The Magiskist Carpet sign that once stood near 87th & Dan Ryan #tbt

The Magikist sign was a childhood landmark for myself until it was dismantled in 1992 according to Pete Kasantes of Vanished Chicagoland. I'm sharing this with you as the Chatham neighborhood was home to this recognizable landmark for many commuters going into the city on the Dan Ryan Expressway. I was disappointed to see it was gone at some point in the 1990s, however, the memories remain.

Remember that bust of President Lincoln

Speaking of Englewood remember that Lincoln bust that was in Englewood that made national attention last year. Even shared a segment to Tucker Carlson Tonight on FOX News which I will also show here. [VIDEO]

Locally Ald. Raymond Lopez (Ward 15) brought the apparent vandalism of that Lincoln bust to the world's attention last year formerly located at the corner of 69th & Wolcott and lamented this act. Back in 2009, I had shared a basic history of this bust which at one point was near a business specifically a gas station. Though now, there isn't a business on that corner that could protect and care for this landmark.

Lately, the Chicago Tribune has an update on this bust which after the vandalism was removed by the city for safekeeping.

Here’s what happened: The bust of Lincoln was removed last August by the Chicago Department of Transportation, at the request of Ald. Ray Lopez of the 15th Ward. Though the statue is located in the 17th Ward, Lopez said he stepped in “only after it became obvious that nobody but myself was concerned about the health of this statue.” (The 17th Ward alderman, David Moore, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

Lopez contacted the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, which contacted CDOT for removal. He said he became concerned after the statue was vandalized twice last August: A resident called to say the statue was painted black; soon after, it was set on fire. (Lopez said the vandals used tar and roofing paper.) “It was around the time of the Charlottesville (Va. white nationalist) marches. A lot of hate-filled things were said, and I’ll be the first to admit this statue had seen a lot of wear and tear — of youthful indiscretions — but two acts to happen about that same time? It just felt like something else happening.”

He offered no evidence of who might have vandalized the statue, and though no one has since been arrested for the vandalism, or claimed responsibility, Lopez noted that nearby Marquette Park had been a stronghold for Illinois Nazis. He wasn’t comfortable leaving the statue on 69th, vulnerable to more attacks. He told the Chicago Sun-Times in August that President Donald Trump’s (widely condemned) response to the violence in Charlottesville had emboldened white supremacists; Lopez sent a letter to Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Mark Kelly, concerned that, as left-leaning groups called for the removal of Confederate statues, right-leaning groups could seek revenge on monuments to the Great Emancipator. Soon after, the bust at the corner of 69th and Wolcott was removed, without ceremony or a timeline for when or if it might be returned.

This is a pretty good and long article. It further discusses the history and who placed this bust on 69th Street. It also illustrated the changes in the neighborhood over the years with "white flight" to it's current status today. If anyone is expecting the bust to come back to its original location got some bad news for you.

The statue will never return to 69th and Wolcott.

Its eventual home is the West Englewood Library.

Should you care to remember Philip Bloomquist’s legacy the way it was, before its eyes were blackened and body scarred, visit 69th and Wolcott on Google Maps. An old street-view image is still there, the bust cracked and ghostly. “This doesn’t need to be a loss,” said Vergara. “Maybe what comes out of everything is a new memorial. Let the neighborhood replace its Lincoln, with something that lends an identity, and gives that corner a new meaning. Then the story continues, and Lincoln was never lost at all.”

Lincoln will remain in the Englewood community as for that now vacant spot where his bust now stood, there's an opportunity. If the community want another work of art at that location what should it be. Could be reflective of the people who live there or their historic figures? Better yet perhaps we can create a sculpture of Black Panther and strive to make that area a real life version of Wakanda.

Here's a street view of the bust where it once stood.

VIDEO: "Welcome to Englewood" Sign Unveiling, May 12, 2017

[VIDEO] I'm sorry to have missed this video. Last month the Englewood community got themselves a landmark sign located at 63rd/Yale (almost near what used to be the former Harvard stop on the CTA Green Line). This is an event I caught wind of mainly on ig and even regrammed one record of this event.

Anyway this illustrates something that I've noted here on this blog. Englewood has a marker, and then I found that Grand Crossing and Park Manor have markers. Even suggested at one point perhaps Chatham should have a sign or mark at entry points into the Chatham perimeter.

Perhaps on King Drive, Cottage Grover, 75th, 79th, 83rd, 87th and certainly on State Street. I got one potential candidate for what this sign this Chatham brand should look like. Of course someone who lives there has to make the proposal and ultimately make it happen.

Of course I recognize that's not the only community that can use this idea. Perhaps once Pullman's national monument really gets going this is the treatment they get. Hopefully in the future Roseland can have one to begin it's revitalization, especially when the CTA red line gets extended past 95th Street.

Forgot to add this video was produced by an old favorite artistmac who was also in Englewood for the groundbreaking and grand opening of Whole Foods Market Englewood. And he also drove along 63rd Street at one point also.

What are the landmarks of our community?

I found this Built for Chicago ad on the train from downtown one night. Unfortunately this event has passed and this is one way to show off our communities. Whether we have a regular camera or cameraphone we could take pictures of something we may consider a landmark.

In my head, buildings would be a landmark although that's not the only limit. We could be talking about houses, schools, or even businesses for example. What landmarks in our communities would we consider worthy of a postcard?

What I would ask is that, whatever you have in mind for a landmark feel free to share them with us. You're more thank welcome to either tweet them to us @thesixthward or post them to our FB page. We would like to see what you would consider landmarks where you live and what would make for a good postcard.

OK, so who is this Dan Ryan anyway?

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One of our local expressways (other than the Bishop Ford/Calumet) is the Dan Ryan Expressway, basically the route that the Red Line south take. That is the route that is often referred as the Dan Ryan line for you old timers (i.e. Howard-Dan Ryan) at least those who remember the route names from before CTA assigned their L routes colors.

Here's a history lesson from WBEZ's John Schmidt:

He was born Daniel Ryan Jr. in 1894. Daniel Ryan Sr. was a Democrat office-holder who followed the Chicago political tradition of naming his son after himself. The elder Ryan eventually became President of the Cook County Board. Dan Ryan Woods, at 87th Street and Western Avenue, is named after him.

Our Dan Ryan grew up on the South Side. He served in the Navy during World War I, then earned a law degree from Chicago-Kent. When Dan Ryan Sr. died in 1923, Democrat leaders followed another local tradition. They appointed his son to the vacancy on the County Board.

After finishing out his father’s term, Young Dan ran the family insurance business for a while. In 1930 he became a candidate for the County Board in his own right, and was elected. He stayed on the Board for the rest of his life.

Dan Ryan was a Democrat Machine politician, with all that implies. He formed alliances with various factions and gradually built up his power base. As early as 1933, when Anton Cermak was killed, Ryan was in the running to be slated as Mayor of Chicago, but was passed over. His fondest ambition was to become Governor of Illinois. He never made that office, either.

“He lacked the ruthless ambition to reach the top,” one writer said. “He sat in on all the inner-circle meetings, but usually more as a spectator than a manipulator.” And yet, he got things done. Ryan was a big, bluff, hearty man who had few enemies. Republicans were still a factor in local politics, and he got along famously with them.

In 1954 he matched his father by being elected County Board President. County government was politically-infested then–just as it had been in the past, just as it is today. But Ryan kept things in line. During his tenure, there were no major scandals.

Sometimes he rose above politics. When University of Illinois trustees wanted to take over a big chunk of the forest preserve, Ryan stopped them cold. At another Board meeting, a scientist requested money to buy cages for research dogs. Ryan was a dog lover. His response was: “The only use we could make of such cages is to put research scientists in them.”

On a related note, we looked at who Bishop Ford was too a few years back and it even got noticed by Chicago Tonight.

Outdoor reception for Alderman Sawyer

Refer to the sheet below this is to take place at the "Historic Capone House" located at 7244 S. Prairie Avenue on July 23 this coming Saturday from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. Oh and we've talked about this house before! This event was already on our calendar as well.

Did you know there's a potential landmark in our community

Chatham Center at 79th and Cottage Grove

Chatham Center pictured above you might have seen a couple of posts on this building during the time this blog has been publishing. This Archived News post from June 2009 takes an old news article about its re-opening back in 1986. You may have also seen a post that mentioned this building in a scan from the book Hands on Chicago.

Thanks to Lee Bey he alerts us to "an overlooked but dazzling collection of terra cotta-clad buildings on and around 79th & Cottage Grove and 75th & Cottage Grove." He provides us with a document from the City of Chicago on the Chatham Greater Grand Crossing Commercial District. The pic of the Chatham Center comes from that document which is provided here on the blog near the end of this post.

Cool Building Wednesday: Pride Cleaners

Lee Bey has posted on his blog an entry on Pride Cleaners, at 79th & St. Lawrence.

Cool Building Wednesday: Pride Cleaners

This photo is one of several that Lee Bey has taken, and published on his site.

Check out his blog entry and please comment both here & there! (Several people with ties to Chatham have posted there).

If i read the comments section correctly, Lee Bey said he grew up near Chatham. We'd love for him to share more stories!

City council offers landmark status to Gwendolyn Brooks' home

Of course for not only the home of the IL Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winning poet, author, and professor. Also for the homes of Lorraine Hansberry and Richard Wright. Also let's not forget about a library in Bronzeville that helped to foster local Black writers with research collections on Black history and literature.

Read more about it at Chicago Breaking News.

IL Poet Laureate's home to recieve landmark designation

This is the home of poet Gwendolyn Brooks and it may be receive recognition as a landmark along with two places that were homes to black writers. Story from CBS2Chicago:

Some of the most noted African American writers in the world grew up in Chicago. It's a source of pride the historical committee of the Chicago City Council recognized Monday. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports the homes of Lorraine Hansberry, Richard Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks are on the way to becoming designated landmarks.
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The award -winning play, "A Raisin in the Sun", was written by South Sider, Lorraine Hansberry. It was based on her family' s experience when they moved into an Englewood two flat, which back then, was predominantly white.

Darrell Brewer rents the apartment at 6140 S. Rhodes that the Hansberrys once owned. It was here, according to history, that 7-year-old Lorraine was almost hit by a brick thrown through the window from an angry white mob.

That's a slice of Chicago history some members of the City Council want to preserve. So on Monday, the Committee on Historical Landmark Preservation proposed an ordinance designating the Hansberry home, a Chicago landmark.
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Another building, at 4831 S. Vincennes, destined for landmark status, is the home of author Richard Wright. It was here he wrote the critically acclaimed novel, "Native Son."
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The home of Illinois Poet Laureate, Gwendolyn Brooks, is another home on the landmark list. Brooks wrote more than 20 books, many of them when she lived at 7428 S. Evans.

"It just makes me feel so good to know that she was recognized the world over and I lived next door," said former neighbor Norma Jackson.

The vote on the landmark status is expected at a meeting of the city council on Wednesday.

BTW, I wrote about this home earlier so landmark designation for Brooks' home isn't exactly old news. I used Google Streetview to find this house but to no avail. The pic provided above was from a screen shot of a video story from CBS2.

UPDATED: A landmark in our ward

Michael Reese Hospital wasn't the only site that those would want to declare historical landmarks:

The two-story Wright House, at 4831 S. Vincennes Ave., and the Brooks House, a modest cottage at 7458 S. Evans Ave., were recommended for landmark status to provide a historic link to what the commission calls the "Chicago Black Renaissance Literary Movement" that occurred from 1930 to the 1950s.

The house of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, at 6140 S. Rhodes Ave., also has been nominated for landmark status, but its owner did not respond to a request for consent to the nomination. A public hearing about that nomination will be scheduled.

If you want to take a look at an approximate location:

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UPDATE 11/6/2009 @ 10:27 AM: The Brooks house was actually home to Gwendolyn Brooks and this Sun-Times article has the address listed as 7428 S. Evans. Here's another look at the approximate location of that home:

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