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Home , Harold Washington Park, Jackson Park (Chicago), Paul Cornell (lawyer), Statue of the Republic

HP Hyde Historical Society Non-Profit Org. 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue U.S. Postage HS , IL 60637 PAID Chicago, IL Permit No. 85

H Vol. 36y dN0. 4 e PublishedPa by ther Hydek Park H istoricalH Society istoautumnr 2014y autumn 2014 t oor v ande r by Fr ances S. V s by o t ph o Cordelia Benedict Timika Hoffman-Zoller Margaret Huyck Joe Marlin

This Newsletter is published by the Hyde Park Historical Society, a Hyde Park Historical Society not-for-profit organization founded Collecting and Preserving Hyde Park’s History Park Memories in 1975 to record, preserve, and Time for you to join up or renew? promote public interest in the history Hyde Parkers reflect on the role of in their lives. Timika Hoffman-Zoller, president of the Elm Fill out the form below and return it to: of Hyde Park. Its headquarters, Park Advisory Council, described the history of this located in an 1893 restored cable car reen jewels—what would we do without them? small park, located immediately north of the 53rd station at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue, Heartfelt sentiments about park experiences Street Shopping Center on Woodlawn Avenue. The The Hyde Park Historical Society houses local exhibits. It is open to were the rule of the day when approximately 75 community worked together to convert the park from 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue • Chicago, IL 60637 the public on Saturdays and Sundays Gpeople filled the meeting room at Montgomery Place a hangout for drug dealers and other undesirables into ✁ from 2 until 4pm. on Sunday, August 17, sharing joy, amusement, and a place of relaxation and refreshment complete with a Enclosed is my new renewal membership discovery as they described how local parks had changed productive community garden. Web site: hydeparkhistory.org their lives. in the Hyde Park Historical Society. Telephone: HY3-1893 Margaret Huyck mused about how East End Park, Student $15 Individual $30 Family $40 President: Ruth Knack Here are some of the stories: now Park, was a “savior” for her Vice-President: Janice A. Knox when she was doing graduate work at the University of Name Secretary: Gary Ossewaarde In the 1940s, Cordelia Benedict and her brother Chicago. She had two little girls at the time, and she Treasurer: Jay Wilcoxen played on the polished stone slab on the east end of could read and study at the park while her girls played Address Editor: Frances S. Vandervoort where the statue of Czech statesman and made friends with other children. She is pleased Zip Email Membership Coordinator: Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, first president of the new that one daughter regularly volunteers at Bobolink Claude Weil country of Czechoslavakia, would be placed after Meadow in . Phone Cell Designer: Nickie Sage World War II. Metal was not available during war years mold this commemorative figure; it was not put in place Melissa Cook told of her efforts to preserve Lorado until 1949. rTaft’s in Washington Park. When ➤ 2 r2 r7 Welcome to Michal Safar, the UPCOMING EVENTS In September, at a date and location to be Society’s new President announced, local students will present their projects about Hyde Park History at the Michal Safar has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Chicago Metro History Fair. History from Butler University in Indianapolis. She received a Master of Arts in Library and Information In October or November, Susan O’Connor Science from Dominican University in Forest Park, Davis will discuss local history at the Bert Benade Memorial event. Proceeds will go IL. Throughout her professional career, Michal to the Society’s Building Fund. t has served as the assistant librarian for East-West oor

v University, Chicago Sunday, October 19, 2PM A panel IL and the Director discussion about the Hyde Park Art

ande r of the Manufacturing Center will be held at the Hyde Park Art Technology Information Center to discuss the Center’s 75 years Analysis Center for the of service to the Hyde Park community. Department of Defense. Panel participants will be Neil Harris, Chuck She has wide experience Thurow, Leslie Buchbinder, and Executive by Fr ances S. V s by o

t with both digital and Director Kate Lorenz.

ph o hard copy collections. She Robert Despres Janice and Richard Spofford Louise McCurry Julia Bachrach The Annual Dinner of the Hyde Park currently works with the Historical Society will take place on Defense Logistics Agency Saturday, February 28, at the Quadrangle in the management and ➤ ➤ 1 she arrived in Chicago from New Orleans in Joyce Hilkevitch, the founder of Mostly Music, was Club. Further details will be announced documentation of their at a later date. Volunteers are needed to 1981, she enjoyed the fountain’s “spooky look.” By proud to have founded “Pointed Music at the Point” research and development 2001, when she decided to research the life of this programs. She spoke of chamber music concerts plan program, help organize tables, and be projects. Michal joined general go-fers as time progresses. great sculptor, the entire sculpture had been encased on Wooded Island, including Asian groups that the Hyde Park Historical in a wooden shed awaiting funding for the restoration performed near the Japanese Garden. Society in 2004 and of the reflecting pool. With the help of Cindy became Archivist in 2007. Mitchell, Commissioner of the , Richardson Spofford could hardly wait to tell his She has been working and Julia Bachrach, Park District historian, funding “Point” story. He had been courting a “lovely lady,” since that time to acquire maintenance, and our membership is not as diverse as was found to restore the fountain. Melissa commented now his wife Janice. They ended up on the Point on additional materials for the we would like to see it. that Taft had designed the sculpture group outside Christmas Eve, 1950, where he proposed: they were collection and to make the I look forward to working with the HPHS Board, of the Louisiana State Capitol, a building forever married in 1951. They now live in Montgomery Place collection more accessible our membership, and the community at large to identified with former Governor Huey Long. Another where they enjoy a panoramic view of Promontory to the local community, students, researchers and meet these challenges and continue our mission of famous Taft sculpture is “Solitude of the Soul” in Point and Lake Michigan. HPHS members. Additionally she has chaired the documentation, preservation and dissemination to the Chicago’s Art Institute. And, of course, the esoteric, Strategic Planning Committee and is Chairman of the widest possible audience. and much-used Taft studio remains a University of Janice Spofford, who followed her husband, Jean F. Block Award Committee. Chicago fixture at 60th Street and Ingleside Avenue. described how Hyde Park Herald publisher Bruce Michal, a Hyde Park resident since 1984, and her Michal Safar Sagan helped decorate the ballroom of their new husband Mazin, a U of C alum and Hyde Park resident Joe Marlin, who used to play tennis in East home on Woodlawn Avenue with helium-filled since 1976, live in the historic Promontory Apartments End Park, has learned that there is a large trove of balloons. She speculated that remains of those building, and are enthusiastic members of the Hyde photographs of Chicago’s south side parks in an balloons still might be found in the recesses of where Park Community Garden at 62nd and Dorchester. archive at Indiana University. they had lived for more than 60 years. New Members Robert Despres described how his father, former Louise McCurry, president of the Jackson Park Message from the President The Society welcomes Mr. and Mrs. George Tolley. alderman Leon Despres, would participate in activities Advisory Council, replete with easel, maps, and From its earliest days the Hyde Park Historical at the Darrow Bridge in Jackson Park on the day every photographs, spoke both of the Park as a long- Society has been committed to the documentation, March when Clarence Darrow, whose ashes were established venue for American Youth Soccer League preservation and dissemination of Hyde Park history. placed in the lagoon after his death in 1938, promised activities. She spoke fondly of the importance of We have a strong tradition of presenting programs, Answer to Mystery Quiz: to return to Hyde Park. He also said his father would soccer in Hyde Park, and described the functions nurturing budding high school historians, preserving have boycotted the 2016 Olympics had they been of JPAC. She emphasized that the Park supports the natural and build environment, and generally Hyde Park was founded by in coming to Chicago. He could not have countenanced activities for people of all ages, including nature study promoting all things Hyde Park. We face serious 1853, and became incorporated into the City of the huge stadium planned for Washington Park. And and programs about the 1893 World Columbian challenges in the coming year. Our historic cable Chicago in 1889. Clarence Darrow has not yet returned. Exposition. car building is in need of substantial repair and

Autumnr 20 1 4 Autumnr 20 1 4 r6 r3 Society Invites Nominations for and St. Louis for the honor of hosting the World’s Fair. Inspiration for the entire program was provided by Henry C. Cowles, and later of botanist George Fuller. Paul Cornell Awards The entire Fair opened less than 20 years after Chicago Julia Bachrach, Chicago Park District historian. She Although Jensen’s work was mainly in the had literally burned to the ground. opened the program with an overview of the history parks and on the North Side, he did also plan East The Hyde Park Historical Society is seeking of Jackson Park, and included the sad tale of the End Park (now ) and the nominations for 2015 Paul Cornell Awards. Cornell Some major products and concepts introduced at the time the FBI came looking for Japanese-American grounds of the original Chicago Beach Hotel. Awards, named after Hyde Park’s founder Paul Expo include: concessionaire, Shoji Osato, who managed the tea Starting as a street sweeper, Jensen began to Cornell, recognize individuals and organizations whose • The Ferris Wheel house at the Japanese Garden in the 1930s and early work for the West Parks in 1886. By 1890 he was work exemplifies the values, objectives, and heritage • The modern definition of a carnival midway 1940s. The FBI took him away for incarceration superintendent of small but prominent Union of the Society. This includes education, preserving • Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer at an internment camp for the duration of the war. Park. By 1894 he was fired for daring to question Hyde Park artifacts and documents, and recording • Cracker Jack Julia praised Washington Park for being the “most the weight of coal delivered to the West Parks’ and promoting public interest in Hyde Park history. • Aunt Jemima democratic” of Chicago’s parks. In past years, a greenhouses, an action consistent with his character Awards will be given at the Society’s Annual Dinner at speakers’ platform allowed individuals and groups but a political mistake. He turned then to private the Quadrangle Club on Saturday, February 28, 2015. Points of interest during the tour include: representing all points of view to speak about practice and soon his reputation was firmly established • The Palace of Fine Arts (Now the Museum of Science present and past issues. She amused the audience by by jobs undertaken for prominent Chicagoans [by] Nominations must contain the following information: and Industry) describing the sheep meadow of Washington Park. the best architects of the Chicago School. • Name and title (if applicable) of candidate • Wooded Island There, a herd of English sheep was tended by an In 1905, when Bernard Eckhart became president • Role in community • The Midway Plaisance honest-to-goodness shepherd on the payroll of the of the West Chicago Park Board, he found that the • Why this candidate deserves the Paul Cornell • Locations of the Women’s Building, the Manufacturers Chicago Park District. Each evening, the shepherd bookkeeping, landscaping, and reputation of these Award and Liberal Arts Building, the Grand Basin, the would round up the sheep and herd them into a parks were in such disarray that he managed to secure • Contact information for candidate , and the Cold Storage Building pen on park grounds. Today, the “sheep meadow” is a $4,000,000 bond issue to set things right. He asked • Your name and how we can contact you and Fire used for soccer, softball, football, even cricket. The Jensen to take charge. The results were beautiful: democratic spirit has never left Washington Park. FSV the spirit and the intention are visible today despite We request that confidentiality be maintained. Please A video of the and the Fair current neglect and abuse of the park lands. do not notify candidates that they are being considered. can be found at: www.friendsofthewhitecity.org/ Winners will be notified by December 15, 2014. programs/white-city-tours Jensen’s Vision Eckhart and Jensen: The new park buildings, lighting fixtures, and park For more information contact: furniture were designed by the city’s best architects. In Frances S. Vandervoort, A West Side Story Humboldt Park, Jensen was able to carry out to the Cornell Award Committee Chairman Devereux Bowly, greatest extent his vision of the Midwest landscape in 5471 South Ellis Avenue 1943–2014 From the Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 2, a park setting: a “prairie” river with its natural flora, Chicago, IL 60615 No. 4, November, 1980, pp 4-5 a “natural” garden with acres of native plants, masses Tel: (773) 752-8374 Long-time Hyde Park Historical Society member of hawthorn and other native trees. Later, in 1918, e-mail: [email protected] and former President Devereux Bowly died on August By Malcolm Collier he carried this vision even further in , 6 after a fall at the Lakeside Inn in Lakeside, Michigan. the one park he planned from the beginning. All All nominations must be received by November 1, He had owned and operated the Inn for many years. How many Hyde Parkers have visited Chicago’s these parks are well worth a visit. All could use our 2014. A founding member of the Hyde Park Historical great West Side parks: Humboldt, Garfield and attention and support. Society, Dev was the person most responsible for Douglas, which lie between Sacramento and Crawford bringing it to fruition during his long tenure as Avenues? These parks are connected with the South Note: Jensen article President. He actively supported historic preservation Side (and with by a series of boulevards, *Jens Jensen and botanist Henry Jackson Park Advisory Council and restoration in Hyde Park and elsewhere. A trained some hardly deserving the name but nonetheless Chandler Cowles became fast friends after the 1899 Sponsors Historical Tours guide for the Chicago Architectural Foundation and linking the North, West, and South parks in a way the publication of Cowles’s landmark thesis, “The Ecological member of its board, he contributed greatly to its early city fathers envisioned and in a way unique to Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Ray Johnson, HPHS member and author of Chicago growth. It was Dev who oversaw the restoration of Chicago. Michigan.” Together they explored woodland, dunes, and History, The Stranger Side, reviewed in the summer, the beautiful little building that houses the Hyde Park The boulevards are not the only link between the prairies, and wetlands of the Chicago region. East End 2014 issue of Hyde Park History, is now leading Historical Society on Lake Park Avenue. The two South and West parks. Although originally surveyed, Park, described in this article, is the park between 51st FREE walking tours of the former grounds of the 1893 inns that he owned in Michigan, the Gordon Beach planned and developed in the 1870s by Chicago’s and 53rd Streets east of Hyde Park Boulevard. This park World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. The Inn and the Lakeside Inn, became models of historic great architect-engineer, William LeBaron Jenney, the recently was named the Harold Washington Park. tours will last approximately 90 minutes and will start preservation under his direction. parks were later renewed and somewhat redesigned by and end at the west end of the parking lot south of the Professionally, Dev was a lawyer who worked Bernard A. Eckhart and Jens Jensen, two men with Museum of Science and Industry. The final tour of with the Legal Assistance Foundation for decades. ties to Hyde Park. Mystery Quiz: 2014 will take place Saturday, October 25. His book, The Poorhouse: Subsidized Housing in The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition took place Chicago, published in paperback and eBook in 2012, Hyde Park Ties Question: When was Hyde Park Village from May 1, 1893 through October 30, 1893 and has become a standard source for students of public Eckhart, a successful and respected man and founded, and when did it become part of the consisted of over 200 buildings spread over 600 acres in housing. civic leader, funded the University of Chicago’s City of Chicago? Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance. Chicago beat We are fortunate to have known him—he wlll be mathematics building, Eckhart Hall. Jensen was a out other cities such as , Washington D.C., missed. close friend of the University’s professor of botany

Autumnr 20 1 4 Autumnr 20 1 4 r4 r5 Hyde Park’s Secret Hyde Park Travel Club Tunnels Disbands William Vandervoort From the Hyde Park Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 3 No. 3, August, 1981 One landmark familiar to many people in Hyde Park is the University of Chicago’s Steam Plant. By Ruth Grodzins Located at 6053 S. Blackstone Avenue, the plant was built to provide steam heat for the entire university The Hyde Park Travel Club officially disbanded— campus. The plant was built in 1929, and its location at age 93—in April. It was the third oldest women’s next to the former Central Railroad allowed Steam tunnel grate on Midway. Homeless people seek heat, organization in Chicago, only the Fortnightly and the for convenient coal delivery. A switch track existed sometimes leaving their possessions nearby. Chicago Women's Club preceded it. that connected with one of the commuter train tracks Founded in 1888, the group had met weekly at the now owned by Metra. The plant burned coal until tunnel, the dimensions of which would be 8 feet wide Windermere since 1927. A former president, Harriet 1970, when it was modernized to burn natural gas and 7 feet high. This tunnel would follow a path on Hatch, cited “changing life styles in today’s women” as and oil. The switch track was then removed. the east side of Blackstone Avenue north from the a reason for the Club’s demise. She also said, working What at times has been one of Hyde Park’s great plant to north of 60th St. It would then turn west, women and busy mothers do not have time until secrets is the network of tunnels that carry the steam following a path underneath the grassy area between retirement to devote to the Club.” pipes from the plant to the main campus. Some the eastbound Midway Plaisance and 60th Street. East university officials preferred that the existence of the of Woodlawn Avenue the tunnel would turn north Founded by a Man tunnels remain secret. Some adventurous university towards the main campus, paralleling the east side of A man, Prof. Charles S. Farrar, organized the Club

students and others knew of locations within certain Woodlawn Avenue to near 58th Street. in November, 1888. Its original name was “Ladies’ r afa university buildings where they could enter and It is not difficult to find evidence of this original Travel Class” and Farrar ran its program of lectures for explore the tunnels. Some explorers were eventually tunnel above the ground. At regular intervals along 10 years, when he was succeeded by Agnes Ingersoll. caught by university police. In more recent years, the this area of the Midway, rectangular grates exist. Heat In 1913 it was renamed the Hyde Park Travel Club, o by M ichal S o by university has taken measures to improve security or various noises often come from the grates. At times and by 1915 its original complement of 91 members t with the tunnels. The access points are now more some of these grates are surrounded by the possessions had grown to 250. ph o of homeless people who take advantage of heat coming from the grates. Gifts to Our Society Later city ordinances allowed for the construction The Travel Club’s last days were under the aegis of [The Society] also received the banner regularly of additional tunnels. An ordinance passed on May Frederica Marston. Minutes, documents, and archives displayed at their meeting; a handsomely carved 15, 1929, allowed for another tunnel to extend west have been presented to the Chicago Historical Society. wooden standard, now on view at our Headquarters, from Woodlawn Avenue to Ellis Avenue. This tunnel The group’s remaining funds were distributed among and an old gavel, shaped rather like a tomahawk. Our is described as “at a point 86 feet south of the south various philanthropical organizations, including the president plans to use this awesome object at our HPHS

t line of East 58th Street.” One prominent grate above Hyde Park Historical Society, whose share was $400. future meetings. that tunnel is located north of Pick Hall, the building oor v at 5828 South University Avenue and is the most modern building on the main university quadrangle. ande r A few more grates exist in a line extending straight west through the campus, including near the main z Administration Building recently renamed Edward

by W illiam V s by Levi Hall. o t Over time, more tunnels were constructed Bert’s Words (Part 3) It is very difficult to get stupid people to change their

ph o throughout the university area that for various reasons opinions, for they find it so hard to get an idea, that University of Chicago Steam Plant at 61st St. and Blackstone Ave. may not be obvious. During winter, sometimes heat Absolute Truth destroys absolutely. they don’t like to lose one. securely locked, and TV cameras have been installed. from the tunnels melts the snow above them, forming – Lord Dalling, British Diplomat Besides being illegal, “urban spelunking” is now paths further revealing their locations. Home is the place to do the things you want to. highly discouraged due to the extreme heat and other Any neighborhood is going to have manholes, storm – Zelda Fitzgerald The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is dangers within the tunnels. In order to work within drains, or connections with a traditional underground round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I the tunnels, team plant employees are required to go infrastructure of utilities. But Hyde Park, with its It is only the intellectually lost who ever argue. have more faith in a shadow than in the church. through extensive safety training. major university with a centralized heating plant, – The Picture of Dorian Gray – Magellan The existence of these tunnels has actually been has this additional element of an underground a matter of public record in the proceedings of the infrastructure that includes a good amount of Chicago City Council. An ordinance passed on May interesting evidence above the ground in public areas 1, 1928, allowed for the construction of the original that can be legally and safely explored. HPHS

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