Malcolm Collier, Dev Bowley, Clyde Watkins, and Michael and Cathleen Conzen.

One of the topics of discussion at that first meeting was a plan to produce an historical map of Hyde Park. Everyone was enthusiastic, and the hope was to have the map ready for sale by the next year's art fair. Little did we know what we were in for! Over the years, many of us did research on historic sites. We developed criteria for places to be included on the map. We hired a graduate student to do further research and verify data. Michael Conzen located a cartographer and graphic artist who could do the actual map preparation. Each year we would hope to "have it ready for sale at the next year's art fair." Bus alas! it was not to be. We were not sure enough that all our information was absolutely correct (a requirement emphasized by Jean Block), production complications arose, key people were no longer available to do certain tasks. It became a running joke at board meetings. I think it was some time during the mid '80's that the idea was officially laid to rest. Perhaps in the next century it will be resurrected!

As the Society grew, the Board began to seek a location for a headquarters. When we agreed upon the present site, Ted Anderson proposed a $100 charter membership drive as a way to raise funds for the necessary renovation. Ted was a natural for such a drive because he was such a persuasive salesman, and he knew almost everyone in Hyde Park who might be a potential donor. With his efforts, and those of others, we raised the $40,000 needed to tum our building from the decrepit eyesore it had been into a handsome structure of which the Society and community could be proud.

The grand opening festivities in October, 1980 included a parade down 53rd Street from the staging area at the Murray Lot over to 5529 South Lake Park. There were bands, cheerleaders, clowns, community organizations, floats, board members in period costumes, and local politicians. The fanfare and hoopla have not been surpassed to this day.

From then on, we met at our own building. But I, for one, had enjoyed the chance to meet in board members' homes. Otherwise, I might never have seen the interior of the Benjamin Marshall house at 49th and Ellis, owned at the time by our treasurer, Gary Husted; or the double house on Harper, owned by Al and Thelma Dahlberg, and Betty Davey's home just up the street. Others I enjoyed were the 50th Street rowhouse of the Conzens; the home of Tom and Georgene Pavalec on Cornell, decorated so festively for Christmas; and the homes of Clyde Watkins (a former president of the Society) and John and Theresa McDermott, both near 48th and Kimbark.

We all shared stories about the trials and joys of owning an older Hyde Park house.

The publication of Jean Block's book by that title was a source of pride for all of us. Our home didn't make it into the book, but not many months later, Jean called me excitedly. She had been at our home a few times, and reported that in the course of doing some further library research, she had come across a picture of the house in a May, 1914 issue of Inland Architect. It described the owner, one Alfred Lang, an architect who had designed it for his own family. She regretted that she couldn't take the bound volume out of the Center for Research Libraries. Well, we happened to have a fellow church member, Judy Sandstrom, who was a staff member there, and she assisted us in getting our own copies of that page. Jean also encouraged me to write a history of my family's farm in Turner County, South Dakota, which had been settled as a homestead by my great-grandfather, Paul Ysbrand, in 1874.

One of the things I prize about my association with the Society has been the friendships which have developed. Early on, Thelma Dahlberg and I discovered a common bond as natives of South Dakota. Bea Boehm also has relatives there. Betty Borst is a fellow social worker, with whom I've shared common interests. The list could go on and on, of talented, dedicated people who have served the Society over the years.

When I was asked to serve as president, I was a bit daunted when I realized that the other women who have been president were Muriel Beadle and Jean Block. What shoes to fill! I only hope that I can approach the standard they set.

A Book of Special Interest to Hyde Park Readers

Reviewed by Leon Despres

RIGHTEOUS PILGRIM - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HAROLD L. ICKES,

1874 - 1952; by T. H. Watkins (Henry Holt, 1010 pp)

is an excellent biography of FDR's great Secretary of the Interior. Of special interest are the pages about his eighteen years in Hyde Park from 1893 to 1911.

Ickes came to Chicago from Altoona, Pennsylvania, to live with an uncle in Englewood, where he graduated from Englewood High School. In 1893 he entered the new University of Chicago and lived on campus. Being very poor, he ate one fifteen-cent meal a day in a tiny restaurant near Ellis and 56th, operated by

..Mother Ingram." "Fried ham was my

customary dish," he wrote, "because with the fried ham I could get all the bread and butter I wanted so managed to get along." In 1896 he fell in love with handsome

Anna Wilmarth, the richest girl on campus. After Anna went to Europe for a year, Ickes was invited to dinner at the Quadrangle Club by James Westfall Thompson, later a distinguished UC professor of mediaeval history (from whom I took two courses). Over a game of pool, Thompson told Ickes, "You have doubtless heard it reported that I am engaged to Miss Wilmarth. Well, I am." Ickes was crushed.

Ickes, then a reporter, lived in a fraternity house on campus, while Anna built a home (still standing) at 5747

Blackstone. Ickes was invited to live with the Thompsons, and he did so for years until Anna ousted Thompson for his indiscretions and fell in love with Ickes.

In 1903 Ickes, financed by Anna's mother, entered the University of Chicago Law School which had opened in 1902, and graduated cum laude in 1907. In 1904 he required a mastoid operation, refused to go to a hospital, and underwent a disas­ trous operation on a kitchen table in an upstairs room at 5747 Blackstone. In 1905 Ickes met another Hyde Parker, Charles A. Merriam, political scientist, with whom he had close political relations the rest of his life. In 1909 he helped Merriam's success­ ful campaign for alderman. In 1911 he managed Merriam's unsuccessful cam­ paign for mayor. (Many Hyde Parkers worked on son Bob Merriam's unsuccess­ ful campaign for mayor in 1955.)

In 1909 Anna divorced Thompson and in the summer of 1911 Ickes and Anna were married. They moved to a house in Evanston that Anna had built in 1910, and lived unhappily ever after. He should never have left Hyde Park!

 Volume 13 Number 4 December, 1991

Eighty Years Around Hyde Park -   What's Past Is Prologue

Excerpts from a talk by Leon M. Despres

before the Hyde Park Historical Society on April 14, 1991

Part Two:

In my childhood and early adolescence there were many Hyde Park meeting places. There were at least five motion picture theaters we depended on for entertainment. When there were political campaigns, there were meetings in hotel ballrooms, in theaters, in Shotwell Hall on 55th Street, in Rosalie Hall at 57th and Harper - a big meeting place - all of which have disappeared. Those meetings have given way to high tech. The radio became a substitute and after radio came television. Now video tapes provide much of the entertainment for which we used to depend on the motion picture theaters and meeting halls. Hyde Park is now much more a community of people tied to their homes that it was in most of the eighty years I lived in it.

We had drama groups in Hyde Park that functioned very well. It would be hard to imagine the Compass today or some of the other drama groups that originated in Hyde Park, because the places aren't here anymore. We have the excellent Court Theater, but not the half-dozen other little groups that appeared, flourished, waned, and reappeared.

Another influence which has altered Hyde Park is the impairment of security. In my childhood there were policemen on the beat. They walked the beat, and one got to know the policeman on the beat. He would walk around all day long and there would be someone around at night. There were police patrol cars, but no radio

phones. Now we have far more efficient general patrolling but we also have a general urban atmosphere of violence and crime. It's not peculiar to Hyde Park, but what it has done is to reduce and greatly alter the quality of night life in Hyde Park. In my childhood and well into my adulthood there was no thought of insecurity at night. And when insecurity came, there were some of us who thought, well, we have to show that it doesn't exist. Then, in 1967, I was shot at 55th and Dorchester. That feeling of insecurity represents an enormous change.

I think I'd like to mention the change in the churches. There were far more churches in my early days in Hyde Park. When I moved to Hyde Park there were no synagogues. There was a very small Jewish population in Hyde Park and no synagogues at all. There were lots of churches but many of them have disappeared. Then, starting in the 1920's synagogues came to Hyde Park, and many of them are gone. There's still an active, lively religions federation, the Hyde Park Interfaith Council, but there are only two synagogues and one of them is planning to leave.

One important aspect of the Hyde Park community during all these years was the relationship to the communities north and south. Woodlawn was a very important area for people who worked at the University. It was a great housing area for University personnel. And there was close contact with the communities to the South and to the North, between Hyde Park and Woodlawn, between Hyde Park and Kenwood and Oakland, and also between Hyde Park and the area west of Washington Park. Today, after eighty years, Hyde Park is a circumscribed community with limited personal relations with the north, south, and west.

Hyde Park was almost lily white. Fortunately a few African American families lived in a few locations, including the 5500-5600 Lake Park, and the 5300 Maryland blocks. Hyde Park had its poor, many of them living in the buildings over the stores on 55th Street, but they were white. The real estate interests kept the community white by inducing property owners to sign legally enforceable racial restrictive covenants. Fortunately, however, there were African American pupils in my classes in the Ray School and Hyde Park High School. Without them, I would not have had good childhood racial peer group experiences.

There were no computers in the Ray School, but there was a shower room and a bath attendant, to give the blessings of salubrity to bath-less Ray School children. For me, it was an adventure one afternoon a week to be excused from class at the Ray Branch (56-Stony Island) to go to the main building for a shower. My Ray School showers were the first showers in my life. 5488 Everett had splendid bathtubs, but shower equipment was not then standard.

One of the great things that happened during those eighty years was urban renewal - a remarkable occurrence. If you look at it in context over a period of eighty years, you have to say it's really astonishing. Neither before nor since has there been such an amazing surge of community feeling, and it lasted about a dozen years. We owe a great deal to the people who pushed it and put it into effect. It's an amazing example of community leadership. You can say that safely now, although for a long time all we could do was criticize urban renewal and talk about its shortcomings and the poor quality of some of the planning and the economic discrimination, but in reality it was a remarkable achievement.

You know, for three years from 1949 to 1952, urban renewal was not exactly urban renewal. It was the grass roots activity of the community responding to the Supreme Court decision outlawing racial restrictive covenants against African Americans. The Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference took as its standard that this community should be a "racially

integrated community of high standards." The racial bars should be dropped and the community should strive for new standards. It took three years for the University of Chicago administration to join, but when it did, it joined wholeheartedly. However I think the greatest credit goes to the remarkable people who took the initiative at the beginning.

Hyde Park's organizations have always been exciting- this Historical Society, the Hyde Park Cooperative Society, the 57th Street Art Fair, the Conference, the South East Commission, the Service League, the Hyde Park newspapers, the religious organizations, the political organizations - all of them have made Hyde Park's life and my life richer.

In racial relations, the beginnings of full fraternity and opposition to racial discrimination really began with strength in the forties. It's hard to remember that the Lab School excluded black students. I went to the Lab School for three years

from 1916 to 1919 and am very grateful to it. It still had a lot of the benefits of Dewey's having founded and made it a progressive school. But there were no African American students in the Lab School. In 1943 our children were in the Lab School, and my wife and Fruma Gottschalk and others decided that the time had come to try to get the bars lowered. You can't imagine how difficult it was. You'd think it would be something you'd simply present to the University, present it to Robert Hutchins, and he would say, "Yes, you're right, we shouldn't have done this all these years and we'11 lower the bars." But it took about a year of hard work and finally the bars were lowered.

A couple of years before that it had been very difficult to get the bars lowered at the Quadrangle Club which excluded African Americans from membership. One faculty member, Allison Davis, was a very distinguished educator, whose faculty position had been funded by the Rosenwald Fund. The Fund extracted a commitment that he wouldn't try to join the Quadrangle Club; they thought it important that he be fully accepted as a faculty member without creating a storm.

Well, thanks to Milton Mayer and others (I joined in), we did break down the bars at the club.

In 1917 Chicago had had a very big immigration of African Americans. They came here for all kinds of jobs - in steel, in packing, and in all the service jobs. And so the area of black residency began expanding slowly. And that caused a lot of white people who lived at 23rd Street and 27th Street and 31st and 39th and 41st and so on to think of moving elsewhere. Lots of white people, including Jewish people, moved to Hyde Park. My family, my aunt and grandmother all moved to Hyde Park. Before there were synagogues here there was a Jewish population. I went to Sunday School at Sinai congregation and I had to take three street cars to get to 47th and King Drive (then Grand Boulevard) on Sunday mornings. You know it was in 1917 that the Real Estate Board committee passed a resolution that there should be no renting to blacks in any block until the previous block was filled. That became the policy of the real estate industry for a long time, even after the Supreme Court decision on restrictive covenants. The exciting change came in 1949 when Hyde Park really began to be an interracial

community of high standards, and when

finally the University of Chicago joined in and created the Southeast Chicago Commission.

It's always easy to reminisce about the past, but I think the important thing is to think about the present and the future.

What is most important is to consider how we can preserve and continue the vitality and creativity of Hyde Park. I think we do so by the organizations and centers that we continue to support. With technology and urban crime keeping people in their homes, organization activity becomes increasingly important as a way of bringing people together. The leadership of the University of Chicago or its absence of leadership have been very important in continuing the identity of Hyde Park. I was deeply impressed and thrilled by the community interest of the Beadles, particularly Muriel Beadle, when they were here. Especially important was Muriel Beadle's initiating, sponsoring, and pushing through Harper Court, a valuable Hyde Park resource and symbol. Just now the University leadership is active but not as active as it was. When the need arises,

I'm sure we'll have vigorous leadership again from the University.

We should profit also by our experience with decay. I told you about all those stores and the buildings on 55th Street. Well, I saw many of them decay. We're fortunate that urban renewal took many of them, perhaps a few too many. I remember the 27 saloons near 55th and Lake Park. I'm pleased to remember that once my father had to get some liquor to take home and he took me to a saloon to the free lunch counter. I'm pleased to remember that there was once free lunch in saloons. Then came the speakeasies in the same locations. It was exciting to go into a speakeasy and realize that the whole enterprise was a federal offense. It was great to have urban renewal remove buildings that had deteriorated terribly.

One of our big jobs now is to pinpoint future decay. And I think some of the problems of future decay will be even more difficult than the ones that we solved in urban renewal. It's more difficult to solve the decay of a huge high rise than the decay of a low-rise store or apartment building.

The IC was a very important part of my life, up to recently. It isn't nearly as important now although it's certainly a genuine asset of the community. The tracks were originally on the ground and, in my childhood, the LC. put in new viaduct supports. They were huge beams, trunks of trees, and it was very, very nice because as these trunks of trees stood there they would begin to sprout branches and leaves, so we had a kind of a forest under the viaducts.

The Illinois Central, in my childhood, was run by coal, and coal was a curse in Hyde Park. There were three pollution curses we were aware of -we didn't know anything about PCB then, or any of those things - but the cinders and the coal pollution were awful. Nearly all the buildings were heated by coal. The Illinois Central was constantly spewing cinders: you•d see the train go by and you•d see burning cinders flying over the train. It was a great day when the Illinois Central was electrified about 1926.

The second pollution came from the steel mills. We used to see those red clouds above the steel mills and think how pretty they were. (I didn't know then about my wife's allergies.) The third, the one that I still can't understand our tolerating, was the stench from the stock yards. The fumes from rendering, depending upon wind, covered the area with a stench. And we tolerated this!

Fortunately we didn't know how injurious these pollutants were.

Of course the political contribution of Hyde Park is enormous. I had an intense interest in government but I had no idea of running for any office of any kind. I had

been counsel for the Illinois ACLU for seven years during the McCarthy period and, because of my great interest in government and politics, I was chairman of the Independent Voters of Illinois.

When Bob Merriam decided to run for

Mayor, he kept his decision quiet because he wanted to announce it suddenly to create excitement. He quietly called in five or six of us, including Louis Silverman, Bob Picken and Dick Meyer - I don't remember who else - and told us that he was going to run for Mayor and he would like to have a strong aldermanic candidate. He was a little embarrassed because his assistant wanted to run for alderman, and he believed that his assistant could not wage the kind of campaign Bob Merriam felt he needed to support his campaign for Mayor.

So we started to work. We said, sure, we•d find a candidate. And we went to excellent people, some of whom are in the community today. We went to Calvin Sawyier, we went to Alex Elson, but they wouldn't run. I can't remember everyone we went to; I just mention those because they were first rate candidates and would have been excellent aldermen if they had accepted. But they had commitments and weren't able to. We became desperate, it was Thanksgiving week, and we hadn't found anyone willing to run for alderman.

Then the committee met without me

and decided I should run for alderman. It was a great surprise to me because I had not planned on that, so I asked for three days to decide. I consulted a number of people, particularly a previous alderman, James Cusack, who was a personal friend. I then decided that there was a fighting

chance: we would have Merriam's support; we would have the M; and we would have the small Republican party in the ward which had agreed to support our choice. So with those three there was a chance; at least it would not be a disgraceful run. That's how the campaign started and that's how I ran. It was a tough fight and I had to go into a runoff.

At my first regular City Council meeting, a city employee asked me if I wanted to take part in the municipal pension program; did I want to authorize deductions from my salary. I was astounded that I was elected. I did not expect ever to be reelected, but I thought I ought to so that I could understand the pension system. Then I was in the City Council for twenty years! I got my pension. The only thing is, my top annual salary at the end of my aldermanic tenn was eight thousand dollars, so my pension is based on eight thousand dollars, and I get three hundred dollars a month. But I think it's wonderful to get three hundred dollars a month. Today aldermen get fifty­ five thousand dollars and if they stay in the Council for twenty years their pension is seven times as much.

Well I've given you a rapid overview of Hyde Park in eighty years. but I want to tell you I wasn't born in Hyde Park, I was born in St. Luke's Hospital, which was at 14th and Michigan Avenue, down the street from 4127 where I lived my first three years. Sometimes I take the No. 1 bus and ride past my birthplace. It sports a big plaque now, and the plaque says, "For Sale". Everything changes. What's past is prologue.

Editors Note:

We know you will be delighted to read

Jim Stronk'sfollow-up on Sam Hair's mother's letter regarding Brookin's flight

Readers - please share your memories with us!

27 Sep 1991

Editor:

I was gratified to receive your letter of Sept. 17 with Jim Stronks' research about Brookins' flight in 1910 from Washington Park. I have had my mother's letter about it for some years and am happy that the Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter gave me a way to share it with others.

I often wondered what happened to Brookins on this flight and now I know, thanks to Jim Stronks, who went to the trouble to find out. The whole episode

now becomes more fascinating than ever. I was a pilot in the Navy (1941-46) so I have had an interest in aviation for a long time.

My mother kept a diary with entries every day for more than 60 years, and also wrote reminiscences of her girlhood in Clifton, IL, where her father, Mr.

Cummings, owned the grain elevator and the bank. They were living in Hyde Park at 5135 Dorchester after leaving Clifton in 1898. I will send you her reminiscences about the Iroquois Theater fire in 1903 when her sister Irene was among several hundred fatalities on that tragic day.

Am sending Jim Stronks a copy of this letter with my thanks to him for providing the happy ending to the Brookins story.

It is always a pleasure to hear from you and to read the Newsletter. I may be able to find more fragments about old Hyde Park among our family papers. If I think they are worth passing on, I will do so.

 With kind regards, Samuel C. Hair Charlotte, NC

Correspondence

 Hyde Park Historical Society:

On behalf of LILAC, I want to express many great pleasure and our sincere appreciation for the Hyde Park Historical Society's efforts to provide a source of water for the landscaping project on the embankment around the Society headquarters. The water supply is crucial for the success of the project, and it is encouraging to see these preliminary steps in place before the major planting scheduled for Saturday, May 23, 1992.

In addition to the Historical Society's

work on installing a water spigot, the first few large trees and shrubs were planted as well as 1000 scilla and 750 daffodil bulbs. Most recently a very successful Christmas tree shredding created badly needed mulch for the plants now on the embankment.

Over 100 people brought their Christmas trees to the site which were shredded and blown onto the embankment by the Resource Center's mechanical shredder.

The community response to this project has been gratifying. Many people in the community have contributed both time and money to the project. We have raised approximately $1800, so far, toward this project, in addition to the $5000 grant from the Chicago Community Trust/ Mayor Daley's Urbs in Horto Tree Fund. This does not include the expenses the society has incurred in installing the water supply.

We look forward to the completion of this initial phase of the project and our continued cooperation in this venture.

 Sincerely, Richard C. Pardo Chairman, LILAC

September 9, 1991 To: The Editor

Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter

In the July number you published Florence Cummings Hair's marvelous 1910 letter about an airplane talcing off from Washington Park in an attempt to win a newspaper's $10,000 prize by flying all the way to Springfield, Illinois. May I add a follow-up?

When the flying machine took off from the meadow that morning, Florence Hair went back to her home at 1447 East 52nd Street and wrote her husband Tom an excited letter. The "dainty ship," she said, rose "with astonishing grace and beauty," and "sped away in the sunshine like a glistening gold dragonfly." She is doing a washing, she tells Tom, but "My whole mind is fixed on that aeroplane, speeding over the country this sunny morning. H he isn't afraid, what a marvelous ride for that fellow!"

Florence Hair's vivid and lovely letter made me want to know more about the drama which drew most of Hyde Park to Washington Park that day. I turned to the Tribune for September 30, 1910, and there it was on page 1:

DARING YOUNG AVIATOR WINS

$10,000 AND AMAZES THOUSANDS EN ROUTE BY CONTROL OF MACHINE.

The flyer was Walter Brookins, age 22, a pupil of none other than Orville and Wilbur Wright, and now a salaried demonstration pilot for their airplane factory.

Florence Hair's "dainty dragonfly" was one of the Wrights' latest models, a biplane pushed by two propellers (which

Florence calls "the huge paddles"). Wilbur Wright himself, then 43, was one of the 30,000 in Washington Park that morning; the event would be priceless advertising for Wright airplanes, if it succeeded.

It had been announced that the flight would follow the Illinois Central tracks to Springfield, so the ICRR laid on a special train to chase the plane. After the take-off, when Florence Hair went home to finish her washing, Wilbur Wright rushed to the 63rd Street Station, boarded the train, and thus caught up with the airplane about 75 miles from Hyde Park, at Gilman, Illinois, where Brookins had landed in a pasture to take on more gasoline. Wright checked over his machine there, and again at Mount Pulaski, Brookins' second stop, and throughout the day kept the low-flying plane in sight from his car on the train. All along the ICRR route hopeful Illinoisans looking aloft were rewarded with what was for most of them their thrilling first sight of an airplane.

Today we hop from Meigs Field to Springfield in 45 minutes. But in 1910, only seven years after Kitty Hawk, Brookins' air time for the 192 miles (he was not flying a beeline) was 5 hours, 49 minutes, for an average speed of 33 miles per hour. People drive faster than that down Hyde Park Boulevard today.

Brookins was slowed by a 10 mph headwind all the way, but his flight broke several U.S. records for distance.

When he landed at the State Fair Grounds, a huge throng cheered him as a hero of the new air age. Wilbur Wright, however, did not get carried away. Said

the Irih: "A dry smile and a short 'Pretty

Good' were his quota of praise."

Florence Hair's daring young man in the flying machine was tired from fighting the controls for a bumpy six hours of headwind, sitting without a cockpit to shelter him but strapped to the front of the machine in the open air, his whole body exposed to the buffeting, with the engine roaring only inches behind him. Once safely down, Brookins was proud of his success, but he quietly admitted that, "It was an awful trip."

 Jim Stronks Chicago, Illinois

Newsletters 1990

May 1990

September 1990

Volume 12, Number 1 and 2  May,1990 Headquarters:  5529 Lake Park Avenue Open Sat. 2-4PM; Sun. 2-4 PM

by Margo Criscuola

Suzanne McGarry and her husband,

Photo by Edward Campbell

Over the years, however, other features were added: metal cabinetry in the kitchen,

ing and a lot of cosmetic changes," she says. These included removing the extra staircase and a third-floor kitchen left from the rooming house and four months of stripping the purple and white paint that was some "crazy's" idea of elegance, to reveal handsome woodwork, including the oak staircase, carved oak parlor doors, and ornate cornices for the parlor windows. The doors were given new stained-glass windows to replace those long gone.

Naturally, there were repairs, re-siding, and then painting and papering throughout.

The aim was not to restore to museum­

Robert Kulovitz, had known exactly what they were looking for-a great old house at a price that would allow them to do a thorough rehabilitation-but they looked in vain for quite a while. It seemed that there was not much left in the Hyde Park­ Kenwood area.

The three-story frame house at 5134 Woodlawn had waited a while, too. Built before 1889, the 12-plus room house is rich in architectural detail. Outside, a wide porch, double front doors, and wide windows suggest solid comfort, while Carpenter's Gothic turnings, bays, a many­ gabled roof and a turret lend a touch of romance. Inside, a magnificent oak staircase is lit by a stained glass window; fireplaces suggest French chateaux; the turret shelters what might have been a miniature ballroom. Suzanne's first reaction to the realtor's ad was, "Why dido't I see this?"

and a second kitchen in the midst of the third-floor hall; a rickety third staircase, and layers and layers of paint-purple and white. For after the confident luxury of its early owners, the house shared the decline of Hyde Park. It was subdivided as a rooming house, then left to run down. "Nothing was done to it for twenty-five years," estimates Suzanne.

The Kulovitz brought to their project a lot of expertise. Suzanne grew up in real estate, and in her work for K and G

Management has seen many a renovation, so she felt she knew both how to assess the house and how to organize the work on it. It isn't so hard, she believes, "if you have a husband who can put things together."

The layout was great, with generous living, dining and family rooms on the first floor, and a kitchen with ahead-of-its-time spaciousness. There were "a little rearrang-

like original condition, but to make a com­ fortable family home. Light fixtures had to be replaced. Some later additions, such as glass doors to the family room, and knotty pine paneling in the third-floor study, were kept as a matter of course. Most of the house was carpeted for both comfort and convenience - and the strong teal-blue chosen for the carpet helps tie together the three floors. And contemporary notes were added, most strongly in the light, convenient kitchen and the deck with hot tub that links together the replaced garage and back porch. The only drawback to the house Suzanne finds is that familiar problem, "lack of closet space."

The blend of old and new, of restoration and renovation, is very apt for a recipient of the Paul Cornell Award; it shows how satisfying an historic house can be for contemporary living.

Notesfrom the Archives

by Stephen Treffman

Hyde Park's First Alderman. It seems that there was one man whose political career did span the years before and after Hyde Park's annexation to Chicago.

William R. Kerr, an insurance company executive and real estate investor, was elected Hyde Park's Village Collector in 1888. He was among those who favored annexation and helped bring that issue to a public referendum. After annexation, Kerr was elected alderman, along with William

C. Kinney, of the then 32nd Ward, which encompassed the area from 55th Street north to 39th Street and from State Street east to the lake. Kerr was chairman of the city council's World's Fair Committee.

Chicago  and Its Makers credits Kerr with having played an important role in bringing the World's Columbian Exposition to Chicago and in obtaining a $5,000,000 appropriation from the lliinois legislature to help fund the fair. He was selected chief manager of the Exposition's "Chicago Day," an event which drew over 700,000 adJnis­ sions, the largest attendance recorded during the fair. Kerr served as alderman for five years and then turned his attention to the development of West Pullman. He died in 1920 at the age of 73. We are grateful to Donald R. Kerr, the alderman's grandson, born in Hyde Park but now living in Tucson, Arizona, for providing us with some of the sources for this report.

Photographs: The Society is always interested in receiving donations of good quality print and slide photographs of the Hyde Park-Kenwood community for its archives. We are, of course, eager to have images that document the physical appear­ ance of the community through the years, such as street scenes and exterior and interior views of buildings and stores, particularly those dating from pre-urban renewal days. We also welcome photo­ graphs of individuals and groups that have played prominent or representative roles in the community's life.

A substantial and very significant collection of negatives of photographs taken of Hyde Park/Kenwood during the days of urban renewal has recently been donated to our archives by Nancy Campbell Hays. Ms. Hays, a well-known and still very professionally active photographer in our commu­nity, has had her work featured in the Hyde Park Herald for many years. The negatives are primarily interior and exterior views of buildings and homes that were demolished during the years 1959 through 1962.

We also recently received a gift from another local professional photographer, Peter Weil, of some forty photographs of a variety of events, local scenes, and person­alities taken by him and the late Rus Arnold, who was also a prominent professional photographer active in Hyde Park. Most of the views appear to date from the 1950s and 1960's. A large collection of Arnold's photographs may be found in the archives of the Chicago Historical Society.

Our archives contain very few formalphotographs of political personalities fromany period in Hyde Park's history.If youhave photographsor othermaterialthat youbelieve might be appropriate for theSociety's collection and that you would liketo donate, please write to the Society'sheadquarters or contact our Society'sarchivist, Stephen Treffman, at 5749 S.Kenwood, ChicagoIL60637

Coast Guard Station Wins Cornell Award

by Mary C. Lewis

The Hyde Park Historical Society's restorative approach. Overall, Latoza's annual Cornell Award for a non­     aim was to return the former Coast Guard residential building has been given to the  Station to its original appearance before Chicago Park District for its restoration of  fire damage caused the building to be a former Coast Guard station situated at  closed. Jackson park Harbor and the lakefront.  Robert Nelson, head of the Park The award was presented at the Society's District's Maritime Division, observed annual winter banquet.                                                      that the most difficult part of the work has

Architect William Latoza, of the                                been done and the remainder probably Chicago Park District, spearheaded the                                                                                              will be completed this year. Interior restoration process. The initial efforts, on                                                                                              restoration, targeted for this summer, the building's exterior, have remained                                                                                              includes the installation of wainscoting,

"the truest and strictest restoration                                  light fixture, and a cafe/concession, while process," Latoza noted, when asked to                                                                                              exterior work still undone includes compare the project to his previous work.                                                                                              window replacements and a fuel facility "We even had the weather vane recast to                                                                                              on the dock for boaters to use. "I'll be match the original." In addition, although                                                                                              glad when I'm able to complete the

the Park District wasn't required to go as                      building," says Latoza, a resident of South far as it did, cedar shakes were installed                                                                                               Shore.  "I  know it'll  be a little jewel for on the roof to maintain an accurate                                                                                               the community."

 The Spirit of Hyde Park

The Mural

community. Two subsequent letters to the editor called for a design change.

I was most concerned, particularly because the I. C. had stipulated in its contract that any controversial mural would have to be removed. I phoned the parents of two of the children who had worked with me, Mr. George Anastoplo and Mrs. Sandra Jacobson, to voice my concerns. After consulting with other parents, neighbors and friends, it was decided that we should ignore the article, that the reaction was atypical, and that the issue would subside. Passers­ by, but for a handful, were very positive in their remarks to me.

Hyde Parker Carole Simpson, Channel 5 newscaster, aired the controversy in a 4 or 5 minute evening news report on August 8th, interviewing Mr. Forwalter and me. She ended her coverage by saying: "Some

In the summer of 1972, I worked as a volunteer on Caryl Yasko's 55th Street Illinois Central underpass mural entitled "Under City Stone." I was subsequently invited  to be a member of the Chicago Mural Group, a multi-socio, multi-national group of artists. In the late fall of 1972, Helaine Billings, Public Relations Director of the Southeast Chicago Commission, asked me to paint the 57th Street underpass and I readily accepted. She had already approached merchants and residents located near the site to provide funds for the mural. The Chicago Mural Group, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, would provide my salary; the Illinois Central would provide insurance.

In the spring of 1973, I submitted a

detailed scale drawing of my proposed mural. It hung in Mr. Winston Kennedy's realty office for several weeks, where it was reviewed by the prospective sponsors. My plan was received, I was told, with enthusi­ asm and with no reservations.

The mural wall is 207.5 feet long. The height underneath the viaduct itself is 10 feet while the eastern panels, curving out into the open air, are approximately 11 feet high. An additional 2 to 3 feet of decorative grill work, which was incorporated into the design, top these outside panels. In all the wall is approximately 2,100 square feet.

At the direction of Marshall Korshak,who was the 5th ward committeeman at the time, the city steam cleaned, wire brushed, and primed the wall. We were ready to begin at the end of June.

I then chalk-lined a grid of one-foot squares. My design was on a scale of 1/2 inch per foot of wall, and with this guide I put up my sketch in charcoal and sealed it

with a fixative. This phase was completed by mid-July.

Fifteen neighborhood children, most of them from 10 to 12 years old, volunteered to help me. Under my direction they did the entire next phase: putting in all the flat colors and working source of light. They were extremely dedicated and hardworking, so eager that I divided them into a morning and afternoon crew so that each could get sufficient attention.  This phase was completed toward the end of August though my work continued  - often at night, under the well lit viaduct, with the protection of Bill Walker, my mentor and a seminal leader in the mural movement in the United States - into the cold of autumn, as compositional corrections and finishing were accom­ plished. The mural was completed on November 13, 1973.

(The mural depicts Hyde Park history in many of its various manifestations: poverty and wealth, racism and the struggle for civil rights, the unrest caused by urban renewal and the efforts of the community to stabilize and integrate. It records events - the 1893 World's Fair, removal of the Nike sights, protests against a highway in Jackson Park - and it acknowledges institutions - the University of Chicago, the Chicago Children's Choir, the Court Theater, the architectural heritage of Hyde Park - which have distinguished our community. Ed.)

Public response to the mural was aston­ ishing beginning with the reaction of John Forwalter, art, book, and social critic for the community's major newspaper, The Hyde Park Herald. On July 25th, he wrote that seven of the ten mural panels were full of conflict and violence and that no public or private group had the right to so picture the

people would say that even though this mural is only half-fmished, it is already a success for it makes people think."

I was subsequently interviewed by the Chicago Tribune and a favorable article appeared on August 16th. Meanwhile the Illinois Central laid my fears to rest by publicizing the mural in its commuter bulletin and national magazine. Their only complaint - made privately - was that they were not in the mural though they had played a major part in Hyde Park's early development!

On August 17th, as I was being inter­ viewed in front of the mural by Pat Brown of Channel 7 news, an elderly woman passing by told him at length of her disapproval of my "violent, immature mural." His news report that evening made no mention of her dissension. Rather the segment was introduced by Len O'Connor, then a Hyde Park resident, as a "wall of hope," followed by a montage of Hyde Park and the mural. I spoke of my deep affection and respect for my community. He described me as "trying to record in the mural the heartbeat of mankind in commu­nity."

City wide interest in the mural was such that it became a tourist attraction. Sightsee­ ing buses were re-routed, students from the University of Chicago, Roosevelt Univer­sity, and other schools used me or the mural for class projects, and there was further television and press coverage. The mural, or panels from the mural, have been featured in books and articles and in photo exhibits.

In all, it was a demanding, lively, educa­tional experience. Hyde Park lived up to its reputation of being a community that gets involved.

The Curious Case of Dr. Adamson B. Newkirk

by Carol Bradford

Adamson Bentley Newkirk, M.D. and his wife, Lucy M., probably came to Hyde Park in 1874. He was 54 years of age at the time, and she was 48. They joined the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church by letter of transfer from First Congregational Church of Memphis, Tennessee. Their oldest child, Clara Barker Newkirk also joined by transfer in early 1875.  Three children: Jennie C., John N., and Adamson B., Jr., joined by profession of faith in January, 1877. A son, Joseph T.,joined by profession in March, 1880, and the youngest child, Malvina A., joined and was baptized in August, 1881. Common practice at the time was for children to become full members of the church at about age 12.

The Newkirk family may have been related to the Barker family who were already members of the church. Joseph N. Barker and his wife, Frances, had joined the Hyde Park church in February, 1872, by transfer from First Presbyterian of Chicago, which was located downtown at that time. (Note that this move occurred shortly after The Great Chicago Fire of October, 1871, at which time many Chicago residents migrated to the suburb of Hyde Park.) Joseph served as an elder of the Hyde Park church from July, 1872 until his death in May, 1902. He was the Sunday School Superintendent from 1875 to 1878. Mrs.

Barker was active as an officer of the Women's Foreign and Home Missionary Societies. The Barkers lived at first on Lake Park Avenue, and then in the mid 1880's built a house at 5000 South Greenwood, which still stands.  A relationship between the two families is suggested by the middle name, Barker, being given to the Newkirk's first child, and by the fact that both families had a daughter named Malvina A. In addition, Dr. and Mrs. Newkirk are buried in the Barker family plot at Oak Woods Cemetery.

The eldest son, John, was apparently the

first to leave home, transferring his church membership to Sedalia, Missouri, in September, 1879. The following spring, Adamson, Jr. transferred his membership to First Presbyterian of Falls City, Nebraska. In November, 1882, Jennie also transferred to Falls City, a town now of about 5000 people, located in the far southwest comer of the state. Just a month later, on Decem­ ber 18, 1882, their mother, Lucy Newkirk, died of pneumonia and was buried in the lot owned by Joseph N. Barker at Oak Woods.

May 1990-page 4

The Session (governing body) Records of the church show that at a meeting held on April 14, 1882 "Mr. Ferdinand Mayers appeared before the session and preferred charges against Adamson B. Newkirk of taking improper liberties with girls. His statement was supported by letters from other parties. The Committee on Dr.

Newkirk's case reported that he admitted improper conduct, but said that nothing criminal was intended; Elder [Joseph N.] Barker said that Dr. Newkirk consented to waive formalities and expressed a desire to proceed at any time the session chose." They scheduled a meeting for two weeks later to further consider the charges.

The Session was operating in this matter under the Rules of Discipline of the Presbyterian Church, which have remained basically unchanged since their origin in Scotland in the early years of the Reforma­ tion Era of the 16th Century. In those days, the church, rather the the civil government, was the guardian of moral behavior, and it was not uncommon for allegations of immoral conduct to be brought to the attention of the elders of the church for actual trial, determination of guilt or innocence, and punishment. The censures available are rebuke, temporary exclusion (from office, membership, and participation in the sacraments), and removal. In the late 19th Century church membership was an essential part of one's personal and social life. To be barred from the sacraments was a very visible act which would immediately identify a person as not being in good standing in the church. The community might easily make the assumption that such a person had been found guilty of immoral conduct.

Dr. Newkirk did not appear at the meeting held on April 27, 1883, having given his consent for the Session to proceed without him. "A communication from Dr. Newkirk was then read; following which each member of the session expressed his views at length    The paper presented by Dr.

Newkirk admits the offense charged and offers some explanations designed to mitigate the gravity of the offense." The session decided that it could not decide the gravity of the offense "without a careful examination of witnesses. Such an examina­ tion would, on our judgment, be of serious injury to the girls, and its evil effects would more that counterbalance any good that might be expected to result. It is the judgment of the session that Dr. Newkirk be suspended from the privileges of the church until such time as the session may deem it wise to restore him. It is not deemed wise to publish this judgment farther than to the parties making complaint." The members of the Session at the time were Pastor, Rev. E.

C. Ray, and Elders Hassan Hopkins, Homer N. Hibbard, Joseph N. Barker, George Stewart, John C. Welling, and William Olmsted. All were business and profes­ sional men who would probably be considered part of the elite of Hyde Park.

When next we hear of Dr. Newkirk it is in a letter addressed to the Session, written from Falls City, Nebraska on November 19, 1883.  The letter was presented  and discussed at the Session meeting held on December 1, 1883. In it, Dr. Newkirk "respectfully and strenuously" urged them to consider whether the time had not already come for them to restore him to the privileges of the church and grant a Jetter of dismissal to the First Presbyterian Church of Falls City. He reminded them "that the only guilt-which I admitted was 'playful improprieties,' without thought of commit­ ting an offense."

"I sincerely repented and do repent of the wrong which I thus unintentionally did and only realized through the above charges and its attendant circumstances. Earnestly and humbly did I ask forgiveness......

"When my sentence was realized by me I felt it to be exceedingly severe; as time goes on I feel more and more strongly the severity of my punishment. I have tried to bear it with Christian patience and now after the endurance of it for over seven months, I am impelled to urge you, for the sake of Christian charity--0f Christian justice to terminate my punishment"...

Newkirk- continued

After consideration, the Session voted to restore him and the clerk was directed to inform Dr. Newkirk of the action.

Exactly one week later, on December 18, 1883 (the first anniversary of his wife's death) Adamson B. Newkirk died. The cemetery record shows "accident-thrown from buggy" as the cause of death. He was buried on December 22, next to his wife in the Barker plot at Oak Woods. It is doubtful that he had received notice of his reinstate­ment by the Hyde Park church elders by that time. One can only speculate whether his death was truly accidental.

About a year later, Clara and the two youngest children, Joseph and Malvina, joined Jennie and Adamson Jr. in Falls City, transferring church membership there in March, 1885. Clara returned to Hyde Park and rejoined Hyde Park Presbyterian on November 27, 1889.   Her name is listed in the church directory of 1900, residing at 5313 Washington (Blackstone) Avenue. In December, 1903, she transferred her membership to First Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, California. Today there are no Newkirks listed in the telephone directories of Hyde Park or Falls City.

DO YOU REMEMBER . ..

PARKER'S STORE on the south west comer of Kenwood and 55th Street? It was

owned by a brother and two sisters. They sold yard goods, trimmings, buttons, hooks and eyes, and such sundries. One bought a paper of common pins, not pins in a plastic box.

At the south end of the store, on a balcony, was the store office. Overhead, from the counter on the floor below to the balcony, was an electric line. When a customer paid for whatever was bought, the money and the bill were placed in a small receptacle, barrel-shaped and about 3 to 4 inches long and 2 inches in diameter, and placed on the line where it quickly zipped to the balcony. There change was made and quickly zipped back to the sales person who completed the transaction, wrapping the purchase in paper for the buyer.

ELISE RUNYAN'S SHOP on the south side of 53rd Street between Dorchester and Kirnbark? This lovely shop featured ladies' ready-to-wear: dresses, suits, hats, lingerie, hosiery - all of high quality. Elise, the shop owner, always wore beautiful, large­ brimmed picture hats, whether in the shop or outside. She was tall and attractive, regal looking. Miss Fickensher, one of her sales persons, made trips to New York to buy merchandise for the shop.

GRACE VAUGHAN'S HAT SHOP,

JUST off 53rd Street on Dorchester? Here hats were made or redecorated, whether for summer or winter. Lola Lee was one of her assistants. In the 192O's the cloche hat was popular and fashionable.

HARRIS GROCERY MARKET

MARKET, on 55th Street between Dorch­ ester and Blackstone? Early in the morning, one of the brothers would go to the markets on State Street and vicinity to buy fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and fish. When the store opened, these were all in place. They advertised "motor delivery" and deliveries to their patrons were made daily.

-  Ida DePencier

AND DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN...

WOLF'S TOY STORE, on the south east comer of 55th and Kenwood was the F.A.O. SHWARTZofHydePark(circa 1936)? Its cavernous interior, which was only lighted when a customer approached, contained so many toys that choosing a gift took at least an hour - or more. It was a sad day when Urban Renewal forced Madame Wolf to telescope her emporium into the small quarters on the north side of 55th near the University Bank.

ICE SKATING UNDER THE NORTH

STANDS OF STAGG FIELD flourished to the musical strains of Strauss waltzes - on records, of course. We were all the epitome of grace...until we fell!

-  Betty Borst

REFERENCES:

All quotations are from the Session Records of the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, 1448 East 53rd Street, Chicago, IL.

Jean Block: Hyde Park Houses, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Book of Order Presbyterian Church (USA), Louisville: Office of the General Assembly, 1988.

The author wishes to thank Soubretta Skyles for her assistance in locating records at Oak Woods Cemetery of Chicago, and Robert Worley, Harold Blake Walker Professor of Pastoral Theology and Chief Academic Officer at McCormick Theologi­ cal Seminary, for sharing his knowledge of Presbyterian polity and practice.

Newsletters 1989

March 1989

September 1989

1889 - 1989

One Hundred Years of Hyde Park in Chicago

The story of the annexation of Hyde Park is told concisely and wonderfully well in Jean Block's book, Hyde Park Houses.  The story begins  well before 1889  with much discussion and many meetings and certainly with many columns of print  in  THE  HYDE  PARK HERALD. In the spring of 1887, annexation was approved by voters in northern section

of Hyde Park Village but it was shortly declared invalid by the Illinois Supreme Court.

However on June 28, 1889, despite the continuing efforts of many to establish a city government for Hyde Park, and the opposition to change  by  others, annexation  was approved by voters - though the area of present day Hyde Park-Kenwood voted against it.

Some excerpts from THE HYDE PARK HERALD chronicle these events.

October 14, 1887:

The total indebtedness of Hyde Park:

$434,000; indebtedness of Chicago

$19,000,000. Chicago says, "We will help you pay your debts." YOU help US pay ours!!

October 21, 1887:

We have been wondering for some time why Mayor Roche (Chicago's Mayor) doesn't turn the big bullies off the police force. Last week, a big Irish bully, who weighs at 180 pounds, attacked a little old man at least 70 years of age, and beat him unmercifully, for no crime, except he did not move fast enough to suit the bully.

This was done in the presence of  a score of people, and when a gentleman expostulated with the policeman and begged him to stop beating the old  man, he turned on him and after clubbing him severely, arrested him for interfering with an officer.

Great Scott!! Don't you want to be annexed to the city?

Do you want your taxes increased? Annex!

Do you want to help pay the

$19,000,000 the city owes? Annex!

Vote a straight Republican ticket, without annexation and be happy!

November 18, 1887:

The city (Chicago) officers say it will be at least three (3) years before any improvements can be undertaken in Hyde Park, on account of the large amount of work  to  be done in  the city already ordered. We hope that the good people of Hyde Park,  who  are in  favor of annexation, will recede from their position and let the Saloon Keepers  Association fight the  battle,  for  improvements  we must have, and that at once!

Some of the saloon keepers are just jubilant and  boastful over  their annexation victory. Very well gentlemen; we concede you the victory; now get the spoils if you can!

December 9, 1987:

Some of the annexationists are so confident that  the city is going to  give them a large amount of improvements for nothing, that they are even expecting to have their homes painted at city

expense!!

We have always been and are now opposed to annexation, but humbly acquiese to the will of the people and will endeavor to make as loyal subjects to the city as we have been to Hyde Park, keeping ever in mind that our new situations are dangerous.

February 3, 1888:

Justice Ford, of Cottage Grove Avenue, near 39th Street, has been made Police Magistrate by Mayor  Roche.  Now the query is being made by those justices who worked so hard to hurl their town into the vortex of  Annexation,  what  are we to have, why gentlemen you have received your reward. It was a privilege of falling after you had shook yourselves off.

Be content.

June 22, 1888:

"Saloon Keeper" writes to The Herald to know how to defeat the movement to close saloons on Sundays. The Herald responds:

The only way we can see for  you is to get annexed to Chicago. Trust  your interests in the hands  of  Appleton, Whelan, and  Co.  and you  will not only run on Sundays but you may crowd your saloons up against our schools and churches. That is your only chance.  As long as we are under village government, the fanatical idea of a "Sabbath for rest" will likely prevail. Get into line again for annexation again as soon as you can! 

Annexation means the abolishing of our prohibitory districts and saloons scattered all over our town!

The Hyde Park Historical Society Centennial Gala

Our Annual Dinner Meeting on March 11th, took us back to 1889, the year that Hyde Park was finally annexed to Chicago. Strolling through Yesterday's Main Street in their Victorian finery, enjoying dinner in the shadow of the woolly mammoth in the South Court of the Museum of Science and Industry, our members and guests celebrated the centennial of that momentous vote.

The United Church Celebrates Its Centennial Building

By Carol Bradford

Among the centennials being celebrated in this "Year of Hyde Park" is that of the oldest church building in Hyde Park, the home of the United Church of Hyde Park at 53rd Street and  Blackstone  Avenue.  The structure  was  built  by the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church in 1889, over the strenuous objection of a prominent member, namely, Paul Cornell.

In the beginning, Paul Cornell developed a village called Hyde Park out of barren, swampy land south of a larger town called Chicago. He donated a small plat of land and had built on it a small wood  frame chapel  for the purpose of  housing services of Christian worship. The Hyde Park Presbyterian Church was formally organized in May, 1860, and continued to worship in the wood chapel until 1869, when they moved into a handsome stone church which the congregation built at 53rd and Blackstone. The ensuing twenty years brought tremendous growth and prosperity to the community  and  the church.  By 1888, there was talk of building a new, larger structure. The Board of Trustees began to consider various options and sought plans from local architects. At the annual congregational meeting in early 1889, the trustees proposed that a new structure be built on the site of the existing building, according to a proposal by architect, Gregory Vigeant. The old building was to be dismantled and some of the materials used in  the  new church.  The  total cost was not to exceed $35,000, excluding the purchase of  an  organ.  Paul  Cornell offered a substitute motion  that  "the present church edifice be enlarged according to the original  design,  which was to add a transept thereto.  Which motion was put and lost. The original motion, to adopt said report  of  the Trustees, was then put and carried." Additional  members  were appointed  to the Finance Committee. Mr. Cornell proposed another motion that potential

contributors be asked whether they prefer a new building or an addition to the

existing building. The members voted to table this motion, and the meeting was adjourned.

(From the Minutes of the Annual Meeting, Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, February 13, 1889)

Despite the lack of support for his proposal, Paul Cornell was not ready  to give up. On April 17, 1889, he filed suit against the trustees and secured an injunction to stop construction of the new building.  Though  we have no  record  of the original suit, the trustees' sworn testimony  in  response suggests  that Cornell claimed that his longstanding membership and contributions gave him special standing, that  the 1869  building was a landmark to  be preserved  and charged that the trustees had threatened

to resign if their plan were not adopted.

The trustees responded that Cornell had no more standing in the court "than is common to all the other members of said church." They said the 1869 building was "plain  and ordinary,..................................... [the] steeple is

more dangerous than ornamental, and is liable to be blown down, as has already been the case.'' They denied any threat or coercion  of  the congregation,  saying  that "                opportunity was given to all

persons,  but  particularly  to  complainant, to plead, beg, and threaten, all of which complainant  thoroughly  did, and  when vote was taken, the action of the trustees was ratified by an almost unanimous vote, there being but a few votes against it, perhaps not to exceed half a dozen."

(From record of Case #121822, Superior Court of Cook County, 1889).

In the end, the injunction was lifted, construction proceeded, and the first wor­ ship service in the new sanctuary was held January 5, 1890. Paul Cornell left the Presbyterian Church and became a charter member of Hyde Park Methodist Church, which  was organized  in September, 1889. It is ironic that  eighty  years later,  those two denominations were part of a merger (along with Hyde Park Congregational Church) which formed  the United Church of Hyde Park.

The authorwishes to thankFrankSchneiderfor his assistance in obtainingtheCircuitCourtrecordsofthismatter

The Trustees

George Bogue, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was a charter member  of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, transferring his membership from North East Congregational of Chicago  on  May 6, 1860.

Walter C.  Nelson  joined on  profession of faith on March  5, 1874.  He lived  at 5120 Harper and was a prominent  real estate developer. He built several multiple­ unit buildings, including those at 5701-09 Kenwood, 5723-27 Kenwood, 5722-28 Dorchester and 1355-61 East 57th Street.

John  C.  Welling  and  his wife, Charlotte, transferred membership from Second Presbyterian of Chicago on March 1, 1878. He was a vice president of the Illinois Central  Railroad,  and  lived  at 4950 Greenwood.

William C. Ott and his wife, Nancy, joined the church on June 4, 1880, on transfer from Unjon  Park  Congregational in  Chicago. They lived  at 5146 Harper.  It is recorded that Mr. Ott always carved the turkey at church dinners.

Leslie Lewis transferred from First Presbyterian of Waukegan, Illinois, on February 29, 1884. He lived at 5605 Dorchester and was Superintendent of the Hyde Park Schools. In later years, after annexation, he was principal of Kozminski School until his retirement. He later

joined the South Park Congregational Church and was responsible for the preservation of historic records of that church.

William H. Ray and his wife,  Martha H., also transferred  from  First Presbyterian of Waukegan  on  February 29, 1884. He was principal of Hyde Park High School until his death on July 30, 1889, at age 31. A large stained glass window, inscribed  "Service"  was placed in the new fellowship hall in his memory. The elementary school at 56th and Kimbark is named for him.

Henry H. Belfield and his wife, Anne, were transferred from Third Presbyterian of Chicago on October 19, 1884. He was on the faculty of  the University  of Chicago in later years and the

Laboratory School's Belfield Hall bears his name. He lived in the duplex at 5726-28 Blackstone.

John B. Lord and his wife,  Annie E., also transferred from  Third  Presbyterian of Chicago, on November 30, 1886. They lived at 4857 Greenwood.  He was president of Ayer and Ord Tie Company, which manufactured railroad ties.

Robert  Stuart  joined  the  church  on June 5, 1887. He lived at 5206 Dorchester.

January 18, 1889:

Village Hall was packed Tuesday evening as it was never packed before. Every seat was filled early, and the hallways, aisles and corners were densely crowded by people who stood the entire evening. It was a grand response to the popular idea of city organization ....

Governor Hamilton, in taking the chair, made a graceful little speech  referring  to his interest  in all that  was for  the welfare of Hyde Park and expressed his sympathy for this movement for a  more efficient home government. He called on Mr. A.

G. Procter....... to speak on the proposition

to be submitted to the meeting for discussion. Mr. Procter said:

"We propose  this evening to  inaugurate a movement that has for its aim what we believe to be the best interest  of  Hyde Park. It is a question that concerns this community,  and  this community  alone, and we propose that this community shall have the privilege of settling it for themselves.

"We realize the fact that we have outgrown the conditions that were anticipated by our lawmakers, when they framed the law for the government of villages; and we realize fully that the conditions before us are annexation to the city of Chicago, or a government of  our own citizens ....

Public Sculptor: Lorado Taft and the Beautification of Chicago Timothy J. Garvey, University of Rlinois Press, 1988, 222 pp.

A Book Review by Devereux Bowly

 If there are those who think it good policy to exchange a municipality in splendid financial condition  for one that is not,  they  will  likely oppose this project ... If there are some who are

afraid of the criticisms or influence of the Chicago press, they had  better pack  up now and be getting out.         "

February 8, 1889:

Says a leading annexationist: "We do not want any swamp land. Sixty-seventh Street is as far as we want to annex "

Says a leading annexationist in the city: "Chicago is a doubtful  Republican  city, but if so  much of  Hyde  Park  as is strongly Republican, say from  Thirty­ ninth Street to Sixty-seventh Street, is annexed, then that  would  make Republican success sure. The rest of the territory we do not want, as it is about evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans."

This is an interesting  new  book about one of our most famous residents, Lorado Taft, who lived and worked  just south  of the  Midway.  In  the introduction  the author, Timothy Garvey, a professor at Illinois Wesleyan University,

acknowledges assistance from several libraries and institutions in the state, including the Hyde  Park  Historical Society. He must have been helped by the late Jean  Block,  and  by  Adrian Alexander, who mounted a major exhibit

on Taft a few years ago at the Society and the Chicago Public Library.

Taft took  a broad  view of  the reason for artistic expression. He viewed public sculpture as a way of establishing values and traditions of American culture. He wrote extensively, as a contributor to the Chicago Record, the art journal Brush and Pencil,  and  the author of  the standard work, History of American Sculpture, published in 1903.

The book discusses at length Taft's Fountain of  the Great  Lakes,  constructed in 1913 in the south garden of the Art Institute, and financed by the first grant from the Ferguson Fund. As a Hyde Park chauvinist 1 was most interested in the material on Fountain of Time, at the west end of the Midway, also commissioned by the Ferguson Fund  in 1913,  and constructed  in  1922.  His plans included the Fountain  of  Creation  at  the east  end of the Midway, a canal down its center to connect the lagoons of Jackson and Washington Parks, Midway Bridges with sculpture  for the cross streets,  and  a Hall of Fame including 100 statues of historical figures along the canal. None of this, of course, was realized.

It is a tragedy that  at least  the Fountain of Creation  was  never  built, to complement the Fountain of Time, but we are probably lucky the rest of the plan

was not carried  out. Even  Daniel Burnham,  a  friend  of  Taft's  from  the days of the Columbian Exposition and colleague in the City Beautiful movement, ventured that the entire scheme was so massive it would prevent the work from achieving a necessary unity and only cause "visual  confusion."  We  are  fortunate  to be often  reminded  of  Taft  by  the Fountain of Time, and the presence in the community of  his Midway Studios, although  his archives and  the ongoing study of his work is at the University of Illinois in Urbana, where he grew  up the son of a professor.

Sources: Membership records of Hyde Park Presbyterian  Church Jean Block. Hyde Park Houses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, I 978.

From The Fiftieth Anniversary Book

Hyde Park Presbyterian Church 1860 - 1910

The present church edifice ... is it not a typical outgrowth of Protestantism as shown in its architecture? Not now, as formerly, is it sought to embody the reverence and godly gratitude of the community by an  edifice of  costly splendor ...This church edjfice is designed to afford helpful  facilities for every function of an active church. We have a large auditorium of perfect acoustic properties, a large lecture and Sunday School room,  many convenient  class rooms for Bible Study, serving rooms for the social entertainments, a special  place for little children, and  ladies'  parlors  for all occasions.

John A. Cole, Historical Address

I am very glad I was not born when my father  was. He was a  Methodist  minister in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. My father said that in his early days he never thought of inviting a Presbyterian pastor into his pulpit; and a Presbyterian pastor would no more think of inviting a Methodist pastor into his pulpit than be

would think of flying ... My father did not regard any  young  minister equipped  for his job until he could  "lay out" the Calvinists ...   Now we are on friendly terms.

The truth is that Protestants, already bound together by the bond of love, are more a unit  in  the United  States today than are the Roman Catholics, and especially is this true since we formed the Federation of Churches. Today, there are 33 Protestant bodies of America bound together, 16,000 ministers and nearly 20,000,000 communicants.

Rev. Charles Bayard Mitchell, D.D

St. James M. E. Church

The  program  began  with  a group of bird songs by Mrs. Charles Robbins, after which there was an address by Mrs. P.L. Sherman, who said, in part: "In 1858 my husband and  I  were  at  the  Richmond Hotel ... when we received an invitation to attend the dedication  of  the little  Hyde Park  Chapel. The day  arrived  and  we hired  a  horse and  buggy and  drove south to the little church.  On our  way  we stopped at Kenwood,  where my husband had  recently  purchased  ten  acres of ground on Lake Avenue in the vicinity of 47th Street. 1 was chiefly impressed by the beautiful wild  flowers growing on  the place, especially the great clumps of white and purple phlox ... The only thing left of the beautiful trees and flowers that used

to be there is one sickly little horse

chestnut tree in the court of a flat building."

"We drove on to the little church, and the first thing that greeted our  sight  was the decorated gate posts ... around these posts were the most beautiful wreaths of wild flowers, as large as a wagon  wheel and  as thick  as my arm.  Inside,  the church was most prettily decorated with similar wild flowers. Thl!re my memory stops. I do remember though, that before we drove home we stopped at Mrs. Paul Cornell's and she gave  us the most delicious cake. The sermon and text have escaped me, but the memory of that cake remains to this day."

Reception /or the Ladies

...  The  Hyde  Park  Presbyterian Church ... was born May 6, 1860. I well remember the bright sunny morning. The little frame chapel,  white with green blinds, seemed a fair structure among the oak and hazel at the northeast corner of

53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue. There rested  on the gate a generous  wreath  of the bright wild  flowers so plenty  then along the paths everywhere ... My mother said, "See, there is Grandma Ryan  under the trees across the street, may be she brought it." She said, "Yes, I made it for your church. I can't go inside, but Jesus came for all of us and He will bless us all alike." The woman was an Irish Catholic working  whenever she could  for neighbors' families.  Did  the humble woman give our young Calvin band a comanding example against living in a narrow creed?

Hamilton B. Bogue, in an address at

the Men's Banquet

What is left of that early Hyde Park that was annexed to the City of  Chicago in 1889?  A surprising amount.  More than  170 buildings built before 1890 are featured in  "The Look  of  Hyde  Park,"  an exhibit of  photographs  by Edward  A.  Campbell.  The exhibit  is on display through Sept. 29 at the Hyde Park Historical Society.

Documentary photographs establish how some of the landmarks of the past looked 100 years ago. The heart of the exhibit is the collection of crisp color photographs taken by Ed over the past year. Most are straightforward, detailed "portraits" of individual buildings, with some clear views of blocks in which historical buildings are clustered. All are arranged by street, so looking through the exhibit is rather like taking a neighborhood tour - you can proceed deliberately up one block and down another, or you can skip about visiting your favorites. No fear that you won't find them; all these photographs, like any good portraits, are immediately recognizable.

Ed Campbell's work is supported  by painstaking  historical  research.  He relied  on  Jean  Blocks'  Hyde Park Houses with its "Checklist of Existing Dwellings" of those built before 1910, and checked it against Rascher's Atlas of Hyde Park (1890), which  features comprehensive plats with street layouts, individual lots and houses drawn in. In questionable cases,  where  Block  and  Rascher  did  not agree, Mr. Campbell  had  a  practiced  eye for style and structure,  developed  in many  photographic studies of  Hyde  Park,  to guide  him. His catalogue for the exhibit, with its historical accounts of several especially well preserved blocks such as Rosalie Villas and Hyde Park Center, makes interesting reading in its own right. Many visitors to the exhibit will probably turn directly to its "Inventory: Century Old Buildings in Hyde Park."

Yet the photographs speak eloquently for themselves. Seeing these buildings partially lifted from  their modern  context enables one to scan the past communities  which  made  up Hyde  Park  -   the suburban  mansions of  Kenwood,  set well off  from each  other and  from any taint of commercial activity, on their large lots; the workingmen's cottages of  Hyde Park  Center  between  51st and 55th streets, shoulder to shoulder, yet enlivened by cheerful, small-scale details and merging with their own business districts; the fanciful shapes of Rosalie Villas; the orderly series of ample townhouses on Dorchester's 5700 block.  The exhibit  makes one aware  that there are whole blocks in Hyde Park which preserve the looks of the past - and the ideas of the good life which shaped those looks.

And the exhibit calls attention to individual relics which are easily overlooked. My favorite discovery was a pair of  houses on  Kimbark near 54th, one heavily disguised  with additions  and  remodeling,  the other still showing  the world  a  modest  but  unapologetically Victorian face. Among the three-story  walk-ups,  the modern  townhouses  and  the highrises in which  most of  us live,  these bits of  the Hyde Park of 1889 fit in quite nicely. Ed Campbell has done us a great service by helping us to see them so clearly.

The exhibit Hyde Park 1889 will continue through September 29, 1989, at Historical Society headquarters. Hours are from 2 until 4

p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Did you see Marshall Field's windows displaying "Images of Hyde Park, 1889" during the month of August? We were there!

Renaming Stony Island A venue

By Devereux Bow/y

The Society  has announced  its opposition to  the  proposal  to  rename Stony Island  Avenue.  In a resolution passed at its last meeting, and communicated to  the Chicago  City Council,  the  Board  of  Directors announced  recently  that it  believes it would be ill advised for the city to change the name of  Stony  Island  Avenue.  It is one of only a limited number of streets in the city that describes a major physical historical site, and as such the retention of the  name  is important  to  understanding the natural history of the southeast side of Chicago.

Stony Island was created many millions of years ago at about 92nd Street, a short distance east of the present Stony Island Avenue, in the area later to be known as "Pill Hill"  because  of  the  large  number of doctors who lived there. Glacial action, about 10,000 to 30,000 years ago left a major limestone deposit on the site. The waters of  Lake Michigan  later  fell about 60 feet, again exposing the rock. A limestone quarry on the site well into this century, eventually was developed for homes.  The area  is about  25 feet  above the surrounding plain, which is unusual in the mostly level City of Chicago.

The name Stony Island Avenue is thus important historically, not only because it has identified a major street for  many years, but because it serves as a reminder that the history  of  the  area, since  there has been a city here, is a mere instant, as compared to natural history.

 1989 Paynter Awards To Students And Faculty

The Julie Borst Paynter awards were continued this year under the aegis of the Hyde Park Historical Society and the family of Mrs. Paynter. In addition, the Society augmented these by  making special awards to two teachers and two students in recognition of their contributions to the Metropolitan

History Fair.

The Paynter awards to teachers were made as follows:

To Linda Murray, Hyde Park Career Academy, $200 for the purchase  of software for Apple computers "to provide students with another learning tool ... to enhance map, thinking, and problem­ solving skills.''

To Jill Wayne, Kenwood Academy,

$175, for classic films which present constitutional issues in this bicentennial year.Ms. Wayne plans  "to  develop ...  a film series in which each film confronts an important legal or constitutional

issue ... and to expand this project to become a yearly event."

To Theresa A. Perry, Hyde Park Career Academy, $175 to help finance

passage to Senegal, West Africia for thirty students "to bring a  better  understanding of  Africa  to  African-American children and to  enlighten  and  educate  our  friends at home."

To Richard Kaleta, Kenwood Academy,

$150 for his ongoing project of familiarizing his students with Chicago's Loop and its famous buildings. The tour includes a questionnaire and worksheet

for each student on the location and identification of buildings and the types of architecture.

Mr. Kaleta noted in his letter of acknowledgement "The weather ... was great. The kids enjoyed themselves and I think ... feel a bit more comfortable about getting around the Loop. There was only one mishap: three of the students' worksheets blew into the Chicago River!"

To Victor Kader, Hyde Park Academy,

$175 to provide enrichment material in the Popular Culture section  of  the social studies lab. This is the second year Mr.

Kader has received this award which- he uses effectively in  his classes to enhance his collection.  In his note of  thanks  he says he is  preparing  a curriculum  guide for the teaching of 20th century United States Popular  Culture  which  he hopes will be·published by the Chicago Board of Education. He says, "It is a thrill to see students excited about learning!"

The Hyde Park Historical Society's awards of $50 each made to students for outstanding work in history were made to Ernestine Muhammed, Hyde Park Career Academy and to Inid West, Kenwood Academy.

Awards to teachers in the same amount went to Bonnie Tarta, Kenwood Academy "For  outstanding  contributions  as  a history teacher  over  many years." A similar award was made to John Bradley, Hyde Park Career  Academy  "In recognition of his extraordinary service

to students."

Recapturing Hyde Park's Village History: A Contribution From the Archives By Stephen A. Treffnian

A package containing perhaps 600 loose sheets of paper was among the material in Jean Block's estate presented to  the Hyde Park Historical Society by her family. These turned out to  be photocopies  of  a typed  manuscript  by an  L. S.  Harper  dated  variously  from 1938 to 1939. There was contained within it no title page, no further identification of Harper, no explanation of how this document had come into being, and no hint as to where the original might lie. It was, however, a compilation  of  vignettes of  Hyde Park  history  that ranged from its days as a village to the 1930's.

As processing of the Block collection progressed, an interchange of correspondence possibly providing information about the material and dating from 1986 was found in a separate folder. Mrs. Block had learned that during the 1930's, the Works Project Administration (WPA), one of the innovative New Deal programs created to deal with the Great Depression of the 1930's, bad sponsored local and regional historical studies around the country. One of the achievements of the WP A was its funding for the research   that appeared   in the famous guidebooks to the States published in the late   I 930's and early 1940's. Apparently Mrs. Block suspected   that records of WPA research on Hyde Park from that period might be found in the archives of the Library of Congress. Her inquiry to that institution brought a reply indicating that they did   hold such   material and   would   provide her with a statement as to the costs of photoreproduction. These approximately  600 sheets would appear to be the results of that contact by Mrs. Block.

An important problem with the Harper work is that it contains only limited reference to its sources of historical information. Because one cannot easily document the specific source of any portion of the study, the reliability of at least some of the information it contains is suspect. Moreover, little or no analysis was attempted by the author, resulting in the report tending to proceed without any natural conclusions. However, a close reading suggests that Harper was a long time resident of Hyde Park and was familiar with the community. While some of the ·nformation presented in Harper's work does not appear in Mrs. Block's own work,  Hyde Park Houses, the latter is far superior in its cogency, organization, and sophistication.

Nonetheless, Harper's history of Hyde Park stands as a notable attempt at bringing together a wide variety of anecdotal information about this community, its early leaders and its institutions.

Village History

Harper's history attempts to sketch the growth of Hyde Park. After its incorporation in 1861, Hyde Park, reputedly the biggest village in the world, developed rapidly. In 1864, the value of Hyde Park's real property was set by its assessors at $50,000. Only six years later, in 1870, that valuation had risen to

$2,920,879. There were many horses, cows, and hogs, along with carriages and wagons and even a number of pianos valued at $5,800. The history also contains lists of village officials. The first supervisor of  the Town of Hyde Park was Paul  Cornell,  who served one term  from  1862 to  1863 and the last president, in 1888, of  what  had then become the  Village of  Hyde  Park, was John Alexander Jamison, one of the town's early settlers  and  a  prominent judge.  Henry C.  Work,  who is remembered today as a composer of Civil War songs and the builder of what is now the oldest house in Hyde  Park, is discovered as also having been town clerk of  Hyde  Park  from  the years 1865 to 1868.

George W. Waite, a real estate investor, must have been a rather well-regarded member of the community since he held a variety of  official  posts throughout  much of the village's history.  He was town clerk in 1863, assessor from 1864 to 1869, and supervisor from 1869 to  1870. He is listed as town collector for  the years 1867  to 1869 and also for most of the years after 1880 until annexation.

Political careers built before annexation apparently did not continue immediately into the new local political environment. After annexation in 1889, the village was divided along Fifty-Fifth Street and Lake Park  into  three  wards,  the 32nd,  33rd, and  34th, each of  them  represented  by two aldermen. Of the six aldermen elected from the new wards, however, none had held office in the era of the village. The transition to a new urban era had begun.

Procedures For Using The Archives

The Harper document along with some allied material contains drafts of essays on community history, civic organizations, clubs, hospitals, parks, churches, and leading citizens.  These  will be available for viewing in late September when their processing into the archives is completed.

All the material in the Society's archives is

available to researchers by application in person to The University of Chicago Special Collections Department of Regenstein Library, University Avenue and east 57th Street. The Department is located on the library's first floor and is open from 8:30 a.m.  to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 9:00

a.m. to 1:00  p.m.  on  Saturday.  A  guide to the collection must be requested at the Special Collections desk. After informing the Special Collections staff  of  the material which the researcher wishes to view, that material will be delivered to the patron and  may  be inspected  in the Special Collections Reading Room.

Beginnings -    A Series On Hyde Park Organizations

By Zeus Preckwink/e

In a city of many neighborhoods, Hyde Park-Kenwood possesses a distinct identity. Part of this can be traced to the University of Chicago; Hyde Parkers are proud to point to the many.Nobel Prize winners who have made this community their homne. However,  Hyde Park  is more than a college town in the city.

Hyde Park also possesses some distinctive architecture,  but  its reputation  goes beyond the architecture. Hyde Parkers are noted for their political independence and for their strongly held and often widely divergent opinions.

Of course, Hyde Park's identity has developed over a long period and it is more than the sum of all its well-known individuals. If one looks at the organizations within Hyde Park and the issues around which they developed, one can get a better sense of the community. Issues such as urban renewal or the Vietnam War led to a number of organizations unique to Hyde Park.

Next October the Hyde Park Historical Society will begin a lecture series focusing on the creative moments in which local organizations were formed. The Blue Gargoyle Youth Agency which began with a coffee house in 1968 during the Vietnam War will be the first in this series along with The Resource Center which began its first recycling at the Gargoyle in 1970.

The history of  an organization  may  be a nostalgic return to a  past  time,  but  it can serve some very useful functions too. The early period can give insights into the purpose of the organization,  its structure, its relationship to other organizations and its funding. The reasons that an organization  had  for coming  into existence are often related to social movements or the vision of an individual.

How an organization is able to survive often depends on bow it deals  with changes in such movements and how its vision is retained. There are, of course, many organizations that  make Hyde  Park a unique community. Members  should look for notice from HPHS regarding further programs in this series.

 "Wheels of Time"

By Zeus Preckwinkle

During the 1970's a number of murals were painted in the Hyde Park-Kenwood community. The viaducts underneath the Illinois Central tracks were the focal areas for much of this work. They not only had long walls that might otherwise be covered with graffiti, but  they  were also areas which pedestrians, commuters, and car passengers frequented. The last of these murals was completed in 1980, and the weather has slowly taken its toll.

This year in commemoration of Hyde Park's  annexation  centennial,  Regents Park and the Clinton Company commissioned  artist Barbara  Westerfield to work with the community to paint "Wheels of Time" under the viaduct at Hyde Park Boulevard and Lake Park Avenue. On June 24, 1989 the mural was dedicated; and on July 13 Barbara Westerfield presented  a  slide/lecture  at the Historical Society headquarters during which she described the mural and the planning that went

into it.

While Barbara Wester field was the artist  in charge of  the mural,  she was quick to point out that nearly 900 people were involved in one way or another with the mural's production. Regents Park had requested that the theme of the mural be transportation in the past, present, and future and it is from this theme that the mural's title was derived. Along the wall there are more than a dozen large colorful wheels which school children in the neighborhood painted. Wheels, of course, are central to our transportation systems today but these wheels refer also to something more specific in Hyde Park's history, the Ferris Wheel from the 1893 World's Fair.

How the Ferris Wheel came  to  be such an important part of the mural is an interesting story in itself. Early in her planning for the mural, Ms. Westerfield talked with local educator, Mary Hynes­ Berry, who is an accomplished storyteller. Mary Hynes-Berry told her and later told children throughout Hyde Park  - the story of her grandmother who had visited the World's Fair in 1893 as a young woman in her 20's. The story, entitled "The Chicago Spoon", is a delightful  one which tells how the Ferris Wheel carried 1,000 people at a time on its half-hour trip. Mary Hynes-Berry quotes her grandmother, "I could see what the birds see," and "There were more people there than there is corn in Iowa."

Two neighborhood young people, Madeline Klein and Angelica Hernandez, produced winning posters which were used in  making  the  broad  outline  for  the mural.  The selection  of  the Ferris  Wheel as a  form  of  transportation  is an interesting one. As adults we tend  to think of transportation as a means of getting us

to work or carrying freight from one place

to another. The selection of the Ferris Wheel points out that  transportation  is also a way providing new perspectives on the world.

Because Ms. Westerfield wanted to keep writing on the mural to a minimum, she asked children to identify their work with their handprints  and  numerous  prints can be seen in  the mural.  She also observed how children and adults developed a sense of the mural being their own work. In addition, there were a number of  people who simply watched the production of the mural who also felt involved in it.

The site  of  "Wheels  of  Time"  had, prior to April, been the site of the mural "Seasons in the City". "Seasons  in  the City" had been completed  in 1973 under the direction of artist Nina Ward and included the four seasons portrayed by students from Ray School, Laboratory School at U. of C.,  Harvard-St.  George, and Shoesmith. When it became clear that the mural was going to be sandblasted,

the Historical Society's newly established committee, Friends of  the Murals,  had color slides made to keep a record of  the old mural. One panel from the mural showing children skating had been used as an illustration in a Scott Foresmen social studies  text  during  the 70's. To show a link between the old  mural and the new one, Barbara Westerfield  saw that this scene was recreated in "Wheels of Time".

Friends of the Murals was suggested as a committee of the Historical Society by Professor William Pattison from the University of Chicago. In addition to establishing photographic records of "Seasons in the City" and "Wheels of Time'', the committee has put together a brief  historical  record  of public response to some of the murals.  Photographic records of all the murals are being sought, and  the committee  is  attempting  to contact the artists to see whether there are plans to restore  their  works or whether they should be replaced. Anyone

interested in being a part of Friends of the Murals should  contact  Zeus  Preckwinkle at 288-5148.

Excerpts from The Hyde Park Herald

Continued from our last issue ... February 8, 1889:

We publish the following from a prominant citizen who has lived in Hyde Park ever since it was organized as a Village, knows what he is talking about, and don't want an office:

"I am decidedly of the opinion that we should have a city government at the earliest day possible.  If  we do  not organize such a government for ourselves, the day is not far distant when we will be annexed to the City of Chicago.  Our Village is now practically out of  debt, while the City of Chicago has a large bonded indebtedness. Our  Village has water works, paid for by special assessments, and worth about $2,000,000 with an  income from  water works annually, of about $100,000. We are far better able to improve our own territory than the City of Chicago would be,  were we annexed.  Why complicate  our interests?

Respectfully yours, "Paul Cornell"

Never was a worthy cause so malevolently misrepresented by the hirelings of the Chicago press as has been the cause of independent city organization for Hyde Park - "Tax-eaters," "office­ seekers,"   "chronic   kickers," "cormorants,"  etc.,  have  been  and  are the epithets hurled at  the men  who desire to  save  Hyde  Park  from  the domination of the greedy city hall politicians and their corrupt Common Council. Intelligent men are not deceived by such  argument-the usual resort of men with a cause before which reason stands ashamed. Why

should Hyde Park surrender  her autonomy? What has she to gain  by passing under the yoke of the notoriously corrupt and saloon-ridden Chicago Council? How will she profit by a partnership with a city with an empty treasury and an enormous and constantly

accumulating debt? Why should she pay hundreds of thousands of dollars annually into the Chicago  treasury  on  a  very slender chance of getting back a paltry ten thousand for her local impropvements?

Why should she seek to increase her taxation by fully 33-1 /3 per cent? Why jeopardize, nay, surrender her prohibition districts at the behest  of  an  unholy political combination whick  seeks simply to use Hyde Park, her wealth and her mercantile and political greatness for the purposes of plunder and to subserve the designs of certain unscupulous satrops (SIC) in the grand army of Chicago rascality?

March 8, 1889:

The saloonkeeper is not, as a  rule,  a great thinker or an intellectural giant,  but he is a man of power.  Ambitious poUticians crawl at his feet and acknowledge his supremacy. Slow, but steady and persistent has been  the growth of his power. You dare not prohibit the saloon. On the floor of the senate grave senators made haste to admit that  the saloon  lords are so  mighty  that prohibitory laws could not be enforced against them. They admitted  that  the saloon ought to  be prohibited,  but  they say that  the State of  Illinois  had  not power to stand up against this American aristocracy-this  class  that  is  mightier than the law. Here then is a class that is mightier  than  the people,  that can  defy our laws, ride rough-shod over courts and treat with contempt the verdict of our judges. It  is true they  own  a great  many of our legislators by the best of

titles-they bought and paid for them. We

have no nobility,  no  blooded  aristocrats, all people here are equal before the law, with this one exception. This on·e class are above the law-mightier than the law,  the law cannot be enforced against them.

These toddy-mixers, these beer-slingers are your only American aristocrats. Law, so mighty, so puissant, is able to bring  all other classes to obedience, but the saloonkeepers and bartenders cannot be made to obey the law, and for that reason tJ1e law must  be made in obedience  to their arrogant demands. Shame-eternal shame-to every American citizen who consents to the rule of such a vile aristocracy as this.

Quoting The Springfield News

March 22, 1889:

A man that advocates the right of a baseball club to violate the sanctity of the Sabbath by playing matched  games on their grounds, to the utter disgust of the moral and religious element of the community, undoubtedly is a proper advocate of annexation, but  hardly  a model speaker at church festivals.

The Tribune, under the head of "Boodleism Rampant," says of the recent nominations for Aldermen:  "There seems to have been a preconcerted scheme  to pack the next City Council in the interest of corruption," and asks "What shall be done?"

This is one of the serious problems that Chicago has to deal with every year. The last Council was a disgrace to Sodom and now what few reputable members of the Board there were of the past seem to have been dropped to give place  to the very worst and most dangerous element. That's one of the reasons, Mr. Medm, why Hyde Park prefers to stay out. We are in no danger from this source as long as we are by ourselves. Our government  here is clean,  honest  and economical  and responds to the wants of  our  people.  If you lived in Hyde Park you would say as we do: "No annexation for us."

Pursuing the Plantagenets

by Kitty Picken

No Plantagenets, as far as I  know,  live or have ever lived in Hyde Park. So much for local history.

But this story begins in Hyde Park. One snowy afternoon, umpthing years ago, in Western Civ class at U-High, Margaret Fallers turned to me and said, "Kitty, give me a time line of English history.''

You might boggle. As far as I am concerned, it was the first and  possibly the only time that a teacher really cared what I knew independent of classroom work. There'd been no homework assignments for this specific project, no note cards or crib sheets, no preparation unless six years of reading historical fiction is allowed as preparation. Mrs. Fallers knew that I knew that I could do it.

I have been pursuing the Plantagenets ever since Peter O'Toole said  "Who  will rid me of that meddlesome priest, " referring to Richard Burton.  In other words, in  the movie Becket in  the mid 60s. (By the way, the 60s are history now. Sneaky how it creeps up on us.)

I'm still pursuing Plantagenets-and it's more fun than ever.

To refresh your memories. In the 12th century, it is said, Goeffrey of  Anjou stuck a branch of the bristly  yellow broom plant, called in French "plantagenet", in his helmet. From then on, his family was called the Plantagenets-when members  weren't being called other epithets such  as "Spawn  of  Satan,"  (That's  another story.)

Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (picture Peter O'Toole and Kathryn Hepburn in Lion in Winter) ventured from the heart of their holdings  at Angers, Poitiers, Chinon, into the "wild west"-Windsor, London, Westminster.

They stayed there as little as possible, only sufficient for Henry to perform  those tedious tasks of King of England.  Then, back to Aquitaine without benefit of car phone or fax machine. No wonder King Henry crossed the English Channel at

least four times in weather no dog would swim in. The fact that he survived only added to the "Spawn of Satan" mystique.

My five hour crossing last month, from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Normandy, a route Henry would have used, was only rough if, like me, you are not attuned to such things. The wind was brisk; the sky was blue. As a teacher, tour leader, and writer of English history, I was venturing for the first  time  into  ''the other  side of the story"-France, in pursuit of

the Plantagenets.

I found them in a golden diadem of a Norman chapel at Fontevrault Abbey near Tours. Henry, Eleanor, their son Richard Coeur de Lion and their daughter-in-law (wife of son John) Isabella of Angouleme.

The tombs are smaller than I imagined from pictures. Perhaps it's the graceful draperies in the style of carving. Maybe its the monumental stature of Henry and Eleanor in history. The tombs are

painted. At one time the colors must have been intense because they have mellowed to a soft crimson  and  sky  blue flecked with stars. Henry clutches a sceptre; but Eleanor is reading a book. The effect is startling, as if  at  any  moment,  she'll glance up and take up life where she

left off.

In  Tours,  at  a store dedicated  to regional specialities,  we found reproductions of a ring given by Henry to Eleanor with  the  saying  "Carpe Diem." The French translate it "Profite  du  jour". We might say "Seize the day," but my traveling companion immediately quipped, "Go for it!" How like Eleanor!

Eleanor, remember, was wife of 2 kings (Louis Capet  of  France  and  Henry II), and  mother  of  2 kings (Richard  and John). She outlived  Henry  by 15  years and made it to 82 before she died

at Fontevrault.

She was heiress of a rich countryside. This summer it was planted primarily with corn and sunflowers, dotted

with vineyards.

Henry was no slouch. He carped the diem as much as anyone. When he wasn't hopping across the channel as if it were a creek, he was insisting on greater jurisdiction for the king's courts  in England. That's how he came up against Thomas Becket, Archbishop  of Canterbury.

I've made my pilgrimage to Becket's tomb at Canterbury. This was Henry's turn. The church where he did his penance for Becket's murder is gone, but his castles remain.

We walked the monumental walls at Angers where Henry grew up and from where he administered his dukedom. We saw Chinon where Eleanor proclaimed her Court of Love. And we drank wine and dined on local  melons steeped  in  Pernod in Poitiers.

Henry's title was King of the English, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou, Maine, Touraine and Duke of Aquitaine, Poitou and Auverge. Geographical distinctions between England and France meant little.

 It's past time that a Plantagenet chaser such as I should  venture  into the heartland of their realm. Henry and Eleanor would  not have understood  why it took so long. Neither do I.

Ah, well-Carpe Diem.

 P.S. Kitty plans to lead a tour to the Land of the Plantagenets in Spring of 1990.

DO YOU REMEMBER ..............

. . . Eggers Grocery at the northeast corner of 55th and Dorchester? Here the Brothers Egger always wore long, white aprons covering them from chin to toe, and always waited carefully on each customer. No do-it-yourself in those days!

... Mike Hanley's Tavern (saloon) on the north side of 55th Street, near Harper, with its polished mahogany bar one quarter block long? Hanley's was the students' Jimmy's in the 1930's, but the bar itself dated from the 1890's and served the workmen from the Columbian Exposition.

... The Morgan Sisters' Ballet School in the Chicago Beach Hotel? Ethel and Gertrude Morgan guided the awkward steps of Hyde Park's prospective ballerinas until the hotel was demolished and the school moved to 67th and Jeffrey. Each spring the school held an

outdoor recital in the park adjacent to the old hotel. At one of those recitals HPHS member, Betty Borst, was a featured dancer -    to Mendelssohn's "Spring Song", under a bower of real apple blossoms!

Were you there? Don't you wish you were?

What do you remember? Send in your remembrances!

This Newsletter is published four times a year by the Hyde Park Historical Society, a not-for­ profit organization founded in 1975 to record, preserve, and promote public interest in the history of Hyde Park. Its headquarters, located in an 1893 restored cable car station at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue, houses local exhibits. It is open to the public, Saturdays, 2-4 p.m., Sun­ days, 2-4 p.m. Telephone: HY-3-1893.

President.......................................... Jay Mulberry

E.clitors................................ Theresa McDermott

Rita Dukette Betty Borst Margo Criscuola

Regular membership in the Society is $10 per year; contributing membership, $25; sponsors,

$50; benefactors, $100.

Newsletters 1988

February 1988

May 1988

October 1988

Volume 10, Number I February,  1988

Early History of Jackson Park

by Julia Kramer

Julia Kramer (Mrs. Ferdinand Kramer) is a genealogist and local history buff.

Although the five hundred acres which became the East Division (Jackson Park) of the South Park were marshy, largely uninhabitable and without much intrinsic value, much occurred on  or  about  the land to add many colorful chapters and footnotes to the early history of development of the park and of Chicago and Hyde Park.

The Potowatamie Indians undoubtedly hunted  and  fished  on  this property south of the village of Chicago  before the treaty of 1833 which ended the Black Hawk War and ceded  the lands west  of  Lake Michigan to the United States. The lands went on public sale  by the U.S. Government on June 15, 1835, and were bought for $1.25 an acre, in the wild speculation of the times in all  western lands.

One of the few  persons  to actually live on this unappealing property was Charles Burton Phillips, a sometime  Baptist preacher and  full time  real estate speculator. He purchased one hundred ninety-six acres in  1849 for $500, double the original price. To this acreage,  which lay between 59th  Street  and 63rd Street and stretched from the Michigan  Road (later Stony Island Ave.) to the lake, and was bounded on  the west  by a high  ridge of timber, he brought his new wife, Elizabeth Wright. They named their home "Eg?emont", built a barn and a two story frame house, painted it yellow, laid out  a ten acre vegetable garden with a large strawberry patch, spent much money

placing fences to keep out the cattle and hired men to dig ditches by hand to drain the land. They sold corn from their farm for the park, hoped to yield enough revenue to pay for the entire park system within the first five years. The prevailing opinion was that parks always produce more than they cost, due mostly to the enhanced valuation of nearby property. What no one had counted on, however, was the length of time it would take to condemn and purchase the lands, the amount and cost of litigation, or the difficulty in collecting the taxes and assessments. Certainly no one could have anticipated the I 871 Chicago Fire which burned all the land records, along with the Olmsted and Vaux' original plans.

The land cost more than $3,500,000  for the entire South Park system by the time all was settled in the mid I 880's.

In the East Division of South Park, about half of rhe lands condemned were purchased in 1870 at prices ranging from

$1,400 per acre to $2,000 per acre, already higher than the $700 per acre the Commissioners had expected to pay. Two parcels of land, however, were in dispute. One was a seventy-eight acre piece on the easterly side of a two hundred acre tract between 63rd Street and 67th Street, owned·'by forty four persons.  The other was the one hundred ninety-six acre tract once lived on by Charles Phillips, its ownership clouded  by  numerous claims and pseudo claims, including that of William Kerr who had executed his judgment on the land in 1863.

The clearing of the title to Phillips' tract became a "Celebrated Case" - a tangled web of litigation, tried in the United States Courts, the Cook County

Courts, twice in the Supreme Court of the United States and several times in the Supreme  Court  of  the State of  Illinois over a period of fifteen years. The cases provided employment to numbers of lawyers, many of whom took their fees in titles  to small  portions  of  the disputed land or ees contingent on the lTnarland value. There were ten thousand pages of testimony in what one of the judges called the most "complicated" case he had ever tried. At issue was whether William Kerr, owner of  the land  by  virtue of  the lien, had title to homestead  lands which  had been abandoned when Charles Phillips

had deserted Elizabeth. This was finally resolved in 1885 when William Kerr was declared the owner of one hundred eleven acres, for which he received $1,450 per acre plus interest of 6% per year from August 27, 1870. Eighty acres  was declared  homestead  land and  therefore not subject to the lien on the rest of the

property. Charles  Phillips  was declared the owner of forty  five  acres  and Elizabeth Wright Phillips, the owner of thirty five acres of the homestead lands. The judge, striking an early blow for women's rights, ruled that since Charles had abandoned Elizabeth,  she  was "head of household" and had an independentright to the land. Charles received $800 an acre plus 6070 interest per year from 1870.

As for the other tract of seventy-eight acres, there were three different trials before the value of the land  was decreed to be $1,800-$1,900 per acre. The judge threw out the first two verdicts as "excessive".

While this litigation stretched out from 1870 to 1885, the South Park Commissioners saw the costs of procuring the land rising and they chafed under the expense and delay.  In  1873 they complained in their annual report, "In the East Division, Commissioners have met greatest difficulty in gaining title sufficient to warrant their proceeding in the work of improvement. The very  fact  that  the surface of ground admits of  no other  way of laying out  except  in continuous lakes and lagoons as planned by Olmsted and Vaux in their original draught of the park, prevents them from beginning the work without possession of the whole tract".
Little work was done in the East Division before 1876, but roads and  sewers were put in, Stony Island Avenue was completed, the Twin Lakes were put into operation, trees were planted and a  pier was built.

While the land was in dispute, many other controversies raged and tempers flared; unauthorized individuals  were selling sand and gravel from the lake. The shoreline was being eroded because the placement of piers seven miles north of Chicago  had  redirected  storms  to the south lake shore. Cattle  were  roaming loose on the land and fences had to be

put up to keep them off. The neighbors continued their sport of shooting wild pigeons on the property. Elizabeth

Phillips and her son brought lumber down the lake on a tug one night in August

1873 and erected a house on the old property, only to see it  torn  down  the next day by the park police. A flock of sixty eight sheep was kept to  keep the grass under control. The Commissioners sold ice and hay from the land each year or extra_income. The  Panic  of  1873 added to the difficulty of collecting the assessments from  the neighboring property, and in one year alone, the legal fees for the land purchases were $11,000.

By the mid-I 880's, as the land was finally purchased in full, Jackson Park gradually began to be developed  with some of the lakes and grounds that Olmsted had envisioned. Twin  Lakes was a popular skating  place, drawing  forty four thousand persons in 1884, while the picnics and concerts drew some seventy thousand people a year  earlier.  Three lawn tennis courts were added in 1886,

and soon proved to be far too few for the demand; twelve more were added the next year. A stone  water closet  was  built  for the ladies, five hundred feet north of 59th Street - "durable, ornamental and much

needed".  Besides  fourteen  acres of artificial lakes and two baseball diamonds, there was a large shelter erected near 56th Street, big enough for two thousand five hundred people to dance on  the  maple floor. It  was occupied  almost  every evening in the good weather for dancing parties of all kinds. There were even a "number of interesting  matches  of  foot­ ball played in Jackson Park where the meadow is well adapted to the game."

By 1890 when Jackson Park became the site chosen  for  the World's  Fair,  there were eighty two  acres  of  oak-covered ridge, twenty four acres of artificial lakes and three hundred six acres of open

space. The South Park system had been in process of construction for over twenty years. Sewering, road making, grading, planting and building  a complete breakwater,  along  with  the  purchase  of the lands had cost the taxpayer a little

over $7,000 an acre, still below the average price of unimproved land

adjacent to the park. With the infusion of money for the Fair, Olmsted  was hired again to turn the land into wooded islands and Venetian canals and Jackson  Park finally became the complete park that its planners had envisioned.

Postscript:

As for  Charles  and  Elizabeth  Phillips, they did not live long enough to enjoy the

money they received or to see the property they had lived on and  fought  so bitterly over for thirty years of their lives,  turned into meadows and lakes, full of phaetons, promenading Hyde Parkers, tennis and baseball players, boaters and dancers.

Elizabeth died in  1889.  Her son married the family lawyer's daughter. Charles died in 1890, leaving his small estate to the Oneida Community in New York, a uptopian settlement where no one was allowed to own any private property. His will was a final tirade against all lawyers.

The Filipino American Experience in Hyde Park

Some of the first "Pensionados" - Philippine Government Sponsored  tudents - and other Filipinos a  well, settled in Hyde Park in

the 1920's. Of 717 students in the United States in 1924, 108 lived in Chicago. Twenty attended the University of Chicago; others were at Hyde Park High School and medical, art, music, technical, busine , and engineering schools. Most of these students were bachelors, but there were a few families and a few women as well.

By the 1930's, 15 to 20 Filipino families had settled in the area and their children attended   Ray, Fisk, and Kosminski Schools. Some were students at Mrs.

Green's Nursery School at the Hyde Park Baptist  Church  (now  the Hyde Park Union Church) and many attended St.

Thomas as well.

Because at that time Filipinos were nationals, not eligible for citizenship, nor were they considered aliens, and their numbers were small, they found solace in their countrymen and formed social clubs which picnicked at Jackson Park, played

tennis at Washington Park, and participated in activities at Brent House and International Hou e. They al o delighted the community by Oying their colorful and unique homemade kite on the Midway.

Filipinos were also active in the business community here in  Hyde  Park;  the National Tea and  A & P Store are  gone, but "Louie's Barber Shop". almost an institution,  is till  located  on  53rd  Street. A Filipino al o owned a 57th Street restaurant at the location of the original Tropical Hut.

Many families have remained in the community, ome having had to buy their first homes on contract, because at  that time  mortgages  were not available to them. Because of the University, friends and relatives were encouraged  to migrate to Chicago.  Many  doctors and  nurses were trained  at the University  hospitals and the only Filipino member of the New York Stock Exchange has fond memories of her years in Hyde Park.

Hyde Park and the Filipino American community have been good for each other.

 Researching the History of Your House

by Devereux Bowly

Gathering information about the history

Hyde Park Historical Society Archives

Since its inception, the Hyde Park Historical Society has received  donations of books, documents, photographs  and other  material  related  to the histories of the communities of Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Woodlawn as well as the city of Chicago. Some of this material is retained in the headquarters of the Society. Most,

of your house can be a lengthy process, although  if  you  are lucky you  may find out some interesting things  with  a minimum of effort. There is no single way to proceed, but like a detective, a person should explore several avenues, each of which may, or  may  not,  produce significant information. It is not possible here to do more than  suggest  a few  ways to get started. Once the research is underway,  one thing often  leads  to another.

A good place to  begin  is in  the appendix of Jean Block's  Hyde Park Houses (which is for sale at the headquarters). If your house is listed, you will  learn  the date of  construction, original owner  and  his occupation,  and the name of the architect. From there the sources are numerous, and include among others:

-  Chicago Historical Society Library, where much information is available about prominent Chicagoans.

-  City's Department of lnspectional Services (9th noor of City Hall),  where you may find on microfilm the original building permit for the hou e, or permits for subsequent major work done on it.

-  Cook County Recorder of Deed (basement of County Building), where you can trace the history of ownership of the property.

-  Burnham Library of the Art Institute, the best architectural library in town.

For a more detailed description of  how to do the actual research necessary to gather the history of a house, one should obtain  a copy of  the  booklet  "Your House Has a History," from the city's Commission on Chicago Landmarks, by phoning them at 744-3200.

however, has been placed in the Society's archives, which are located in the Special Collections Department of The University of Chicago's Regenstein Library. Our Society has about  ten lineal  feet  of shelved material in the archives and recent acquisitions are now being readied  for entry into the  collection.  The  archives may be consulted upon application to the library's Special Collections Department during normal business hours. Its staff report that the Society's archives have attracted attention and are being used frequently by a variety of researchers.

Facilitating their work is an inventory  of the current holdings that was prepared by Mrs. Jean Block, the original organizer of our collection and the Society's long time archivist. Boardmember Stephen A. Treffman has recently succeeded  her in that position.

COMING EVENTS

Mark your calendar:

June -

Exhibit at headquarters: Student's History Fair Projects

June 4 & 5 -

Hyde Park Art Fair

June 11 -

Tour of the Unitarian Church with Church Historian Wallace Rusterholtz

June  19 - House Tour:

Home of Raffaello LaMantia & Ed LaVelle

July -

Exhibit at Headquarters:

Hyde Park Doorways; photos by Ed Campbell

July 4 -

Community Picnic at Promontory Point

Until June 20 -

Oakwood Cemetary Exhbit: Celebrating our Diversity

AGoldMineofInformation...

that's  what  the workshop  KEEPING UP YOUR HISTORIC HOUSE provided

This News/el/er ;s published four times a year by the Hyde Park Historical Society a not-lor profit organization organized in 1975 tu record, preserve, and promote publi, intere,1 in che history of Hyde Park. Its headquarter , located 'nan 1893 restored cable car station at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue, houses local ex­ hibits. It is open 10 the public, Saturdays, 2-4 p.m., Sundays, 2-4 p.m. Telephone: HY-3-1893.

President.......................................... Jay Mulberry

Editor........................................... Penny Johnson

Theresa McDermott

Rita Dukette

Regular membership in the Society is $10 per year; contributing membership, $25; sponsors, S50; benefactors, $100.

atitsmeetingonMay14th.OrganizedbyBoardmember RichardNayer,who is aGeneralContractorand ConstructionManager,a panelofexpertspresentedslides and describedtheir specialareas ofexpertise.WalterArnold,a Stone Carver,showedslides ofcarvedmantels he hadconstructedfortheRosenwaldHouserenovation.RepresentativesfromTheDecorator's Supply Corp.,afirmwhichgoes backto the World'sFairof1893,outlinedtheprocessusedformakingdecorativewoodcornicesandtrim.Therewas an enthusiasticquestionandanswerperiodwiththose inattendancemakinggooduse oftheiropportunityto askanexpert.Participantswere:

Richard Nayer

Nayer Construction Company 329 West 18th St., 60616

Stephen K. Grage & Stephen G. Jonassen Decorator's Supply Corp.

3610-12 S. Morgan, 60609

David Arndt, Masonry Contractor Arndt Construction

667-1611

Edward Kochan & Greg Grzesinski Racine Sheet Metal Works

3244 N. Sheffield, 60657

Walter S. Arnold, Stone Carver 329 W. 18th St., 60616

Jean Block had so many gifts and she shared them so generously with the Hyde Park Historical Society - in its founding and in all the years since. We mourn her death and will truly miss her kind and thoughtful presence as well as the continuing contribution she made to the Society's on-going programs. Her sensible and intelligent suggestions often kept the Society on the right track and her scholarship was a matter of pride  for all. In the article below, Clyde Watkins, who with Jean first envisioned a Hyde Park Historical Society, shares some of his memories with us.

Remembering Jean

by Clyde Watkins

One of the wonderful things about growing up, and  then  remaining  as an adult in the same community, is that  you get to know so many people. Better yet, your relationships evolve as you mature. When I first met  Jean Block,  I was fourteen and  she was,  to me,  the  mother of schoolmates at U-High.  I knew nothing of her interest in  history -- particularly Hyde Park's history -- because my own appreciation of  the past and  its influence on the present had not yet developed.

Some years later,when I was part of a small group of people trying to identify and bring together the critical mass for a"HistoricalLeague ofHydePark­Kenwood,"Jean was the first bonafide expert on local history to emerge. In fact I don't remember exactly how or when she became involved,probably because she was there from the first moment our effort shadany degree of substance.I do remember this: she gave us a credibility we never would have had otherwise. She made all of us recognize the potential such an organization could have.

For example, when  the few of  us thus far involved realized  at lunch  one day, over a tureen of  wonderful  homemade soup at  Jean's apartment,  that  we  needed a dynamic leader to help catalyze mere interest into an institution, she not only identified Muriel Beadle, but arranged the meeting and, when we asked Muriel to become our first president, convinced her

to accept. (And Jean was  right  -- talk about decisive leadership! Muriel thought for  a  moment  and  replied,  "OK,  ['II do it. We're going to call this the Hyde Park Historical Society and here are the first three things I want  the two of  you  to do by next week ... ")

As good Hyde  Parkers  we took ourselves very seriously indeed  during those formative days. After all, we were making history! Throughout our endless meetings, Jean was always present, always observing our antics with her modest and marvelous smile, just patiently waiting for us to get beyond the bureaucracy o we could get started on the substance. To her the most important thing was to offer programs -- events and publications which would enlighten our neighbors and excite them too about the significance and uniqueness of our community's history.

Jean influenced us in a variety of fundamentally important  ways  during those early years of the Society. First, she had a real love of both history and architecture, and understood their relationship. She kept us from  going  too far in either direction. She also had  a gift for relating to people, in her non­ threatening way, so that each could enjoy his or her own  discoveries  and brainstorms, even though she had been working  with  these truths herself  for years. This made it easy for young whippersnappers to participate right along with those who had a more vested interest in  the events of  earlier  eras in  Hyde Park's history. lt is a real plus for our Society that  this trait has endured,  and Jean had a lot to do with creating the climate of openness and goodwill which made such a broad spectrum of involvement possible.

Let me give another example of her admirable restraint. She was known and appreciated by many influential and wealthy people all over Chicago. When it came time to raise the  money  to restore our headquarters, I know she could have contacted a few friends and taken care of the entire thing. (Amazingly,  $45,000 is not considered such a huge sum by everyone!) Yet  Jean didn't  interfere. She let all of us participate, building our own commitment through our hopes and our efforts. She dutifully went along on the foundation calls, and only dropped a modest note to her friends (who sat on all the boards) afterwards, just to make sure. Little did we know that, with  Jean involved,  we were in great shape  before we started.

Participating in the creation of the Hyde Park Historical Society was a wonderful experience for a number of people. r feel really privileged to have been a part of it. Getting to know, and like, and deeply admire Jean  was certainly a high point we all shared. We were lucky to have her.

HPHS Establishes Jean Friedberg Block Award

 At its meeting in May, 1988, the Board unanimously, and with heartfelt affection for Jean Block, established an award in her name. It will be presented occasionally for a distinguished work devoted  to Hyde Park  History. The letter below from Ed Campbell,  who will chair the Award Selection Committee, and a response from Jean's daughter Elizabeth, will be of interest to Society members.

May 20, 1988

Dear Jean,

 It is my great pleasure to tell you that the Hyde Park Historical Society has established an award in your honor to be known as the Jean Friedberg  Block  Prize. It will be presented on an occasional basis for an outstanding literary work dealing with some aspect of the history of Hyde Park, and will provide an honorarium of

$1000. We hope thereby to encourage the production of superior  historical  writing so beautifully exemplified in your published works, particularly Hyde Park Houses and The Uses of Gothic.

The Board felt it was fitting to name this prize for you in recognition of your contributions as Founder and Board Member of the Historical Society and as a distinguished historian of the Hyde Park community.

appreciation and with  affection,  Ed Campbell for the Board of Directors Hyde Park Historical Society

Dear Mr. Campbell,

 We are truly moved by your action in establishing a prize named after  Jean Block. She also asks that I convey to you, and to everyone  at HPHS,  her gratitude for your kind thoughts. As I'm sure you know, Hyde Park is of the greatest

interest to her, and nothing could be more exciting than such recognition of her involvement. I myself remember your current headquarters as a hot dog  shop (great treat) but your "product"

--appreciation of Hyde Park -- is more nourishing.

 Yours, Elizabeth Block

Neighborhood Oral History Project

The Society is interested in coordinating a neighborhood oral history project  in which any number of local organizations could cooperate to interview subjects and then pool and catalog the results.

Community institutions such as churches have obvious reasons for wanting to gather the memories of their members. But other groups should, too. Social service organizations, clubs, schools and ethnic groups have histories which should not be lost.

If interest is shown, the Society will help train oral historians, keep track of work in progress and arrange for interchange of documents. If the idea appeals to you, call 288-1242 to get involved.

HPHS Members Invited to Frank Lloyd Wright Homes

A gracious invitation has been extended to  HPHS members  and  their  guests to visit two Frank Lloyd Wright houses on Sunday afternoon, November 6--the McArthur House at 4852 S. Kenwood and the Blossom House at 4858 S. Kenwood.

Ruth Michael and Alice Shaddle Baum are the hostesses.

The group will meet first at  3 p.m. at the McArthur House and hear about the history of the homes. Refreshments  will be served.

The number of guests will necessarily be

limited to thirty. Members interested are asked to send a five-dollar donation, per person, to:

The Hyde Park Historical Society 5529 S. Lake Park Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60637

Tickets will be mailed to the first thirty members responding.

Be An Expert by Jay Mulberry, President

We are a society of amateurs, admittedly. But amateurs have expertise which is wanted by others.

Every week I receive calls from people who want to know more about something. Sometimes they are interested in a person, or a house; sometimes  they  are interested in a style of architecture; sometimes they want to know about literary figures or criminals; often they just want to  know what  things  were like "back  then."  Most of the time I wish I would direct them to someone who knows more than I do.

No one expects you to  be a guru. People just want to talk  with someone who knows more than they. And you do. Please notify the society if you would be willing to try and answer questions on some topic. First we will make a list for our own use and eventually we will make a directory. But remember,  nobody expects you to be any more than a bit better informed than they.

HYDE PARK DOORWAYS Text and Photographs by Edward A.  Campbell

Examples of doorways  from  a period of 120 years, 1868 to 1988, are included in this selection--a random lot which attracted the fancy of the photographer. Most of  the  buildings are from the first half of the period, ending roughly about 1930 when the Great Depression brought construction to a virtual standstill and the influence of the International Style changed the taste for ornament on buildings.

After centuries of doorways iden­tified to make a celebration of arrival and to mark the transition from the common places to the special spaces, entrances became almost indistinguish­ able from other elements of  the building facade. Doorways on modern buildings, usually de-emphasized, were strictly  functional--no  celebration there.

But with the advent of Post Modern style in architecture, the entrance once more is marked: a grand arch  frames the doors to the John Crerar Library, gables appear over the entrances to the Kersten Center and a whimsical false pediment with a window tops  the Prairie City Diner--all built since 1984.

Echoes of most historical styles and classical elements are found in the or­ nament of the elaborate doorways  of the 19th and early 20th century buildings. There are classical columns with pediments, some angular, some round, some broken. You see post and lintel framings with plain or fluted pillars, Doric, Ionic or Corinthian capitals with plain surfaces or reliefs of festoons, garlands or scrollwork on the architrave. Romanesque arches were popular; one curious example has stub­ by but massive granite columns sup­ porting a round  arch  of  rusticated stone springing from Corinthian capitals. The arch is outlined with an egg and dart border.

Gothic arches with pinnacles, crockets, cusps and tracery, and quatrefoil reliefs sometimes appear over classical columns. Tudor and Georgian periods were the inspiration for many doorways.

Simpler entrances to frame houses include two from the 1860's, both in Italianate style: the house at 5630 Kim­ bark, and the house at 5417 Black­ stone. There is gingerbread ornament from 1890 and a later house with  a front porch, classic pillars and balustrade.

The four  Frank  Lloyd  Wright houses whose entrances are exhibited (Blossom 1892, McArthur 1892, Heller 1897 and  Robie 1909) offer a glimpse of the transition from the traditional to the unique expression of his genius. (The Robie House door originally had leaded inserts of stained glass in geometric patterns similar to those of the windows throughout the house.) 

The  row houses show a  wide range of design from the plain graystones of 1882, the Victorian gaudy of 5200 Blackstone, 1889, the various classical facades of the Brompton block of 5200 Greenwood, to the warm serenity and gracious courts of the Ben Weese

groupings between Kenwood and Kim­bark, and the somber formality of the Macsai houses at Dorchester and 57th Street.

The Art Deco examples really mark the end of this period of effulgence in ornamented doorways. The Powhatan, an elegant highrise apartment, in­ tegrates American  Indian  and  Art Deco design elements with finesse; the St. Thomas Apostle School entrance, a beautiful metaphor for  education, shows burgeoning abstract plant forms beside flower-studded diagonal cano­ pies,-with relief panels symbolic of education, art, religion, patriotism, music and science.

The richness and diversity of Hyde Park architecture are established by these few photographs; hundreds of other doorways, equally eccentric, charming or handsome,  may  be seen on almost any street you choose.

About the Author

A long-time resident of Hyde Park, Edward Campbell is a practicing ar­chitect, licensed in Illinois, and a member of the American Institute of Architects. He holds degrees from the University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, and California State University, Dominguez Hills.

He was the recipient of a Paul Cor­ nell Award in 1987, "For the Devotion of Meticulous Scholarship and Love to the Study and Explanation of Terra Cotta Decoration in Hyde Park."

An exhibit of photographs of  75 Hyde Park doorways opened at the Hyde Park Historical Society Head­ quarters on July 19, 1988, and con­tinued through October 30. Hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 2 until 4 pm. The article presented here, Hyde Park Doorways, is taken from the ex­hjbit catalog.
Block Family Contribution to HPHS Archives

Stephen A. Treffman

HPHS Archivist

Jean Block loved architecture and Chicago history, especially that of Hyde Park. Her classic monographs  on Hyde Park houses and the buildings of the University of Chicago reflected that passion. So also did her devotion to the Hyde Park Historical Society and  a personal collection of books and artifacts related  to  Chicago.  After  Jean's  death, her daughter, Elizabeth Kuklick and her son, William Block, graciously donated a significant portion of her papers, collectables, and books related to Chicago and Hyde Park history to our Society  and its archives.  A  result  is that  those archives, which Jean originally organized and cared for  until shortly  before her death, have been significantly enhanced.

Included in the gift are the note cards Jean accumulated in the course of her research for Hyde Park Houses: An Informal History, 1856-1910 (1978) and The Uses of Gothic:  Planning  and Building the Campus of The University of Chicago (1983). Many of these cards contain information  that  does not  appear in those books. In addition, the original large format negatives and prints of the homes  pictured  in Hyde Park  Houses have been given to the Society. These

photographs had been produced by Jean's son, the late Samuel W. Block, Jr.

At the time of her death, Jean was engaged in research on Hyde Park's apartment buildings and had assembled a catalog of  some  350  buildings,  noting their dates and costs of construction, architects,  and  original  developers. This list will become part of our  archives  and the Society is considering the possibility of publishing it.

Dozens of books  have  been  added  to our library through the Block family gift. These additions  include such  classics  as the 1889 edition of the charter and membership list of the Washington Park Club Race Track, A. T. Andreas' three volume History of Chicago (1884), and P. Gilbert and C. L. Bryson 's Chicago and its Makers (1929). Several books on the World's Columbian Exposition in Jean's collection supplement  another  recent  gift to the Society from Muriel  Beadle, one of its former presidents, which also included books on the Exposition. The Society is beginning to amass a significant collection of published material on the Fair.

Postcards depicting images of Chicago, Washington and Jackson Parks,  Hyde Park, White City, and the University of Chicago, most of them published prior to 1920, were also collected by Jean. This 400-card collection was part of the Block family gift to the Society. Included in the collection are the views pictured in this issue of the newsletter. One is an unusual so-called "real photo" view of the Hyde Park Hotel at 51st and Lake Park postmarked October 2, 1911. Another, dating from the same period, depicts the West Board Walk of the White City amusement park, which was located in a thirteen-acre area bounded by 63rd and 66th Streets and by Calumet Avenue and what is now Martin Luther King, Jr.

Drive.

Finally,  a set of  ten  pieces of dinnerware  featuring scenes of  buildings on the University of Chicago campus were included in the Block family donation  to the Society. These plates  were manufactured by the English firm of Copeland Spode in 1931.

In the months ahead, these donations will be integrated into the archives.

Society members interested in volunteering to assist  with archival  processing may do so by writing to the Society.

Memorial Fund A wards Teacher Grants

A memorial fund, "The Julie Paynter Teacher Awards", has  been  established for Julie Borst Paynter, who died March 25, 1988, by her family and friends. The fund is being administered by HPHS. All 1988 grantees are teachers or students in the Social Studies Department  of  the Hyde Park Career Academy. Mrs.

Paynter was an alumna of  Hyde  Park High School and had been a teacher with special interest and  talent  in expanding her students' civic awareness.

Victor Kader was given an award to begin a culture library and resource center at the Academy. Maura Donnelly  was given an award  to supplement  her Fulbright grant for a trip to Venezuela to develop curriculum  with  the  Association of Teachers of Latin American Studies.

George Milkowski received a grant to take a computer  course  to  facilitate  his students' use of computers in the Social Studies lab. Theresa Perry was given an award for the purchase of two volumes of the "International Library of  Afro­ American  Life and  History"  to  be stored in the Social Studies Lab.

Two students whose exhibits went on to the city History Fair were given awards.

They are seniors Tracie Cook and Stephanie Williams.

Contributions to the fund and applications for grants may be made through the Society.

What Do You Know About Midway Gardens?

HPHS member Mildred Williams asks fellow members and friends for any information they might have on Midway Gardens. Built in 1914 by Frank Wright and later called Edelweiss Gardens

(1916-20), and Midway Dancing Gradens (1921-28), it stood at 60th and Cottage Grove.

Any printed information or other recollections would be helpful. She says she has found no snapshots, programs, souvenirs, details of architecture or of performing artists.

We hope some of our members can help. Write Mildred at 5427 Hyde Park Blvd. 60615.

Newsletters 1987

April 1987

August 1987

Volume 9, Number 1                                                          

April, 1987

1836 - 1986

by Wallace Rusterholtz

Wallace Rusterholtz, historian of the Unitarian Church, is also a member of the Hyde Park Historical Society.

Only three years after Chicago was incorporated as a town, our church was founded in 1836. A few young men, inspired by a visiting Unitarian minister, started our church by adopting by-laws and planning a church building. After calling a minister, a building was constructed on the site of the Picasso figure in Daley Plaza.

The new congregation had sharp ups and downs, financial and other­ wise, during much of the nineteenth century. Ministers came and went with short pastorates. The church moved three times, always, southward, following the growth of the city. We built our present Hull Chapel in Hyde Park in 1897 as merely a mission, but the whole church followed in 1909.

Meanwhile, other important developments included the creation of a ministry-at-large in 1859. This became a social agency soon headed by Robert Collyer, supported by the church and staffed by volunteers. It was said to be "the only private agency for general relief at that time" when the government did lit­ tle for the poor and needy. Collyer was an outstanding pioneer social worker.

When the great Chicago Fire of 1871 leveled much of the city, it merely scorched our church on South Wabash Avenue because neighboring buildings were dynamited to contain the flames. The church opened its doors to the homeless. Ten years later, the women's organization started a kindergarten, probably the first free one in Chicago. They even erected a building for it eventually.

The twentieth century has been a period of longer pastorates, especially Von Ogden Vogt's from 1925 to 1944. He was promised a new church building by Morton Denison Hull, long-time trustee and treasurer of the Society who previously had given us Hull Memorial Chapel. A new structure was designed by Hull's son who constantly consulted Vogt, an authority on church liturgy, art and architecture.     Adjacent    to    Hull Chapel, it was completed in 1931 at a cost of nearly one million dollars. Our next minister was Leslie T. Pennington who served us with distinction from 1944 to 1962. Dur­ing his pastorate, we doubled our membership, acquired two addi­tional buildings, and took leader­ ship in the community. He led us in­ to racial integration and then, with others, founded the Hyde Park­ Kenwood Community Conference. He stated its purpose to be "reckon­ ing directly with the issues of racial integration, community conserva­tion and renewal, and the develop­ ment of a genuinely integrated com­munity of high standards." Hyde Park became a model for the city and nation.

During Pennington's ministry, Christopher Moore became his assistant and started a children's choir. He rapidly built it into the huge, city-wide Chicago Children's Choir. During its thirty-year history, it has drawn in thousands of children of all races, ethnic groups, creeds, and social backgrounds.

Jack Mendelsohn came to our ministry in 1969. During his pastorate of nearly ten years, we launched the Center for Family Development. It has developed into a family counseling service with substantial professional staff head­ ed now by the Rev. David Arksey who is also a member of our church staff.

Mendelsohn and our congrega­tion became increasingly concerned about civil rights, especially when rights are violated by law enforce­ment agencies. We helped to form the Alliance to End Repression, a coalition of organizations concern­ ed with civil liberties and urban problems. Mendelsohn became its first president. The Chicago police "red squad" spied for years on these and other organizations, in­cluding our church and minister.

Duke T. Gray came to our ministry from Toronto in 1980. We finally completed our long-term ef­forts to separate the Chicago Children's Choir and the Center for Family Development from the church legally. They remain closely associated with the congregation, but had become heavy financial burdens. They now can receive more outside funding. This really extends our church's outreach to the com­munity and city.

Four Receive Coveted Paul Cornell Award

by Jay Mulberry

At the annual meeting this year, the Society presented four Paul Cornell Awards to nominees recommended by the Board. Receiving the coveted honor were Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Bender, Edward Campbell, Eileen Edwards and Mr. and Mrs. Julius Thomas.

The Benders received the award which has become customary during the last few years for restoration of homes by nonprofessionals. The Bender efforts, which span several years, involved the substantial interior refinishing of an 1890 period two story row house in the 5500 Dorchester block. In addition to new mechanical systems, the Benders removed many layers of paint and wall coverings from walls and woodwork and restored original features of the house. They re­ landscaped the rear yard and constructed a patio and deck.

The young Ms. Edwards already

has had an enviable career as history teacher at St. Thomas School. During the last two years she has been a member of the teachers' advisory board which has shaped the  new  Junior  History  Fair  to compliment the long-successful Metro History Fair and students in her classes are involved in the best tradition of "hands-on" learning as they create their own directory of local history sources. Ms. Edwards has earned the reputation at her school of performing that formidable trick of "making history fun" and for this the Society  (and all Hyde Parkers) should be grateful.

Edward Campbell is a semi­ retired architect who, after a successful career, returned to school for a master's degree involving a fine thesis on the use of terra cotta in Hyde Park. The thesis is a splendidly thorough study of the architectural conventions in terra cotta ornament which grew up after the great Chicago fire, flourished during the first quarter of this century and died out almost completely during the depression. Though the making of terra cotta is almost a lost art, its memory is preserved in Hyde Park on countless buildings -- nearly all of which Ed Campbell has noted and described. Earlier this year, Campbell set up a notable display of photographs and ornaments at the Historical Society headquarters and assembled a comprehensive catalog to accompany it. The catalog is still available and provides the basis of a fascinating walking tour through the neighborhood and its architectural past.

The award presented   to Julius and Marsha Thomas was a token of appreciation for their restoring the interior of their Hyde Park Place Cafe just north of 55th and Cottage Grove in Washington Park -- the former lawn bowling clubhouse whose exterior renovation the Society undertook last summer. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, who also own the Park Place Cafe in Lincoln Park, worked closely with former Society President Devereux Bowly for more than one year and with him succeeded in creating a place of grace and charm which begins to renew some of the vast potential of Washington Park. Members  of  the  committee

responsible for evaluating this year's Cornell Award nominations were Win Kennedy, Roberta MacGowan, Emma Kemp and Jay Mulberry. Nominations for next years Awards may be submitted at any time and are welcome now.

Volumn 9, Number 2 and 3

August, 1987

Promontory Point - 50th Anniversary Exhibit

by, Roland Kulla

One special element of the  July 4th celebration of Promontory Point's 50th anniversary is a comprehensive exhibit which features photographs Jent from  Park  District files showing the actual construction  of  the Point from the early 1920's through the completion of the fieldhouse and original landscaping. The selection of aerial photos is particularly interesting in that  they show  not only the location  of  the original  breakwaters and landfill, but also the transformation of the old Fine Arts Building into the Museum of Science and Industry and the building of the landmark hotels that fill the shoreline today.

The Park District also shared copies of the original blueprints for E.V. Buchsbaum's fieldhouse and the original landscape design by Alfred Caldwell as well as plans for the later addition of the council rings and an intriguing plan for extensive perennial gardens. The landscape  photos  confirm  that  Caldwell's design was fully executed with the exception of the retaining wall around the perimeter of the Point.  Caldwell  had  planned  a gradually sloping series of limestone ledges, complete with pockets for rock garden plantings. This was apparently too costly, and the existing stone blocks were installed instead.

The exhibit notes architect Caldwell's link to the great prairie school landscape designer Jens Jensen, whom he served as foreman on several major projects in the 1920's. Caldwell's design is a masterful interpretation of the prairie concept, creating a large open meadow surrounded by groves of native trees and shrubs, but broken on ·the north and south to permit vistas of the city. Caldwell went on to design the Zoorookery in Lincoln Park as well as much of the Lincoln Park extension between Montrose and Foster. He taught with Mies van der Rohe at IIT for many years and is responsible for the landscape design of the campus, where he still resides.

Hard times are noted with plans and  photos that showed the  Nike  radar station  located  on the Point  from  the mid-1950's  to the early 1970's. This installation destroyed significant plantings which have never been replaced.  But the photos also show, despite this inappropriate use, the Point continued to  be a  rallying  place for the community.

In the present, the exhibit highlights the wide variety of activities sponsored by the Park District at the fieldhouse, and notes increased opportunities for community  participation through the local advisory committee.

The future includes a survey of  plant materials by local landscape architects to determine what of  the original  plan still remains. There is interest in using this information both to develop a master plan for future restoration and possibly to seek National Register designation of the Point as an historic landscape.

The exhibit continues on display at the Society's headquarters through September. The photos and plans will then be placed in the Historical  Society's archives.  If  you  stop to take a look, be sure to pick up one of the brochures prepared by the Friends of the Parks and the Hyde Park Historical Society detailing the Point's history.

Roland Kulla, board member of the Society, prepared the current Promontory Point exhibit. In his research he uncovered old materials, photos, and blueprints in the recently opened Archives of the Chicago Park District which bring new dimensions to the history of the Point. Hours are 2 to 4 on Saturdays and Sundays.

A Picnic Extraordinaire                       

Perfect weather and high spirits marked the occasion of the 4th of July picnic in celebration of the 50th birthday of Promontory Point. Co­ sponsored by the Hyde Park Historical Society and the Friends of the Parks, the day was reminiscent of an old-fashioned 4th of July community bash. The castle building was adorned in red, white and blue bunting, artfully hung by committee member Clay Anderson, and activites for all ages abounded.

Hat making, face painting and sidewalk drawing continued throughout the afternoon while clowns and jugglers circulated. A special thanks is due Historical Society board member Zeus Preckwinkle for providing both entertainment and instruction in the art of juggling. Kids and adults alike stood

spellbound as he tossed everything from eggs to flaming lorches in the air. (Not recommended for beginners).

As the afternoon progressed, games such as 3-legged races, family wrapping, and volleyball were enjoyed while others stood in line for ice cream and popcorn. Experienced popcorn popper, Helen Bailey, demonstrated considerable expertise learned in her high school days. Balloons and flags were distributed and the picnic culminated in music and speeches. Leon Despres, a reowned public speaker, sang a mean tune as he led the group in a song written for the occasion by Bob Ashenh urst.

Another special feature of the day was the exlu15if prepared oy ooara member--Rt5tand Kulla tracing the history of The Point. This illuminating exhibit, researched and designed by Roland, is now on display at the Headquarters of the Historical Society through September. (See article describing the exhibit in this issue).

Kudos and thanks particularly to the hard­ working committee who planned the picnic and the many Historical Society volunteers who helped make this event such a success. Not to be overlooked is our appreciation for the tremendous cooperation and help we received from ShapelJ Smith and her staff from the Park District and Deone Jackman and Kay Clement from the Friends of the Parks.

Picnic Committee:

Clay Anderson Rita Dukette Eileen Edwards Emma Kemp Roland Kulla

Theresa McDermott Zeus Preckwinkle Enid Rieser

Marie Schilling Grace Williams

Co-chairs:

Penny Johnson Jay Mulberry

Newsletters 1986

March 1986

July-August 1986

December 1986

Early Days At Vista Homes

It was a fairly warm day for so early in the spring.  A good  day to  walk  around the construction site which was to be our new home - ours and 118 other families. This was the spring of 1925, Vista Homes was a-building and we had been promised occupancy by early fall.

This was not our  first  visit.  The visits had begun when there was only a large vacant lot and  ground  was yet  to  be broken for the building. Many of the apartments had been sold when there were oniy the architect's drawings to use in making a decision to buy or not to buy.

Once our decision was made we carefully counted up nine floors in the drawing and marked the windows of  apartment  9F where we judged them to be.

But on this warm spring day the building towered above us. The stairs were not yet built and ladders provided the only access above the ground. Tired of looking at those markings for our windows, my father and I climbed the nine floors on ladders to see what the view would be from this perspective.

Climbing up was very tiring, but climbing down was infinitely worse.  It left  my father incapacitated for two days, and  I was not much better!

The first view of the empty lot was followed, as I recall, by many meetings of the prospective owners held in the loop offices of the developer,  Albert  W. Swayne. Many representations had been made as to the individuality of the apartments which were to be based on the tastes of the respective owners.  Alas,  few of these were met! The two most aggravating deficiencies were the date promised for a great move-in  which actually occurred several months later and the Midway Athletic Club which never materialized at all!

Vista Homes --­

The Midway Athletic Club was to be one of the advantages of Vista Homes. It was to be located on  the corner  of  59th and Stony Island and would provide swimming pools, exercise rooms - in fact every facility of a downtown club. Many apartment buyers signed up and paid for memberships in this club. My family's decision to purchase an apartment on the ninth floor was made on the basis of  the fact that the Midway Athletic Club would be six stories  high,  and therefore  would not restrict our view. The only concrete evidence any of us ever saw of the Club were the folding chairs in the board  room of Vista Homes, duly marked on the back of each, MAC.

There were also objections voiced about the use of the 17th floor considered by the owners to  be the most  desirable  floor  of all and designated by the architect and the developer for the laundries and  store­ rooms.  Enormous gas dryers  were installed, one of which might easily have served four or five families. Mr. Swayne must have envisioned  his  residents  as being most compulsively clean - and dry! The best view from the building was to be had on a small  balcony  located  at  the front of  the  building on  the top  floor of the south  wing. (I  understand  this has since been enclosed.) The young people soon found a trap door access to  the roof and forthwith established a very informal roof garden  and  views in all four directions.

The various shortcomings of  the building, common I'm sure to many new structures,  provided  ready  conversation for neighbors new to each other. We met and conversed most frequently in  the freight elevators which seemed to be far more reliable than the swifter, cleaner passenger cars. We quickly learned that if nothing was operating vertically in your tier, it was better to take another tier's elevator to the 16th floor, walk  up one flight and cross over  to  your own stairs and then walk down rather than up.

The homogeneity  of  those  first owners is astonishing  to  me these many  years later. We were mirror  images of  each other, in backgrounds, education, religion- even in size of family. Only our bank accounts differed, and although some had more, there was none with much less.

The medical profession constituted the largest single group. My father was a doctor and indeed  his interest  in buying an apartment was stimulated by  three of his colleagues. Dr. Ernest E. Irons, Dr. Robert Black, Dr. W.G. Jeffries, Dr.

Lloyd Arnold were some of those early residents. The faculty of the University of Chicago was well represented as was the business world in the person of J.O. McKinsey who was later to become a university professor and then president of Marshall Field's. Perhaps this group represented the "yuppies" of that decade.

In spite of the homogeneity of the owners' group I don't recall particularly any community  spirit.  The only communal activities I remember are two: the young people's group and the Christmas carols.

The young people's group was made up of high school age people united for two purposes: to outwit the chief engineer, Mr. Points, and to have fun. Mr. Points required perfect decorum in the matter of behaviour in the lobby, staying off the roof, etc. and was seen as a common foe. The "fun" part consisted of weekly meetings in each other's homes with special pleasure found in the meetings in the Swayne apartment, the largest and

most elaborate in the building, and once a month a more adventuresome outing - an evening of dancing at the Venetian Room of the Southmoor Hotel. We went  in a group and returned in  a group,  a  practice in great favor with our parents.

The Christmas Carols were initiated by Mr. Harris Vail,  then  a  teacher  of  music at U-High. It was he who organized them each year and encouraged attendance. Mr. Vail would move  to the lobby a small cherry wood organ with foot pedals which he attacked with vigor, singing lustily and encouraging everyone else to do the same. He was supported in this by  my  mother who had a splendid voice and particularly enjoyed this annual event. My family were of Welsh descent and, as my father said, readily admitted they sang well. Another resident who was Welsh was Mr. H. S. Richards, one of the South Park commissioners, and he lent his voice willingly.

Other random recollections of life•in Vista Homes come to mind - in those days Stony Island was paved with wooden blocks which, when wet, were extremely slippery. On a rainy night one might sit in the south windows watching cars slip and slide as they tried to stop at the Midway stop light. In the I 930's Paul Darrow moved into the building. His father Clarence Darrow lived across the Midway and we would often see Mr. Darrow walking home from a visit to his son.

Our family greatly admired Mr. Darrow and we would comment on how tired and how burdened he appeared to be. Perhaps he was only thinking!

It would be interesting to hear  from other survivors of those early years. Their recollections might not be as clouded by the intervening years as I am sure mine have been. I am indebted greatly to Knox Hill and Mrs. Gustavus Swift who have materially aided me with the archival pieces which they made available.

Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe Centennial

by Anita Anderson

One hundred years ago, on March 27, 1886, Mies van der Rohe, considered by many to have been the most important architect of the modern  period,  was born in Aachen, Germany. In 1929 he designed the German Pavilion for the International Exposition at  Barcelona,  Spain. The classic chair that Mies designed for the exhibition, known now as the Barcelona chair, is still available for purchase.  In 1930 Mies was appointed Director of the Bauhaus in Dessau and Berlin, Germany. The Bauhaus was the school of design which exerted the most influence on industrial design and the techniques  of mass production  in the 20th  century.  In the early 30's, with the rise of the Nazi government, the Bauhaus was closed and Mies emigrated to the United States.

Armour Institute of Technology (later Illinois Institute of Technology) appointed

The Ritz On 55th Street Garage

by Lynn Abbie

The outstanding Deco feature of this building is its terra cotta work. The nifty auto of the period and the stop lights and tires worked into the design are distinctive and intriguing.

The building has been used as a garage, for which it was originally built, and a car showroom.  It has been  rehabed  as an office space property with ample indoor parking. A bank and a real estate office occupy the largest portion of the first and second floor.  Utilities,  the custodial offices, and office space totaling 22,500 square feet comprise the third floor.

The promotional material  of  1929 for the Ritz Garage states that it was a three­ story, fire-proof building designed and erected to give the utmost in modern day garage service. This ad also stated  that, "the word 'garage' belies the service we render. More aptly - this is an automobile check room,  clean, light  and  airy, bringing a new standard of  garage service to Chicago... a refund can be secured on your insurance by keeping your car in a fireproof garage."

The waiting room and chauffeurs' rest room were features touted at the end of the 1920s. The waiting room had furniture in Red Morocco leather. The chauffeurs' room had leather furniture, a radio, and reading facilities along with showers, lockers, and tiled floor. The managers claimed "nothing has been overlooked." Those days are gone forever.

Mies Director of Architecture. From 1938 to 1958 he developed the  university's unique architecture curriculum. While  at IIT Mies·devised a Master Plan for the campus.  Today  there are 20  Mies buildings on the campus  including  the most important one,  Crown  Hall, erected in 1956. Chicago has the greatest concentration of Mies' buildings in the world. In Hyde Park  there  are two buildings designed by Mies. The oldest is Promontory Apartments (1948-49) at 55th Street and  South  Shore  Drive.  The other is the School of Social Service Administration Building (1962) on the University of Chicago campus at 969 E. 60th St.

To commemorate the centennial of his birth, The Mies Centennial Project at IIT will sponsor a major exhibition Mies van der Rohe: Architect as Educator, June 6

 Lynn Abbie, current  President  of  the Chicago Art Deco Society, is working on a book, to be published later this year, called Chicago Deco. One of the buildings she is including is at the corner of 55th St. and Lake Park Ave.,  now owned and occupied on the street level by the University Bank. The building was built in 1929 and the architect is unknown.

through July 12 in ·crown Hall.

The project will also include lectures: Reyner Banham, April 16, 6 pm,

Perlstein HalJ, UT.

Alfred Caldwell,  April  23, 8 pm, Graham Foundation, 4 W. Burton Pl.

Fritz Neumeyer, May 14, 6 pm, Art Institute of Chicago.

There will also be exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art, May 9 to August 10, and at the Museum of Science and Industry, June 11 to September 1, as well as special tours sponsored by the Archicenter.

For more information contact the

Project office at 567-3955.

For more information on Mies van der Rohe read Franz Schultz's recent biography published by the University of Chicago Press.

 Donation to Society

Douglas Wilson and Joseph O'Gara of the O'Gara & Wilson Bookstore at 1311

E. 57th Street have donated a rare lace picture to the Society. It depicts a view of the 1933 Century of  Progress  World's Fair, held on  the near  south  side lakefront.  It  joins  an expanding permanent art collection at  the headquarters which includes a drawing of the tiny artists colony that once stood on the northwest corner of 57th Street and Kenwood Avenue, previously donated by Douglas Wilson. Society president Devereux Bowly commented, "We are fortunate to have fine merchants such as O'Gara and Wilson in Hyde Park. Their shop is not only the  best  used  bookstore in town, but is housed  in the oldest building in Chicago  which  was constructed for a bookstore and has been continuously occupied by one."

 A Call for Volunteers

To all Historical Society members: Do you enjoy meeting people with a

Hyde Park story to tell? We are already quite sure you are interested in our community history! Why not volunteer to be at the Historical Society  headquarters on a  Saturday  or Sunday  afternoon  from 2 to 4 p.m.?

No particular talent is required. If you wish, we can ask someone else to serve with you.

Call Alta Blakely at 684-2784 for

further information.

    Calendar of Events March 8 - Historical Society Annual Meeting South Shore Country Club, 7:00 p.m.   March 27 -Mies van der Robe's 100th birthday. (See article for Centennial Lectures)   March 29 -Metro History Fair Kenwood Academy   April 6 -    Hyde Park House (A how-to for Hyde Park home owners) U. of C. School of Social Service Administration 969 East 60th St.   Editor's Note:

We are interested in hearing from our readers. Corrections, comments, gossip, new news and old news are welcome.

Write the editors in care of headquarters.

Carol Bradford Lectures on History of Hyde Park Congregational Church

Carol Bradford, HPHS vice-president, lectured Monday evening, January 13, at the headquarters,  on  the current Historical Society exhibit featuring the centennial of the Hyde Park Congregational Church. Carol was also curator of the exhibit.

Present at the lecture were two groups-­ the Women's  Society of  the  United Church of  Hyde Park  (of  which  the former Hyde Park  Congregational Church is now a part) and members of  the Historical Society. The  house  was  full, and Carol's enthusiasm and knowledge of the church history elicited many questions and comments from the audience.

Alta Blakely, HPHS board member, served hot cocoa and other "goodies" before the lecture.

A tape recording of Carol's talk has been placed in the Historical Society archives.

Judith  Bradford  helps decorate tree at Headquarter's Holiday Parry.

This Newsletter is published four times a year by the Hyde Park Historical Society a not-for­ profit organization organized in  1975  lo record,  preserve, and  promote  public interest in the history of Hyde Park. Its headquarters, located in an 1893 restored cable car station at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue, houses local ex­hibits. It is open to the public, Saturdays, 2-4 p.m., Sundays, 2-4 p.m.  Telephone: HY-3-1893.

President..................................... Devereux Bowly

Editors......................................... Anita Anderson

Rita Dukette Penny Johnson Theresa McDermott

Regular membership in the Society is $10 per year; contributing membership, $25; sponsors,

$50; benefactors, $100.

Volume 8, Numbers 2 and 3

Open Sat. 2-4 PM; Sun. 2-4 PM                                          July - August, 1986

Annual Meeting Tours Historic South Shore Country Club 

by Jay Mulberry

Concerning the History Fair

The Society's seventh annual meeting was held on March 8, at the recently restored South Shore Country Club.

Following a delicious dinner and a hearty welcome from  Master of  Ceremonies, Leon Despres, Society president Dev Bowly, reported on the year's  highlights. He  introduced  Norman  De  Haan, architect in charge of the restoration, who described his research which became the basis of its reconstruction.

Anne Stevens, reporting for the Nominating Committee, introduced new board members and presented a slate of officer.s for the coming year. Officers are:

President: Devereux Bowly President Elect: Jay Mulberry Vice President: Penny Johnson Treasurer: Roberta MacGowan

Recording Secretary: Berenece Boehm Corresponding Secretary: Betty Borst

New Board members are: Kim Clement Fill Kitty    Picken Winston Kennedy Larry McBride

Paul Cornell Awards were presented

For the third year in a row,  the  Hyde Park Historical Society Award for achievement in the Metro History Fair has gone to students from Hyde Park Career Academy. Natalie Dussard and Lynne Wilson split a $50.00 prize for their ten minute skit  entitled  "63rd  Street:  Then and Now" which portrayed a

grandmother speaking with her not­ always-very-interested granddaughter about the changes she had seen over the last thirty-five years in Woodlawn.

Natalie, who played the grandmother, spoke of the stores,  banks  and  theaters that had existed  along 63rd Street  when she and her husband had come North seeking a better life. Lynne acted the part of a distracted teenager who could hardly believe that things hadn't always been the way they  are today.  After  the presentation, the judges quizzed the girls about their research and found they had visited the Chicago Historical Society and the Harsh Collection of the Woodson Library among others to get their information. Although neither of the girls lives in Woodlawn now, it was Lynne Wilson's home for many years.

For the last three years the Historical Society has offered a $100.00 award for the outstanding projects relating to the area encompassed by the original

township of Hyde Park (nearly all of what is now called the South Side). Judging is based entirely on the scores received by participants in the regular judging of the History Fair. This year, because no entry meeting our specifications of being within the Hyde Park area received  a score meriting $100.00 and since no others reached the level of meriting a cash

award, the Society's award was kept to

$50.00.

committee chairman Jay Mulberry. (See story this issue).

One  of  the highlights of  the evening was the entertainment Songs Our Mothers Never Taught Us, produced by Elizabeth Wegener with fellow members of the University of Chicago Service League Helen Bailey,  Lyn Fozzard,  Joan Lonergan, Kitty Picken, Joyce Swedlund, Alice Tolley, Charlotte Vikstrom, Anna Mary Wallace, Carole Browning, and

Jean Meltzer, and written by Barbara Fiske and Judith Getzels - a delightful, nostalgic performance for which we are very grateful.

Another highlight was a tour of the restored areas of the Club led by the architect in charge of the reconstruction, Norman De Haan. (See article this issue.) 

by Kitty Picken

Time Travel--Hyde Park Style: A Visit to the Kulla-Kilgore Home.

Some of my friends are surprised that I, an historian, am also a fan of  science fiction. I explain that I love

"time-travel"-- flitting from century to century or era to era in imagination.

Which is what a group of society members did for an inspiring few  hours on Saturday, June 14, when we were guests of Michael Kilgore and Roland Kulla. Nine years ago these two intrepid adventurers embarked upon a journey in time and effort, the mere  thought  of which sends shivers along many spines.

Their house, built in 1890 as a speculation just before the World's  Fair, had been in one family for many  years; then most recently it was turned into students' lodging. Some of the challenges faced by Michael and Roland include-:-gas and electric fixtures with only a couple of electrical outlets, one  bathroom(which once served  10 students),  a  closed-off third  floor  black  with soot,  turquoise paint on wood and  wall in  the dining room.  The before-and-after  pictures they've collected tell the story of their project. The fragments of layers of wall paper they've preserved  hint at  the original, handsome decor.

I'm sure each of my fellow time travelers has his or her favorite room or story. Let me share mine with you.

Helen's Room - the third floor front  - was where the previous owner's invalid sister, Helen, spent 35 years of her life. While they were decorating, Roland and Michael received as a present a set of drapes that had once hung in Lincoln's Bedroom in the White  House.  Though they didn't  particularly  care  for the design, they felt compelled to hang them. Using the paisley pattern in  the drapes, they designed their own stencil for a wall border. The effect is rich and  warm.  By the way-both the sister and  the  drape donor were named Helen. Haunting!

marvelous wall treatment with a self- designed and executed stencil taken from the border of the rug using numerous colors. Each color had to have its own stencil cut. The fireplace with its display of Rookwood and other Arts & Crafts Movement Pottery is straight from the period.

The Dining  Room-Michael  and Roland call it their "little gem." This is a room in which to  dine-you  don't  do your homework on this table, no dress

patterns are cut here, no bills paid. True Victorian sense of purpose focuses all attention on the table beneath  a real antique 19th century chandelier. The wall paper is dark green highlighted with gold. Michael and Roland had a specialist-an 80-year-old lather-repair  the  coved ceiling, one of the very few jobs that they didn't do themselves.

The Kitchen  and  Wine  Cellar-Michael, a professional cook,  knows  how to design a kitchen with a counter that effectively separates busy cook from well-meaning, garrulous guests. AU of this is in the basement with a dumb waiter to the "breakfast room"  (i.e.   the  original kitchen and pantry).

The afternoon ended with treats of cake and skewered fruit while we talked  to all our good frierrd-s-who had come to be enlightened and inspired by this beautiful recreation of a house  nearly  a 100 years old.

I then wandered home to watch Dr. WHO on T.V. Though  why,  I don't know, when I can time travel so conveniently and delightfully back to the beauties of the 19th century right in my own neighborhood.

Chicago Sinai Congregation Celebrates Historic 125th Anniversary 

by Rabbi Howard A. Berman

A Service of Celebration and Rededication initiated a series of ongoing activites commemorating the 125th anniversry of Chicago Sinai Congregation, which has played a key role in the development  of American  Reform Judaism.

The special service was held on Sunday, April 20, at Sinai Temple, South Lake Shore Drive at 53rd Street. The current exhibition at the Hyde Park Historical Society offers a pictorial overview of

Sinai's colorful history.

Since its establishment in 1861,  the Sinai Temple has remained  a leading center of Reform Judaism in America. It was the first Reform synagogue  in Chicago and counts many other Chicago­ area congregations among its direct descendants. In addition, its rabbis and

members have played an important part in the religious, cultural, educational, social, and philanthropic life of the city.

Sinai's rich history reaches back to the days before the Civil War. The Congregation's founding rabbi, Bernhard Felsenthal, a native of Germany, founded the Jewish Reform Society in 1858. The major premise of his teachings was that each Jew had  the freedom,  and  the duty, to seek  the sources of  religious truth  in the needs and circumstances of each new generation.

The Congregation's first temple, a remodeled Protestant church on Monroe Street between Clark and LaSalle, was dedicated on June 21, 1861. It was during the Civil War that Sinai's continuing tradition of social activism was firmly established with ardent preaching against slavery.  Many of its members  fought  in the  Union  Army, some attaining  high rank.

Sinai's second temple, at the corner of

Plymouth Court and Van Buren, was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871. While the Congregation  temporarily  met  in rented halls, then-rabbi Dr.  Kaufman Kohler  began  Sinai's distinctive  tradition of Sunday worship, supplementing the

traditional Jewish Saturday Sabbath as the major service of the week.  Many other major Reform temples in the country followed suit.

The rapidly growing congregation

acquired land and moved into a beautiful new temple at the corner of Indiana Avenue and 21st Street. Romanesque in style, it was designed  by  Chicago architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan,  in  their  first  major collaboration. Its interior was embellished with the floral designs and frescoes that were to become a trademark of Sullivan's architecture.

After  Dr.  Kohler left  Chicago  to become rabbi of New York's Temple Beth El (and, later, President of Hebrew Union College, training a new generation of American Reform rabbis), Dr. Emil G. Hirsch became Sinai's new rabbi in I 880. A forceful preacher of often  radical religious and social liberalism, Dr. Hirsch guided the Congregation for 43 years and left an indelible stamp on  the life of  the city as well.

Ln 1892 the temple was enlarged to accommodate the crowds flocking to services. Among the Congregation's active members at this time were many of Chicago's leading citizens, including Julius Rosenwald, President of Sears Roebuck & Co., champion  of  educational  and economic opportunity for America's poor and  a  philanthropist  who  helped  found and sustain the University of Chicago; Hannah  Solomon,  civic  leader  and founder of the National Council of Jewish

Women, and Henry Horner, Governor of Illinois from 1932 to 1940.

By the early years of the 20th century

Sinai's membership was centered in the elegant  Grand  Boulevard  neighborhood on the South Side. In 1912 the greatly expanded Congregation moved into its fourth  home, at Grand  Boulevard  (now Dr. Martin Luther  King Jr.  Drive) and 46th Street. The Temple and Community Center designed by Chicago architect Alfred Alschuler included educational, cultural, and athletic facilities, in addition to a 2200-seat sanctuary.

Dr. Hirsch died in 1923, but his successors continued Sinai's tradition of religious and social leadership. While Dr.

Louis L. Mann was Senior Rabbi

(1923-1962), the Congregation's Samuel Disraeli ("S.D.") Schwartz founded the famous Sinai Forum, which featured prominent thinkers from every walk of life discussing the pressing moral, political, the philosophical issues of the day.

By the mid-1940's with its membership

moving southward into Hyde Park and South Shore, the Congregation began to plan another new home. In 1950 the current Temple on Lake Shore Drive in Hyde Park was dedicated. Combining

South Shore Country Club

by Devereux Bowly

Not far from Hyde Park there exists a magnificent ensemble of early 20th century buildings, open spaces, gardens and sports facilities, basically unchanged for almost 60 years. It is, of course, the South Shore Country Club.

The 65-acre property occupies almost three-quarters of a mile of Lake Michigan shoreline from 67th to 72nd streets, just south of Jackson Park. In 1973 it was purchased, for something under $10 million, by the Chicago Park District.

Since that time there has been a lively debate as to exactly how the property should be used.

The club was established in 1906 on land obtained from the City of Chicago. The architects for the complex were Marshall and Fox, who also were responsible for the Blackstone Hotel, Edgewater Beach Hotel (destroyed), Edgewater Beach Apartments, Drake Hotel, and most of the buildings in  the fine row of apartment houses east of the Drake.

The original clubhouse was 2 ½ stories tall, and of frame construction. In about 1908 a ballroom, erected in concrete, was added to it. The buildings as they exist today date to 1916 when the present clubhouse and dining room were erected on the site of the original building, and connected to the ballroom.

The clubhouse is massive, over 500 feet long, and broken into the 5 story-high central section, ballroom wing, and dining room wing. It has a skeleton of reinforced concrete columns and girders, and is finished on  the outside  with  cement stucco. The  roof  is shingled  in clay tile and the gutters and  down  spouts are copper.

The building is in the Mediterranean Resort  Style,  the last  good example of  it in Chicago if  not  the Midwest.  Its style and enormous interior spaces are 'reminiscent of Newport and Palm Beach.

The clubhouse building cost $450,000 in 1916. The furnishings had a very light feeling to them. The floors are white tile, and the windows had transparent curtains. There were originally oriental  rugs and  a lot of rattan furniture.

Charles E. Fox,  the architect  in charge of the project, located the clubhouse on a

diagonal axis between the  main gate at 71st Street and South Shore Drive, and a small cove in  the lake at about  70th Street. The grounds also include tennis courts, lawn bowling greens, a golf course, horse stables and a small boat harbor.

The original staff proposal of the Park District in 1974 was to demolish all the buildings except the stables (which house the Chicago Police Department horses) and maintenance buildings, and redesign the grounds for intensive park  uses such as a smaller golf course, baseball diamonds and a playground. The outcry from the South Shore and Hyde Park communities was so strong that the Park District decided not to demolish the structures, but years of controversy followed involving what the use of the clubhouse building should be, and who should be in charge of the programming there.

In the early  1980's the clubhouse building was rehabilitated on the exterior, and the main floor and mezzanine were restored at a cost  of  several  million dollars. The upper floors, which originally contained 90 sleeping rooms, have been gutted and await a new  use. The golf course is popular all summer,  the three large rooms in the clubhouse  booked almost every weekend evening, and the South Shore Club Park  has become a crown jewel in the Chicago Park District system. 

Editor's Note:

We are interested in hearing from our readers. Corrections, comments, gossip, new news and old news are welcome.

Write the editors in care of headquarters.

both traditional and modern elements, its distinctive contemporary design reflects the modern  religious spirit  that  is the heart of Sinai's identity.

In the past two decades many of the Temple's Jewish families  have  moved from the South Side to suburban or other city neighborhoods, and Sinai today is a metropolitan congregation of 700 families from the entire Chicago area.

Dr. Mann's successors, Samuel E. Karff (Senior Rabbi, 1962-75), Philip Kranz (1975-80), and Howard A. Berman

(1982-present), have all sought new ways to help the Congregation adjust to these changing demographic realities, at  the same time intensifying the members' religious and educational experiences with creative new programs and styles of worship and study.

 Looking For A Space For Your Next Party?

The Hyde Park Historical Society Headquarters is available to  rent  for parties, meetings,  and sirniliar  gatherings. lf you are looking for space to hold a graduation party, a historic birthday or a meeting of the Midnight Mystery Readers' Association,  consider  the Headquarters. For further information and reservations contact Dev Bowly at 638-2343 (days), or send him a note at the Headquarters.

A Step Forward

As part of a bond  issue which  passed the City Council last year, the curbing, gutters and sidewalks on the east side of Lake Park Avenue from 55th to  56th streets are scheduled to be replaced this summer. This portion of the construction work was designed to enhance the appearance and accessibility of the Historical Society.

Today, Chicago Sinai Congregation marks this milestone anniversary with a commitment to its historic liberal religious ideals. New programs of  community service and Jewish-Christian cooperation, and a  unique Outreach  Program  of support for interfaith families, are part of Sinai's response  to contemporary  needs and the challenges of the future.

Sinai and its members have long played an active role in the civic and  cultural life of Hyde Park. Rabbi Hirsch led many temple members, including Julius Rosenwald and Leon Mandel,  in supporting the establishment of the University of Chicago in 1892. Rabbi Hirsch joined the first faculty at the invitation of President William Rainey Harper as Professor  of  Rabbinic Literature. His grandson, Edward Levi, carried on the family tradition and served as President of the University. ln more recent times, the Regenstein  family has also exemplified the long-standing support of the U. of C. by Sinai's members.

Rabbi Berman currently serves as Vice President of the Hyde Park Interfaith Council, and is deeply committed to continuing Sinai's distinguished record of community service in our neighborhood.

Glamorous Hyde Park m Tampa, Florida

by Maggi Bevacqua

Additions

When Hyde Park Historical Society member, Bee Boehm, visited me after I relocated to Florida,  it was only  natural that we would visit  the Latest attraction  - an elegant, chic shopping center and condominium community under construction in Tampa,  with a  most familiar name - Hyde Park. The new development is on the site of and surrounded by "Old Hyde Park," a century-old settlement, founded and so named by a former Chicago Hyde Parker,

0. H. Platt.

Platt, so the story goes, moved to Florida in the 1880's and settled in a sub­ division of Tampa which he developed extensively. Platt, however was so homesick for his hometown of Hyde

Bee Boehm and Maggi Bevacqua in Old Hyde Park Park, Illinois, our village which  had  not yet been annexed to  Chicago,  that he named his settlement, "Hyde Park."  By 1910 many lovely  homes  were built and the area became  one of  the  most glamorous and desirable neighborhoods in Tampa. In later years it became known as "Old Hyde Park." This name still stands.

The Tampa Historical Society last year erected  a memorial  plaque in  the local park to mark the 100th anniversary of the residential settlement.

Once again, with the appearance of elegant new condominiums and glamorous shops in  the community,  Old  Hyde  Park of  Tampa  is considered  a very special place to visit and to make one's home.

 to the Archives

by Jean Block

Two additions to the archives of the Hyde Park Historical Society will be of particular interest to our members.  The first, a biography entitled This Was My Grandfather, Philip Stein 1844-1922, is compiled from  recollections, old letters, and historical  research  by Babette S. Brody. It is a lively, warm account of an important figure in our history. Born in Germany, Philip Stein left his widowed mother  at  the age of  nine and  emigrated to Wisconsin to help an older  brother  on his farm.  The story  of  his development into a highly respected lawyer, a two-term Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County, a  man  of  intense  feelings of social responsibility, particularly for his fellow  Jews, is interlaced  with anecdotes of the family and social life of his time. A man of highest ideals and  probity,  it was he who made the judicial decision to keep the Columbian Exposition  open  on Sundays so that workingmen and their families could  enjoy it.  The book  will be at the Headquarters over the summer for those who enjoy reading truly interesting and well-researched family history.

Completely different, but equally valuable, are the Urban Renewal records of Hy Fish. These include papers and pamphlets relating to the Hyde Park­ Kenwood Community Conference, the original Conference report on the community issued in June 1951, the University of Chicago Planning Unit's Preliminary Project Report (1956) prepared for the Community

Conservation Board of Chicago, the Hyde Park-Kenwood Renewal Plan (1966), the

Johnson, Johnson and Roy Report on Jackson Park (1966) and a number of maps of Hyde Park-Kenwood made

About Maggi

Hyde Park Historical Society member,

Maggi Bevacqua, was the former editor of this newsletter. Maggi's career in writing began at the University  of  Wisconsin where she earned a degree in  Journalism and a master's degree in Political Science. She has maintained an interest  in journalism throughout her life. While she was in Chicago she not only edited the Historical Society's newsletter but also worked as Director of Public Relations

for the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club and edited their newsletter.

As a member of  the Women's  Army Corp in WW II, Maggi served as editor of their  newsletter,  WAC-APO.  Later  she was a  reporter  for  Pacific Stars and Stripes in Tokyo. In her most  recent position  as a  Public  Affairs  Officer  for the US Army Corps of Engineers, Maggi directed a public relations program in a

12-state area.

Maggi's professional credits extend to

the area of music, and jazz in particular. While on a five year assignment as an International Relations Officer in Europe, Maggi organized a "History of American Jazz" concert tour in Germany  and  a "Salute to Glenn MilJer" concert tour of Great Britain.  She also introduced American jazz to young people in German communities.

Maggi has continued to pursue her interest in writing in her new home in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is working as a free-lance reporter for the St. Petersburg Times. Among her  other  "retirement" plans, Maggi  intends  to learn  jazz organ, to  work  on a family  history and  to become computer proficient! We miss you Maggi and wish you well.

before, during, and after Urban Renewal.

These materials, with  the exception of the large pre-Renewal map which is unboxed, will be found in Box 14 of the Hyde Park Historical Society's collection, which is housed in Special Collections in the Regenstein  Library  of  the University of Chicago. Information about the collection is contained in its inventory, obtainable at the Special Collections desk. Pages will bring the materials to  the Special Collections Reading Room  for those who are interested in seeing them.Paul Cornell Awards

Michael Sweeney, an English professor of Saugatuck, Michigan,  has asked  for help  in  finding information  about Maxwell Bodenheim. Bodenheim, a close friend of Ben Hecht and a major literary figure in his own right, is believed to have lived at 431 E. 46th Street during the first decade of this century and to have graduated from Hyde Park High School sometime between 1908 and 191 I. Professor Sweeney has thoroughly studied the literary career of Bodenheim and has exhausted the resources of both the Newberry Library and the Chicago Historical Society, but he is short of information about  the writer's  early life and family. The records of  Hyde  Park High School are incomplete for this early period when the school was still located at 5629 Kimbark (now Ray Elementary School.) Those having information about Bodenheim or suggestions for further research are urged to write Professor Sweeney at P.O. Box 1064, Saugatuck, Michigan, 49453 or call 616-857-4777.

Awardee, John McDermott

by Jay Mulberry

One highlight of the Annual Meeting was the presentation of the Society's annual Paul Cornell Awards to the Kenwood Commuters' Association, the Murray Language Academy, Norman DeHaan, and Roland Kulla and Michael Kilgore.

John McDermott received the award for the Kenwood Commuters' Association which was presented in recognition of its attempts to save and revive the Illinois Central station at 47th Street  and  Lake Park. The historic signifigance of this activity lies in  the  fact  that Hyde Park owes its existence to fact that Paul

Cornell granted lake-side property to the

I.C. on  the  understanding  that Southbound Ulinois Central traffic would run through and stop at Hyde  Park stations. At the peak  of  its service,  the LC. averaged one  stop in  Hyde  Park every ten minutes  and carried  thousands of commuters to the Loop each day.

Receiving the Award for the Murray Language Academy were P.T.A. representatives, Geri Marvel and Joyce Butler, and teacher, Frances Dawson. The Academy was recognized for its splendid work over the past two years in organizing a Black History Fair involving nearly

every student  in  the school  as well as many parents and interested community members. This year the Fair was open  to the public for two days during which an impressive range of projects by both students and teacher was on display. The Fair ended with a musical presentation under the direction of Oscar Brown, Jr. Aside from the historical significance  of the Fair, the Society especially appreciated 

the involvement of parents in its organization.  The presence  of  Mrs. Marvel and Mrs. Butler who had major responsibility for overseeing  the  Fair, along with Mrs. Dawson who represented all the teachers of Murray, was indicative of the level of community support for the project.

Norman  DeHaan,  who received  the third Cornell Award, was in a way responsible for the Annual Meeting itself since it was he who oversaw  the magnificent  restoration  of  the  South Shore Country Club. With seven million dollars from the Chicago Park District, DeHaan actually went beyond the orig_inal for he was able to incorporate in  the restored building elements such as murals and air conditioning which  were deemed too expensive to complete in the original. After the meeting Mr.  DeHaan  consented to lead anyone interested on a tour of the Country Club.

Roland Kulla and Michael Kilgore received the Award  which  the Society gives annually for restoration of homes by non-professionals. The work of Kulla and Kilgore involved the complete reconstruction of a one-hundred-year-old Queen Anne style house in  the 5400 block of Harper which had previously been converted  to accept  boarders.  The  two men had the job of removing many layers of paint from walls and woodwork, re­ wiring the entire home, replacing

delicately made elements in stairways and window frames and repairing the copper roof. The Award  committtee  considered the Kulla-Kilgore home one of the best examples of historic preservation on Hyde Park and was  pleased  to find such  a worthy recipient.

Volume 8, Number 4    Headquarters: 5529 Lake Park Avenue Open Sat. 2-4 PM; Sun. 2-4 PM December, 1986

Looking Back on Thirty Years of the Chicago Children's Choir

The Chicago  Children's  Choir  was founded in 1956 as a program of the First Unitarian Church of Chicago.  Over  the past  30 years it has grown from a small church chorus of two dozen enthusiastic  youngsters  to a choral training and performance  program  with an active enrollment of over 650 elementary and high  school students and  a staff  that  includes 10 professional musicians, three employed full­ time and seven employed part-time.

The Choir remained a program of the First Unitarian Church of Chicago until 1982. In the late 1970s, it gradually became evident that the Choir bad outgrown the management and financial capacities of the Church. In 1982, the Choir became formally independent of the Church, with its own board and administrative staff .. However, the Choir still has its headquarters in the Church building, where it leases rehearsal and office space.

The current program of the Choir has several oomponents. At its headquarters,  the  Choir offers  a  training  program  for  approximately 250 children of whom over 110 (the "Concert Choir") perform regularly. Members of the Concert Choir give over 120 public concerts a year; typically, a singer will participate in between 25 and  30 of  these concerts.  In addition,  the  Choir  operates  school  choruses for approximately 400 third and fourth graders

in 11 Chicago public schools who otherwise would have no formal musical education in school.

The Choir has always seen itself as having both a social and a musical  mission.  Its founder, Christopher Moore, is a Unitarian Universalist minister who saw the Choir as an opportunity to bring together young singers of different social, racial and economic backgrounds in a common attempt to achieve musical excellence, performing a repertoire much more diverse and challenging than children generally attempt.

Over the years the choir has performed with Lyric Opera, The Chicago Symphony, the Joffrey Ballet, and at Ravinia. It has been featured on  national  PBS, CBS,  NBC, and ABC programs as well as on local stations. lt bas toured in Denmark,  England,  West Germany and regularly tours in  the United States and  Canada.  The choir  has  produced five albums of its own and five more with folksinger Ella Jenkins.

Members and friends are invited to the opening of the

Hyde Park Historical Society's new exhibit, "Architectural Terra Cotta:

Ornament of Hyde Park/Kenwood Buildings" Lecture and Slide Show by

Edward A. Campbell, Architect AJA Sunday, January 25, 1987

4:00 p.m.

Refreshments

Today,the Choirhas achievedrecognitionasan integralpartofthe city'sculturalfabric.In1982, FoundingDirectorChristopherMoorereceivedthe lllinoisGovernor'sAwardfor theArts. In1984,the ChoirreceivedaBeatriceAwardforExcellenceinNonprofit

Management (with a check for $15,000). Whether singing for the King and Queen of Sweden at Mayor Byrne's reception in 1982, at the inauguration  of  Mayor  Washington  in 1983, or with major musical institutions, the Choir has achieved recognition as a symbol of Chicago's ethnic diversity and cultural pride.

Dominican Sisters Celebrate JOO Years at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

by Sister Bennet Finnegan, O.P.

 Sister Bennet was born in Hyde Park at 5433 Ellis and grew up at 5543 Ken wood, next door to Amos Stagg. She was a student at St.

Thomas the Apostle School for grades   I through 12, graduating in /932; al/ended the University of Chicago, graduating in 1936; and entered the Dominican order in 1940. Sister, currently working on a history of her order, is still an enthusiastic Hyde Parker. 

On December 6, 1886,  four  Dominican sisters from  Sinsinawa,  Wisconsin,  journeyed to Hyde Park to open a new school  for  the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle. The parish, which had been a mission of St. James Church (29th and Wabash) in the mid-1860's, had assumed permanent status in 1869 and, by the mid-1880's, was ready to open a school.

The four founding sisters, Gregory Kelly, Louise Hayden, Simplicius Gallagher,  and Cephas Tully, opened the school in 1887 with fifty-eight students meeting in two rooms which had been prepared for them in the church basement. The school grew  quickly  and  soon the whole building was used for classrooms.

The St. Thomas Hall was added in 1895 in order to have a suitable place in which the children could assemble for programs and monthly reports.

In 1893 the school was given an "award of merit"  for  school  work  exhibited  at  the World's Fair. Mother Emily Power, provincial director of the Dominican order, advised the sisters  to go to  the Fair.  "It  will  make you better  teachers,"  she  told  them.  During  the Fair, the convent accomodated hundreds of our sisters who had come to the city to visit the Exposition. Mother Emily herself spent several weeks at the convent.

Visiting priests also found the little convent convenient for their morning masses; some mornings as many as ten masses were read in the small chapel. The church,  too,  was crowded to capacity and was called by Archbishop Francesco Satolli, Papal Nuncio

(Ambassador from the Vatican), another visitor to the  Fair,  "The  Little  Church  of  the Midway."

On the fifth of June, 1914, public school accreditors visited the school, taking over the seventh and eighth grade classes. When asked, after their classroom visit, if our school children stood any prospect of affiliation, they responded: "Affiliate the children! We would like not only to affiliate the children, but the teachers also!" And in a short time the letter of affiliation was received. (Affiliation gave a private school the right to send children on to public high school without an entrance examination.)

By 1915 there were twelve sisters, four lay teachers, and 235 pupils in the school. ln 1916, when Father Thomas V. Shannon was named pastor, improvements began quickly. A twelve room house at. 573 l Kenwood was rented for a temporary convent and the school  was transferred to a sixteen  room  schoolhouse  on the northeast corner of 57th and Kenwood.

Built in 1885 by Henry F. Starbuck, the school had housed Hyde Park High and then the Ray school.  (When St.  Thomas school  moved  to 55th and Woodlawn in 1929, the building again became a public school but has long since been torn down).

The building was repaired and put in

splendid condition for opening day when 500 students registered and the first year of  our high school was opened. Elocution, art, instrumental and vocal music received special attention. A lunchroom managed by women of the parish provided a substantial lunch at a modest price. Girls wore blue serge uniforms, older boys wore khaki and little  boys wore  a suit and Eton collar. In 1917 a  very early moving picture machine  was  purchased and used successfully for education and entertainment.

The war years brought many sorrows, especially a terrible epidemic of Spanish influenza which broke out in Chicago in 1918. Nine of our sisters and many of our children were infected but, thank God,  we had  no deaths. Schools were closed, indeed all public places were closed and our sisters helped  to care for influenza patients among the poor.

On May 11, 1920, our sisters moved to a new convent built for twenty-five sisters and

designed by Barry Byrne, a student and protege of  Frank  Lloyd  Wright. This building,  as well as the church and rectory,  also  the work  of Barry Byrne, have been designated National Landmarks because of their beauty and innovative design.  In  1929 a new school building was completed housing both the elementary school and a four  year  high school for girls.

From the  Dominican  Annals 1943: "Practically  every Monday  morning,  we watched the gathering and departure of men  at the draft board across the street. The spectacle was harrowing, especially so  because of  the early hour (6 a.m.), the womenfolk there to say good-byes, and our souls were rent the day that the first contingent of teen-agers set out on the tragic  adventure.  Characteristically,  they covered up their feelings with much banter and noise."

September 27, 1947 was a great day when we welcomed the new buses on 55th in place of the 100 yrs. - (Continued from Page 2)

noisy cars. A spectacular  parade of  floats, bands, veterans groups, and soldiers celebrated and, at the same time, comemmorated the Diamond  Jubilee of  village government  in Hyde Park and the formal opening of the modernized East 55th Street. Mayor Kennelly visited with our sisters.

ln 1949 the old paper  barn and  the Scout Castle were demolished. We had always  heard the paper boxes with the roller skate wheels run down the incline early in the morning. All the store buildings and apartments between Woodlawn and the church were demolished to provide space  for  an  addition  to the convent and to enlarge the school grounds.

Throughout the years our sisters enjoyed the richness of the community of  Hyde  Park, studied at the University, were visited by many diverse and interesting guests, and  also  did many works of mercy, from caring for the sick and elderly to teaching at the County jail.

Their dedication to education and  to  the children of St. Thomas continues today  under the leadership of school principal Sister Reginalda Polk, nine other Dominican sisters, and more than twenty lay men and women. Parish priests teach regularly in the school as well. There are two classes at each grade level and over 400 students. We are full of hope for our second century.Among the new archival acquisitions is a history of the Midway of  Chicago  Chapter  of the American Association of Retired Persons, written by one of our own members, Howard Jackson. The history describes the founding of the chapter, its activities over  the pa  t decade, and its officers and members. It will  be a valuable addition to our collection of organiza­ tional histories.

Ozzie (Oswelda) Badal, long involved in community work, an early block organizer, and for a time Executive Director of the Hyde

Park-Kenwood Community Conference, has given us a number of items related to Urban Renewal. The collection includes "A Report to the Community," prepared by the Hyde Park­ Kenwood Community Conference in 1951; the "Community Appraisal Study," published  by the Conference and the South Side Planning Board in 1952; "The Hyde Park-Kenwood Ur­ ban Renewal  Survey,"  1956;  "The Central South Area Plan," 1960, prepared by the

Department of City Planning; "The Hyde

Park-Kenwood Urban Renewal Project," 1961, issued by the Community Conservation Board; "The Community Measurement Survey," prepared by Leo J. Shapiro and Associates in 1962;  the  "Development  Plan of  the South West Hyde Park Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation," I 956; "A Report on the North Kenwood-Oakland Community Development Project," I 964; and  the 1965  and  1970 reports of the Chicago Department of Urban Renewal.

These materials are being placed with  the other papers of  the  Hyde Park  Historical Society that are currently housed in Regenstein Library in the Department of Special Collec­ tions. Because of their size and the  need  for them to be stored flat, the Pre-Urban Renewal maps have been placed in one of the University Archives  file drawers.  lnterested  students should contact the University Archivist  to see and study these maps.

EARL B. DICKERSON AND HYDE PARK

By Robert J. Blakely

"The victors are soon conquered by the vices of the vanquished." The Northern states il­ lustrated this aphorism after the American

Civil War. They rapidly adopted the Jim Crow laws or practices that the Southern states had invented after the defeat of Reconstruction. In 1907-1908, when Earl B. Dickerson was work­ ing his way through a semester at the Universi­ ty of Chicago High School, he found in Chicago a situation that in ways did not differ from that in Canton, Mississippi, from which he had fled in I907, shortly before his I6th birthday. The white citizens of Hyde Park had driven out the few Negroes remaining in the community. In evenings, when the youthful Dickerson was returning to his room in the Negro ghetto from mowing lawns or shoveling walks in Hyde Park, policemen would often stop him and ask, "What are you doing in this neighborhood, boy?"

Beginning in 1927, white residents in Chicago had found a way better than violence to keep Negroes from owning and renting in "threaten­ ed" areas. That was the race restrictive housing covenant (invented on the West Coast against Orientals and adopted in St. Louis against Negroes and other minorities as early as 1910). Such a covenant is a mutual agreement entered into by a group of property owners not in  any way to convey a property to Negroes or other specified  minorities.  The agreement  was made to "run  with  the  land"--that  is,  to  be  binding on subsequent owners even though  they might not know about it.

The first case to challenge the enforceability of a restrictive covenant was Hansberry and Others v. Lee in 1940. Carl Hansberry was the father of Lorraine Hansberry, who later  wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun. In 1937 he had bought and occupied  a  property  at 6140 Rhodes, south of Washington Park, in an area covered by a race restrictive covenant. The "others" with Hansberry included Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company, which had loaned Hansberry money to buy  the property, and  the president  of  the company,  who also had bought a  property in  the restricted  area. Earl  Dickerson  represented  the company  and its president. C. Francis Stradford represented Hansberry.

Anna Lee and others, members of the

Woodlawn Property Owners Association and signers of the covenant, applied to and received from the Circuit Court an injuction against Hansberry, Supreme Liberty, its president, and others. Dickerson, Stradford, and their colleagues appealed the injunction to the nlinois Supreme Court, which, without hearing, affirmed the in­ junction of the Circuit Court and denied the attorneys'  appeal  for a  rehearing.  Dickerson and Stradford  and  their  colleagues  applied  to the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of  certiorari (an order  from  a  higher  to  a lower court  to send up the records for review). The  U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari of Hansberry

v. Lee on April 22, 1940.

During the progress of the case, Dickerson, Irwin C. Mollison, and Loring C. Moore, all graduates of the University of Chicago Law School and all on brief in the Hansberry case, talked with  Robert  M.  Hutchins,  president of the university, trying to  persuade him  to  keep the university at least neutral, but, according to Dickerson, the university paid, at  least in  part, the fees of the attorneys for the association. In 1983 Dickerson said:

Hutchins expressed the fear that if blacks moved into that neighborhood, the value of the property of the university would depreciate and the whole university would suffer. I have no grudge against Hutchins for this. In fact, I ad­ mire him for much that he did. But I can 'I give him any bouquets for the position he took on the restrictive covenant.

The case was argued before the full U.S. Supreme Court on October 25, 1940. Dickerson argued for Hansberry and the others. He established that the covenant of the Woodlawn Property Owners  Association  had  been signed by the owners of only 54 percent of  the front­ age, not the 95 percent required to be effective. Dickerson argued  also on the larger  point  that all race restrictive covenants were  unen­ forceable  because they  violated  the guarantees of due process and  equal  protection  of  the law in the 14th Amendment.

On November 12, 1940, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided for Hansberry against Lee. It decided that the covenant had not met its own conditions. The court left unresolved the basic issue of due process and equal protection. '

One immediate effect of the Hansberry deci­ sion was to open up to Negroes all properties between 60th and 63rd Streets and  between South Parkway (now King Drive) and Cottage Grove; the area soon became almost entirely Negro-owned and -occupied.

Another immediate effect was panic among the whites in  Hyde  Park  and southeast Chicago. Race restrictive covenants multiplied and were shored up to meet their own condi­ tions to be valid. For  example,  the percentage of neighborhood improvement associations in Chicago having race restrictive covenants rose from about 75 per cent in 1940 to 100 per cent in 1945.'

The Hyde Park Property Owners, Inc., of Chicago, in its 1943 report, devoted an entire section to the justification of racial restrictions. Two years later it led the fight to exclude Negr.o WAC's, on duty at Gardiner General Hospital, from residence in the army barracks situated at 49th and the lake. The neighborhood newspaper, the Hyde Park Herald, propagandized against the presence of

the Negro WAC's, and a formal protest, joined in by several other improvement and merchant associations, was sent to the War Department.'

(Bruce Sagan bought the Hyde Park Herald in 1953, announcing that it would support in­ terracial community development).

The number of terroristic attacks on Negro homes in Chicago--many in Hyde Park and southeast Chicago--during the two years from

May I, I 944, to July 20, 1946, was 46; this number was almost double the 24 such attacks occurring within the two-year period--July I, 1917, to July 27, I 9 I 9--preceding the Chicago race riots of 1919.'

In 1948 the V.S. Supreme Court, in three cases, decided that no race restrictive covenant was enforceable because all violated the guarantees of the 14th Amendment.' Dickerson participated in all three cases. As a member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he was "on brief" in the  first; as a  member  of  the ex­ ecutive committee of the  National  Lawyers Guild and president of the National Bar Association,  he  was  "friend  of  the court"  in the other two.

Nationwide panic among urban whites followed the complete removal of the en­ forceability of all race restrictive housing covenants, particularly in Chicago.

Based on extensive studies in Chicago, two authors put forward the concept that all whites were replaced  by all  Negroes in  a  particular area  through  a  process of  four successive stages: (I) "penetration," (2) "invasion," (3) "consolidation," and (4) "piling up" (this last stage becoming  a prelude  to  the extension  of the process to adjacent areas.) The authors carefully wrote:

There is no implication that the sequence, once begun, necessarily continues to comple­ tion ... As a matter of definition, there is nothing to preclude the halting, or even the reversal of the cycle of succession.

However ... this is unlikely to happen.•

But this is exactly what did happen in the area known as Hyde Park.

Dickerson, who had been the foremost figure in  breaking  race restrictive covenants  in Chicago, was a leader in  this  "deliberate at­ tempt to create interracial neighborhoods with high community standards in  Hyde  Park."  He did so in several ways.

One was to become a member of  a commit­ tee chaired by Henry  Heald, then  president  of the IUinos Institute of Technology, to persuade the policy-makers of the  major  institutions  of the South Side to stay where they were and to cooperate in building interracial, stable, high quality   neighborhoods.'  This  committee  went to the policy-makers of such institutions as the University of Chicago, George Williams Col­ lege, Mercy Hospital, and Michael Reese Hospital. These pivotal institutions  were seriously considering moving away. The Heald committee pointed to an alternative: On December  12, 1949,  representatives of  fifty civic and religious organizations signed the first policy statement of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference; its goal was to create a "stabilized, integrated community of high standards."' Deciding to stay, Michael Reese joined 1.1.T. in leading the formation of  the South Side Planning Board and  working with city officials. The New York Life Insurance Company was induced to invest in a large pioneering project in middle-income racially in­ tegrated housing  and  business  facilites,  the Lake Meadows enterprise. One result was the similar  Prairie  Shores  project,  just  to  the north. East of that, Michael Reese's expansion, eliminating many slum structures, produced a "campus" of new hospital buildings. I.LT. transformed its  neighborhood  into a showcase for the talents of Mies Van der Rohe. Mercy Hospital expanded and  rebuilt  its plant. The other major institutions responded in various ways. [n 1962 George Williams College decided to move to the suburbs. The University of Chicago, on May  19, 1952, led  in the founding of the South East Chicago Commission. Even­ tually the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference and the South East Chicago Com­ mission cooperated in implementing a com­ prehensive plan for the entire lakeside area

from 47th Street to 60th Street and from Cot­ tage Grove to Lake Michigan.

Dickerson was a charter member of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference and a board member of the South East Chicago Commission  from  its beginning.  As Chairman of the planning committee of the Drexel Boulevard Block Organization, he urged its members to support the Hyde Park-Kenwood Conference. He became an original board member of the Hyde Park Savings and Loan Association, incorporated in 1963, whose prime purpose was to be a catalyst  in  the community for interracial development.

He gave leadership  in  many  ways through the Supreme Liberty, now Supreme Life In­ surance Company. ln 1942 he had become its vice-president in charge of loans and invest­ ment, while remaining its general counsel. He was president of Supreme  from  October  1955 to April 197 J, chairman of its board from I97 I to 1973, and honorary chairman of its board

and financial adviser from I973 until  his death. In 1957 Dickerson, then president of

Supreme Life, accepted membership  on the board of the South Side Bank and Trust Com­ pany, at  Cottage  Grove and  47th  Street.  He was the first black to be elected to the board of any white banking institution in Chicago. He explained that one reason he had accepted membership was that the bank "has assured

me it will concern itself with the problems of mortgage loans in the community."

The Hyde Park Herald devoted much of its January I, 1969, issue to a series of articles on "Urban Renewal Since 1949." The editorial of that day began: " ... what's most im-

pressive ... is how much remains to be done." The same words could be used to introduce a survey in 1986. And to his end Dickerson did what he could to realize his goal of equality of liberty, justice, and opportunity for all people-­ in the world ("I am a citizen of the world," he often said), in the United States, and in Hyde Park. He and his wife, Kathryn, lived at 5027 South  Drexel  from  August 1949--as soon as they could "invade" the previously restricted area--until 1963, when  they rented  an apart­ ment in the just opened Newport, 4800

Chicago Beach Drive. There they lived until Kathryn was confined to a  nursing  home, where she died in 1980. That year  Newport went condominium, and Dickerson bought his apartment, where he died  on September  I, 1986, at the age of ninety-five.

In I 984 he established an endowed scholar­ ship fund at the University of Chicago Law School. On August 10--three weeks before his death--in a speech  to  the national convention of his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, he an­ nounced the establishment of an endowed scholarship fund in the Kappa Foundation.

Further documents concerning these en­ dowments,  which  he had instructed  his office at Supreme to mail, reached his relatives and friends the day after they learned of his death.

The story of Hyde Park between 1948 and today--the contrast between what  it  had  been and what it aspires to be--is a case study in leadership. The questions are: Who takes the lead? Toward what goals? Earl Dickerson led, first, against racism and injustice;  then  he join­ ed with others of all races in leading toward in­ terracial  cooperation  and  equality  of  justice and opportunity.

He was a paradoxical combination of a suc­ cessful businessman, a  history-making lawyer, an effective radical, and an uncompromising integrationist--one who opposed both segrega­ tion  enforced  by the whites and secession  by the blacks, who considered assimilation or voluntary separatism matters of freedom of in­ dividual choice within our pluralistic society.

'However, in proving that the Hansberry case was not res judicata (already decided) in a previous case, Dickerson raised the issue of the limits to class suits. The U.S. Supreme Court devoted one-third of its discussion to  this  point, and  their decision on the limits to class suits has become widely applied in many cases other than those dealing with covenants. As of September 1983, the Hansberry case had been cited as a controlling authority in 665 other cases, as shown by Shephard's Citations--a legal service used by lawyers and judges.

'Herman H. Long and Charles S. Johnson, People vs. Property:  Race Restrictive Covenants.  Nashville, Tenn.: Fisk University  Press, 1947, p. 43. The number of such covenants in Southside Chicago rose from about 180 in 1940 to about 220 in 1945. Ibid., p. 13.

'Ibid., p. 50. Other organizations protesting the presence of Negro WAC's included the Wooc:Uawn Property Owners Association, the 53rd and 55th Street Business Men's Association, and others.

'Long and Johnson, with source, pp. 73-74.

'These were Shelley v. Kramer, Sipes v. McGhee, and Hurd  v.  Hodge. The first two involved state courts. The third involved federal courts. All were decid­ ed on May 3, 1948. Race restrictive covenants as private agreements were not declared unconstitutional.

'Otis D. Duncan and Beverly Duncan. The Negro  Population  of  Chicago: A  Study of  Residential Succession. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957, p. 11.

'This committee was formed in 1950, after Lawrence Kimpton succeeded Robert M. Hutchins as president of the University of Chicago.

'For details, see Julia Abrahamson. A Neighborhood Finds Itself. New York: Harper, 1959. Abrahamson was the first director of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference.

Hyde Park Historical Society Oral History Project leads to Dickerson Biography

(Editor's Note)

On July 19, 1983, the Hyde Park Historical Society Oral History Committee--with Victor Obenhaus as its chairman and Robert Blakely and Jay Mulberry as members--taped an inter­ view with Earl B. Dickerson. Mr. Blakely was deeply impressed by the stature and ac­ complishments of Mr. Dickerson and asked if his biography had ever been written. "No," said Mr. D. "No one has ever wanted to write it. ,,

Blakely felt it was imperative such a project be undertaken, and, since Dickerson was at that time already ninety-two years old, he decided he should take on the task immediate/} himself. (Dickerson was at first suspicious of Blakely's motives, but gradually came to trust him.)

Subsequently there were thirty-eight taped formal interviews with Dickerson, thirty-nine with colleagues, associates, and friends, also letters and countless telephone conversations.

The two men became fast friends. Dickerson liked to call Blakely his Boswell. At a dinner party in the home of Dickerson's daughter, Diane Montgomery, and family on June 22, in celebration of Dickerson's ninety-fifth birth­ day, Blakely 's gift to Dickerson was a photo of himself, inscribed: "To the older brother I never had, from the younger brother you never had."

The biography, tentatively titled Earl B. Dickerson:   Uncompromising Voice for Freedom and Equality, is under consideration for publication by the University of Illinois Press. It is the first full-length book to grow from a Hyde Park Historical Society project.

Dickerson had been eagerly looking forward to the autographing party.

About the Author

After undergraduate studies at  the University of Iowa  and  graduate study in  history at Harvard,  Robert  Blakely  has had  a varied career.  He was editoria.l  writer  and editor  on the Des Moines Register and Tribune, the St. Louis Star-Times, and the Chicago Daily News. He was head  of  the Bureau  of  Special Audiences in  the  Office  of  War  Information and forward observer for artillery in the U.S. Marines during World War II. He was vice president of the Fund for Adult Education, a subsidiary of the Ford Foundation. He was professor and dean of  extension  at  the University of Iowa and adjunct professor at Syracuse University. He has written for many professional journals and several general magazines, including Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and Travel. Among his published works are a history of public broadcasting, a philosophy of  programming  for  public television, and a set  of  four  studies on continuing education for health manpower. He and his wife,  Alta,  have travelled  widely.  He has delivered papers at several international conferences, including UNESCO. He lived in Hyde Park  from  1952 to  1956. Since 1963 he has lived at 5418 S. Blackstone Ave.

Hyde Park Place Cafe Opens ...

by Devereux Bowly

The interior reconstruction of the building was done by Marsha and Julius Thomas, to house their Hyde Park Place Cafe, which will be operated year-round. The restaurant opened recently, and has been doing a good business. An Open House for our members will be held in the Spring.

We take pride in  the fact  that  the Society acted as the catalyst for  this highly successful park preservation effort. As you remember, the building was burned-out and slated for demoli­ tion when we began. There are already indica­ tions our  work  will  be emulated  by  other groups in other parks.

This Newsletter is published four times a year by the Hyde Park Historical Society a not-for­ profit organization organized  in  1975  to record,  preserve, and  promote  public interest in the history of Hyde Park. Its headquarters, located in an 1893 restored cable car station at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue, houses local ex­ hibits. It is open to the public, Saturdays, 2-4

p. m., Sundays, 2-4 p.m. Telephone: HY-3-1893.

President..................................... Devereux Bowly

Editors......................................... Anita Anderson

Rita Dukette Penny Johnson Theresa McDermoll

Regular membership in the Society is $10 per year; contributing membership, $25; sponsors,

$50; benefactors, $100.

We are pleased toreport on ourprojecttorestoretheformerlawnbowlingclubhouseat5312CottageGrove Avenue,inWashingtonPark.As youknow, the Society undertooktheexteriorrestoration ofthe building. The workwascompletedduring thesummer,onbudget.We raised $10,710 fortherenovation.Wethankthose who made the projectpossible,especiallythe 130 contributors. The fund rais­ing effort was spearheadedby our vice presi­dent, Jay Mulberry,andby TimGoodsell,president ofthe Hyde ParkBank and TrustCompany.Alsoinvaluablewereourarchitect,MarkFrisch, and anothervolunteer,LarryTerp, who worked on the constructionjob eachSaturdayfortwomonths.Theendeavorhasreceived complete cooperationand supportfromthe fine new administration attheChicagoParkDistrict.

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