Newsletters 1997
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.