When I was researching Amos Alonzo Stagg and Stagg Field, I realized that, while Stagg is famous for football, but he was a huge presence for track and field too, especially promoting the Olympics movement. He also respected talent. Henry Binga Dismond (1891-1956) was one of his track stars in 1915-1917, a Black man competing … Continue reading Binga Dismond, someone worth remembering
Tag: Chicago
Clara Louise Burnham, A Woman of the Century
(A repeat post) As we head to the November 5, 2024, election and the signs are that women's votes will make a difference, I thought I'd repost this. Illinois was the first state to ratify the 19th Amendment, though in their rush, there was a technical problem that had to be redone. It took over … Continue reading Clara Louise Burnham, A Woman of the Century
Deco Arts Building
Last year, I took a class at the Newberry Library. Turned out to be a bit different than I thought, but it was a writing class that asked us to talk about a corner in Chicago and what it meant to us. So, here’s one of the things I wrote. One day in 1975, I … Continue reading Deco Arts Building
Bur Oaks of Wooded Island
Before the Columbian Exposition, Frederick Law Olmsted said the area in Jackson Park was not promising, with its boggy swales and sand ridges covered with "vegetable mold.” J. Francis Murphy made a watercolor sketch of what it looked like just before work began in January 1891. Olmsted and fair manager Daniel Burnham worked out the … Continue reading Bur Oaks of Wooded Island
An Itinerary for CAC Open House in Hyde Park
Written for a friend who told me what was already in her plans, so I supplied her with links to background information on her way. 1. South Side Entertainment District along Cottage Grove.and 63rd Street It grew because of the Cable Cars, so you can see a couple photos and see why it was there … Continue reading An Itinerary for CAC Open House in Hyde Park
Nonviolent resistance gets a test in Hyde Park
In February 2024, I wrote up how James Farmer tested his detailed plan on how to implement Gandhi’s tactics of nonviolent resistance in Chicago in 1943, long before the Montgomery Bus Boycott or later and more famous lunch counter sit ins. It’s been mentioned before, but I found the detailed strategy in the Chicago Defender. … Continue reading Nonviolent resistance gets a test in Hyde Park
Lyman Turnbull
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
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
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
Patricia L. Morse 