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.

Previous
Previous

Newsletters 1991

Next
Next

Newsletters 1989