south side chicago 1950s

There are different types of segregation beyond the Black-white binary that normally, and rightfully, comes to mind. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCCs 4103 and 4076 pass each other while crossing the Chicago River on Madison Street. Those canopies were short-lived after the end of streetcar service, as buses eventually ran into them. A few years later, the CHA placed a light-skinned Black woman named Betty Howard in the previously all-white Trumbull Park Homes. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4050 is southbound on Western at the Douglas Park L on November 11, 1955. While Chicago Housing Authority was right on target for claiming the programs of urban redevelopment, urban renewal and public housing which . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4020 on Western at 73rd during track work on June 26, 1955. The introduction to Polk's Chicago Directory 1923 provides a brief history of Chicago directories and a list of published volumes. The only way to get there (still with usable tracks and live trolley wires) was along 69th St. to Wentworth (200 W.), south to 73rd St. at Vincennes, then southwest on Vincennes to the barn at 77th. Another fantastic series of photos. The interactive map shows that by the 1950s, Black residents had started to trickle into "grade C" or "yellow-lined" European immigrant neighborhoods on the West and Southeast sides. All rights reserved.. Espaol: Gua de recursos COVID-19 en el sur de Chicago, The Geography of Fear: Policing a Segregated Chicago. 10. Chicagos position as the hub of a vast railroad system enabled a bustling industrial economy that was teeming with job opportunities in its stockyards, factories, and steel mills. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7240 is at 69th and Morgan on October 25, 1954. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7157 is northbound on Western at 67th on June 15, 1955. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7037 is on Western at the Chicago River on June 10, 1956. 4 Board of Trustees/Directors minutes May 1952-Oct 1956 draft copy. ISBN 1467129380, 9781467129381 (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4201, operating on Route 36 Broadway-State, has apparently been diverted from State Street, possibly due to a parade, and is northbound on Dearborn at Lake Street. (Wien-Criss Archive), The Western and Berwyn loop on June 10, 1956. Through a century of discriminatory strategies from the City and the real estate industry, in addition to antiquated attitudes toward Black residents and people of color, Chicago continues to be a city of neighborhoodshighly segregated neighborhoods. Poor neighborhoods were razed and replaced. In the twenty years from 1890 to 1910, Chicago's African-American population increased . A few include: the first Black President, Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, the first Black female Senator, Carol Moseley Braun, and the first Black presidential candidate to win a primary, Jesse Jackson. 05. While the Gallaghers are said to live on Wallace Street, the house is actually located on Homan Avenue. 16. On the South Side Existence in Chicago's South Side in the 1950's was harsh. Beneath this L platform, along 63rd Place, were streetcar tracks for Halsted cars that ended at 63rd St., as well as curb space for the two suburban bus companies, South Suburban Safeway Lines and Suburban Transit System. Baltimore Transit: (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4053 on Western and 66th on July 31, 1955. The ease of getting around that city is amazing. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s and '60sliterally across the street from U.S. Steel. 60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958) Recent publications have variously mentioned that either 107th St. or 109th st. was the south end of the Halsted lines private right-of-way segment in this area. ?etc Open in Google Maps. The Union Stock Yard finally closed its doors on August 1, 1971, after nearly 106 years of operation. The shots of Chicago will surprise you. 4:47 Cars #1797, 1759, and 1784 at 59th Street, December 31, 1954 10:36 (recorded May 3-7, 1958 line abandoned July 1958) The Robert Taylor Homes, located between 39th and 54th streets, had more than half of those apartments. (David Sadowski Photo). Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2018 In the mid-1950's Chicago suffered its first post industrial crisis as the major meatpacking companies began to close their production facilities. Geographically, it is the largest of the three Sides of the city that radiate from downtown-the other Sides of the city being the North Side and the West Side.South Side, Chicago. 5:09 Passenger interurban #9 By 1928, there were at least six Mexican settlements parallel to Lake Michigan that were referred to as colonias. The neighborhood surrounding the East 63rd Street L lost more than 83 percent of its population over the next 30 years. The African-American population in Chicago now makes up 25 percent of the city, but racial segregation is high, and much of the South and West sides have become densely populated, marginalized, low-income areas. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is southbound at Wabash and Wacker, running on Route 4 Cottage Grove. 09. An Irish mainstay, Kelly's is one of the oldest family-owned pubs in Chicago, opening just after Prohibition was repealed and the alcohol flowed freely again. My parents came from PR in 1950s. (Wien-Criss Archive), The Western-Berwyn loop on June 10, 1956. Native American tribesthe Potawatomi, Odawa, Sauk, Ojibwe, Illinois, Kickapoo, Miami, Mascouten, Wea, Delaware, Winnebago, Menominee, and Mesquakiewere forced out of what is now Chicago by early French and British settlers. 0:56 PCC car 1557, Route 20 Cabin John line, July 19, 1953 Dates: 1936-2004. Under the Plan for Transformation, the City began to knock down the projects one by one like dominos. Required fields are marked *. While in the South Side Chicago hoods along 83rd, 87th, and 95th streets the Black P. Stones have had a dominant presence since the 1970s. Located in what used to a Buick showroom, it features a large taproom with a BYOF policy that encourages delivery. HOUSING SEGREGATION IN 1950S SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO Already experiencing a population boom after Reconstruction, Chicago was a popular destination for African Americans moving from the South to the North in the early 20th century. Here are some shots around Illinois during the 1950s. Chapter Titles: There were 28 buildings which was originally housed for 11,000 residents but soon became over 27,000- Population Crisis 3. (312 . 4:45 Car 5727, January 16, 1954 Shaker Heights Rapid Transit: The Chatham 14 Theatre . This series was produced for WTTWS FIRSTHAND: SEGREGATION, an award-winning FIRSTHAND multiplatform, multi-year initiative focusing on the firsthand perspectives of people facing critical issues in Chicago. Another 537 were injured, more than half of whom were Black. In its aftermath, white flight from Chicago accelerated. 02. In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. [Finding aid] Chicago African American and Latino Newspapers Microfilm Collection. On the one hand, the South Side of Chicago was the "capital of black America." It was home to the nation's most powerful black politician, Democratic congressman William L. Dawson; the most prominent black man in America . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4044 is on Western at the Douglas Park L on June 22, 1955. If there was one impresario of the South Side during that period, it was Johnny Robinson, also known as Johnny Pepper, who operated three successive clubs from the late 1950s through the early . The suburban bus company had two routes into Englewood one north along Western, then east on 63rd (this was the Harvey bus), the other north along Halsted St. from the south (this was the Chicago Heights bus). CHICAGO If you think your neighborhood has changed since you first moved in, you should see what it looked like 60 years ago. But CHA maintenance began to fall off quickly, and by the 1980s the War on Drugs and mass incarceration created crises of crime and concentrated poverty in the densely populated towers of the Robert Taylor Homes, adjacent Stateway Gardens, and Cabrini-Green. 02. (Wien-Criss Archive), PCC meets PCC in this famous Bill Hoffman photo, showing CTA PCC streetcar 4373 on Western Avenue, while a Garfield Park L train crosses on Van Buren temporary trackage. Pullman post-war PCCs did not disappear in one fell swoop. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicago's South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. 04. Price: $15.99 Many of the photos show the same area from a number of different angles, giving a snapshot early transportation worked and everyday life through a look at businesses, fashion, architecture and more. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7253 is on Western at Leland (by the Ravenswood L, now the Brown Line) on June 10, 1956. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4008 is at Cottage Grove and 115th, south end of Route 4. We look forward to hearing from you. For Shipping to US Addresses: the streetcar tracks turning between Halsted and 63rd. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park L into the median of Chicagos first expressway. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. More than 1,000. (The Census Bureau didn't begin to identify "non-Hispanic whites" as a separate category until 1980, when that group accounted for . Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. They lived around Halsted ave. Queensboro Bridge Company (New York City): John White/U.S. #534 looks south on Halsted from the (A line) L station, note the curved pull-offs of the overhead which is well defined along with the curves corresponding track which converges into the south bound track in view #536. Your email address will not be published. Black residents did not enjoy the same geographic freedom. From the 1910s to the 1920s, thousands of Mexicans were recruited by industrial contractors to work seasonally in the Midwest, in some cases as strikebreakers in the steel mills. Additionally, 7.68% of the population is represented by non-citizens. In the twenty years from 1890 to 1910, Chicago's African-American population increased from 15,000 to approximately Interesting to look at photos 591 & 565 which show the same area on Western. In Chicago, most of the South and West sides have 40 to 60 percent of residents living below the poverty level. (Wien-Criss Archive), The conductor of CTA 7156 is throwing a track switch at Western and Archer on November 17, 1954. 29:34 (Johnstown Traction recordings were made August 9, 1953) https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic544.jpg During its heyday, there was Soft Sheen Products, a $100 million-a-year. Once a separate community, South Chicago began as a series of scattered Native American settlements before becoming a village. 18. 02. 07. Public housing was intended to house a mix of working-class and poor families and was welcomed and enjoyed by new residents, according to early testimonies. Chicago Youth Organize Townhall for Mayoral Candidates, Op-Ed: Chuy Garca Isnt Running as a Progressive This Mayoral Bid, Chicago Rapper 8MatikLogan Gives Himself A Second Chance, IRS Approves Federal Nonprofit Status for South Side Weekly NFP, Mayoral Debate was a Poor Night for Chicago, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Chicago's historic South Side neighborhood is a largely residential community defined by its red brick houses and tree-shaded sidewalks. The purpose was to find residents that were given Section 8 vouchers vs those who did not receive them. The address is 2119 N Wallace St, Chicago, Illinois 60609. In the 1960s, then-Mayor Richard J. Daleys administration began to address the dilapidated housing conditions of the citys poorest and signed off on the construction of 165 high-rises managed by the Chicago Housing Authority that would house mainly Black Chicagoans. 1960. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7788385,-87.6447587,3a,75y,3.14h,91.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYcGafc7OK9fQ0w712doa2A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192, 63rd and Halsted in 1939 when this Sears store was 6 years old. The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.Read the press release here. From the beginning, Chicagos demographic makeup was segregated by race and ethnicity along neighborhood boundaries and the physical features of the built and natural environment. Another clue that helps pinpoint the date is the light lettering on dark background seen on license plates in this image. Residents enjoy close access to several major shopping destinations, particularly the 87th Street Center and the diverse selection of shops and restaurants along Cottage Grove Avenue. Southside 1-1000 - 1950 is rated/received certificates of: Finland:K-16 Sweden:15 USA:Passed (National Board of Review) USA:Approved (PCA #14768) West Germany:16. In the background, you can see the viaduct which is now part of the 606 Trail. Constructed over alleys through the South side, the Alley "'L" opened for regular service on June 6, 1892. . At this time, the temporary Van Buren trackage was still under construction, and this picture was taken from the Garfield Park L station, then still in use. The bulk of the items are from the 1920s-1950s. Tom. With maybe at least a few St.Louis-built cars being included in some of those orders; the Pullman cars were largely gone from the streets by the end of 1955. But this must be a reroute, since it is definitely after 1949 (the car has advertising on the side) and its running Route 36 Broadway-State. Railroad Record Club Traction Rarities 1951-58 The other bus company running from the south suburbs into Englewood was the Suburban Transit System, which ran primarily east and west along 95th St. out to Oak Lawn and beyond. Railroad Record Club Traction Rarities 1951-58 The comments about the photo at Division and Crosby are confirmed by the street sign at left showing that street to be Burling Street. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicagos soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. 07. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4008 is southbound on Wabash at about 900 South. The southeast corner building was nondescript, although at one point it was a Stineway drug store. The deadliest tornado hit on April 21, 1967, traveling through Oak Lawn and the South Side of Chicago, killing 33 and injuring 500. . This picture was taken from the eastbound platform of the Englewood L station spanning Halsted St. At that time, Halsted was still a very busy business district; in fact, I read somewhere that Englewood was the busiest business district outside the Loop. Chicago Southside 1950's 95 square miles of the 228 square miles were considered the "south side". Photos 534, 535 & 536 Englewood, at 63rd & Halsted was one of Chicagos largest and most important commercial shopping districts outside of the loop. Andre Kristopans says it is Crossing under CNW and PRR at Rockwell. (Wein-Criss Archive), Northbound CTA PCC 7206 is on Western Avenue, passing a two-car train of PCC rapid transit cars on the Garfield Park temporary trackage in Van Buren Street. 04. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4408 on Western at 66th on July 16, 1951. CHICAGO Perched along a quiet, tree-lined street on this city's South Side, the worn brick and concrete building on South Champlain Avenue is hard to miss.The tall structure stands out among . The car at right has a 1953 Illinois license plate, but when this picture was taken, Dearborn was still a two-way street, meaning it is prior to November 16. From the Original Master Tapes There are 223,867 residents in South Side Chicago, with a median age of 36. Prior to its more official naming, the media referred to the Bronzeville neighborhood and adjacent areas using derisive names such as the "Black Belt," "Black Ghetto," and even more appalling names such as "Darkie Town." (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7189 is passing through an area where tracks are being worked on at Western and Cermak on October 15, 1954. Rear View of Apartment House with Wood Staircase, South Side, Chicago, Illinois, USA, Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration, April 1941. Recorded between 1955 and 1963 on the Skokie Valley Route and Mundelein branch. CHICAGO If you think your neighborhood has changed since you first moved in, you should see what it looked like 60 years ago. Altoona & Logan Valley: (2) As can be seen from each side of the street in this photo, Western Ave. was auto dealer row for a mile or so to either side of 63rd St. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic555.jpg They were simultaneously subject to predatory practices such as contract selling, in which realtors would deceive buyers into signing contracts to buy marked-up houses on installment with high interest rates and no guarantee of title. But when industrial employment dried up in the 1950s and '60s, it descended into poverty and crime. Illinois Terminal: (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4039 is at Cottage Grove and 115th, south end of Route 4. Chicago, city, seat of Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. With a population hovering near three million, Chicago is the state's largest and the country's third most populous city. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7227 is on Western at Bross on October 15, 1954. South end of Route 4 Trustees/Directors minutes May 1952-Oct 1956 draft copy as buses ran. A large taproom with a BYOF policy that encourages delivery actually located on Homan Avenue on!, although at one point it was a Stineway drug store house is located. Original Master Tapes There are 223,867 residents in South Side of Chicago in the 1950s and & # ;... A track switch at Western and 66th on July 16, 1954 Berwyn loop on June,. 30 years % of the 606 Trail you think your neighborhood has changed since you first moved,. 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