#West Illinois Street

[emaadsidiki]

The Royal Sonesta Chicago 🏙️

[archiveofaffinities]

Zigzag Billboards, West 63rd Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1914

[rabbitcruiser]

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in the World Series on November 2, 2016, ending the longest Major League Baseball championship drought at 108 years.

[artistmacposts]

#CTA Green Line Damen Station Grand Opening, August 5, 2024

[chicagotimesmagazine]

Mad Dash In Brighton Park Leaves Four Injured

By Chicago Times Magazine – July 24, 2024 In a shocking incident that unfolded late last night, a reckless or possibly intoxicated driver in a stolen SUV sparked chaos in the Brighton Park neighborhood. Police sources report that officers attempted to pull over the suspect vehicle in an alley near the 2500 block of West 46th Street when the driver reversed into a squad car, then sped off. In a…

[dispelzine]

Walls / West 95th Street, Oak Lawn, Illinois.

[railwayhistorical]

Rockford, Illinois (Part Three)

We're in Rockford, Illinois, on the Iowa line of the Illinois Central (Gulf) Railroad. The first shot here was taken on the west side of the Rock River, at Corbin Street; that's an eastbound train. The second and third shots show a meet of that train with a westbound at Buckbee Siding on the other side of the river, at 8th Street.

You might notice some numbers on the signal post: these indicate that we’re 85 miles west of Chicago. Also, there’s a switcher in the consist, but probably not running, as I think it’s to be delivered to the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway down the line a piece.

Three photographs by Richard Koenig; taken November 27th 1976.

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Evelyn Preer

Evelyn Preer (née Jarvis; July 26, 1896 – November 17, 1932), was an African American pioneering screen and stage actress, and jazz and blues singer in Hollywood during the late-1910s through the early 1930s. Preer was known within the Black community as "The First Lady of the Screen."

She was the first Black actress to earn celebrity and popularity. She appeared in ground-breaking films and stage productions, such as the first play by a black playwright to be produced on Broadway, and the first New York–style production with a black cast in California in 1928, in a revival of a play adapted from Somerset Maugham's Rain.

Evelyn Jarvis was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on July 26, 1896. After her father, Frank, died prematurely, she moved with her mother, Blanche, and her three other siblings to Chicago, Illinois. She completed grammar school and high school in Chicago. Her early experiences in vaudeville and "street preaching" with her mother are what jump-started her acting career. Preer married Frank Preer on January 16, 1915, in Chicago.

At the age of 23, Preer's first film role was in Oscar Micheaux's 1919 debut film The Homesteader, in which she played Orlean. Preer was promoted by Micheaux as his leading actress with a steady tour of personal appearances and a publicity campaign, she was one of the first African American women to become a star to the black community. She also acted in Micheaux's Within Our Gates (1920), in which she plays Sylvia Landry, a teacher who needs to raise money to save her school. Still from the 1919 Oscar Micheaux film Within Our Gates.

In 1920, Preer joined The Lafayette Players a theatrical stock company in Chicago that was founded in 1915 by Anita Bush, a pioneering stage and film actress known as “The Little Mother of Black Drama". Bush and her troupe toured the US to bring legitimate theatre to black audiences at a time when theaters were racially segregated by law in the South, and often by custom in the North and the interest of vaudeville was fading. The Lafayette Players brought drama to black audiences, which caused it to flourish until its end during the Great Depression.

She continued her career by starring in 19 films. Micheaux developed many of his subsequent films to showcase Preer's versatility. These included The Brute (1920), The Gunsaulus Mystery (1921), Deceit (1923), Birthright (1924), The Devil’s Disciple (1926), The Conjure Woman (1926) and The Spider's Web (1926). Preer had her talkie debut in the race musical Georgia Rose (1930). In 1931, she performed with Sylvia Sidney in the film Ladies of the Big House. Her final film performance was as Lola, a prostitute, in Josef von Sternberg's 1932 film Blonde Venus, with Cary Grant and Marlene Dietrich. Preer was lauded by both the black and white press for her ability to continually succeed in ever more challenging roles, "...her roles ran the gamut from villain to heroine an attribute that many black actresses who worked in Hollywood cinema history did not have the privilege or luxury to enjoy." Only her film by Micheaux and three shorts survive. She was known for refusing to play roles that she believed demeaned African Americans.

By the mid-1920s, Preer began garnering attention from the white press, and she began to appear in crossover films and stage parts. In 1923, she acted in the Ethiopian Art Theatre's production of The Chip Woman's Fortune by Willis Richardson. This was the first dramatic play by an African-American playwright to be produced on Broadway, and it lasted two weeks. She met her second husband, Edward Thompson, when they were both acting with the Lafayette Players in Chicago. They married February 4, 1924, in Williamson County, Tennessee. In 1926, Preer appeared on Broadway in David Belasco’s production of Lulu Belle. Preer supported and understudied Lenore Ulric in the leading role of Edward Sheldon's drama of a Harlem prostitute. She garnered acclaim in Sadie Thompson in a West Coast revival of Somerset Maugham’s play about a fallen woman.

She rejoined the Lafayette Players for that production in their first show in Los Angeles at the Lincoln Center. Under the leadership of Robert Levy, Preer and her colleagues performed in the first New York–style play featuring black players to be produced in California. That year, she also appeared in Rain, a play adapted from Maugham's short story by the same name.

Preer also sang in cabaret and musical theater where she was occasionally backed by such diverse musicians as Duke Ellington and Red Nichols early in their careers. Preer was regarded by many as the greatest actress of her time.

Developing post-childbirth complications, Preer died of pneumonia on November 17, 1932, in Los Angeles at the age of 36. Her husband continued as a popular leading man and "heavy" in numerous race films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, and died in 1960.

Their daughter Edeve Thompson converted to Catholicism as a teenager. She later entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg, Indiana, where she became known as Sister Francesca Thompson, O.S.F., and became an academic, teaching at both Marian University in Indiana and Fordham University in New York City.

Still from the 1919 Oscar Micheaux film Within Our Gates.

[20th-century-railroading]

Santa Fe / Illinois Central Gulf - Ash Street

A Santa Fe transfer is shoving west back to Corwith Yard while the ICG IMX yard engine takes headroom on the Freeport District, in April 1987.

[beardedmrbean]

Jewish leaders in Chicago are calling on police to charge the illegal migrant accused of shooting a Jewish man to be charged with hate crimes, with one Jewish group slamming the city’s mayor for omitting the victim’s faith in a statement about the heinous act.

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, an illegal migrant from Mauritania in Africa, is facing 14 felony counts, including six counts of attempted murder for shooting a Jewish man multiple times on his way to a Chicago synagogue. Local Jewish leaders believe this was a targeted hate crime, but no hate crime charges have been filed as of now.

Police say he attacked the 39-year-old male victim on Saturday morning in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. Police said that the suspect was identified less than 30 minutes after the shooting, at which point he allegedly shot at responders before police "returned fire, striking the offender." The victim, who was wearing traditional Jewish clothing, survived the attack.

Jewish Community ‘Shaken’ After Chicago Man Shot On Way To Synagogue, Attacker Fired At Police

Police said they recovered a weapon from the scene and that Abdallahi was "placed into custody, transported to an area hospital and subsequently charged accordingly."

The victim was shot in the shoulder and is now recovering at home, according to 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein.

On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, released a statement condemning the attack, expressing his "heartfelt thoughts and prayers" with the victim, but he did not mention that the victim is Jewish.

That led Chicago’s Jewish Community Relations Council, an umbrella organization for 43 major Jewish organizations in the Windy City, to quickly call out the mayor’s omission.

"You failed to identify that the victim was a Jewish man, in a densely populated Jewish neighborhood, going to synagogue for Shabbat morning prayers," the group wrote on X. "What will it take for you to acknowledge the Jewish community?"

In his October 2023 post regarding the death of a Palestinian American, Johnson said, "We grieve alongside his family and the Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities in our state as we reckon with this unthinkable loss."

In that case, authorities say a landlord in the Chicago suburb of Plainfield fatally stabbed the child and attempted to kill his mother because of their Muslim faith and as a response to the Israel-Hamas war, according to The Associated Press, which also reported that the assailant has pleaded not guilty to hate crime and murder charges.

In contrast to Johnson, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is also a Democrat, made direct reference to the victim’s faith in a press release and came out in support of hate crime charges being added.

"I am deeply troubled by the shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man as he walked to his synagogue in West Regions Park Saturday," Pritzker wrote in a statement shared on Wednesday.

"I pray for the victim, his family, and our entire Orthodox Jewish community, and I support all efforts by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute this senseless act of violence. The motivation of the shooter deserves a complete and thorough examination to determine if this should additionally be charged as a hate crime."

Other leaders in the Jewish community say the attack was targeted.

"We have faith in God, but we are scared for us; this shooting a few days ago was not just another act of violence," Rabbi Levi Mostofsky, the executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, said per ABC7 Chicago.

"It wasn't just another shooting on the streets of Chicago. When a visibly Jewish individual in an otherwise pleasant neighborhood is shot unprovoked on his way to synagogue, we are terrorized."

David Goldenberg, Midwest regional Anti-Defamation League director, also suggested hate crimes be added.

"We urge, in the strongest terms possible, that CPD and others conduct a thorough investigation into the motives of these heinous crimes, and that charges be added as appropriate," Goldenberg said, per ABC7 Chicago.

The Midwest regional Anti-Defamation League also released a statement Monday, saying that the community has faced "an onslaught of antisemitism" since Oct. 7, 2023 and before.

"Synagogues have been vandalized, Jewish community members have been assaulted and harassed with anti-Semitic slurs and threats … As CPD’s investigation continues, let’s be clear: For the Jewish community, Saturday’s crime feels like a hate crime regardless of where the investigation lands."

On Monday, Silverstein said during a Monday news conference that the shooting had "shaken my community to its core."

"I am concerned by the lack of hate crimes charges in this case. While the motive is still under investigation, the community is rightfully troubled, given the nature and timing of the attack," Silverstein said.

"While we respect the legal process and understand that charging decisions are complex, I, along with many in my community, urge that all aspects of this case be fully examined, including bias or hate-related motivations," she later added.

Four law enforcement sources say that Abdallahi was apprehended in Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector in March 2023 and was released into the U.S.

Mauritania is a majority Muslim country in northwest Africa. The Department of Homeland Security deems illegal immigrants from Mauritania as "special interest aliens" due to security concerns, and they are supposed to receive additional DHS vetting.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initially told Fox News Digital that it had no interaction with the suspect. Law enforcement sources say that there is a detainer request for Abdallahi — a request that he be transferred to ICE custody in the event of his release — but that "sanctuary" policies in Cook County, Illinois, prohibit local authorities from cooperating with it.

[emaadsidiki]

Chicago Downtown 🏙️

[just--space]

A Picturesque Equinox Sunset : What's that at the end of the road? The Sun. Many towns have roads that run east - west, and on two days each year, the Sun rises and sets right down the middle. Today is one of those days: an equinox. Not only is today a day of equal night ("aequus"-"nox") and day time, but also a day when the sun rises precisely to the east and sets due west. Featured here is a picturesque road in northwest Illinois, USA that runs approximately east -west. The image was taken during the March Equinox of 2015, and shows the Sun down the road at sunset. In many cultures, this March equinox is taken to be the first day of a season, typically spring in Earth's northern hemisphere, and autumn in the south. Does your favorite street run east - west? Tonight, at sunset, you can find out with a quick glance. via NASA

[rabbitcruiser]

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, clinching the World Series on October 14, 1908; this would be their last until clinching the 2016 World Series.

[archinform]

Crossroads Room, Dearborn Station, Chicago

A lost Fred Harvey Restaurant in Chicago, designed by Samuel A. Marx, with murals by Edgar Miller

Fred Harvey Crossroads Room, Dearborn Station, Chicago, c. 1940, architect Samuel A. Marx. Source: Chicago History Museum

I only learned about this long-gone but exceptional moderne restaurant interior a couple of days ago, while perusing a lengthy post on the Forgotten Chicago site.

Another mostly forgotten Art Deco landmark is seen above by noted Chicago architect and art collector Samuel Marx for the Fred Harvey Crossroads Restaurant at Dearborn Station. Perhaps best known locally for the original incarnation of the legendary Pump Room at the Ambassador East Hotel (now PUBLIC Chicago) in 1938, this Marx commission included a restaurant seating 102, a 50-seat cocktail lounge, and a 31-person lunchroom. Edgar Miller, Chicago’s great and recently rediscovered artist, was commissioned for the murals that commemorated both old Chicago and the southwestern routes served by the Santa Fe Railroad. Patrick Steffes, Chicago’s Million Vacant Lots, and Other Recent Research Finds, Forgotten Chicago, May 31, 2014

Dearborn Station. Designed by Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz, the station opened in 1885 at 47 West Polk Street, Chicago. Source: Dearborn Homes website

An earlier Fred Harvey Restaurant in Dearborn Station, 1899

Cover and contents page of Architectural Record, Vol. 88 No. 1, July 1940. PDF of entire issue is available from Architectural Record Archives here.

The scans below are from pp. 40-43 of this issue:

Text of the article:

Description on back of postcard

Another view of the restaurant. Source: Chicago History Museum

A view of the bar. Source: Chicago History Museum

The Crossroads Room featured curving walls in each of its three rooms, chrome fixtures with indirect lighting, and a serpentine bar. Marx specially designed all the furniture. He used a wide-ranging color scheme throughout the project, including "brilliant green, reddish brown, deep chocolate brown, pigskin, Indian red, black, and white," colors that were seen in much of Santa Fe's advertising through the years. Other distinctive decorating touches included Indian and roadrunner motifs and rather bizarre round neo-Baroque wall cases containing what appear from photographs to be cactus sculptures. These unique features would no doubt have reminded patrons of the exotic destinations of the Santa Fe Railroad in the American Southwest. Although Fred Harvey was best known for promoting travel to the West and Southwest, the new spaces were also full of depictions of the history and early life of Chicago. For the 183-seat Crossroads restaurant, Miller created a large wall mural depicting early nineteenth-century pioneer life in Chicago, including a cntral rendering of Indians, fur traders, and Fort Dearborn. For the 50-seat cocktail lounge, adjacent to the main entrance, Miller illustrated early Chicago settlers along with various livestock.... Patrick Steffes, "Crossroads Room," in Robert Brueggman, editor, Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America. Chicago Art Deco Society, 2018, pp. 313-315.

Enlarged view of floor plan, from p. 41 illustration above

Crossroads Room menu, Saturday, January 14, 1950 (ebay)

Crossroads Room, matchbook cover (ebay)

Anemo-Light advertisement; this type of anemostat indirect lighting was used in the Crossroads Room.

Portrait of architect Samuel Marx at his desk in his office in Chicago, Illinois, February 15, 1941. Source: Chicago History Museum

Art Institute of Chicago, works by Samuel A. Marx

Sources:

Andrew Raimist, Architectural Ruminations

Robert Brueggman, editor, Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America. Chicago Art Deco Society, 2018.

Chicago History Museum, images of buildings designed by Samuel a. Marx

Liz O'Brien, Ultramodern: Samuel Marx, Architect, Designer, Art Collector. Pointed Leaf Press, 2012

Old Chicago Station Gets New Restaurant, Architectural Record, Vol. 88 No. 1, July 1940, pp. 40-43

The Pump Room, Architectural Forum, July 1940, pp. 21-24

Samuel Abraham Marx, Wikipedia

Samuel A. Marx in the Art Institute of Chicago collections

Patrick Steffes, Chicago’s Million Vacant Lots, and Other Recent Research Finds, Forgotten Chicago, May 31, 2014

[hometoursandotherstuff]

This is lovely- it’s a condo, built in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois. It has 1bd. 1ba. and is $275K - $290K  mo. HOA fee.

It’s like a mini historic home . The living room has a beautiful original fireplace and look at the millwork. 

Everything is original. There’s even a built-in china cabinet in the dining room.

The kitchen is new. It’s not very large, but it’s got a cozy counter seating area.

The bd. is very nice.

The bath was completely remodeled.

And, the units have nice little decks on the back, but it also looks like there’s a park or a common area outside.

https://www.compass.com/listing/2139-west-cortez-street-unit-2-chicago-il-60622/1271860471762010761/

[dispelzine]

Walls / West Stephenson Street, Freeport, Illinois.