June 15, 2015

The Cultural Influencer's of Lake View

The Main Ethnic Groups
that had dominance or considerable influence 
to the social fabric of Lake View in their time in history
A depiction of Germans embarcking to America
illustration - Harper's Weekly 1874
Each European group brought with them their own culture, faith, and vitality to the area of Lake View that included Lutheran, Catholic and Jewish sensibilities of hard work and devotion to family and community. The Native American peoples had their sense of culture that included hard work and family that sharply conflicted with the Europeans. 
  The Story of the
from link above
Apparently, he was one of the greatest
 Pottawatomie chiefs of all time
Other Pottawatomie Chiefs
illustrations - New York Public Library 

'The Potawatomi were semi-sedentary, living in agricultural villages in summer and separating into smaller family groups in autumn as they moved to their winter hunting grounds. Men hunted and fished; women planted and harvested crops and collected wild plant foods. Village dwellings were large bark-covered houses or dome-shaped wickiups or wigwams; these were also used at winter sites. The Potawatomi were divided into several politically independent territorial bands that were linked by kinship and language. Clans whose members traced their descent from a common ancestor through the male line were distributed among the various bands, and clan intermarriage served to unify each band. Crowded by settlers, the Potawatomi ceded their lands and moved west of the Mississippi River at the beginning of the 19th century. Many tribal members who resided in Indiana refused to leave until they were driven out by the U.S. military, and some of them escaped into Canada. In 1846 most Potawatomi were again displaced, this time to a Kansas reservation where they became known as the Prairie band. Over the course of their westerly movements, the tribe borrowed cultural features from the Plains Indians, notably communal bison hunts.' Read more about them with the following link - Britiannica

images - University of Illinois-Chicago

Ancient Chicago Indian Mounds

re-re-discovering Chicago past
"There aren't many accounts of the prehistoric connection to Chicago—especially for the city's Bowmanville neighborhood but for decades neighbors have known of the area's prehistoric legacy. "I was really fascinated to learn that our entire neighborhood had been a part of a native habitation," said 20-year Bowmanville resident Barry Kafka. "I’m frustrated that we don’t know more about it," Kafka said. Oral history in the neighborhood suggested that since the early 1900's, people had been digging up ancient artifacts in their back yards. But, unfortunately, history had never been properly recorded to help reconstruct the lives of humans who lived thousands of years ago in what is now modern Chicago."
text below - Sheffield Neighborhood Association
Forced removals and multiple treaty-era relocations resulted in cultural chaos and an enduring threat to their connections to the ancestors. Despite these hardships, they have managed to maintain (or restore) their rich heritage.
In 2024
Land Ownership

per article

A Native tribe has received back a portion of its ancestral land in Illinois, marking the first federally recognized tribal land in the state. The decision announced Friday by the U.S. Department of the Interior places portions of Shab-eh-nay Reservation land, which is located in DeKalb County, into trust for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, which gives the tribal nation sovereignty over the land. 

The decision comes 175 years after the U.S. government illegally auctioned off 1,280 acres of land in northern Illinois owned by Prairie Band Potawatomi, according to the tribal nation. The Shab-eh-nay Reservation land includes portions of Shabbona Lake State Park in DeKalb County, named after Chief Shab-eh-nay of Prairie Band Potawatomi. “We have been asking for this recognition and for what is rightfully ours for nearly 200 years, and we are grateful to the U.S. Department of Interior for this significant step in the pursuit of justice for our people and ancestors,” said Prairie Band Chairman Joseph Rupnick, the fourth generation great grandson of Chief Shab-eh-nay, in a news release. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation said it will “carefully evaluate” potential uses for the land, but no immediate changes for usage have been decided.

from the smallest of nations of Europe

The second important wave between 1846 and 1860 led to a great expansion in the population of Luxembourger Americans. Moving westward, they settled in Illinois. A large number settled in Chicago while smaller, yet significant, numbers settled in Rogers Park, Rosehill, Evanston, Aurora, and what is now Skokie. Like many long-settled groups in the United States, very few Luxembourger Americans can speak the language of their ancestors. Despite this, however, a considerable number still practice traditions handed down through the generations. Even though they have been interacting for over a century with German Americans, many of these people continue to identify themselves as being Luxembourger.

Look for LUX.

Current Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in orange

Membership Pins
photo - Ebay
1783 - As many as 5,000 of the Hessian soldiers were hired by the British Empire to fight in the Revolutionary War remained in America after the end of hostilities - the first wave of imigrants
1821 - The Germanic custom of having a specially decorated tree at Christmas time was introduced to America by Pennsylvania Dutch in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Later in the century, the Pennsylvania Dutch version of St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas, evolved into America's Santa Claus, popularized by a German immigrant and influential political cartoonist, Thomas Nast. The Easter bunny and Easter eggs were also brought to this country by German immigrants.
1848-49 - The failure of the European revolutions of 1848 caused thousands to leave Germany to settle in America; the most famous of these refugees was Carl Schurz. He later served as a Union general in the Civil War, a United States senator from Missouri, and secretary of the interior under U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.
1850's - Nearly one million Germans immigrated to America in this decade, one of the peak periods of German immigration; in 1854 alone, 215,000 Germans arrived in this country.
1872 - The century-old privileges granted to German farmers to settled in Imperial Russia were revoked by the Tsarist government, causing thousands of the farmers to emigrate. 
By 1920, there were well over 100,000 of these so-called Volga and Black Sea Germans in the United States, with the greatest numbers in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Colorado. Black Sea Germans soon became known for their skill as wheat farmers. In 1990 an estimated one million descendants of these Russian Germans lived in America.
1880's - In this decade, the decade of heaviest German immigration, nearly 1.5 million Germans left their country to settle in the United States; about 250,000, the greatest number ever, arrived in 1882.
1890 - An estimated 2.8 million German-born immigrants lived in the United States. A majority of the German-born living in the United States were located in the "German triangle," whose three points were Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and St. Louis.
1930 social science map from the University of Chicago Collection that was edited for this blog. The darker stripped areas indicate the greater density of their population
German-Americans Make their Mark
in Lake View
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries German owned and operated beer-gardens that dotted the map of northside and Lake View. The most popular was Bismarck Gardens once located on the southwest corner of Broadway, Grace & Halsted & Bradley streets.
Another 'hot spot' later in the century was the following 
(both postcards are part of my private collection)
 The German-Americans in Chicago 
by 1902

'In 1848, only 40 Swedes lived in Chicago, and that population grew slowly. Many of these earliest settlers came to work on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Although the Swedish settlement remained small for the next two decades, reaching 816 people in 1860 and 6,154 in 1870, it represented the largest single cluster of Swedes in the United States. During the 1870s, the Swedish population in the city doubled, outnumbered only by the German, Irish, and British immigrant groups. These early Swedish settlers established three distinct ethnic enclaves. The largest emerged north of the Chicago River on the Near North Side and became known as Swede Town.' The Swedes settled in an area called SwedeTown in Chicago then later established enclaves at Belmont/Clark and Clark/Foster in the former Community of Lake View Township called Andersonville.

Van Vechten's 1870 Map
X marks the spot
zoomed below

An Historical Excerpt 
from 'East Lake View' by Matthew Nickerson
According to this 1930 social science map from the University of Chicago Collection (zoomed) it looks like the concentration was in central areas of Lake View. The dark shaded areas indicate greatest density of population.

Clubs and Societies 
photo - Chuckman Collection 1912 
 located at Sheffield & School
later to become Medusa's
a 2021 Google Map view
 The Sheffield Location
'On October 17, 1892 the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Vikings granted a Charter for the establishment of a second subordinate Lodge. The name chosen was Brage #2. Its first meeting place was located at Locust and Townsend Streets, north of Chicago Avenue. By 1893 it was already time for larger quarters and Brage #2 moved to Phoenix Hall on Division and Sedgwick Streets. By 1910 they had sufficient membership and funds to move into their own building, the North Side Viking Temple, at Sheffield Avenue and School Street.'
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
card - Warner Printing Company

text below - Peasant Maids, City Women: 

European Countryside to Urban America

postcard - Ebay
1914- 1984
this stationary is part of my private collection
a dance sponsored in 1931
poster - Warner Printing Company
3206 Wilton Avenue
an outreach organization 
by the International Order of the Good Templars
The Restaurants
Dominance Declines 
for both the Swedes and Germans
image - 'Lake View' by Matthew Nickerson
Swede to Korea-Town
According to the publication called 'The Lake View Saga' the Swedish community in Lake View changed hands and was known as Korea-Town by the 1970's - excerpt for their 1984 publication 
The decline of Swedish influence began in 1929 when this county imposed immigation quotas according to a booklet called Andersionville by Krestin B. Lane. But, in 1964 Andersonville was declared a nieghborhood by the City of Chicago that was once a Community in the Township/City of Lake View.
The Japanese-American
Experience
Nisei & Issei
Nisei means the son or daughter of Japanese immigrants who are born and educated in America and especially 
in the United States while Issei means 
a new Japanese born immigrants to the Americas.
Consul S. Yamasaki and his wife 
standing on a Chicago railroad platform 1911 
photo - Chicago History Museum
While there has been a presence of Japanese residents in Chicago since early 20th century the greatest influx of residents to Chicago occurred after the United State Supreme ruled in 1943 that the
internment of resident Japanese, particularly US born, was illegal that subsequently forced Issei and Nisei to move to west of the Mississippi River. The Nisei & Issei populations would prove resilient after their World War II experiences and would thrive in a new land called Chicago. Many found emotional and financial stability in Chicago - many in Lake View and Uptown communities. A migration to the north-side for the Nikkei community ensued into Lake View, in the vicinity of Wrigley Field, establishing businesses and their own cultural institutions.
From the Camps to Chicago
;
 
There were two notable symbols of their presence in Lake View - their churches such as the Christ Church of Chicago and the Lakeside Church of Chicago as well as numerous business along Clark Street in Wrigley Field. 
The most notable person of Lake View was 'Tokyo Rose'. Read more about her and her parents' store on Belmont Avenue north of Clark Street with this Facebook link from my LakeView Historical page. 
map - Discover Nikkei
One of the few retail establishments that has survived is the 
Nisei Lounge on Sheffield Avenue near Newport
Students 
at Lake View High School
photo via Susan Reibman Groff 1968 LVHS book
pages - 'East Lake View' by Matthew Nickerson
This community as of 2023 still maintains its presence 
through it culture center
located at 1016 W Belmont Avenue
photo - their website
 both photo - Michael B. via Yelp
Saira C via Yelp
 both photos - William S via Yelp 2017
and the presence continues ...
at the former Southport Lanes in 2022
photo & text - Southport Corridor News & Events
Experience

The first large wave of migration to Chicago came in the late 1940s, when many settled in the La Clark neighborhood around Dearborn, La Salle and Clark Streets just north of downtown Chicago. Starting in 1946, many people were recruited by Castle Barton Associates and other companies as low-wage, non-union foundry workers and domestic workers in hotels and private homes. As soon as they were established in Chicago, many were joined by their spouses and families. The Puerto Rican neighborhoods of Wicker Park and Lincoln were one large neighborhood that became divided when the Kennedy Expressway was built in the late 1950s.

By the 1960s, Chicago's Puerto Rican community was displaced by urban redevelopment; they moved north and west to Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lake View, and Wicker Park, later centering in West Town and Humboldt Park on the city's West Side. They first moved into nearby LincolnPark just over the Chicago River. Puerto Rican settlement also occurred in Lawndale, also on the city's West Side.

City hall-sponsored gentrification in Lincoln Park began in the early 1960s and was protested by a Lincoln Park Poor People's Coalition led by the Young Lords under the leadership of Jose Cha Cha Jimenez. The Puerto Rican community then moved north and west. 
- Wikipedia 
Lake View Responds:
Funding for Spanish Speakers 1969
Neighborhood Association 
Assistance in 1969
  An Affordable Housing by 1973
Latinos struggle continue 
to fit in 1974
Self-Help Though Activtism
and Political Involvement
by 1975
In 1975 'Cha Cha' Jose Jimenez ran for alderman of the 46th ward.
The northern section of Lake View is still in the 46th ward.
Jose 'Cha Cha' Jimenez was the head of the Young Lords 
'Jose Cha Cha Jimenez’s 1975 aldermanic campaign and his work toward the successful election of the first African American mayor of Chicago. Several progressive politicians who cut their political teeth on Jimenez’s city council campaign used the skills they acquired in the mid-1970s to break through the political glass ceiling that for decades kept Latinos from actualizing their potential. This article provides a lens through which to see how Jimenez and the Young Lords laid the groundwork for an anti-Daley machine that was a continuation of the original Rainbow Coalition.'
 Lake View Gentrification Begins about 1976
New Town was the Lake View East area for a time
Concentration in Chicago 
by 1977
Budget Cuts threaten 
Political Representation
 in Lake View by 1983
Experience
text - Historic City: The Settlement of Chicago
from 'Filipinos in Chicago' 
There is one place in Chicago that is considered by many Filipino Americans as their “home away from home”. This place is called Rizal Center which is named after the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal The building is located at 1332 W Irving Park Road
José Rizal (1861-1896) is one of the most revered figures in Philippine history. He was a multifaceted intellectual and a political activist, best known for his political writings that inspired the Philippine revolution and ultimately led to his execution by the Spanish colonizers.
The Rizal Community Center is more than a building. It's a revitalized way of thinking about who we are and how we engage with our community, our neighborhood, and our city. Our presence in the global diaspora. It is a welcoming, dynamic place for people of all backgrounds to come together, to foster bridging, appreciation, and understanding of the Filipino and Filipino American experiences in Chicago and our place in American society, as well as intersections with diverse cultures. - from their website
photo below - Rizal Center
A Sense of Belonging
2024

The Korean-American
Experience


text - The New Chicago  A Social and Cultural Analysis
photo - Library of Congress
The view of the photo is northwest from the east side of Clark Street toward Roscoe Street . All the buildings shown have been demo'ed by 2018 for the Belmont Overpass Project. Also, view the Facebook Album link above of all the other commerical establishments along Clark Street.
The Polish American 
Experience

When Lake View was a township/city there was a small section of that was settled along the Chicago River by Poles for the purpose of employment in its manufacturing area 
according to this 1887 article about another topic


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