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| Photo credit: Graham Garfield Collection |
Chicago-L.org has added another amazing photo to their Chicago transit photo collection. The shot above is from June 25, 1964 and shows a great view of Uptown looking north over old Wilson Yard that was destroyed by fire in 1996. The most interesting part of the photo to us is the area where Truman College now stands (upper left). Look at the amount of homes that were destroyed and how dense the area was at one time.
There are more photos here, and as always, click to enlarge.
This really is amazing. Only a few years after this, someone had the bright idea to bulldoze huge swaths of the neighborhood - not only for Truman, but all along Wilson, all in the name of urban renewal. That urban renewal plan didn't quite work and the neighborhood fell deeper and deeper into dispair.
ReplyDeleteI guess we need to be thankful for the few buildings that survive today.
"The most interesting part of the photo to us is the area where Truman College now stands (upper left). Look at the amount of homes that were destroyed and how dense the area was at one time."
ReplyDeleteThis was the point of the anti-urban "removal" groups that became active in Uptown during this time. These groups proposed rehabbing the 6-flats in order to avoid the trauma of "slum clearance." Helen Shiller was involved with this faction as part of the Intercommunal Survival Committee, a Black Panther auxiliary organization. Eventually, the plans for the college moved forward but not without a rash of arsons in the renewal area that further displaced people. I seem to remember that a child died in an arson fire in the early 70's but I'd have to look through newspaper files to verify that.
Slim Coleman (and Helen Shiller's) Heart of Uptown Coalition was formed out of these struggles and affordable housing obviously became a central issue. Although they lost with Truman, they were more successful with other campaigns in later years (particularly with a lawsuit over the development where Jewel now stands.)
Sometimes newcomers don't understand why local politics here has been so factious. Understanding what happened when Truman College was built helps to explain a lot of it.
To add to Sassy's comment, the local history is interesting. Part of the reason so many people fought so hard for so much low income housing at Wilson Yards was repayment for what was lost with Truman.
ReplyDeleteFrom historic Tribune articles I read, the whole area was in such bad shape there was talk of the Truman campus reaching to Clark. The building at 4500 N Magnolia was pictured in an story in the early '70s about criminal slum lords.