an author of the Emancipation Proclamation Hyde Park has a small intersection with the history of Juneteenth in that an eventual resident of Hyde Park was the architect of the Emancipation Proclamation. Lyman Trumbull (1813-1896) was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Civil War and came up with the legal rationale to free … Continue reading Lyman Turnbull
Author: Trish
Bob Dylan and Blues History
The University of Chicago Folk Festival Bob Dylan with acoustic guitar and harmonica (Bob Dylan Center) This post isn’t a history of the Folk Festival. This post is about how the hive mind of the internet helped me track down a legend about Bob Dylan playing (however briefly) in Hyde Park, which came around to … Continue reading Bob Dylan and Blues History
Chicago’s Municipal Device
A scavenger hunt I like to play as I walk around the city is spotting examples of the Chicago Municipal Device. The “Y” represents the heart of Chicago--Wolf Point--where the south branch and the north branch join and flow into Lake Michigan. It’s surrounded by a circle to show that the city is united. Once … Continue reading Chicago’s Municipal Device
Morgan Shoal and the Lakefront
Some Sidelights Earlier this year I wrote a Hyde Park Story about Morgan Shoal in the Hyde Park Herald The people who love the shoal are fighting to save it. Here are some sidelights that didn’t make it into the article. One of my favorite discoveries was the complex network of fossil coral reefs that … Continue reading Morgan Shoal and the Lakefront
Sam Ransom
Part II of Two Hyde Park High School Athletes This is the story of two Hyde Park High School athletes—and the road not taken. Part I covered Walter Eckersall, who found the special treatment of football fame toxic in the end. His Hyde Park High School teammate had a very different story. Samuel L. Ransom … Continue reading Sam Ransom
Walter Eckersall
A Tale of Two Hyde Park High School Athletes Part I This is the story of two Hyde Park High School athletes—and the road not taken. The story got a little long, so I’m sending them as separate emails. In 1890, William Rainey Harper, the university’s first president, had the job of creating a major … Continue reading Walter Eckersall
Buffalo Bill and Susan B. Anthony
This wander started with a great observation by Bruce Ervin, who read my Herald article about trolley cars and wanted to talk about exactly how the 61st Street Streetcar worked. I flagged the fact that I had a speculation about the arched passageway under the Illinois Central train tracks—if, as someone told me, it had been built … Continue reading Buffalo Bill and Susan B. Anthony
White City Amusement Park
I gave a talk on the time when the Hyde Park area was an entertainment destination and found more images than I could use. Links to the talk on YouTube appear at the end of this post. The biggest amusement park to cash in on the fame of the 1893 Fair was at 63rd and … Continue reading White City Amusement Park
History Picture of the Day
I'm starting a project. As I research my monthly article for the Hyde Park Herald, I come across a lot of fun images scattered across the various archives--with more being digitized seemingly every day. If you want to follow along, I'm posting them on Instagram (hydeparktrish) and Twitter (@HydeParkTrish). Photos of course are informative. Old … Continue reading History Picture of the Day
William Warfield
When I was researching Hyde Park/Kenwood/Woodlawn’s first women representatives, I came across the name of William J. Warfield, who was elected in 1928 in the same district. Warfield was the 15th African-American to serve in the Illinois House. The first African-American in the Illinois legislature was John W. E. Thomas in 1876. Though he wasn’t … Continue reading William Warfield
Patricia L. Morse 