Misplaced Pages

#120879

45-464: The community area was annexed from Cicero Township in 1869. After the 1871 Great Chicago Fire , plant workers moved to the area to support a new McCormick Reaper Company plant. Demographics shifted in 1890 towards immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire , with many Czech cultural institutions and churches established in the area. The Czech in the area migrated towards the suburbs until

90-565: A CIA black site" in 2012, where people were held without their rights being respected. The United States Postal Service operates the Otis Grant Collins Post Office at 2302 South Pulaski Road. The Chicago Transit Authority 's Pink Line serves this neighborhood. Stations are located at Kedzie , Central Park , Pulaski , and Kostner . In 2022, the city heard proposals for the Altenheim Line, an elevated park similar to

135-567: A Jesuit seminarian, and twelve white college students based at Presentation Roman Catholic Church, led by Msgr. Jack Egan, the CBL fought the discriminatory real estate practice known as "contract selling". Groups similar to the CBL formed in cities around the country to combat contract selling. The CBL was the most influential in winning justice for exploited black homebuyers. The CBL renegotiated 400 contracts for its members, saving residents an estimated $ 25,000,000. The FHA finally responded to pressure from

180-650: A centralized community resource center for many types of issues. In 2022, the neighborhood's first black-owned grocery store opened, using produce and grocery giveaways that served 300-500 families per day to build trust in the neighborhood, following a strategy from the Black Panther Party . This followed a black-owned health food store that opened in the neighborhood in 2018. K-Town is a nickname for an area in Humboldt Park , North Lawndale, and West Garfield Park between Pulaski Road and Cicero Avenue in which

225-609: A major component of the joint movement. The initiatives also included providing the residents – with a focus on young men – with social services such as trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy and economic opportunities such as job training and legal support. Three years ago, the city's budget for violence prevention had been less than $ 1 million per year. In 2021, the city spent approximately $ 50 million on violence prevention, with additional support from private funds, which allowed violence prevention groups to work collaboratively instead of competing for grants. The funds also supported

270-408: A new community pool and recreation center; and associated retail. Homan Square is often used as an example of the revitalization of North Lawndale. The former Sears tower was rehabbed and reopened to the public as "The John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Tower" in 2015. It now houses non-profit groups and youth association offices. Despite the renaming, the tower retains the "Sears Roebuck" plaque on top of

315-685: A new influx of residents, Jewish former residents of Maxwell Street , became the majority around 1918 before moving northward around 1955. In the 1950s, another wave of residents, black people from the South Side and American South, became the new majority. Real estate brokers used blockbusting and scare tactics to remove white residents throughout the next decade. Beginning in the 1960s, riots , housing discrimination , predatory lending , and other social and economic disasters led to many businesses and residents leaving, with waves of job loss, abandoned property, and poverty ensuing. Community residents formed

360-647: A program like READI Chicago, society reaps $ 3 to $ 7 in return." From 2021 to 2022, North Lawndale saw a 58% decrease in gun violence. The area is in Chicago Public Schools and is served by the following high schools: Farragut Career Academy and North Lawndale College Prep High School . As of 2020, North Lawndale experienced much student loss, much of it due to people leaving the city but also due to having "the most charter schools and [the] highest percentage of students enrolled in charter schools" out of all Chicago community areas. Less than 30% of students in

405-423: Is a club founded in 1899 that was frequented by Chicago 's Czech elite, as well as the visiting elite from Czechoslovakia . The club was used as a place to share Czech culture , drama , music and literature . It was visited by numerous well-known people of Bohemian descent, such as Anton Cermak , Rudolf Friml , George Halas and Otto Kerner Jr. It also served as host to Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk ,

450-516: Is a city within a city, a fifteen-minute drive from downtown Chicago's skyscrapers ... I used to joke that the "K" stood for "kill." I was only half-joking ... it had developed a reputation for being one of the rougher places in the city. ... K-Town is where my grandfather ... and all the other black folk that flocked to the West Side during the mid-to-late-1950s bought proud brick houses on tree-lined streets with crackless cement sidewalks. ... The site of

495-549: Is set on the South Side of Chicago, films in the neighborhood. Cicero Township, Cook County, Illinois Cicero Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County , Illinois , United States . It is coextensive with the town of Cicero . As of the 2020 census, its population was 85,268. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Cicero Township has a total area of 5.87 square miles (15.20 km ), all land. As of

SECTION 10

#1732852158121

540-563: The 2020 census there were 85,268 people, 22,698 households, and 17,508 families residing in the township. The population density was 14,538.45 inhabitants per square mile (5,613.33/km ). There were 25,836 housing units at an average density of 4,405.12 units per square mile (1,700.83 units/km ). The racial makeup of the township was 19.22% White , 3.72% African American , 4.26% Native American , 0.59% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Islander , 46.86% from other races , and 25.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 89.00% of

585-461: The Bloomingdale (606) Trail , that would be developed on the site of former rail lines with existing rail running near the park. Some residents expressed concerns about gentrification; Alderman Michael Scott Jr. expressed that he was confident the community could avoid gentrification and keep residents there due to being able to control the market price with much land being owned by both the city and

630-494: The Cook County Commissioners . By 1890, North Lawndale was beginning to be heavily populated by Bohemian immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire . Czechs moved most heavily to the area from Crawford (Pulaski) west, and from 12th St. (Roosevelt Rd.) to 16th St. Real estate firm W.A. Merigold & Co. was the chief developer of that part of the community, which resulted in the name "Merigold" being associated with

675-495: The West Side attended their zoned public schools. Early the same year, charter elementary school Frazier Preparatory Academy was closed for performance reasons, and students were split between Lawndale Community Academy, Sumner Math and Science Community Academy, and Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts. Later that year, the community heard proposals to merge the three schools into one new STEAM school due to low enrollment. By 2022,

720-425: The former Sears headquarters was redeveloped beginning in 1988 as Homan Square. In 1993, residents at a community discussion expressed fear of being developed out , with renters having few protections from rising rent. The development has included new construction of owned and rental mixed-income housing ; adaptive reuse and restoration of historic properties for use as community center, school, and other facilities;

765-493: The grassroots organization the Contract Buyers League in 1968 to combat the discriminatory and predatory housing practices targeting the area. Assisted by a Jesuit seminarian and twelve white college students, the organization fought the discriminatory real estate practice known as "contract selling", renegotiating around 400 housing contracts and saving an estimated $ 25,000,000 for exploited black homeowners. In 1986,

810-566: The 1980 census, 58 percent of men and women 17 and older had no jobs. In 1986, the Steans Family Foundation was founded to concentrate on grantmaking and programs in North Lawndale. In the 1990s, the foundation noted signs of revitalization, "including a new shopping plaza and some new housing" associated with Homan Square, stabilization of the declining population, and a rise in new residents, mostly Hispanic. They constituted 4.5% of

855-503: The CBL by reforming its discriminatory underwriting policies in order to lend to blacks. North Lawndale was featured in a video explaining the impact of housing discrimination and predatory lending in Chicago. Though the departure of Sears and other businesses from the area had devastated the neighborhood, the repurposing of the Sears complex – known as Homan Square – would aid in rebuilding

900-551: The Cook County Land Bank Authority. Historian Paul Street, citing a 2001 demographic study by Claritas Inc., writes that more than 70% of men aged 18–45 residing in North Lawndale had criminal records. Beginning in 2021, violence prevention groups led by READI Chicago, Communities Partnering 4 Peace, and Chicago CRED began using large-scale relationship-based intervention tactics in the neighborhood. Flatlining Violence Inspires Peace provided street outreach workers,

945-576: The Czechs began leaving the neighborhood for newer housing in the western suburbs of Cicero , Berwyn , Riverside , and Brookfield . By the 1920s, many of the Czechs were gone, and Jews became the majority ethnic group of the neighborhood after having left the crowded confines of the Maxwell Street ghetto. North Lawndale later became known as being the largest Jewish settlement in the City of Chicago, with 25% of

SECTION 20

#1732852158121

990-499: The Steans Family Foundation was founded to concentrate on grantmaking and programs in the community; the foundation noted signs of revitalization by the 1990s with new shopping and dining, the creation of Homan Square, and new residents moving in – this time Hispanic, and a stabilization in population decrease. Beginning in 2021, violence prevention groups led by READI Chicago, Communities Partnering 4 Peace, and Chicago CRED began using large-scale relationship-based intervention tactics in

1035-496: The area without gentrification pricing out longtime residents. In 2022, the area had a new grocery store to alleviate the area food desert and received a proposal for a new STEAM academy. Once part of Cicero Township in 1869, the eastern section of North Lawndale to Pulaski Road was annexed to Chicago by an act of the state legislature. Thereafter, streets were platted and drainage ditches were installed between Western (2400 west) and Pulaski Road (4000 west). The name "Lawndale"

1080-434: The area: UCAN, a center for disadvantaged youths moved to the area in 2016, and violence prevention groups led by READI Chicago, Communities Partnering 4 Peace, and Chicago CRED reduced violence and crime in the area by tens of percentage points after beginning area operations in 2021, returning $ 3-$ 7 to the community for every $ 1 invested. Later in 2021, the city opened the community-led Community Safety and Coordination Center,

1125-526: The building and real estate boom of the 2000s. Due to these factors, the total neighborhood population dropped from 124,937 in 1960 to 41,768 by 2000. Writer Jonathan Kozol devotes a chapter of Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (1991) to North Lawndale. He notes that a local resident called it "an industrial slum without the industry." At the time, it had "one bank, one supermarket, 48 state lottery agents ... and 99 licensed bars." According to

1170-482: The building. The 14th floor of the tower is now used as a space for parties and other community events. A windowless portion of the building indicates the tower's former connection to the Sears Merchandise Building. The complex before demolition was situated along the former Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad line (now CSX ). Homan Square was the area that housed a police compound "likened to

1215-580: The change in ethnicity. In a span of about ten years, the white population of North Lawndale dropped from 87% to less than 9%, but the number of total residents increased. In 1966, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited North Lawndale and "stayed in an apartment there to highlight the deplorable conditions, which included broken doors and rodent infestations. He used the experience to campaign against discriminatory housing practices nationwide, which helped pave

1260-440: The city's Jewish population. From about 1918 to 1955, Jews, overwhelmingly of Russian and Eastern European origin, dominated the neighborhood, starting in North Lawndale and moving northward as they became more prosperous. In the 1950s, blacks migrated into the area from the South Side and from southern states. Unscrupulous real-estate dealers all but evacuated the white population by using blockbusting and scare tactics related to

1305-443: The community. Beginning in the mid 1990s, homeowners came to fill approximately 350 affordable housing units, and a new grocery store and the neighborhood's first Starbucks opened. However, the financial crisis of 2007–2008 set the area back; the grocery store and Starbucks closed, replaced with a grocery store with more limited options and creating a food desert . In the following years, community nonprofit organizations led change in

1350-473: The most renowned and talented Czech artists. The ethnic Bohemians spread throughout the rest of the North Lawndale neighborhood; they were the original owners of many of the beautiful greystone buildings that graced the picturesque streets of the neighborhood. Many of the elite members of the Bohemian community resided in the vicinity of the 1800 and 1900 blocks of South Millard Avenue. These wealthy men, as well as

1395-471: The names of many north–south avenues begin with the letter K (Karlov, Keating, Kedvale, Keeler, Kenneth, Kenton, Keystone, Kilbourn, Kildare, Kilpatrick, Kirkland, Knox, Kolin, Kolmar, Komensky, and Kostner). The pattern is a historical relic of a 1913 street-naming proposal, by which streets were to be systematically named according to their distance from the Illinois-Indiana border; K, the eleventh letter,

North Lawndale, Chicago - Misplaced Pages Continue

1440-585: The neighborhood received a new proposal to create the new STEAM elementary school without consolidating the other three schools; the new school's student body would be made of 80% Lawndale residents and 20% from elsewhere in the city. Since 2011, the neighborhood has been the primary filming location for the Showtime series Shameless , although the show is set in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood. Another Showtime TV series, The Chi , which debuted in 2018 and

1485-406: The neighborhood, and city funds created a Community Safety and Coordination Center to centralize community resources. From 2021 to 2022, North Lawndale saw a 58% decrease in gun violence. Reinvestment efforts in the decades following 1990 include proposals of new raised greenway parks and new affordable/mixed-income housing development, though the community has raised concerns of how to reinvest into

1530-668: The neighborhood. Czech institutions popped up in Merigold, beginning in 1890 with the Slovanska Lipa/Sokol Tabor (Czech fraternal & gymnastic organization) at 13th & Karlov. In 1892, the Bohemian Catholic Church, Our Lady of Lourdes, was established at the corner of 15th & Keeler. In 1909 the Czech Freethinkers School, Frantisek Palacky, was built at 1525 S. Kedvale. The Merigold neighborhood

1575-453: The population. According to Charles Leeks, director of NHS, North Lawndale has the greatest concentration of greystones in the city. In late 2004, the City of Chicago enacted "The Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative" to promote the preservation of the neighborhood's greystone structures. The Contract Buyers League (CBL) was a grassroots organization formed in 1968 by residents of the North Lawndale community. Assisted by Jack MacNamara,

1620-399: The population. There were 22,698 households, out of which 45.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.83% were married couples living together, 19.60% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 22.87% were non-families. 19.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

1665-518: The rest of the Czech residents of North Lawndale, were strongly committed to their neighborhood, and were involved in civic affairs. Anton Dvorak Public Elementary School at 3615 W. 16th St. was named after the revered 19th-century Czech composer Antonín Dvořák . Several members of the North Lawndale Czech community occupied positions in city as well as county government. In the post-World War I years,

1710-497: The summer 2021 creation of a new, community-led Community Safety and Coordination Center, a central site for resources for gender-based violence , housing initiatives, youth programs, and physical and mental health, as well as job readiness programs partnered with labor unions . In 2022, the budget accounts for $ 85 million towards similar services. Evaluations from the University of Chicago Crime Lab in 2022 found that participants in

1755-574: The township was $ 53,726, and the median income for a family was $ 56,632. Males had a median income of $ 33,835 versus $ 26,101 for females. The per capita income for the township was $ 20,040. About 11.4% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over. Former: Evanston • Hyde Park • Jefferson • Lake • Lake View • North Chicago • Rogers Park • South Chicago • West Chicago Bohemian Club (Chicago) The Bohemian Club ( Czech : Česká beseda )

1800-466: The way for the Fair Housing Act ." According to the Steans Family Foundation, in the decades following the 1960s: The poverty resulting from the loss of thousands of jobs due to restructuring of industries from the 1960s to the 1980s meant that money was not available for property maintenance. Houses were abandoned and thousands of structures were leveled during this time. Much land sat vacant until

1845-411: The youth program Choose to Change had "48% fewer violent crime arrests and 32% fewer school misconduct incidents than their control group peers," while participants in the male gun violence prevention program READI Chicago had "63 percent fewer arrests and 19% fewer victimizations for shootings and homicides." The Crime Lab further stated that there is "about 85% confidence that for every dollar invested in

North Lawndale, Chicago - Misplaced Pages Continue

1890-405: Was 3.55 and the average family size was 4.06. The township's age distribution consisted of 28.0% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.9 males. The median income for a household in

1935-540: Was also known as Novy Tabor (New Camp) by the Czech immigrants who settled there. The premier Czech institution, established in 1912, was the Ceska Beseda ( Bohemian Club ) at 3659 W. Douglas Blvd. This club was attended by Chicago's Czech elite, as well as the visiting Czech elite of the rest of the United States and Czechoslovakia. It was the place for its members to celebrate and enjoy literature, drama, and music by

1980-594: Was supplied by Millard and Decker, a real estate firm which subdivided the area in 1870. In 1871, after the Great Chicago Fire , the McCormick Reaper Company (later International Harvester ) constructed and occupied a new large plant in the South Lawndale neighborhood, and many plant workers moved to eastern North Lawndale. The remaining area west of Crawford Avenue was annexed in 1889 by a resolution of

2025-573: Was to be assigned to streets within the eleventh mile, counting west from the state line. The eleventh mile is the easternmost area in which the plan was widely implemented, as many neighborhoods to the east were already developed and had street names in place. The portion of K-Town bounded by W. Kinzie St, W. Cermak Rd, S. Kostner Ave, and S. Pulaski Rd was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 2010. John W. Fountain wrote in his 2005 memoir: K-Town

#120879