The Chicago Days
There was a lot happening on the Near West Side of Chicago. It was a neighborhood in flux. Originally home of the Jane Addams Hull House, and an infamous, successful housing project, (defined as such because it was only three stories tall, and people could live together more easily than in a high-rise), the neighborhood was mostly Italian. Renewal in the area caused contention. The new Medical Center and the UIC campus displaced families. Previous destruction of beautiful mansions got the attention of young people, who collaborated in helping save the neighborhood by renovating many smaller homes. New restaurants, businesses, a shopping mall, new school, and various townhomes solidified the continuing development, bringing it into the cozy successful area it is today.
My husband started a newspaper there. Pictured above are the senior Mayor Daley (The Boss), The Free Street Theater, and picnickers gathered for fun, sharing information and knowhow.
The mansion that we bought was like the other twenty-five on the single block of Jackson Boulevard, in that it was scheduled for demolition. Young urban pioneers saved and developed that block, and subsequently the area