The discriminatory practice known as redlining was a color-coded classification system implemented by the Federal Housing Administration that determined the value of housing based on the racial demographics of a neighborhood. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCCs 4103 and 4076 pass each other while crossing the Chicago River on Madison Street. 4:45 Car 5727, January 16, 1954 IIRC, Jalens Snack Shop, the new occupant, was up and running by the Summer of 54 and for many years after that. So we're diving into that jet-setting, Mad Men time when Michigan Avenue became the "Mag Mile.". (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4050 is southbound on Western at the Douglas Park L on November 11, 1955. On the South Side Existence in Chicago's South Side in the 1950's was harsh. 2008- University of Michigan launch a study Moving Towards Opportunity. Wandering the streets of the 'Black Belt.' 1941. Disc One The date is June 17, 1955. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4262 is on 77th, by the car barn at 77th and Vincennes. The developments were primarily clustered into six groups in addition to scattered sites with low-rise buildings and row houses. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic530.jpg 17:25 (Car 187, Brighton Car House, December 13, 1951 regular service abandoned April 29, 1951) Buses terminate at the nearby Howard L station. 2. Through a century of discriminatory strategies from the City and the real estate industry, in addition to antiquated attitudes toward Black residents and people of color, Chicago continues to be a city of neighborhoodshighly segregated neighborhoods. Capital Transit: https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic512.jpg 1950. 1. As a field interviewer I had to look for displaced residents from the projects. 7113 crossing back to the right-hand track would have involved the same procedure unless there was a common, wired, trailing crossover a couple of blocks further. 16:26 sounds recorded on board a PCC (early 1950s) I have produced some comments about your most recent photo group (Chicago in the 1950s). This is post 1 of 6 in the series FIRSTHAND: SEGREGATION. Late 1950s. Photo 513 has a pet peeve caption as far as I am concerned. There were 300 Pullmans in all. Coverage spans 1839-1928 but no directories are available for 1840-1842, 1918-1922, and 1924-1927. The unrest in Chicago led to eleven deaths and over a hundred destroyed buildings. Capital Transit: Railroad Record Club Traction Rarities 1951-58 03. Along with hundreds, or perhaps even a few thousand other onlookers, I watched as 30 ft flames gutted the building that July evening. 60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958) Photo 537 I believe shows a detouring Halsted car turning off of Division st. onto Crosby St., not Larabee. Photos 534, 535 & 536 Englewood, at 63rd & Halsted was one of Chicagos largest and most important commercial shopping districts outside of the loop. In the 1960s, for instance, the advent of "free love" took a significant bite out of the . Potomac Edison (Hagerstown & Frederick), Capital Transit, Altoona & Logan Valley, Shaker Heights Rapid Transit, Pennsylvania Railroad, Illinois Terminal, Baltimore Transit, Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto, St. Louis Public Transit, Queensboro Bridge, Third Avenue El, Southern Iowa Railway, IND Subway (NYC), Johnstown Traction, Cincinnati Street Railway, and the Toledo & Eastern Native American tribesthe Potawatomi, Odawa, Sauk, Ojibwe, Illinois, Kickapoo, Miami, Mascouten, Wea, Delaware, Winnebago, Menominee, and Mesquakiewere forced out of what is now Chicago by early French and British settlers. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4227 is on the turnback loop at Clark and Howard, the north end of Route 22. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7038 is on Western at Van Buren on June 11, 1956. Last Run of the Hagerstown & Frederick: Black families in Chicago lost between $3 billion and $4 billion in wealth because of predatory housing contracts during the 1950s and 1960s, according to a new report released Thursday. Title Building Chicagos Subways But the most creative period for the city was the 1950s, when rivals Chess and Vee Jay battled for supremacy in the rhythm-and-blues market. The tracks going to the right were for the 67th/69th/71st line, which used Western to travel between 69th and 71st. Store which was acquired by the Sears interests who replaced the original Becker-Ryan building. 07. Contract-buying schemes during the 1950s and 1960s cost Black families between $3 billion and $4 billion, according to "The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago: New Findings on the Lasting Toll of Predatory Housing Contracts," published in 2019 by the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University and the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center Perhaps there was a parade on State Street that day (between 1939 and 1949 there was no State Street bridge, and this would have been the regular route for 36 then). Chicagos first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. Chicago Burnside Bums Gang - South Side Chicago White Street Gang Joe Barry 685 subscribers Subscribe 38 Share 13K views 11 years ago The farthest South White street gang in Chicago - the. Total time: 61:31 Later, this hotbed of activity attracted rural migrant workers from places such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the southern United Statesfrom which racist discrimination and violence drove more than 500,000 Black Americans to Chicago. Will Guy Fieri Cook The Bean Before It's Windexed? This pattern ran from 107th St. north to the Rock Island suburban line viaduct at 89th St., at which point the streetcar tracks rejoined Vincennes Ave. to go under the viaduct. Located on the south side of Chicago, Bronzeville became an established neighborhood around the turn of the twentieth century. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4027 (at left) passes a postwar car on Western at 24th on June 7, 1956. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7243 is on Western at the Chicago River on June 10, 1956. For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 7057, a product of the St. Louis Car Company, is at Waveland and Halsted, the north end of Route 8. First time I came across it and Im barely 23! It's a glorious and sloppy mess, but one that represents home for many South Siders. African Americans who settled in northern cities like Chicago, New York, and Detroit earned at least twice as much as those who stayed in the South in 1930, according to work by Leah Boustan, an. While the Census doesnt follow traditional Chicago neighborhood boundaries, areas of Englewood, Park Manor and Woodlawn have poverty rates above 60 percent. He would later say, I have been in the Civil Rights Movement for many years all through the South, but I have never seen not even in Alabama or Louisianamobs as hostile and hateful as this crowd. The Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. Over the last century, an array of political and cultural forces have created clear lines of division between racial groups. Disc Two During the 1940s to 1960s, the second ghetto is driven with tensions over housing and the dynamics of neighborhood change due to the rapid growth of black community. (Wien-Criss Archive), An unidentified CTA red car is on Halsted at 63rd Street on September 16, 1953. The big building on other side is the old Madison carbarn. He is still stuck on the poverty line, working a food delivery job to support his girlfriend Tami and their son Freddie. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4238 is southbound on Wabash, crossing the Chicago River. You can see the shadow of the now-gone Ogden Avenue viaduct at the bottom of the photo. Chicago, though arguably racially diverse overall, is considered by researchers to be the nation's most racially segregated city. 4:04 Up until the 1940s, Black residents were confined to this corridor, better known as the Black Belt, which ran along State Street roughly between Roosevelt Road (12th Street) and 79th Street. I can remember the screeching noises and sparks from when the connectors hit the wires. Built between 1949 and 1961 at a cost of $183 million, the Eisenhower Expressway displaced an estimated 13,000 people and forced out more than 400 businesses in Chicago alone. 06. It truly is a phenomenal resource, not only for those interested in transit history, but also for anyone researching Chicago or Twentieth Century urban life. There are miscellanous directories available for later yearsbusiness directories and . St. Louis Public Service: South Side Chicago. The Southeast Side is a description that the city itself continues to resist, including this neighborhood with all of Chicago's South Side communities. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic558.jpg According to the Hyde Park Herald, since 1916, restrictive covenants kept Chicagos neighborhoods white from the northern gates of Hyde Park at 35th and Drexel Boulevard to Woodlawn, Park Manor, South Shore, Windsor Park, and all the far-flung white communities of the South Side.. Some southbound Two things in this picture: The South Side experienced a population shift during the move to suburbs following World War II. The streetcar in the photo is headed northbound, with the Rock Island Main Line to its right and Vincennes Ave to its left. Recorded between 1955 and 1963 on the Skokie Valley Route and Mundelein branch. First, they were all taken in Chicago during the 1950s. Chicago Youth Organize Townhall for Mayoral Candidates, Op-Ed: Chuy Garca Isnt Running as a Progressive This Mayoral Bid, Chicago Rapper 8MatikLogan Gives Himself A Second Chance, IRS Approves Federal Nonprofit Status for South Side Weekly NFP, Mayoral Debate was a Poor Night for Chicago, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Between 1950 and 1960, most white residents in Chicago's south side Woodlawn neighborhood fled as poor blacks moved in. 5:17 My Auntie Stell and her co-workers, Chicago. 09. Mexican residents of the area around Jane Addamss Hull House settlement housetodays University Villagehad a similar fate as the Puerto Ricans. Images of America The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the Initial System of Subways during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7236 is at Archer and Western on November 17, 1954. Total time (3 discs) 215:03. 4 Board of Trustees/Directors minutes May 1952-Oct 1956 draft copy. With a location just south of the ever-expanding University of Chicago in Hyde Park, however . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4108 is westbound on Madison at the Chicago River, running on the Madison-Fifth branch of Route 20. From 1915 to 1960, more than 5 million African Americans moved from the rural South to the North in a phenomena called the Great Migration. (Wien-Criss Archive), The Western-Berwyn loop on June 10, 1956. 5:07 December 31. Yusay beer stands out on a lot of the photos. The Freight Tunnels CHICAGO If you think your neighborhood has changed since you first moved in, you should see what it looked like 60 years ago. Altoona & Logan Valley/Johnstown Traction: Chicago Southside 1950's 95 square miles of the 228 square miles were considered the "south side". (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4393 is on Western at 21st on July 6, 1950. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4154 is at Waveland and Halsted, the north end of Route 8. Chicago's South Side in black & white May 12, 2016 SJNN By Alden Loury Looking West down 79th Street at Western Ave, Chicago, IL. 4:46 Loco #400, August 17, 1955 Seems to have been a good choice since the same building is still a Ford dealer today. Despite the Citys first settler, Jean-Baptiste Point DuSable, being of Haitian descent, Chicagos infamous segregation is still intact, and it joins a list of large cities with similar rates of racial polarization, such as Cleveland, Newark, Philadelphia, and Houston. This move included the expansion of popular music styles, bringing jazz to Chicago and the rest of the country. Nowadays, transit agencies have style manuals, used to maintain consistency, but such was not the case in the early 1950s. You can compare the different CTA paint schemes on the first two cars. Children listen attentively at Hollstein School in 1952. 11. Of this, 46.22% are males and 53.78% are females. Black residents did not enjoy the same geographic freedom. The cars have 1953 license plates. What makes this picture so interesting is the road sign, Keep left of tracks. Thats because, precisely at this spot, the streetcar tracks moved off the street and onto private right-of-way between Vincennes Ave. and the main line of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad. March 20, 2019. CHICAGO If you think your neighborhood has changed since you first moved in, you should see what it looked like 60 years ago. White Flight, which I titled "Midnight Flight: One family's experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago's South Side (an online novel)" which you can read here for free . From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicagos South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. 12:40 Car #202 (ex-1202), between Springfield and Decatur, February 1955 Constructed over alleys through the South side, the Alley "'L" opened for regular service on June 6, 1892. . According to 2009 American Community Survey data, of Chicago's 77 community areas, 68 are home to a population of which at least 50 percent identify with a single racial group. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4102, a Pullman PCC, is heading west at about 500 W. Madison, operating on the Madison-Fifth branch of Route 20. Appearing to rise above the L platform is the corner tower of the Sears Building, looking carefully on the enlarged view, the SEARS name can be seen. But CHA maintenance began to fall off quickly, and by the 1980s the War on Drugs and mass incarceration created crises of crime and concentrated poverty in the densely populated towers of the Robert Taylor Homes, adjacent Stateway Gardens, and Cabrini-Green. Required fields are marked *. For a few months, Madison-Fifth continued as a shuttle operation between Madison and Pulaski, using older red streetcars. Total time 73:14 All Rights Reserved. 5:09 Passenger interurban #9 Photo 530 is at the south end of the Vincennes Ave. private right-of-way segment at the 10800 block of Vincennes (108th St. did not go through to Vincennes, there were no intersections along Vincennes between 107th St. and 109th St.). The original objective was to treat basic illness and to train nurses and interns. Amazing! The South Side is one of the three major sections of the city of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sections of the city, with the other two being the North Side and the West Side.It radiates and lies south of the city's downtown area, the Chicago Loop.. Much of the South Side came from the city's annexation of townships such as Hyde Park. 10. Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2018 But by then, the Pullman PCCs were systematically being retired and shipped to St. Louis, where they were scrapped and parts were reused in rapid transit cars. Chicago South Side 1940s-1950s - Untitled During the 1940s & 50s During the 1940s and 50s, the South Side of Chicago, was the creatively teeming area called Bronzeville This was the home to poet Gwendolyn Brooks, playwright Richard Wright and dancer Katherine Dunham, and a lot more. 02. The South Side has been home to some of the most significant figures in the history of American politics. 06. In my book Chicago Trolleys (page 107) there is a picture of track work being done at this location on July 17, 1954. Note the difference in fonts used for the numbers. Bibliographic information: This picture was taken on June 17, 1955 at Western and 71st. Another treasure trove of photos thanks to the Wien-Criss Archive. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7239 is on Western at the Douglas Park L on November 11, 1955. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicagos soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. PCC 7151 is a two-man car, and passengers are boarding at the rear. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4053 on Western and 66th on July 31, 1955. The stores from left to right are: S S Kresge, on the southwest corner; The Ace department store on the northwest corner; and Sears Roebuck, the huge building on the northeast corner (with a Hillmans grocery in the basement). Take a trip underground and see how Chicagos I Will spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Riverdale is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago since 478 crimes are reported annually in a small population of just 13,000 people. All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author. It is such a same they did not have the foresight to keep these lines going. And we thank you for sharing this helpful bit of history! 01. Despite the simplicity of Chicagos famous grid system, designed for flat land and seemingly equitable on a map, residents of Chicago have never been equally dispersed or had the same freedom of movement and belonging. White flight caused redlining as the community was now at almost 90% black by 1960. 4:00 Master Unit car #74, August 8, 1953 Immigrants typically lived in inadequate housing near railroads and industryin bunk houses, boxcars, and section houses. The address is 2119 N Wallace St, Chicago, Illinois 60609. Discriminatory housing policies meant that the majority of African American families lived like the Youngers, in kitchenette apartments - larger apartments were broken up into several smaller homes, with a very small kitchen and one bedroom. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4373 and others at the Western and 79th loop on November 23, 1952. (Wien-Criss Archive), PCC meets PCC in this famous Bill Hoffman photo, showing CTA PCC streetcar 4373 on Western Avenue, while a Garfield Park L train crosses on Van Buren temporary trackage. In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. At this stage, it appears the Western Avenue bridge over the Congress Expressway was not yet finished, as the streetcar (and auto traffic) are using a shoo-fly. This is one reason why the CTA began repainting these cars with a darker green around 1951-52. 4:34 PCCs #1708, 1752, 1727, 1739, December 6, 1953 Under the Plan for Transformation, the City began to knock down the projects one by one like dominos. The Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad Company was the first to successfully obtain right-of-way and permission to build an elevated passenger railway in Chicago. Another clue that helps pinpoint the date is the light lettering on dark background seen on license plates in this image. With its neighborhoods, parks, museums, and universities, the South Side continues to play an important role in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of the city. In the mid-1950's Chicago suffered its first post industrial crisis as the major meatpacking companies began to close their production facilities. You can also see trolley bus wires, used on North Avenue. Make No Little Plans CHA high-rises were stigmatized by the city and the media, which portrayed them as vertical drug-ridden ganglands. Chicago Loop. The photographer who took the black-and-whites is not known, but it seems possible it was someone who did not live in this area, but came to visit.