LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO MOBILIZING THE PAST: LOCAL HISTORY AND COMMUNITY ACTION IN MODERN METROPOLITAN CHICAGO A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN HISTORY BY HOPE J. SHANNON CHICAGO, IL MAY 2020 Copyright by Hope J. Shannon, 2020 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to extend my thanks to the many people who supported me during my time at Loyola. First, thank you to Kyle Roberts for encouraging me to make the trek from Boston to Chicago in 2013 and for every opportunity he sent my way since. I also want to thank my dissertation committee members for their guidance and support. Elizabeth Fraterrigo worked with me to troubleshoot some early dissertation roadblocks and her suggestions helped me make the tricky jump from research to writing. Elliott Gorn’s lessons about storytelling in historical writing shaped my entire approach to this project and I revisited his advice whenever I felt stuck, unsure, or bored by my own words. Patricia Mooney-Melvin, my dissertation committee chair, advised me from the moment I started at Loyola, and I could not have asked for a more attentive adviser, mentor, and friend. She encouraged my interest in the postwar local history movement from the very beginning and the paper I wrote in her spring 2014 local history seminar helped lay the foundation for this dissertation. Sustained financial security is absolutely critical to any student’s health and success, and I am grateful to Elizabeth Fraterrigo, Elliott Gorn, Patricia Mooney-Melvin, Timothy Gilfoyle, Robert Bucholz, and Kyle Roberts for writing recommendations and serving as references for the various internal and external scholarship and fellowship opportunities I applied for while in graduate school. I am also grateful to the Loyola graduate students involved in efforts by the graduate student union to secure more equitable work environments, wages, and benefits for Loyola’s graduate student workers. iii Like many students, I also benefited from mentorship found outside my department. I’m thankful to Bob Beatty for taking an interest in my writing and for inviting me to co-edit an issue of the American Association for State and Local History’s History News. Working with Bob, Carol Kammen, and Hannah Hethmon on that special issue was a highlight of my graduate student career and my conversations about local history with Carol had a significant impact on this project. I also want to thank Dona Vitale, the treasurer at the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, for her interest in my research. I first started working with Dona shortly after starting the PhD program at Loyola and what began as a professional connection evolved into a valued friendship. I am grateful to the many archivists, librarians, and administrators who helped me find and navigate the sources I needed for my research. Thank you to Samantha Smith from the Newberry Library, Julie Lynch from the Sulzer Regional Library, Stephanie Barto from the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, and Sylvia Rosillo from the Cicero Public Library, as well as to the staff and volunteers at the Chicago History Museum, University of Chicago Library, Glen Ellyn Historical Society, History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff, Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, Lemont Area Historical Society, Historical Society of Forest Park, and Norwood Park Historical Society. Thank you also to David Hays and Tim Libaris, Loyola history’s administrative staff, and the many other Loyola facilities, library, maintenance, and support staff members responsible for creating and maintaining the environments students and faculty need in order to do their work. They deserve our unending gratitude. Conducting oral interviews greatly enhanced my research experience, and I thank the following people for sitting down with me to talk about local history: Carol Kammen, Robert iv Fields, Susan Kroll, Kathleen Neils Conzen, Dona Vitale, Glenna Eaves, Robert Case, Kenneth Walchak, Michal Safar, Dottie Jeffries, Catherine McKechney, Kathleen O’Hara, Janet Nelson, Bertha Bluff (anonymous interviewee), Suzanne Carty, Laurie Stein, and Carol Summerfield. I am eternally grateful to my friends and family members for supporting my graduate studies. Thank you to my Boston people, especially Maryellen and Charlie, Ellen, Alison, and Stacen. Thank you to Melissa, Grace, Chelsea, Ruby, and my Loyola graduate student cohort. And thank you to Adam, Benton, Ben, Kelly, Bryan, and Molly. I offer a particularly warm thank you to Meagan, Rachel, and Amelia. Knowing them has enriched my life immeasurably, and I will be forever thankful that my chosen path led me to them. Thank you also to my mother Leslie and her partner Gary, my brother Mitchell, my grandparents George and Margaret, and my in-laws Leigh and Mark for their constant love and assistance, and thank you to my sister Kerry, brother-in-law Chad, nephew Declan, and fur-niece Addie for their support and for hosting me any time I needed a break. And above all, I will be forever grateful to my husband Dave for his love, encouragement, and boundless patience. He never doubted me, even when I doubted myself. Finally, thank you to Peggy, the most generous person I know, and to my father Brian, who always took a keen interest in my studies. He died as I was preparing to defend my dissertation proposal three and a half years ago, and I wish I could have shared this experience with him. This is for you, Dad. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii TABLE OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES ix INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, HISTORIANS, AND THE LOCAL HISTORY MOVEMENT 16 The First State and Local Historical Societies 18 Professionalizing the Historical Discipline 27 The Changing Role of Non-Professional Historians 35 “The Local Historical Society Movement” 37 Local Historical Societies in the Chicago Metropolis 41 CHAPTER TWO: “IT IS NOW A MATTER OF URGENCY…”: PRESERVATION CONCERNS AND LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN ROGERS PARK, GLEN ELLYN, AND CICERO, 1968-1998 44 Founding Moments 48 Responding to Local Change: Making “the past…a living part of our community…” 56 Claiming Authority Over the Local Past 67 “Love of Place,” Future-Planning, and Heritage Barriers in Rogers Park, Glen Ellyn, and Cicero 72 CHAPTER THREE: “TALK ABOUT ITS GOOD POINTS…”: DIVERSITY, IDENTITY, AND LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN HYDE PARK AND ROGERS PARK, 1975-1996 86 Founding Moments 90 Amid Neighborhood Change 99 “An Island Surrounded by the Wasteland of the South Side…:” Historic Preservation and “Love of Place” in Hyde Park 112 Diversity, Identity, and Local History in Rogers Park and West Ridge 119 CHAPTER FOUR: “BASTION[S] OF GENTILITY AND RESERVE”: HISTORIC PRESERVATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND THE LAKE FOREST-LAKE BLUFF AND SOUTH SHORE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, 1972-1983 133 Founding Moments: “We still have time…just barely” 137 “In the midst of change…” 142 “A Conserver of Community Values”: Protecting Local Character in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff 154 A neighborhood “on the threshold of something grand…”: Restoring “Gracious Living” in South Shore 168 vi CHAPTER FIVE: LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN METROPOLITAN CHICAGO TODAY: CHALLENGES AND NEW DIRECTIONS 183 Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society 184 Hyde Park Historical Society 193 Glen Ellyn Historical Society 197 Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society 202 “From a sleepy historical society to a vibrant history center…” 208 CONCLUSION 215 APPENDIX A 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY 231 VITA 240 vii TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map with locations of the historical societies considered in this dissertation. 7 Figure 2. Map of Glen Ellyn, IL; Rogers Park, Chicago, IL; and Cicero, IL. 47 Figure 3. Stacy's Tavern, October 2019. 49 Figure 4. Map of Hyde Park, West Ridge, and Rogers Park in Chicago, IL. 89 Figure 5. Hyde Park Historical Society headquarters. 113 Figure 6. Map of Lake Forest, IL, Lake Bluff, IL, and South Shore, Chicago, IL. 136 Figure 7. 7651 South Shore Drive, 2019. 141 Figure 8. Looking into the RP/WRHS office, 2019. 190 Figure 9. Glen Ellyn home with historic marker, October 2019. 198 Figure 10. “Save Main” lawn sign, Glen Ellyn, IL, October 2019 199 Figure 11. Market Square clock tower, October 2019. 203 Figure 12. The new History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff, October 2019. 205 Figure 13. Sign posted outside HCLFLB recording studio, October 2019. 207 Figure 14. A demolition crew dismantles 6330 N. Winthrop Avenue, Chicago, IL, February 20, 2019. 216 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Chicago area local historical society formation by year, 1955-1985. 6 Table 2. Population of Glen Ellyn, IL, 1900-2017. 57 Table 3. Population of DuPage County, IL, 1840-2017. 58 Table 4. Population of Rogers Park, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 61 Table 5. Demographic Change in Rogers Park, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 62 Table 6. Population of Cicero, IL, 1930-2017. 65 Table 7. Demographic Change in Cicero, IL, 1930-2017. 66 Table 8. Populations of Rogers Park and West Ridge, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 102 Table 9. Demographic Change in Rogers Park, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 102 Table 10. Demographic Change in West Ridge, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 103 Table 11. Population of Hyde Park, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 105 Table 12. Demographic Change in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 106 Table 13. Population of Lake Forest, IL, 1930-2017. 144 Table 14. Population of Lake Bluff, IL, 1930-2011. 145 Table 15. Population of Lake County, IL, 1900-2010. 145 Table 16. Demographic Change in South Shore, Chicago, IL, 1930-2017. 149 Table 17. Population of South Shore, Chicago, 1930-2017. 150 ix INTRODUCTION On May 12, 1976, Leon Despres, Hyde Park’s recently retired alderman, gave a speech to more than two hundred Hyde Park residents gathered in the auditorium at St.