North Lawndale, Chicago
Encyclopedia
North Lawndale located on the west side of Chicago, Illinois
, is one of the well-defined community areas
in the city of Chicago.
) occupied a new large plant in the South Lawndale neighborhood. As a result, many plant workers moved to eastern North Lawndale. The remaining area west of Crawford Avenue was annexed by a resolution of the Cook County Commissioners
in 1889.
By 1890 North Lawndale was beginning to be heavily populated by Bohemian
s from Eastern Europe
. The section most populated by the Czechs was the area from Crawford (Pulaski) west, and from 12th St. (Roosevelt Rd.) to 16th St. Real estate firm W.A. Merigold & Co. was largely responsible for the early development of that part of the community and as a result the name "Merigold" stuck as the name of that part of the neighborhood. Czech institutions popped up in Merigold with the Slovanska Lipa/Sokol Tabor (Czech fraternal & gymnastic organization) at 13th & Karlov in 1890.
In 1892 the Bohemian Catholic Church, Our Lady of Lourdes was established at the corner of 15th & Keeler, and in 1909 the Czech Freethinkers School Frantisek Palacky was built at 1525 S. Kedvale. The Merigold neighborhood would also became known as Novy Tabor (New Camp) by the Czech immigrants that settled there. The ultimate Czech institution to come to North Lawndale 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.
This was the place for its refined members to celebrate and enjoy literature, drama, and music by the most celebrated and talented Czech artists. The Bohemians spread throughout the rest of the North Lawndale neighborhood and 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 & 1900 blocks of S. Millard Ave.
These men of wealth as well as the rest of the Czech residents of North Lawndale were heavily invested in their neighborhood, especially civically, with their influence being far reaching. An example of this was the naming of Anton Dvorak Public Elementary School at 3615 W. 16th St. after a revered 19th century Czech composer. There were several members of the North Lawndale Czech community that occupied positions in city as well as county government. In time the Czechs began leaving the neighborhood for the western suburbs of Cicero, Berwyn, Riverside, & Brookfield.
By the 1920s many of the Czechs were gone and the Jews became the majority ethnic group of the neighborhood having left the crowded confines of the Maxwell Street Ghetto. North Lawndale would later become known as being the largest Jewish settlement in the City of Chicago with 25% of the cities Jewish population living in just that one neighborhood.
From about 1918 to 1955, Jews, overwhelmingly of Russian and Eastern European extraction, dominated the neighborhood, starting in North Lawndale and moving northward as they became more prosperous. In the 1950s, blacks moved from the southern states and the south side of Chicago, and unscrupulous real-estate dealers all but evacuated the white population by using blockbusting and scare tactics. In a span of about ten years the white population of North Lawndale went from 99% to less than 9%.
During the turbulent times of the late 1960s and 1970s, much of North Lawndale's built environment was destroyed by the 1968 riots and by decay brought about by being an extremely impoverished area. Thousands of structures were leveled during this time and the land sat vacant until 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.
According to Charles Leeks, director of NHS, North Lawndale has the greatest concentration of greystones in the city. The City of Chicago has enacted The Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative in late 2004 to aid in promoting the preservation of the neighborhoods historic greystone structures.
According to the Steans Family Foundation, in the decades following the 1960s.
Lawndale was the site of the founding of the Vice Lords
, a street gang which in the late 1960s attempted to transform themselves into a positive force for their neighborhood, setting up community centers and undertaking peaceful political actions. However, this transformation proved short-lived.
Jonathan Kozol
devotes a chapter of Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools to North Lawndale, which he says 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." and that, according to the 1980 census, 58 percent of men and women 17 and older had no jobs.
In 1986 the Steans Family Foundation was founded; it describes itself as "a small family foundation" that "concentrates its grantmaking and programs in North Lawndale" and "by dedicating time, money, and skills... works in partnership with local residents and institutions to build and enhance the North Lawndale community".
In the 1990s, the foundation sees some signs of revitalization, "including a new shopping plaza and some new housing," stabilization of the declining population, and a rise in the number Hispanic residents, currently constituting 4.5% of the population.
and Cicero Avenue
in which many names of north-south avenues (Karlov Ave., Kedvale Ave., Keeler Ave., Kenneth Ave., Kilbourn Ave., Kildare Ave., Kolin Ave., Kolmar Ave., Komensky Ave. Kostner Ave., Kilpatrick Ave., Kenton Ave., Knox Ave., Keating Ave.) begin with the letter K. The pattern is a historical relic of a 1913 street naming proposal in which streets were to be systematically named according to their distance from the Illinois-Indiana border; K, the eleventh letter, was to be assigned to streets within the eleventh mile, counting west from the state line. K-Town is one of the few places where the plan was actually implemented. The portion of K-Town bounded by W Cullerton St, W Cermak Rd, S Kostner Ave, and S Pulaski Rd was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on September 9, 2010.
John W. Fountain (2005) writes:
Former world's fastest rapper Twista
is also from North Lawndale.
operates the Otis Grant Collins Post Office at 2302 South Pulaski Road.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, is one of the well-defined community areas
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
in the city of Chicago.
History
Once part of Cicero Township in 1869, the eastern section of North Lawndale to Crawford Avenue (Pulaski Road) was annexed to Chicago by an act of the state legislature. Thereafter, streets were platted and drainage ditches were installed between Western and Crawford Avenue. The name "Lawndale" was supplied by Millard and Decker, a real estate firm which subdivided the area in 1870. In 1871, after the fire, the McCormick Reaper Company (later International HarvesterInternational Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
) occupied a new large plant in the South Lawndale neighborhood. As a result, many plant workers moved to eastern North Lawndale. The remaining area west of Crawford Avenue was annexed by a resolution of the Cook County Commissioners
Cook County Board of Commissioners
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district for four year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the nation's second largest county with a population of 5.2 million residents...
in 1889.
By 1890 North Lawndale was beginning to be heavily populated by Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
s from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. The section most populated by the Czechs was the area from Crawford (Pulaski) west, and from 12th St. (Roosevelt Rd.) to 16th St. Real estate firm W.A. Merigold & Co. was largely responsible for the early development of that part of the community and as a result the name "Merigold" stuck as the name of that part of the neighborhood. Czech institutions popped up in Merigold with the Slovanska Lipa/Sokol Tabor (Czech fraternal & gymnastic organization) at 13th & Karlov in 1890.
In 1892 the Bohemian Catholic Church, Our Lady of Lourdes was established at the corner of 15th & Keeler, and in 1909 the Czech Freethinkers School Frantisek Palacky was built at 1525 S. Kedvale. The Merigold neighborhood would also became known as Novy Tabor (New Camp) by the Czech immigrants that settled there. The ultimate Czech institution to come to North Lawndale in 1912 was the Ceska Beseda (Bohemian Club
Bohemian Club (Chicago)
The Bohemian Club was 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....
) 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.
This was the place for its refined members to celebrate and enjoy literature, drama, and music by the most celebrated and talented Czech artists. The Bohemians spread throughout the rest of the North Lawndale neighborhood and 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 & 1900 blocks of S. Millard Ave.
These men of wealth as well as the rest of the Czech residents of North Lawndale were heavily invested in their neighborhood, especially civically, with their influence being far reaching. An example of this was the naming of Anton Dvorak Public Elementary School at 3615 W. 16th St. after a revered 19th century Czech composer. There were several members of the North Lawndale Czech community that occupied positions in city as well as county government. In time the Czechs began leaving the neighborhood for the western suburbs of Cicero, Berwyn, Riverside, & Brookfield.
By the 1920s many of the Czechs were gone and the Jews became the majority ethnic group of the neighborhood having left the crowded confines of the Maxwell Street Ghetto. North Lawndale would later become known as being the largest Jewish settlement in the City of Chicago with 25% of the cities Jewish population living in just that one neighborhood.
From about 1918 to 1955, Jews, overwhelmingly of Russian and Eastern European extraction, dominated the neighborhood, starting in North Lawndale and moving northward as they became more prosperous. In the 1950s, blacks moved from the southern states and the south side of Chicago, and unscrupulous real-estate dealers all but evacuated the white population by using blockbusting and scare tactics. In a span of about ten years the white population of North Lawndale went from 99% to less than 9%.
During the turbulent times of the late 1960s and 1970s, much of North Lawndale's built environment was destroyed by the 1968 riots and by decay brought about by being an extremely impoverished area. Thousands of structures were leveled during this time and the land sat vacant until 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.
According to Charles Leeks, director of NHS, North Lawndale has the greatest concentration of greystones in the city. The City of Chicago has enacted The Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative in late 2004 to aid in promoting the preservation of the neighborhoods historic greystone structures.
According to the Steans Family Foundation, in the decades following the 1960s.
- there were a series of economic and social disasters... Riots followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, in 1968, destroying many of the stores along Roosevelt Road and accelerating a decline that lead to a loss of 75% of the businesses in the community by 1970. Industries closed: International HarvesterInternational HarvesterInternational Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
in 1969, Sears (partially in 1974 and completely by 1987), ZenithZenith ElectronicsZenith Electronics Corporation is a brand of the South Korean company LG Electronics. The company was previously an American manufacturer of televisions and other consumer electronics, and was headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois. LG Electronics acquired a controlling share of Zenith in 1995...
and SunbeamSunbeam ProductsSunbeam Products is an American brand that has produced electric home appliances since 1910. Their products have included the Mixmaster mixer, the Sunbeam CG waffle iron, Coffeemaster and the fully automatic T20 toaster. Sunbeam is owned by Jarden Consumer Solutions after Jarden's acquisition in...
in the 1970s, Western ElectricWestern ElectricWestern Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
in the 1980s. By 1970 African-Americans who could were also leaving North Lawndale, beginning a precipitous population decline that continues to this day.
Lawndale was the site of the founding of the Vice Lords
Vice Lords
The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second largest and one of the oldest street gangs in Chicago. Their total membership is estimated to be as many as 30,000...
, a street gang which in the late 1960s attempted to transform themselves into a positive force for their neighborhood, setting up community centers and undertaking peaceful political actions. However, this transformation proved short-lived.
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol is a non-fiction writer, educator, and activist, best known for his books on public education in the United States. Kozol graduated from Noble and Greenough School in 1954, and Harvard University summa cum laude in 1958 with a degree in English Literature. He was awarded a Rhodes...
devotes a chapter of Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools to North Lawndale, which he says 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." and that, according to the 1980 census, 58 percent of men and women 17 and older had no jobs.
In 1986 the Steans Family Foundation was founded; it describes itself as "a small family foundation" that "concentrates its grantmaking and programs in North Lawndale" and "by dedicating time, money, and skills... works in partnership with local residents and institutions to build and enhance the North Lawndale community".
In the 1990s, the foundation sees some signs of revitalization, "including a new shopping plaza and some new housing," stabilization of the declining population, and a rise in the number Hispanic residents, currently constituting 4.5% of the population.
K-Town
K-Town is a nickname for an area in North Lawndale between Pulaski RoadPulaski Road (Chicago)
Pulaski Road is a major north-south thoroughfare in the city of Chicago, at 4000 W., or exactly five miles west of State Street. It is named after revolutionary war hero Casimir Pulaski...
and Cicero Avenue
Illinois Route 50
Illinois Route 50 is a north–south state road in northeastern Illinois. It runs from the junction with U.S. Route 45 in West Kankakee north to U.S. Route 41 in Skokie. This is a distance of . In Chicago and the suburbs it's known as Cicero Avenue...
in which many names of north-south avenues (Karlov Ave., Kedvale Ave., Keeler Ave., Kenneth Ave., Kilbourn Ave., Kildare Ave., Kolin Ave., Kolmar Ave., Komensky Ave. Kostner Ave., Kilpatrick Ave., Kenton Ave., Knox Ave., Keating Ave.) begin with the letter K. The pattern is a historical relic of a 1913 street naming proposal in which streets were to be systematically named according to their distance from the Illinois-Indiana border; K, the eleventh letter, was to be assigned to streets within the eleventh mile, counting west from the state line. K-Town is one of the few places where the plan was actually implemented. The portion of K-Town bounded by W Cullerton St, W Cermak Rd, S Kostner Ave, and S Pulaski Rd was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on September 9, 2010.
John W. Fountain (2005) writes:
- K-Town 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....
Homan Square
Homan Square is a new development in the past ten years and consists of new residences, retail, and a community center on the site of the old Sears headquarters. Homan Square is often used as an example of the gradual turn around of North Lawndale.Former world's fastest rapper Twista
Twista
Carl Terrell Mitchell , better known by his stage name Twista, is an American rapper. He is known for once holding the title of fastest rapper in the world according to Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to pronounce 598 syllables in 55 seconds...
is also from North Lawndale.
Government and infrastructure
The United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
operates the Otis Grant Collins Post Office at 2302 South Pulaski Road.
External links
- Official City of Chicago North Lawndale Community Map
- North Lawndale: Profile of an Illinois Workforce Advantage Target Area. Parisa Arash, Office of the Governor, State of Illinois
- Chicago Park District
- K-Town, entry in the Chicago Historical Society's Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago
- North Lawndale History Steans Family Foundation website.