Issuu

CHICAGO HISTORY

C O N T E N T S

4 Exhibiting Truth: Chicago History Museum, a 21st-Century Museum

10 “Get Out There and Make A Change”: The Civil Rights Era Pictorial Reporting of Franklin McMahon

26 Perkins versus Urion: The Acrimonious Battle over the Nature of Chicago’s Public Schools

36 The Kichwa Otavalo Community in Chicago

3 Editor’s Note

Making History

Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Thema McDonald

Editors

Heidi A. Samuelson

Esther D Wang

Designer

Bill Van Nimwegen

Photography

Renee Mudgett

Timothy Paton Jr

Clark Street at North Avenue

Chicago, IL 60614-6038

312 642 4600

chicagohistor y org

ISSN 0272-8540

Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts and America: Histor y and Life

C H I C A G O H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y

O F F I C E R S

Warren K Chapman Chair

Mark D Trembacki

First Vice Chair

Joseph Seliga

Second Vice Chair

Monica M Weed Treasurer

R andye A. Kogan

Secretar y

Donald L assere

Edgar D and Deborah

R Jannotta President

H O N O R A R Y T R U S T E E

The Honorable

Brandon Johnson

Mayor, City of Chicago

T R U S T E E S

James L Alexander

Michael Barzyk

Paul Carlisle

Walter C Carlson

Martin R Castro

Warren K Chapman

Dionne Danns

James P Duff

Gar y S Feinerman

L afayette J Ford

T. Bondurant French

Sallie L Gaines

Guillermo Garcia

Alejandra Garza

Timothy J Gilfoyle

Mar y Louise Gorno

David D. Hiller

Tobin E Hopkins

Sharon A Hwang

Janice Jackson

Daniel S Jaffee

Jennifer “Jill” Kirk

R andye A. Kogan

Donald L assere

Robert C Lee

John N. Low

Robert Manuel

R alph G Moore

David A. Mordini

Maggie M Morgan

Mark Potter

Elizabeth D Richter

Arnaldo Rivera

Joseph Seliga

Lei Shen

Jonathan Skinner

Samuel J Tinaglia

Mark D Trembacki

Ali Velshi

Gail D. Ward

Monica M Weed

J Michael Whitted

Robert R Yohanan

H O N O R A R Y L I F E T R U S T E E

The Honorable

Richard M Daley

The Honorable R ahm Emanuel

The Honorable Lori Lightfoot

L I F E T R U S T E E S

David P Bolger

L aurence O Booth

Stanley J Calderon

John W Croghan

Patrick F Daly

Patrick W Dolan

Paul H Dykstra

Michael H Ebner

David A Gupta

Barbara A Hamel

M Hill Hammock

Susan S Higinbotham

Dennis H Holtschneider, CM

Edgar D. Jannotta

Falona Joy

Barbara L Kipper

Judith H Konen

W Paul Krauss

Josephine Louis

R Eden Martin

Cover | Aya Huma mask (center right), photograph by CHM staff All other images courtesy of the Kichwa Community of Chicago

Timothy P Moen

Potter Palmer

Jesse H Ruiz

Gordon I. Segal

L arr y Selander

Paul L Snyder

T R U S T E E S E M E R I T U S

Catherine L Arias

Bradford L. Ballast

Gregor y J Besio

Michelle Bibergal Snow

Matthew Blakely

Paul J Carbone

Jonathan F Fanton

Cynthia Greenleaf

Courtney W. Hopkins

Cher yl L Hyman

Nena Ivon

Gar y T Johnson

Douglas M Levy

Erica C Meyer

Michael A Nemeroff

Ebrahim S. Patel

M Bridget Reidy

James R Reynolds

Nancy K Robinson

April T Schink

Jeff Semenchuk

Kristin Noelle Smith

Margaret Snorf

Sarah D Sprowl

Noren W. Ungaretti

L awrie B Weed

Joan Werhane

*As of Januar y 17, 2025

The Chicago Histor y Museum acknowledges support from the Chicago Park District and the Illinois Arts Council Agency on behalf of the people of Chicago

This November at the Chicago Histor y Museum, we opened the exhibition Injustice: The Trial for

Collection and courtroom sketches by Franklin McMahon, the exhibition gives a visual account of a pivotal trial in US histor y that amplified the inequities Black Americans face within the US court system and ignited the Civil Rights Movement

Curatorial Affairs and curator of Injustice, authored this issue’s first article He writes about the curatorial department’s approach to exhibition narratives, which has expanded in recent years to include more perspectives. In a social climate where censorship and book bans have made national headlines, CHM is fol-

importance of incorporating stories of marginalized communities and points of view that have not traditionally been included in the telling of histor y

Our second article follows a thread from Injustice and takes a closer look at the life and work of Franklin McMahon, who was primarily a cartoonist and illustrator at the time he was hired by Life magazine to cover the trial for two of Emmett Till’s accused killers With cameras not allowed in the courtroom, his drawings from the trial provide a visual record of the historical proceedings that otherwise would not ex i

remained interested in civil rights issues throughout his life

The next article covers a ver y different sort of trial, but one that was also unjust. Barr y Kritzberg covers the civil trial of Dwight S Perkins, who was an architect with impressive credentials when he was hired to be the Chicago Board of Education’s chief architect in 1905 In five years, he built an impressive forty schools, some of which remain historical landmarks today, but by 1910, the board was threatening to fire him if he didn’t resign The board’s reasons were flimsy and likely self-serving so Perkins insisted on a trial guaranteed by civil service laws But if you know anything about the histor y of Chicago politics, you can probably guess how the trial turned out

Then, following the model for exhibition narratives that Bethea outlined in his article, we have an essay from a group of Chicagoans you may not know, the Kichwa Otavalo people In this article, they share about their histor y and aspects of their culture that they, like many of the city ’ s immigrants, have found ways to preserve while building their new lives in Chicago Though their homeland in Ecuador was colonized by the Spanish, they kept their language alive for centuries. In a first for Chicago Histor y magazine, we are pleased to do our part in preserving the Kichwa language by including both Spanish and Kichwa versions of the article text

Finally, we have a fascinating oral histor y collected by Timothy Gilfoyle from two recent Making Histor y Award winners William Brodsky, recipient of the Marshall Field Making Histor y Award for Distinction in Corporate Leadership and Innovation in 2023, and Leo Melamed, recipient of the Daniel H Burnham Making Histor y Award for Distinction in Visionar y Leadership in 2024 In the decades between 1970 and 2020, Chicago’s renowned commodity exchanges the Board of Trade, the Mercantile Exchange, the Board of Options Exchange witnessed unprecedented technological and structural revolutions Both Melamed and Brodsky played leading roles and helped redefine the ver y nature of the exchanges themselves

Heidi Samuelson Editor, Chicago Histor y

Exhibiting Truth: Chicago History Museum, a 21st-Century Museum

Making the past authentic and relevant for present-day audiences with an expanded approach to stor ytelling.

C . E . B E T H E A

For decades, the Chicago Histor y Museum (CHM) has built a reputation for presenting solid, aest

tion has not changed, but we ask do you remember the first time we made you reconsider a piece of Chicago histor y you thought you knew? Or consider a new perspective on what you thought was an old stor y? If I were a gambling man, I’d bet you don’t This work a t t h e M u s

weren’t looking And the result is an ongoing and significant expansion of the city ’ s histor y that we have shared

with you through more perspectives and narratives running through our exhibitions, collections, and programs

Almost twenty-five years into the twenty-first centur y, m

next evolutionar y step of the era of political correctness

(

ceived to exclude, marginalize or insult groups of people w

Children attending a Civic Season program at the Chicago Histor y Museum in 2023 added to a mural that asked, “ What would you like to see in the civic future?”

racial prejudices. By the late twentieth centur y, the term

g r e w i n p o p u l a r p a r l a n c e a n d b e g a n t o e n c o m p a s s a

broader alertness of social inequities for other groups

Today, individuals and organizations accused of wokeness, when merely publicly acknowledging social or his-

t o r i c a l i n e q u i t i e s , a r e o f t e n v i e w e d b y s o m e a s

a n t i -A m e r i

p o l a r i z i n g p o i n t - o f- v i e w l a r

media age we currently are experiencing, where users are e

nalist and retired news anchor Ted Koppel summed up this era in a CB S Sunday Mor ning segment entitled “Fake News, Social Media and ‘ The Death of Truth’” when he stated, “ we live in an age of alternate facts ” He went on to say that “ more Americans are getting their information almost entirely from outlets that echo their own political points of view, . . . and there’s social media where there are few (if any) filters between users and a wide world of m i s i n f o r m a t i o

u n d e r a t t a c k A n d i n w a y s b o t h d i r e c t a n d i n d i r e c t , m u s e u m s a r e f e e l i n g t h a t p r e

a d d r e s s s o c i

l j u s t i c e i s s u e s w h i l e f i n d i n g a b a l a n c e between historical accuracy and appropriate stor ytelling approaches has been an ongoing challenge for museums Unfortunately, it is still evident that some museums

a r e r o b b i n g a u d i e n c e s o f t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o d e c i d e f o r themselves how to best interpret America’s histor y in an

u n c en s o r ed , f a c t u a l l y a c c u r a t e f o r m . Rec en t l y, Reb ec c a

B a l l h a u s , a n i n v e s t i g a t i v e r e p o r t e r f o r t h e Wa l l S t r e e t

Jour nal, and Nathan J Robinson, editor of Current Affairs

m a g a z i n e , r e s p e c t i v e l y p u b l i s h e d a r t i c l e s a b o u t t h e National Archives and its director US Archivist Colleen Shogan’s push to reshape its narrative of American hist o r y “ i n o r d e r t o m a ke w h i t e c o n s e r v a t i v e s m o r e c o mfortable ”3 Staff at the National Archives were instructed

t o r e m o v e o r r e d u c e h i s t o r i c c o n t e n t f r o m t h r e e n e w ex h i b i t i o n s c u r r e n t l y i n d e v e l o p m e n t T h i s i n c l u d e d removing images of civil rights leader Martin Luther King

J r , e l i m i n a t i n g s t o r i e s r e l a t e d t o J a p a n e s e i n t e r n m e n t camps, and decreasing Indigenous communities’ points of view

However, we are living in a hypersensitive time where museums, histor y museums in particular, can no longer afford to present narrowly focused accounts of historical e v e n t s A r e c e n t r e p o r t f r o m t h e Fr a m e Wo r k s I n s t i t u t e and the American Association for State and Local Histor y expressed the need to counter the common misconcept i o n t h a t t e l l i n g h i s t o r y i s m e r e l y p r o v i d i n g o n e s t a t i c account of “ what happened” rather than the practice of histor y as critically evaluating multiple sources and pers p e c t i v e s . 4 To b e r e l e v a n t a n d c r e a t e e m p a t h e t i c a u d i -

tions with visitors by offering a complete interpretation o f h i s t o r y t h r

Presenting holistic stories that center the human experience (after all, it’s the messy accounts of histor y and the nuanced representative nature of the human condition)

m a ke s t h e p

day audiences

Over the past few years, CHM has participated in several national research field surveys designed to measure i n c

more than thirty-five histor y museums across the field

opportunity to benefit from aggregate data compiled by Museum visitors and analyzed by Wilkening Consultant Group The data provided insight into what our audience

Museum ranks among its peers

ment, presentation of all/some/majority viewpoints, relevance to histor y, revisionist histor y, and the sharing of difficult histor y

What CHM discovered from this visitor data was our growing constituency includes diverse groups that recognize the importance of incorporating stories of marginali z e d c o m m u n i t i e s a n d p o i n t s

t r a d i t i o n a l l y n o t i n c l u d e d , e r a s e d , a n d / o r s i m p l y w a t e r e d - d o w n . T h e d a t a p r e s e n t

u s e d t

a t e strategies for seeking, growing, and engaging audiences that demand CHM present nuanced, layered, and more complex accounts of histor y in its stor ytelling

As a result, staff first began by interrogating our stor ytelling methods: Are we telling full, inclusive narratives from different perspectives? Do our collections represent all aspects of the communities we serve? Have we toned d o w n d i f f i c u l t h i s t o r y i n o u r p r e s e n t a t i o n s ? H a v e w e e n g a g e d c o m m u n i t y m e m b e r s r e g a r d i n g s p e c i f i c , r e l evant themes?

Embracing the need to create empathetic audiences, the Chicago Histor y Museum has ushered in a new era o f s t o r y t e l l i n g b y c r e a t i n g a f u n d a m e n t a

v i e w s a s a s t r u c t u r a l d e p a r t u r e p o i n t , c u r a t o r s , e d u c ators, and designers have more creative flexibility to pres e n t b r o a d e r n a r r a t i v

process Exploring social justice perspectives as a basel i n e f o r n a r r a t i v e s ex p a n d s t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o r e s e a r c h

d i v e r s e a s p e c t s o f h i s t o r y a n d p r o v i d e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l points of view This approach allows for deeper and more varied research into a theme and offers a richer interpretation of historical accounts.

The exhibition Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s opened at CHM on May 18, 2024

These panels featuring Franklin McMahon’s courtroom drawings hang in CHM’s exhibition Injustice: The Trial for the Murder of Emmett Till and provide a first-hand visual account of the unjust trial.

The recent exhibition, Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art 1960s–70s (spring 2024), was one of the first ex h i b i t i o n s t o b e n e f

a p p

s t o r y t e l l i n g 5 T h e ex h i b i t i o n f o c u s e s o n C h i c a g o a r t i s t s who used their talents to call for dramatic and, at times, r a d i c a l c h a n g e s i n s o c i e

s o c i a l m o v e m e n t s o f t h e e r a i n c l u d i n g C i v i l R i g h t s , Black Power and Black Arts, anti-Vietnam War, women ’ s

l i b e r a t i o n , a n d g a y r i g h t s t h e n s w e e p i n g t h e c o u n t r y,

a r t i s t a c t i v i s m c r e a t e d a v i s u a l l a n g u a g e t h a t a t t r a c t e d and galvanized followers The reality of one of the most

t u r b u l e n t d e c a d e s i n U S h i s t o r y h a d a s o c i o p o l i t i c a l impact on practically ever yone This resulted in signifi-

c a n t o v e r l a p s b e t w e e n g r o u p s w i t h i n e a c h m o v e m e n t t h a t a r e o f t e n r a r e l y d

t h e r e w a s s y n e r g e t i c a l i g n m e n t b e t w e e n t h e s e m o v em e n t s , s u c h a s w i t h t h e B l a c k Po w e r a n

n t i w a r movements, there was also demonstrative racial discrimination, for instance, within groups advancing women ’ s

l i b e r a t i o n a n d t h e g a y r i g h t s m o v e m e n t s o f t h e t i m e s U s i n g s o c i a l j u s t i c e a s a f r a m e w o r k , c u r a t o r O l i v i a

“ L i b b y ” M a h o n e y w

d e v e loping the historical narratives simply about the art and a c t i v i s m o f

revealing the underlining social context of the times in this overlooked but compelling stor y

O t h e r ex h i b i t i o n s i

a p p r o a c h o f i n t r o d u c i n g s

h e structural departure point to build the interpretive stor yline include Injustice: The Trial for the Murder of Emmett Till (winter 2024) and A quí en Chicago (fall 2025). Both ex h i b i t i o n s n o t o n l y t r a n s p o r t a u d i e n

issues related to current events, providing opportunities for viewers to engage rather than recoil. W i t h t h e E m m e t t Ti l l s t o r y e s p e c i a l l y, a u d i e n c e s c o m e f a c e t o f a c e w i t h o n e o

most heinous racially motivated acts of violence inflicted on a 1 4 - y ea r- ol d Af r i c a n A mer i c a n c h i l d . T h e s

k i ng 1955 murder of the Chicago youth who was visiting his family in Mississippi was introduced to the nation in the pages of Jet magazine.

Students at Chicago’s Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy made these protest posters following their 2019 visit to CHM

Accused of whistling at a white woman, Emmett was kidnapped from his uncle’s home and taken to a remote f a r m w h e r e h e w a s p i s t o l - w h i p p e d , h a

the head The white assailants then tied Emmett’s body to a heavy cotton gin fan with barbed wire and tossed it in the Tallahatchie River. His body was discovered three days later and returned to Chicago His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, courageously allowed photographic evidence of the inhuman torture inflicted upon her son to be publ i s h e d “ f o r

Emmett Till’s murderers were arrested and tried Despite t h e o v e r w h e l m

M i s s i s s i p p i j u r y r e t u r n e d a “ n o

bers of the jur y acknowledged that they had no intention o f c o n v i c t i n g w h i t e m e n f o r

B l a c k person even if it was a child.

A quí en Chicago, on the other hand, will celebrate the historically persistent cultural presence of L atino/a/e comm u n i t i e s i n C h i c a g o f r o m t h e 1 8 0 0 s t o t h e p r e s e n t

Although today these communities make up nearly a third of the population of Chicago, this will be the first exhibition of this nature at the Chicago Histor y Museum

The concept of A quí en Chicago (which is Spanish for “ H e r e i n C h i c a g o ” ) , c a m e a b o u t i n 2 0 1 9 w h e n t w e n t y h i g h s c h o o l s t u d e n t s f r o m I n s t i t u t o J u s t i c e a n d Leadership Academy, Rudy Lozano Campus, visited the Museum. Following their trip, the students complained that next to nothing about their histor y and culture was evident in the Museum and they were right 6

I n t h e p a s t , t h e a p p r o a c h t o t e l l i n

t h

L a t i n o / a / e experience would have been to simply highlight their cont r i b u t i o n s m a d e t o b r o a d e r s o c i e t y H o w e v e r, t h i s methodology limits the full context of histor y and perpet-

E N D N O T E S

1 Definition of “political correctness” from The Oxford Dictionar y of Phrase and Fable, 2nd ed (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

2 Ted Koppel, “Fake News, Social Media and ‘ The Death of Truth,’” CB S News Sunday Mor ning, September 8, 2024, https://www cbsnews com/news/fakenews-social-media-and-the-death- of-truth/

3 See, Rebecca Ballhaus, “America’s Top Archivist Puts a Rosy Spin on U S Histor y Pruning the Thorny Parts,” Wall Street Jour nal, October 29, 2024,

placing social justice as a foundation, Aquí en Chicago will not only highlight positive contributions, but explore the rich social context by centering the lives of people maintaining cultural traditions within the dominant culture. Revealing the histor y of Emmett Till and the unbridled

substantive exhibitions, supporting the staff compelled to pursue this labor, while seeking and maintaining a donorbase willing to support these stories, is messy work

In all our exhibition projects, including plans for the r e i n t e r p r e t a t i

creating value for our audiences by making the throughli ne of t h e p a st t o t h e p r esent mor e vi si ble Ult i ma t ely, our mission as a twenty-first centur y museum to create empathetic audiences and encourage better citizenship is critical and can be summed up with the motto adopted b y o u r c u r

through histor y, we show people who they are ”

Charles E Bethea is the Chicago Histor y Museum’s Andrew W. Mellon Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs. He is responsible for overseeing all curatorial activities and providing an overall curatorial vision and direction, as well as providing direction for the Museum’s collecting agenda and the development of new exhibitions.

I L L U S T R A T I O N S | Illustrations are courtesy of CHM staff unless otherwise noted. Page 8, courtesy of and phot o g r

Leadership Academy, Rudy Lozano Campus

https://www wsj com/politics/policy/nati onal-archives-histor y-colleen-shoganf8512bc3; Nathan J Robinson, “It’s Going to Take a Constant Fight to Preserve the Historical Record,” Current Affairs, October 31, 2024, https://www currentaffairs org/news/itsgoing-to -take-a-constant-fight-to -preserve-the-historical-record

4 Theresa L Miller, Andrew Volmert, Emilie L’Hôte, Mia Aassar, and April Callen, “Making Histor y Matter: From Abstract Truth to Critical Engagement,” Reframing Histor y, Februar y 2022, https://aaslh org/reframing-histor y/

5 For more on Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s, see Chicago Histor y 48, no 1 (Spring/Summer 2024)

6 For more on the upcoming A quí en Chicago project, see an evaluation of the Chicago Histor y Museum’s exhibitions by a fall 2022 Introduction to Museum and Exhibition Studies class at the University of Illinois Chicago under the direction of Dr Emmanuel Ortega in Chicago Histor y 47, no 1 (Spring/Summer 2023)

“Get Out There and Make A Change”: The Civil Rights Era Pictorial Repor ting of Franklin McMahon

H E I D I S A M U E L S O N

“In fact, pictorial reporting, which we have come to think of as becoming largely to the realm of photography, need and will probably always need the artist because he is able to bring to the subject insight, interpretation, and a unique point of view that is not always obtainable with a camera. ”

Franklin McMahon, “ The World is Your Studio”1

The Trial for the Murder of Emmett Till

In 1955, Life magazine commissioned cartoonist and illustrator Franklin McMahon to attend and draw the courtroom scenes at the murder trial for two of Emmett Till’s killers in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi Photography

w a s n o t a l l o w e d i n t h e c o u r t r o o m , s o M c M a h o n ’ s o nthe-spot drawings provide an invaluable record of what took place during the trial He carried with him a small, l i n e d s p i r a l n o t e b o o k , a f e w s h a r p e n e d p e n c i l s i n t h e b r e a s t p o c ke t o f h i s w h i t e s h i r t , a n d h i s L i f

m a g a z i n e p r e s s c r e d e n t i a l s , h o p i n g t o b l e n d i n w i t h t h e o t h e r reporters 2 He sat down in the whites- only press section of the segregated courtroom and drew the jurors’ seats, t h e w i t n e s s s t a n d , a n d t h e j u d g e ’ s b e n c h a s o t h e r reporters began to fill in the seats around him.3

With his confident linework, he captured the unsymp a t h e t i c w h i t e j u r o r s v i a t h e i r b o d y l a n g u a g e , s l u m p e d down in wooden chairs He later recounted the silence a n d s t i l l n e s s f r o m t h e B l a c k p r e s s s e c t i o n b e h i n d h i m when Emmett Till’s great-uncle Moses Wright stood up to identify the men who came to his door and kidnapped h i s neph ew t h e ni gh t h e was k i lled 4 Wri gh t poi nt ed at t h e t w o w h i t e d e f e n d a n t s , R o y B r y a n

a n d s a i d , “ T h e r e h e i s ” M c M

u n d e r s t

t h e importance of the moment, of a Black man standing up and directly accusing a white man of a crime in the Jim Crow South. He noted later that the white Southerners h e e n c o u n t e r e d w h i l e i n M i s s i s s i p p i w e r e l i ke l y “ s t i l l peeved about last year ’ s Brown v Board of Education decision,” which contributed to the palpable tension he felt.5

This drawing of District Attor ney Gerald Chatham was done on a l i n e d n o t e p a d t h a t M c M a h o n t o o k i n t o t h e Ta l l a h a t c h i e C o u n t y courtroom hoping to blend in with the traditional reporters

the five-day trial, on a tight Saturday night deadline from L

early mornings When he finished, he pack aged up the drawings and took them down to the hotel desk to mail to Life’ s New York office. At the front desk, he spotted a

c o p y o f t h e N e w Yo

Wr i g h t ’ s t e s t i m o n y A n d s

return home to Illinois that day, he didn’t know whether his drawings would be published or not.

McMahon’s drawing of Wright, arm outstretched in a s h a ky b u t d e l i b e r a t e g

L i f e m a g a z i n e , i n a t w o -

i n g , printed across the two pages, was surrounded by several o f M c M a h o n ’ s o t h e r d r a w i n g s , f i n i s h e d i n i n k w a s h ,

i n c l u d i n g : R o b e r t H o d g e s , t h e t e e n a g e r w h o f o u n d

E m m e t t ’ s b o d y, o n t h e w i t n e s s s t a n d ; W i l l i e R e e d , t h e

1 8 - y e a r- o l d w h o l i v e d n ex t d o o r t o t h e f a r m w h e r e

Emmett was taken and who heard him being beaten that

n i g h t , a s u r p r i s e w i t n e s s f o r t h e p r o s e c u t i o n ; E m m e t t

Ti l l ’ s m o t h e r M a m i e Ti l l - M o b l e y ( t h e n M a m i e B r a d l e y ) sitting in view of the jurors; the disinterested jur y memb e r s ; a n d t h e d e f e n s e c o u n c i l s p e a k i n g w i t h C a r o l y n Br yant, wife of one of the defendants.

T h a t L i f e m a g a z i n e s p r e a d p u t t h e s t o r y o f E m m e t t

Till’s murder and the subsequent trial which acquitted his killers7 into the national spotlight and public consciousness along with the photographs in Jet magazine of E m m e t t Ti l l ’ s o p e n - c a s ke t f u n e r a l E

b e e n s h i p

had been locked so as not to reveal the violence done to t h e 1 4 - y e a r- o

coroner not to open the crate, wanting to confirm that it w a s i n d e e d h e r s o n

authorities in Money, Mississippi, who had first tried to h a

E m m e t t ’ s b o d y w a s t a ke n t o A A R a y n e r & S o n s Funeral Home at 4141 South Cottage Grove Avenue on the South Side of Chicago. It was there that Till-Mobley decided that the whole world should see what happened to her son 8 U

This drawing of Emmett Till’s great-uncle Moses Wright identif ying the defendants who kidnapped his nephew is the finished ink-washed drawing that was published in Life magazine

Franklin McMahon

McMahon completed this pencil drawing of the twelve jur y members and one alter nate in the courtroom. The full inked version was published in Life magazine

I n h e r b o o k D e a t h o f I n n o c e n c e : T h e S t o r y o f a H a t e

C r i m e t h a t C h a n g e d A m e r i c a , Ti l l - M o b l e y t h a n ke d McMahon for his drawings 9 Just over two months after t h e a c q u i t t a l , R o s a Pa r k s r e f u s e d t o g i v e u p h e r s e a t i n

t h e B l a c k s e c t i o n o n a s e g r e g a t e d b u s i n M o n t g o m e r y,

A l a b a m a , t o a w h i t e p a s s e n g e r. H e r a c t i o n u l t i m a t e l y kicked off a planned boycott of that public transit system

t h a t l a s t e d 3 8 1 d a y s , e n d i n g w h e n t h e U S S u p r e m e

Court ruling that segregated buses were unconstitutional took effect.10 L ater, when Jesse Jackson asked Parks why she refused to give up her seat, she replied, “I thought of E m m e t t Ti l l , a n d I c o u l d n ’ t g o b a c k ” 1 1 I n t h i s w a y, Emmett Till’s brutal murder and unjust trial galvanized the Civil Rights Movement in the United States

I t a l s o t r a n s f o r m e d Fr a n k l i n M c M a h o n f r o m a c a r -

t o o n i s t i n t o o n e o f t h e m o s t n o t a b l e a r t i s t - r e p o r t e r s o f the twentieth centur y.

A Brief Biography

William Franklin McMahon (1921–2012) often called “ Fr a n k l i n ” o r “ M a c ” w a s b o r n i n C h i c a g o . H i s f a m i l y m o v e d t o B e v e r l y H i l l s , C a l i f o r n i a , f o r a t i m e b u t returned to Chicago when McMahon was a teenager He a t t e n d e d Fe n w i c k H i g h S c h o o l i n O a k Pa r k , I l l i n o i s I t was there that he published his first cartoons in the student newspaper, The Wick McMahon thought of himself as a cartoonist To submit his cartoons to publishers, he would sell shares of the potential earnings to his friends a t l u n c h t i m e i n o r d e r t o r a i s e m o n e y f o r p o s t a g e . I f h e g ot p a i d f or t h e d r a w i ng , h e w ould t h en s p li t t h e ea r nings with them 12 One of those submissions caught the attention of Collier ’ s Weekly, a national news magazine,13 w h i c h l e d t o h i m s t a r t i n g a n a p p r e n t i c e s h i p a t a n a r t studio after graduation

His art education and career were interrupted, however, by World War II. McMahon served in the Army Air

Corps as a navigator on a B -17, though he continued to draw cartoons during the war and tried to submit them w h e n p o s s i b l e I n J a n u a r y 1 9 4 5 , a t a g e 2 4 , M c M a h o n a n d h i s c r e w w e r e s h o t d o w n i n a c t i o n w h i l e f l y i n g i n German airspace As he parachuted out of the plane, one of McMahon’s boots flew off. Captured by German soldiers, he was put into a 6’ x 6’ cell at Oberusel’s Dugaluft Interrogation Center, north of Frankfurt The cells were kept too hot or too cold where McMahon waited alone for days at a time to be interrogated by German officials. In t h e i n t e r r o g a t i o n s , h e o n l y g a v e h i

, r a n

i a l number, and POW number Eventually he and his crew were marched to the train station in Frankfurt and transported to Stalag Luft III, a POW camp 100 miles southeast of Berlin (in present-day Poland) 14

In the camp, the POWs were resourceful They wove t o g e t h e r m a ke s h i f t p a d s o f s c a v e n g e d p a p e r a n d e v e n had a makeshift printing press assembled from a clothesw a s h i

p h i s sleeve, they were able to print copies, and McMahon was able to bargain for a spare left boot 15 While in the prison camp, McMahon was able to obtain paper and charcoal p e n c i l s , w h i c h h e s t o r e d i n a h o l l o w b u n k p o s t . H e would draw the prison guards and even sent a few cartoons to Extension magazine in Chicago, which somehow bypassed the censors reviewing the mail 16 Art provided an escape while he was in the prison camp and restored in him a sense of purpose His experience in the war and a s a P O W l i ke l y i n f o r m e d h i s w o r l d v i e w, i n c l u d i n g h i s interest in civil rights, justice, and nonviolent protest 17

Following the war, Franklin married Irene Leahy, his h i g h s c h o o l s w e e t h e a r t a n d a g r a d u a t e o f P r o v i d e n c e H i g h S c h o o l a n d C h i c a g o Te a c h e r ’ s C o l l e g e 1 8 I n between teaching, Irene worked as a flight attendant for

United Airlines starting in 1941, after many flight attendants, who were required to be registered nurses before World War II, joined the militar y nursing corps After the M c M a h o n s m

children, five sons and four daughters.

McMahon used the GI Bill to continue attending art classes, usually at night He took classes at the Institute of Design, studied painting and materials at the School

o f t h e A r t I n s t i t u t e o f C h i c a g o , a n d t o o k l i f e d r a w i n g classes offered t h rough

Fed eral Art Project ’

Work

became an instructor himself as a member of the guiding faculty of The Famous Artists School 20

After the Emmett Till trial, with a sense of disillusionm e n

Torremolinos, Spain, in 1957 with their then-seven children Though they moved back to L ake Forest, Illinois, a year later, their time in Spain sparked Irene’s career as a travel writer After their children were grown and no longer living at home, Franklin and Irene continued to travel all

over the world from touring with the Chicago Symphony O r c h e s t r a i n E u r o p e a n d J a p a n t o f o l l o w i n g Po p e J o h n Paul II through Poland, Mexico, and the United States with Franklin illustrating Irene’s travel essays

On-the-Spot Drawing and Reporting

“My approach to on-the-spot drawing is quite basic I s i m p l y r e l

and the subject I find that the drawing or painting takes on an entirely different form than what I had a n t i c i p a t

Besides, I get choked up when I work in the studio; I seem to get all caught up in the how I’m doing the j o b r a t h e r t h a n

beat this is to pack up and go out on-the-spot.”21

McMahon illustrated on location in what was referred to as “on-the-spot drawing” in a 1969 book by Nick Meglin. Illustrators working on location, or artist-reporters,

In this drawing during the trial for Emmett Till’s murder, McMahon played with perspective, which gives the viewer a sense of the space inside the Mississippi courtroom

Franklin McMahon

McMahon finished this drawing of noted Civil Rights leader Dr R alph Aber nathy at a press conference during the Chicago Eight (later Seven) Trial with watercolor

During the Chicago Eight (later Seven) Trial, McMahon did not merely draw the trial proceedings Here, spectators are being patted down and searched by US Marshals

M c M a h o n

Kunstler for contempt at the Chicago Eight (later Seven) Trial

h a d long exi s t ed . I n t h e ni net eent h c ent ur y, t h e p ubli c c o u l d f i n d i l l u s t r a t e d n e w s i n p u b l i c a t i o n s s u c h a s

Harper ’ s Weekly During the Civil War, with subscriptions numbering nearly 200,000, Harper ’ s hired approximately

t h i r t y a r t i s t - r e p o r t e r s t o c a p t u r e t h e w a r f r o n t . O n e o f these artist-reporters was a young Winslow Homer, who is better known for his landscape paintings As a war-time illustrator, Homer often documented camp life and th e exp eri ences and camarad eri e of soldi ers, i n add i t i on t o d e p i c t i n g b a t t l e s 22 B y b e i n g o n l o c a t i o n , i n t h e c a m p s , and traveling with the soldiers, Homer ’ s illustrations gave r e a d e r s a p e r s p e c t i v e o n t h e w a r t h e y o t h e r w i s e n e v e r would have seen

Of course, by the mid-1950s, when McMahon’s career was just beginning, photography had become the more popular medium for newspapers and magazines to capture current events While McMahon did not downplay the value of photography or see photographers and illustrators in competition, he noted a distinct difference in approaches between the photographer and the artist.23

The difference between on-the-spot drawing and phot o g r a p h y i s t h

m o m e n t , w h e r e a d r a w i n g p r

that can include different angles, moods, a sense of temp o r a l i t y, m o v e m

meaning by seeing it from another dimension, somewhat as a cubist painter works. He can see around corners of time as well as space, to give his picture depth as well as significance The artist-reporter can do most of the time what only the best photographers can achieve sometimes

H e c a n l

meaning ”24 McMahon felt that as an artist on the scene, he could give context to the scenes and events he covered not just as a witness, but as a participant, interacting with

the subjects. He did not like using photographs as references to draw from later, because a photograph only has one point of view On the scene, he could move around and work from different vantage points

In an essay titled “ The World is Your Studio,” which M c M a h o n w r o t e f o r s t

S c h o o l , h e ex p l a i n e d h

s o m e w a y, e s p e c i a l l y w

d r a w f r o m l i f e o n l o

the artist can contribute a significant new dimension to the communication of what he sees and experiences He can walk around a subject, selecting and emphasizing its most important features He can exaggerate the perspective or flatten it, heighten the color or eliminate it, dramatize the mood or subdue it, and with the help of those i n t e r p r e t i v e d e v i c e s a c t u

and reality of his pictorial statement ”

tools McMahon used were minimal and easily portable H e w o r ke d m o s t l y i n p

, Ebony design, and 2B charcoal He would carr y the penc i l s i n

e r 25 H e w o r ke d o n medium or heavy watercolor paper (typically Arches 140 lb cold-pressed), usually sized 22” x 30” for full scenes a n d 1 4 ” x 1 7 ” f o r s m a l l e r s u b j e c t s l i ke p o r t r a i t s 2 6

Thinner paper was more likely to tear in transit R ather than carr ying an easel, he would carr y about twenty-five

s h e e t s o f p a p e r i n a b u t c h e r- p a p e r- w r a p p

d p a c k a g e along with a piece of stiff corrugated cardboard that then s e r v e d a s h i s d r a w i n g b o a r d . H e a l s o c a r r i e d a l i g h tweight, collapsable canvas stool, so he could set up and d r a w a l m o s t a n y w h e r e 27 W

McMahon’s hatching and cross-hatching techniques add tone and depth to this drawing of a group of federal marshals at the Chicago Eight (later Seven) Trial

McMahon |

Franklin

the-spot drawings, or worked on other projects, he had a small studio in Chicago that he shared with a designer, a s w e l l a s a 1 , 5 0 0 - s q u a r e - f o o t s t u d i o s p a c e a t t h e McMahons’ home in L ake Forest 28

Meglin described McMahon’s linework as “quick and positive,” similar to contour drawing in the way it over-

l a p p e d f r e e l y w i t h o u t f o r m a l s h a p e “ H i s f i g u r e s a r e recorded with maximum speed and minimum effort.”29

C o m p l e m e n t i n g h i s l i n e a r a p p r o a c

hatching R ather than roughly sketching scenes to use as guides later, McMahon would often finish works on-site.

A n d i f h e d i d n ’ t , h e w o u l d u s e t h e b r o a d o u t l i n e s h e

d r e w a n d a d d i n d e t a i l s , i n k w a s h e s , o r p a i n t e d c o l o r

later in his studio “I get choked up when I do sketches for future finishes,” he said. “ You begin to ask yourself,

w i l l t h e c o m p o s i t i o n b e r i g h t ? W i l l t h e i n t e r s e c t i n g o f

t h i s a n d t h a t w o r k ? I

n t h e actual event I think you gain from that ”30

Because he worked quickly, he often didn’t erase, so his works have a gestural style He also had a well-develo p e d s e n s e o f p e r s p e c t i v e a n d c

M c M a h o n i n c l u d e d n o t e s o n h i s s ke t c h o f R o b e r t H o d g e s a t t h e

Emmett Till trial, labeling him as “boy who found body ” and that Hodges “identifies fan & b[arbed] wire” in his testimony

McMahon drew defendant Abbie Hoffman multiple times as he testified during the Chicago Seven Trial, superimposing them to give a sense of time passing as Hoffman was on the stand

m a ke q u i c k d e c i s i o n s o n w h a t t o l e a v e i n o r o u t o f a

s c e n e a n d h o w t o u s e n e g a t i v e s p a c e t o h e l p t e l l t h e

s t o r y 3 1 H e d r e w o n l a r g e p a p e r b e c a u s e h e k n e w h i s works would be reproduced in a smaller size when they w e r e p u b l i s h e d B y w o r k i n g o n 2 2 ” x 3 0 ” p a p e r f o r images that would be reproduced in smaller magazines, b o o k s , a n d n e w s p a p e r s , h e c o u l d i n c l u d e m o r e d e t a i l s that would appear finely when reproduced and resized

D e p e n d i n g o n t h e s u b j e c t , M c M a h o n n o t e d t h a t complete, production-ready on-the-spot drawings could t a ke f r o m f i v e m i n u t e s s a y, f o r a s i n g l e i n d i v i d u a l

s p e a k i n g t o h a l f a d a y 32 To c a p t u r e t h e m o v e m e n t o f people he knew would only appear for a short moment, sometimes he would draw the setting in advance or fill it in afterward For instance, when he drew a group of cardinals leaving St Peter ’ s Basilica and Square during the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, he knew St. Peter ’ s would be there the following day So he drew the movement of the cardinals as they dispersed and added t h e d e t a i l s o f t h e b u i l d i n g l a t e r 33 O t h e r d r a w i n g s f r o m h i s c o v e r a g e o f t h e e v e n t s h o w t h e a t t e n d i n g c a r d i n a l s d r i n k i n g c o f f e e a n d s p e c t a t o r s ’ r e a c t i o n s o f t h e i m p o rtant occasion, which added an element of ever ydayness to a significant and rare event for the Catholic Church 34 A

the context and fuller stor y of the events he covered by arriving on the scene early to get a sense of the area and t o w a t c h p e o p l e s e t t i n g u

l p e d h i m w i t h h i s vi sual ap p roach , w h i ch w as t o cap t ure t h e “nat ural drama and design” rather than aiming for something picturesque 35 He would do multiple drawings of the same subject, drawing it from different angles When drawing individuals, in particular, he also thought it was important to draw them in their environment, not as a compositional device, but because it provided more information about the subject.36

McMahon’s drawing shows clergy members and nuns facing police officers in a confrontation with the Sheriff's posse in Selma, Alabama, during a march

Franklin also enhanced his drawing assignments with w o r d s H e o f t e n m a d e n o t e s d i r e c t l y o n t h e d r

p a p e r w h e n t h

s u b j e c t s

m e t h i n g

t e r e s t o r simply as a note to himself. When he traveled with Irene, her reporting and ability to find information supported his efforts But his own writing was also important to his work as an art i st - rep ort er: “I p rovi d e long- wi nd ed capt i o n s , f u l l o f d e t a i l s . I t r y t o g e t t h e s p i r i t o f t h e s c e n e into my words just as I tr y to do in my pictures The editors then distill my stor y to fit the space ”37

Documenting the Civil Rights Movement

I n a 1 9 6 8 i n t e r v i e w f o r Fa m o u s A r t i s t s m a g a z i n e , w h e n a s ke d w h a t i n t e r e s t s h i m w h e n h e ’ s s e e k i n g s t o r i e s t o cover, McMahon answered, “One thing that interests me i s c i v i l r i g h t s . ” 3 8 H a v i n g r e c e n t l y c o v e r e d t h e S e c o n d Vatican Council, he was also specifically interested in the council's response t o t h e Civil Righ t s M ovement , espec i a l l y t h e p r i n c i p l e o f n o n v i o l e n c e a n d c h a n g e s t a k i n g p l a c e i n o l d e s t a b l i s h m e n t s

t h e C a t h

i c C h u r c h . “ T h e E c u m e n i c a l m o v e m e n t , b r i n g i n g p e o p l e t o g e t h e r, becoming a world society these are the kinds of things that interest me.”39

After the trial for the killing of Emmett Till, McMahon went on to document many struggles for social justice in the 1960s, including: Martin Luther King Jr ’ s “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; both 1964 trials for the killing of civil rights leader Medgar Evans, which ended in mistrials; Dr King’s work in Chicago with the Chicago Freedom Movement in 1966; the 1968 United Farm Workers protests; and the 1968 unrest in Washington, DC, and Chicago following Dr King’s assassination among others In March 1965, as Franklin and Irene were traveling t o C a p e K

n i 3 manned space shuttle launch, they heard news coverage on the radio of Martin Luther King Jr ’ s call for support after the first planned march from Selma to Montgomer y, A

beaten by state troopers and county “ possemen ” in what b

Southern Christian Leadership Conference had been in S

and the marches were held in protest of widespread seg-

, Fr

i n a n d I r e n e took a detour to Selma.41

H o f f m a n s h o u t i n g a t J u d g e H o f f m a n ( t o p ) a n d A b b i e H o f f m a n ’ s unique wardrobe, in this case, wearing a poncho in the courtroom while barefoot (left)

Many clergy members and other people from across t h e c o u n t

n e d friends in the Catholic clergy along Sylvan Street When they checked into the hotel after the day ’ s protest, they were just in time to see President Lyndon B. Johnson on the lobby ’ s television set introducing the Voting Rights of Act to a joint session of Congress 42 The McMahons cont i n u e d t o F l

y detoured again on their return trip home to Montgomer y for the march on the state capitol 43

I n 1 9 6 9 – 7 0 , M

room, this time in Chicago, for the trial of the Chicago E i g h t ( l

during the nearly five-month-long trial As was the case for the trial for Emmett Till’s killers, no photography was allowed in the courtroom, so McMahon’s sketches prov i d e a n a c c o u n t o f t h e t r i a l p r o c e e d i n g

g e n e r a t i o n a l c l a s h b e t w e e n t h e y o u n g a c t i v i s t s a n d a legal system that perpetuated the status quo.44

These courtroom drawings from the Chicago Eight (later Seven) Trial were finished with ink wash and watercolor after they were drawn onsite Above, McMahon used high-low perspective to include the judge and jur y, prosecution and defense teams, as well as all eight original defendants. Below is a closeup of three of the disinterested defendants sitting under Judge Hoffman’s gaze.

Bobby Seale tells Judge Hoffman how it felt to be bound and gagged at the Chicago Eight Trial

W i t h m a s t e r f u l u s e o f l i n e a n d g e s t u r e , M c M a h o n captured the well-documented disdain presiding Judge Julius Hoffman had for the defendants In one drawing, McMahon portrayed defendants Jerr y Rubin and Abbie

H o f f m a n ( n o r e l a t i o n t o t h e j u d g e ) s h o u t i n g a t J u d g e

H o f f m a n O v e r t h e l i n e d r a w i n g s o f t h e t w o m e n , McMahon’s cursive reads, “ You’re the laughingstock of the world, Julius Hoffman! How ’ s your war stock, Julie?”

A b b i e H o f f m a n ’ s a n t i c s a n d d i s t r a c t i n g a t t i r e w e r e a source of many of McMahon’s drawings He also documented the harsh treatment Bobby Seale received during the trial, including a drawing of him after Judge Hoffman ordered him to be bound, gagged, and tied to a chair in the courtroom 45

M c M a h o n a l s o c o v e r e d t h e U S s p a c e p r o g r a m f o r

N A S A , 46 s p o r t i n g e v e n t s , a n d c u l t

e v e n t s , 47 b u t throughout the next four decades, he continued to document notable protests and political events in the United States He reported on the Senate Watergate hearings in 1 9 7 3 , Po p e J o h n Pa u l

Salvadoran President José Napoleón Duarte’s commencem e n t a d d r e s s d

Franciso Catholic church’s response to the AIDS epidemic in 1989,48 Iraq War protests in 2003–4, and then-Senator Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention that launched him onto the national stage.49

This finished watercolor by McMahon shows a group of protesters o u t s i d e t h e J o h

Dearbor n Street, during the Chicago Eight (later Seven) Trial

When McMahon died in 2012, the count of his draw-

i n g s n u m b e r e d a r o u n d 9 , 0 0 0 5 0 m a n y o f w h i c h w e r e published, with the original drawings returned Though he was sometimes commissioned for the stories he covered and would tr y to get backing from publishers before t r a v e l i n g , h e o f t e n d i d n o t k n o w i f h i s w o r k w o u l d b e seen 51 But he continued to draw and capture the frustrat i o n s , t r i u m p h s , a n d e v e r y d a y m o m e n t s o f p e o p l e r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e i r t i m e s , o f t e n f i g h t i n g t o b e h e a r d within unfair situations and unjust structures

He saw the artist as an invaluable part to sharing meaningful stories and raising awareness, and he was critical of artists who focus more on the techniques and tools of drawing, rather than the content of their drawings and their reasons for drawing “The artist should not spend too much time in the studio,” he said. “Too often artists… are too concerned with how a picture is done, not enough with what it has to say ”52 His daughter Margot also recalled a piece of advice Franklin once shared: “Stop examining your belly button. Get out there and make a change! If you have an inkling of injustice, make a difference ”53

Heidi Samuelson ear ned a PhD in philosophy in 2012 and has published numerous articles on the intersection of popular arts and philosophy as well as regular contributions to the Chicago Histor y Museum’s blog

I L L U S T R A T I O N S | Unless otherwise noted, all illus-

M u s e u m , © Fr

Society licensing agent. Page 10, ICHi-038446. 11, ICHi-

E N D N O T E S

1 Franklin McMahon, “ The World is Your Studio,” written for The Famous Artists School, reprinted in Deborah McMahon Osterholtz, The World is Your Studio: Travel Stories by Irene and Franklin McMahon (Atlanta: Studio Press, 2021)

2 Douglas Martin, “Franklin McMahon, Who Drew the News, Dies at 90,” New York Times, March 7, 2012

3 Margot McMahon, Resist! A Visual Histor y of Protest (Detroit: Aquarius Press, 2022), 20

4 Ibid

5 Ibid He also characterized Wright’s act as a “shaking off of 300 years of American histor y ” See more on the trial in Joy L Bivins, “Emmett Till’s Day in Court,” Chicago Histor y 34, no 1 (Fall 2005): 32–51

J u d g e H o f f m a n i s s u e s c o n t e m p t c i

the courtroom.

I C H i - 0 3 8 4 4 3 1 9 , L i b r a r y o f C o n g r e s s P r i n t s a n d

P h o t o g r a p h s D i v i s i o n , L C C N # 2 0 1

059365; bottom: ICHi-051213. 22, ICHi-051750. 22–23, ICHi-051835 24, ICHi-053934

F O R F U R T H E R R E A D I N G | M a r g o t M c M a h o n , Resist! A Visual Histor y of Protest (Aquarius Press, 2022); Deborah McMahon Osterholtz, The World is Your Studio: Tr a v e l S t o r i e s b y I r e n e a n d F r a n k l i n M c M a h o n ( S t u d i o Press, 2021).

6 “Emmett Till’s Day in Court,” Life, October 3, 1955 See Life’ s image galler y from the trial, Ben Cosgrove, “A Savage Season in Mississippi: The Murder of Emmett Till,” Life, accessed October 24, 2024, https://www life com/histor y/themurder- of-emmett-till-and-the-shamtrial-that-shocked-the-nation/

7 In an interview with L ook magazine published in Januar y 1956, the two men admitted to murdering Till See Chris Crowe, Getting Away With Murder: The True Stor y of the Emmett Till Case (New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books, 2003)

8 Mamie Till-Mobley stated in the PB S documentar y The Murder of Emmett Till that “I think ever ybody needed to know what had happened to Emmett Till ” See “ The Murder of Emmett Till,” American Experience, https://www pbs org/wgbh/ americanexperience/features/emmett-

biography-mamie-till-mobley/

9 Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson, Death of Innocence: The Stor y of a Hate Crime that Changed America (One World Press, 2004)

10 Browder v Gayle, 142 F Supp 707 (1956)

11 See, “Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words,” Librar y of Congress, exhibition, https:// www loc gov/exhibitions/rosa-parks-inher- own-words/about-this-exhibition/

12. Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon, reportage master,” YouTube, May 8, 2021, https://www youtube com/ watch?v=cmshT5JXt0o, 18:00 In this conversation, host Rob Sketcherman and art historian Mário Linhares spoke with Deborah McMahon Osterholtz, Franklin McMahon’s daughter

13 Megan Graydon, “Franklin McMahon:

1921–2012: ‘Artist Reporter ’ Sketched Decades of News Events,” Chicago Tribune, March 6, 2012

14 M McMahon, Resist!, 11–13

15 M McMahon, Resist!, 16

16 M McMahon, Resist!, 17 Extension magazine is a publication of the Catholic Extension Society based in Chicago After the war, McMahon also did layout work for the publication, along with several others See, “Franklin McMahon,” The Society of Illustrators, accessed October 24, 2024, https:// societyillustrators org/awardwinners/franklin-mcmahon/

17. McMahon’s daughter Deborah stated that he maintained a strong sense of fairness throughout his life See, Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon,” 33:05

18 “Noted Travel Reporter Irene Leahy,” Chicago Tribune, August 23, 1997

19 Specifically, he studied with Francis Chapin and Paul Weighardt at the Art Institute of Chicago; with Emerson Woeffler and Richard Fillopowski at the Institute of Design; and with a teacher named E W Ball in the FAP classes and in the Harrison Commercial Art Institute; “Drawn Directly with Brush & Ink,” in Deborah McMahon Osterholtz, The World is Your Studio: Travel Stories by Irene and Franklin McMahon (Atlanta: Studio Press, 2021); see also, Mar y Anne Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,” Famous Artists 16, no 3 (Spring 1968): 10–18, 41

20 “Franklin McMahon, 90, Acclaimed Artist-Reporter,” Wednesday Jour nal of Oak Park and River Forest, March 6, 2012, https://www oakpark com/2012/03/06/ franklin-mcmahon-90-acclaimed-artistreporter/

21 Nick Meglin, “Franklin McMahon,” in On-The-Spot Drawing (New York: Watson- Guptill Publications, 1969), 73

22. Nicolai Cikovsky Jr., Winslow Homer (New York: Harr y N Abrams, 1990), 15 See also: Amy Athey McDonald, “As Embedded Artist with the Union Army, Winslow Homer Captured Life at the Front,” Yale News, April 20, 2015, http:// news yale edu/2015/04/20/embeddedartist-union-army-winslow-homercaptured-life-front

23 See, e g , Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,”

12 “I don’t want to give the impression that I’m arguing that the artist’s coverage of an event is superior to a photographer ’ s They ’ re entirely different and both of them have their merits ”

24 Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,”12 McMahon was notably inspired by cubism, which can be seen in his linework in the way subjects were repeated from different angles often in the same drawing, giving a sense of movement This style can also be seen in his paintings

25 Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,” 11–12

26 Meglin, “Franklin McMahon,” 74; Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,” 12

27 Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon ” Around the 1:27:00 mark, in a recording of McMahon speaking in reference to the small collapsable stool he used, he says, “ The position of the artist has never been comfortable in American society ” See also, McMahon Osterholtz, The World is Your Studio

28 His daughter Deborah recalled that after school, the McMahon children would also use the studio to create Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon,” 12:50

29 Meglin, “Franklin McMahon,” 74

30 Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,” 12

31 For a more thorough discussion on McMahon’s style, see, Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon ”

32 Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,” 12

33 Ibid

34 Redemptorist chaplain and theology professor Francis Xavier Murphy, C SsR , wrote a book about this significant gathering of the Church that included Franklin McMahon’s drawings See Francis X Murphy, This Church, These Times: The Roman Catholic Church Since Vatican II (Chicago: Association Press and Follett Press, 1980)

35. Meglin, “Franklin McMahon,” 74.

36 Ibid , 75

37 Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,” 12

38 Ibid , 16

39 Ibid

40 See, “Student March at Nyack,” New York Times, March 11, 1965, 19; Roy Reed, “‘Bloody Sunday ’ Was Year Ago,” New

York Times, March 6, 1966, 76

41 Irene McMahon, “Selma Revisited,” Chicago Tribune, Februar y 6, 1994

42 Franklin captured the moment in a drawing See, Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon,” 48:27

43 I McMahon, “Selma Revisited ”

44 Jojo Galvin, “ The Chicago 7 Trial,” Chicago Histor y Museum, blog, September 23, 2022

45 Jason Epstein, “A Special Supplement: The Trial of Bobby Seale,” The New York Review, December 4, 1969; John Schultz, The Chicago Conspiracy Trial: Revised Edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972), 62–63

46 Among the notable events McMahon covered was the first moon landing See, Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon,” 1:02:00

47 He also created documentar y films that included the 1972 Democratic National Convention, the city of Chicago at Christmas time, and the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial Some of these films are available at the Chicago Film Archives, https://collections chicagofilmarchives org/

48 See, Tom McGrath, “Forty Hours,” U S Catholic 54, no 11 (November 1989), 20 For forty hours, parishioners of one San Francisco parish prayed for an end to the AIDS epidemic The article was illustrated by Franklin McMahon

49 Drawings from these events, and more, can be found in M McMahon, Resist!

50 L ater in his life, McMahon numbered more than 8,000 of his drawings and entered them into a database After his death, they were divided among his nine children See Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon,” 42:40

51 One example is his coverage of the European Common Market, which he ultimately sold to Fortune, see, Guitar, “Close-up of the Artist,” 14 See also, Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon,” 1:07:05 In this video clip, hear McMahon discuss his reporting on the European Common Market in his own words

52 See, Urban Sketchers, “USK Talks: Franklin McMahon,” 45:00

53 M McMahon, Resist!, 44

Dwight H Perkins (1867–1941) was among the Chicago -based architects known for the Prairie School style of architecture, related to the Arts and Crafts movement and mostly found in the US Midwest

Perkins vs. Urion: The Acrimonious Battle over the Nature of Chicago’s Public Schools

Dwight Perkins, in 1905, was the first person to become chief architect of the Chicago Board of Education through a civil service examination His score of 99 on the exam put him far above the other candidates who sought the position. Prior to the civil service designation of the position, Chicago’s school architects were hired on a job-by-job basis until 1882, when the board decided that a full-time architect, appointed by the board, would be more efficient.

Perkins had graduated in 1888 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then the leading architectural school in the countr y 1 He became the office manager at Burnham & Root when the firm was chiefly responsible for developing the buildings at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition Perkins also had impressive credentials, as the architect of Hitchcock Hall at the University of Chicago, the gymnasium at Morgan Park Academy, and the Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Normal School

I n a d

children, and he had envisioned schools as community

s o c i a

trict for the city were also on his agenda

It was hard to imagine, in 1905, a better person than D

s c h o o l p o p u

Chicago’s rapidly expanding population vaulted from 1.6

campus in the Hyde Park community area

mi lli on

y ea r tenure as chief architect of the Chicago Public Schools, h e b u i l t f o r

tions to many others

Despite these stellar accomplishments, in 1910, the Board of Education charged Perkins with “incompetence, ex t r a

dismiss him if he refused to resign

This is the stor y of how that conflict played out.

A spoiler: this is not about a good man going off the deep end If you want a tale of an idealistic architect succ u m

read Robert Herrick’s 1904 novel, The Common L ot.

Morgan Park Academy ’ s field house and gymnasium, located in the Far South Side community area of Morgan Park, was designed in the Prairie style by Perkins and built in 1897

To make some sense of this strange Perkins affair, it is important keep in mind the temper of the times In 1905, the year Perkins became board architect, G W Plunkitt (1842–1924), the Tammany Hall political boss, coined the p h r a s e “ h o n e s t g r a f t , ” a q u a i n t l y e u p h e m i s t i c p h r a s e , applied without irony, to describe the financial advantages that came to politicians simply by virtue of holding office

There are perhaps as many ways of practicing honest graft as there are radii that can be drawn from one center, b u t o n e ex a m p l e s h o u l d s u f f i c e A n a l d e r m a n m i g h t learn that a certain plot of land was to be purchased by the city for, say, a school, and he, with his insider knowledge, could buy it cheap from the unwitting owner and sell it to the city at a much-inflated price

Ah, honest graft What a beautiful concept oh, and I forgot to mention that Plunkitt’s initials, “G. W.,” stood for “George Washington ”

In the Chicago of that era, there were two aldermen for each ward, and in the First Ward, Michael “Hinky Dink”

McKenna and “Bathhouse” John Coughlin, the Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee of city politics for decades, were m a s t e r s o f h o n e s t g r a f t l o n g b e f o r e P l u n k i t t c o i n e d t h e

t e r m 2 B a t h h o u s e J o h n a n d

m o s t C h i c a g o a l d e r m e n , a n d p e r h a p s

salar y only served as an added incentive to, as Plunkitt advised, “ find their opportunities and take them ”

I t w a s a l s o t h e e r a o f m u c k r a ke r s , a n d W i l l i a m T

Stead, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens, among other social critics, were not hesitant to expose Chicago’s corrupt and sinful ways Stead, the English reformer, came

“Bathhouse” John Coughlin created a First Ward political machine based on graft and protection money in the Levee district south of the L oop

t o C h i c a g o i n 1 8 9 3 t o v i s i t t h e Wo r l d ’ s C o l u m b i a n

Exposition He stayed for four months and produced a book, If Christ Came to Chicago, that detailed just a few of the sinful activities he discovered in Chicago. It was a mere five hundred pages long

S t e a d a l s o i n c l u d e d t h e n a m e s o f t h e o w n e r s o f

b r o t h e l s , g a m b l i n g j o i n t s , a n d d a n c e h a l l s w h e r e o t h e r

n e f a r i o u s a c t i v i t i e s w e r e p r a c t i c e d S t e a d e a r n e s t l y

b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e p u b l i c ex p o s u r e o f t h e o w n e r s o f t h e

sin houses would lead to the moral salvation of the city

T h e b o o k w a s w i l d l y p o p u l a r a n d s o l d m o r e t h a n

3 0 0 , 0 0 0 c o p i e s , b u t r e f o r m w a s , p e r h a p s , n o t i n t h e

hearts all of those who bought the book, for, in addition

t o n a m i n g n a m e s , h e a l s o g a v e a d d r e s s e s o f t h e c i t y ’ s

d e n s o f s i n . S o m e t o u r i s t s a n d p e r h a p s e v e n a f e w

locals found the book a ver y handy Baedeker Guide to locating and indulging in the sins of their desires

I n t h e v e r y y e a r t h a t Pe r

for the Board of Education, Upton Sinclair was investig a t i n g c o n d i t

Reason His findings later became the basis for the sensational novel The Jungle, which, as Sinclair said, aimed at the heart, but hit the stomach

Lincoln Steffens, first in McClure’s Magazine, and then i n t h e b o o k T h

Chicago as “ first in violence, deepest in dirt, loud, lawless, unlovely, ill-smelling, irreverent, new; an overgrown gawk of a village, the ‘tough’ among cities, a spectacle for t h e n a t i o n . ” 3 S t e f f e n s a l s

Edward F Dunne is pictured here (center) attending a cor nerstone laying in Chicago around 1905 He served one term as mayor from 1905 to 1907

reform and hope for the future in Chicago, in the development of the Civic Federation and the Municipal Voters

L e a g u e , b o t h o f w h i c h s o u g h t t o o u s t t h e g r a f t i n g aldermen and replace them with civic-minded citizens

In 1905, the efforts of various Chicago reform groups also led to the election of Edward F Dunne as mayor He was dedicated primarily to “immediate municipal ownership” of the transit system. He also appointed reformers to th e Board of Education, such as socialist newspaper editor Louis F Post and Jane Addams of Hull-House, and this brought cheers from all civic-minded citizens

There were others, however, perhaps from the honest g

recklessly appointed his “long-haired friends and short-

t w o y ea rs

four years.

The winner in that 1907 mayoral election was Fred A B u s s e , a R e p u b l

scandal The Dunne Board of Education, however, in the e y e s o f R e p u b

out the muddle” created by the Dunne board 5

Busse moved to straighten out the muddle even before he was formally sworn in as mayor There were twenty- one members of the B o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n , and he sought the resignations or fired twelve board members who had been appointed by Dunne The Tribune applauded Busse for discharging the Dunne radicals and was happy to see that the new board would once again be “dominated by a practical and capable business element ”6

The Tribune did not mention, however, that the Board of Education rented offices in the Tribune Building, nor d i d

newspaper tax breaks for decades to come B

Perkins, for example, had recommended that a $30,000 carpentr y contract be given to the second lowest bidder, f

flaws, and was habitually late in completing jobs 7 Joseph Downey, chairman of the board’s building and grounds commi t t ee, defended t h e low bi dder, i nsi st i ng t

awarded the contract Downey was also instrumental in

Fred A Busse was elected the 39th mayor of Chicago on April 2, 1907 With haste, he presented his certificate of election to City Clerk Anson and took the oath of office on April 6, nine days before his inauguration on April 15

the dismissal of Perkins’s predecessor, William Mundie, who had balked at playing the honest graft game

Architects, sent a letter to the board, defending Perkins and raising doubts about the nature of the coming trial

Almost immediately, Urion gave a clear indication of how he would manage board matters He announced that the s e a r c h f o r a n e w s u p

conducted behind closed doors The public didn’t need to know how the board would make its choice

The new board president also made it known that he was unhappy about architect Perkins’s “ frills and gargoyles,” because they seemed extravagant and unnecessar y

Urion also didn’t like the report that Perkins made to the City Council about fire safety in the public schools

T h e c o u n c i l , w i t h t h e 1 9 0 3 I r o q u o i s T h e a t r e f i r e i n

Chicago still ver y much on their minds, became alarmed a n e w a b o u t t h e s a f e t y o f t h e s c h o o l s a f t e r a 1 9 0 8 f i r e killed 173 children at a school in Collinwood, Ohio

Pe r k i n s r e p o r t e d t h a t m a n y o f t h e C h i c a g o p u b l i c

s c h o o l s w e r e f i r e t r a p s S a f e t y, i n Pe r k i n s ’ s v i e w, c a m e

b e f o r e r e p u t a t i o n , a n d h e d i d n o t h e s i t a t e t o a l i e n a t e

Urion further by contending that “the records will show,

[ t h i s b o a r d ] h a s o r d e r e d e c o n o m y a t t h e ex p e n s e o f

s a f e t y ” H e t h e n o u t l i n e d h o w t h e b o a r d a l s o r u s h e d

t h r o u g h b u i l d i n g p e r m i t s f o r a d d i t i o n s a t k n o w n c o mbustible schools before the new fire laws could take effect

U r i o n ’ s r e s p o n s e t o t h e r e p o r t s a i d l i t t l e a b o u t f i r e safety, but much about how Perkins had embarrassed the school board

U r i o n , w h o s e e m e d t o i s s u e a l m o s t d a i l y b u l l e t i n s expressi ng h i s di ssat i sfact i on wi t h Perk i ns, soon found another way to attack the architect He ordered Perkins to provide him with the cubic foot dimensions of all 266 Bo a r d o f E d u c a t i o n s c h o o l s . T h e o s t en s i b l e p u r p o s e o f this was to use those figures to establish a pay scale for school janitors and engineers He gave Perkins two weeks to accomplish the task

It was a bit like asking Hercules to hurr y up and complete his twelve labors over the next weekend The architect’s staff managed to get the measurements of 66 of the 266 schools, but to Urion, Perkins’s failure to complete t h e H e r c u l e a n t a s k w a s a c l e a r

tect’s incompetence

The battle between the board president and his architect was in full swing

I n Fe b r u a r y 1 9 1 0 , U r i o n

d t h

Pe r k i n s resign, but the architect refused Urion then suspended h i m , a n d Pe r k i n s

y civil service laws

There was much pretrial skirmishing, and Perkins won most of those battles, thanks, no doubt, to the press and public outcr y against Urion’s tactics Irving K Pond, representing the Illinois chapter of the American Institute of

“ We k now [ Per k i ns ] t o b e a ma n of t h or oug h t ec h ni c a l training, of high professional skill, and of unquestionable business and professional honor. We are not to believe, wit h out conclusive evidence, t h at h e h as not been performing the services of his office adequately ”8

T h e C i t y C

Urion responded to these critics in characteristic fashion

Such charges, he said, were “uncalled for, presumptuous, and in some instances, impertinent, if not insulting ”

The trial, according to civil service law, was to be cond

just trial in any event.”9

t h i n g but fair and reasonable. Ultimately, Urion responded to much public pressure and granted that the trial would be public, that is, open to the press

The four board members appointed as judges in the trial were three physicians and Oscar L. Greifenhagen, a d r y g o o d s m e r c h a n t T h e t h r e e d o c t o r s w e r e a m o n g t h o s e w h o h a d v o t e d , s e v e r a l w e e k s p r

v i o u s l y, t o d e m a n d Pe r k i n s ’ s r e s i g n a t i o n G r e i f e n h a g e n ’ s a s s e s s

Here, c 1908, Perkins (center) is accompanied by Joseph G Magrady ( l e f t ) , a s c h o

(right), who succeeded Perkins as chief architect

ment of the coming trial offered a little gallows humor:

a r e t o p e r f o r m

bucket and sponge.”10

T h e t r i a l , w h i c h b e g a n o

r c h 7 , 1 9 1

, a n d c o ncluded on March 31, was conducted by the ver y Board

o f E d

incompetence, and insubordination, and since the board functioned as accuser, prosecutor, judge, and jur y, there was little doubt about the outcome

Schurz High School “could not have been more beautiful artistically,” Urion said, and the gilded dome at Trumbull School “ would give credit to the gilded dome on Beacon Street [in Boston] ”11 These words, believe it or not, were n o t i n t e n d e d a s p r a

the architect’s extravagance.

Urion also claimed that Perkins’s schools were so fanc i f u l “ t h a t t h e y m i g h t , i n t h

u r e , s t a n

s m o n ument[s] to his architectural skill ”12 One board member, perhaps with unconscious bluntness, said there was “ no use making these school buildings better than the children’s homes ”

T h e i r o n y, o

n c r i

cized as extravagant still stand, and are, indeed, “ monum e n t [ s ] t o t h

Pe r k i n s ” Schurz was designated a Chicago L andmark in 1979 and w a s a d d e d t o N

1 9 8 7 , a n d Tr u m b u l l

status in 2013

Urion offered both schools, however, as examples of Perkins’s “ wanton extravagance” that led the architect far away from what the board president curiously identified as the three essentials of a standard school: “ ventilation, s e w a g e , a n d h

m a n a g

time he stepped up to the plate

Another example of Perkins’s so -called extravagance was the inclusion of the much-ridiculed “tower toilets ” T h e t o i l e t s i n p r e - Pe r k i n s s c h o o l s w e r e a l l l o c a t e d i n school basements, but Perkins installed toilets for boys and girls on each floor it is difficult to imagine a greater extravagance.

U r i o n , e a r l y

F l a g g Yo u n g , t h e

S c h o o l s , a b o u t s u c h

“ Well,” Flagg replied, “the good, the true, and the beautiful [do] come in ”14

I t w a s n o t t h e a n s w e r h e w a s l o o k i n

nor was Urion ver y pleased when she attributed the rise in building costs not to extravagance, but to the requirements of new city fire codes She also added that there

Perkins versus Urion

L andmark on December 7, 1979, and seen here (right) in 2021

were only three real school architects in the countr y, and Perkins was one of them

Pe r k i n s ’ s i n c o m p e t e n c e w a s t h e n a d d r e s s e d b y t h e testimony of an engineer, who said that windows in his school were so badly constructed that it was impossible to get them into working shape That was the ver y kind o f e v i d e n c e U

w a s a s l i g h t p r o b l e m : Pe r k i n s

that school

L ater in the proceedings, as prosecutor Urion floundered even more, he sought to use the locations of new schools as more evidence of the architect’s extravagance. “ Think of spending large amounts of money for assembly halls, for buildings that are artistic and beautiful in dist r i c t s t h a t m a y o r m a y n o t ” d e v e l o p t h e p o p u l a

n t o justify the new school.15 This was especially egregious, in Urion’s view, when there were 24,090 vacant seats in the city schools, and those vacancies somehow also seemed to be the fault of the incompetent architect

Perkins simply pointed out that it was the board, not he, that chose the locations

Urion also claimed that Perkins’s managerial incomp e t e n c e w a s d e m o n s t r a t e d b e c a u s e h e a l l o w e d d e p a r t -

ment architects to do outside work and to have private p r a c t i c e s “ I f o u t s i d e w o r k w a s p e r m i t t e d , ” U r i o n argued, “then it supports my charge of extravagance If he did not know it, then it supports my charge of incompetence.”16

Perkins, surely, must have been guilty of something, somewhere, somehow

B e f o r e t h e t r i a l , w h e n t h e a r c h i t e c t h a d b e e n r e p r imanded for his “extravagant spending,” he was asked to produce plans for a less expensive school

He did so

T h e p l a n s , U r i o n t h e n c o m p l a i n e d , “ w e r e s o c r u d e a n d s o r a d i c a l a s t o m a ke t h e b o a r d a p p e a r a b s o l u t e l y ridiculous ”17 Joseph Downey, of the board, in his testim o n y, s e e m e d t o b e o f t h e s a m e o p i n i o n “ I t w a s a ridiculous shoddy plan . . . too plain even for a factor y, ” he said 18 But then Downey attempted to sit on the fence

When Urion directly asked him if those plans would h a v e s u b j e c t e d t h e b o a r d t o r i d i c u l e , D o w n e y r e c a l l e d

t h a t members of t h e bui ld i ng commi t t ee li ked t h e new plans and acknowledged that Perkins was ver y willing to make adjustments, if necessar y

T h e i n s u b o r d i n a t i o n o f Pe r k i n s w a s a l s o d e m o n -

s t r a t e d , a c c o r d i n g t o U r i o n , b e c a u s e t h e a r c h i t e c t g a v e i n t e r v i e w s t o r e p o r t e r s d u r i n g t h e t r i a l Pe r k i n s responded with: “I felt I was a free citizen, not [then] in t h e e m p l o y o f t h e b o a r d , I c e r t a i n l y d i d n o t r e c o g n i z e any rest ri ct i on on my sp eech , ot h er t h an t h e t rut h and the facts ”19

A r c h i t e c t I r v i n g K Po n d w a s a s ke d t o t e s t i f y i n Perkins’s defense. He addressed the issue of whether the

i n f a m o u s s t r i p p e d d o w n s c h o o l p l a n s w o u l d , i f b u i l t ,

bring ridicule to the board “No,” Pond responded, “the

b u i l d i n g s e e m s t o b e t h o r o u g h l y l o g i c a l , a n d s e e m s t o

ex p r e s s i t s p u r p o s e i f t h e b o a r d i s c o n t e n t w i t h a

simple building that expresses the school functions, [it]

i s a v e r y g o o d t y p e ; [ a n d ] t h e l i n e s o f t h e b u i l d i n g a r e

ver y simple and dignified ”20

Po n d a l s o t e s t i f i e d t h a t h e h a d v i s i t e d f o u r s c h o o l s

(Tilton, Moos, Cleveland, and Schurz) with Perkins that

m o r n i n g , a n d w a s “ f a v o r a b l y i m p r e s s e d , [ a n d ] d i d n o t

s e e a n y t h i n g i n t h o s e b u i l d i n g s t h a t [ h e ] c o n s i d e r e d

ex t r a v a g a n t , o n l y a s t r o n g p r o g r e s s i v e n o t e , w h i c h i s

ver y desirable ”21

U r i o n w a s t h e n a s ke d i f h e h a d a n y q u e s t i o n s f o r

Pond, to which he curtly replied, “No, I don’t care to ask him anything.”22

T h e n ex t w i t n e s s f o r t h e d e f e n s e , W i l l i a m B I t t n e r, w a s a S t L o u i s s c h o o l b o a r d a r c h i t e c t w i t h a n a t i o n a l

r e p u t a t i o n H e b r o u g h t m o r e g l o o m t o U r i o n b y f a i r l y

demolishing the charge of Perkins’s extravagance. Ittner, who had also visited schools with Perkins that morning, f o u n d “ w h a t m i g h t b e c a l l e d a r e s t r a i n t i n t h e u s e o f materials ”23

Extravagance? “None whatever.”

U r i o n , m o r e h o s t i l e b y t h e m o m e n t , i n t e r r u p t e d

I t t n e r a n d d e m a n d e d t o k n o w i f t h e S t L o u i s B o a r d o f

Education had asked him to resign Urion’s information, I t t n e r p o l i t e l y r e p l i e d , s i m p l y w a s n ’ t t r u e . H i s c o n t r a c t had been extended for another two years

Ittner then resumed his testimony and delivered more damaging blows to Urion’s charges against Perkins. He found nothing to criticize about Schurz, inside or on the ex t e r i o r, a n d h e c e r t a i n l y b e l i e v e d t h a t Pe r k i n s w a s a “competent” architect The cost of the Perkins’s planned s c h o o l w o u l d b e 1 4 t o 1 6 c e n t s p e r c u b i c f o o t , w h i c h compared ver y favorably with the St Louis average of 18 c e n t s p e r c u b i c f o o t Pe r k i n s , i n l a t e r t e s t i m o n y, a d d e d that charges per cubic foot in Boston ranged from 20 to 26 cents, and in New York, 21 to 26.24

Urion, all through the trial, had used numbers to support his claims, but Perkins demonstrated, time and time again, that these figures were inflated by adding in costs f r o m o t h e r d e p a r t m e n t s , a s w h e n t h e c o s t o f a l l t h e m a c h i n e r y i n s t a l l e d a t L a n e Te c h w a s a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e architect’s costs Perkins requested, at one point, that the trial record be amended to include accurate statements of the architect’s expenses.

“ The record is all right,” Urion responded 25

Af t e r a l u n c h b r e a k a t t h e M a r c h 2 5 s e s s i o n , U r i o n

r e t u r n e d

, forcing the committee to call a halt to the proceedings. When Urion left the room, he was quite unsteady The Tribune reported that the president had suddenly become ill. The Examiner said, in no uncertain terms, that Urion

Elementar y School (above) and a stairwell in Ber nhard Moos Elementar y School (below).

w a s i n t ox i c a t e

p oon ed U

of c a r t oon s ,

o n e o f w h i c h u s e d U r i o n ’ s o w n w o r d s a g a i n s t h i m

Urion had said, “No man who incapacitates himself by self-indulgence should remain a part of the public school

s y s t e m ” T h e c a r t o o n p o i

“ H

, Mr Urion?”

T h e r e w e r e p u b l i c c a l l s f o r U r i o n ’ s r e s i g n a t i o n , b u t the president refused to resign

During a brief recess on March 29, the board met in executive session, and then abruptly announced that the p r o c e e d i n g s w

a r g

chairman explained, “[board member] McFatrich says he doesn’t want to hear arguments for two hours ”26

One point, obvious on the first day, and throughout all 761 pages of the transcript of the nine sessions of the t r i a l , w a s t h a t A r t h u r R U r i o n d i d n o t t

chief prosecutor ver y seriously When one considers the b l u n d

believe, in fact, that Urion, when not acting as president of the Chicago Board of Education, was, for decades, the c h i e f l e g a l c o u n s e l f o r t h e A r m o u r & C o m p a n y m e a tpacking firm.

It was also announced that the board would meet the n ex t d a y ( M a r c h 3 1 ) i n exe c u t i v e s e s s i o n , “ a s i t i s a meeting practically of a jur y ”

The jur y, which brought the charges against Perkins, t h e n m a d e Pe r k i n s ’ s d i s m i s s a l o f f i c i a l , b y a 1 3 – 2 v o t e The charge was insubordination, but there was no mention of extravagance or incompetence.

The two board members who voted against Perkins’s dismissal attempted to include a minority report, which s t a t e d : “ M r U r i o n ’ s a t t i t u d e d u r i n g t h e e n t i r e t r i a l h a s been characterized by predetermination and inaccuracy.”27

It was voted down, 13–2

T h e r e i s l i t t l e d o u b t t h a t m u c h o f t h e c a s e a g a i n s t Pe r k i n s w a s g e n e r a t e d b y t h e p e r s o n a l a n i m o s i t y o f

U r i o n . T h a t a n i m o s i t y w a s a p p a r e n t l y c a u s e d b y t h e unshakeable honesty of Perkins, who would not play the h o n e s t g r a f t g a m e H e e v e n h a d t h e t e m e r i t y t o r e j e c t inflated contracts that came from a firm with which the board president had a financial interest.

It is also ver y likely that the thirteen who voted for the d i s m i s s a l o f Pe r k i n s d i d s o b e c a u s e t h e a r c h i t e c t ’ s d e m a n d s f o r f a i r f i n a n c i a l a c c o u n t i n g a t c o n s t r u c t i o n sites hindered their opportunities for honest graft.

O n t h e v e r y d a y o f Pe r k i n s ’ s f o r m a l d i s m i s s a l , t h e board blithely moved on to other important business

T h r e e m e m b e r s o f t h e b o a r d w o u l d b e s e n t t o Wa s h i n g t o n , D C , a n d o t h e r l a r g e c i t i e s , t o s t u d y t h e i r

m e t h o d s o f c o n d u c t i n g a r c h i t e c t u r a l c o m p e t i t i o n s

P r e s i d e n t U r i o n t h e n r e c o m m e n d e d t h a t a n o t h e r c o m -

m i t t e e b e s e n t t o N e w Yo r k , B o s t o n , a n d o t h e r e a s t e r n

Perkins’s Prairie School style can be seen in both his family home (above), located at 2319 Lincoln Street in Evanston, as well as Café Brauer (below), located at the south end of Lincoln Park Zoo

cities to study using school assembly halls as social centers for public and neighborhood gatherings.

To a reader of the sober Annual Report of the Board of E d u c a t i o n , t h e s e p r o p o s a l s s e e m e d t h o u g h t f u l , w o r t hwhile ventures But when one recalls that selecting architects by competition had been abandoned by the board in 1883 as impractical, time consuming, and expensive, one m i g h t f e e l , w i t h H a m l e t , t h a t s o m e t h i n g m i g h t i n d e e d have been rotten in the Chicago Board of Education

U r i o n ’ s p r o p o s a l t o s e n d b o a r d m e m b e r s t o o t h e r cities to explore how schools could be used as community centers seems even more outrageous, as the board president had vigorously resisted Dwight Perkins’s advocacy and implementation of that ver y idea.

When William T Stead returned to the city fourteen y e a r s a f t e r t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f I f C h r i s t C a m e t o C h i c a g o (1893), he was not surprised by these ongoing manifestations on honest graft. In fact, he was more pessimistic. He once had believed that the chances of reform were no b e t t e r t h a n o n e i n a t h o u s a n d , b u t n o w h e t h o u g h t i t was more one chance in two thousand.

1912, for example, the American Institute of Architects awarded a gold medal to Dwight Perkins for his design of t h e L i n c o l n Pa r k L i o n H o u s e a n d R e f e c t o r y (

known today as Café Brauer)

0 0 0 4 8 6 9 , C h i c a g o D a i l y N e w s c o l l e c t i o n . 3 0 , D N0052317, Chicago Daily News collection 31, top: DN0 0 0 7 5 8 1 , C h i c a g o D a i l y N e w s c o l l e c t i o n ; b o t t o m l e f t : ICHi-070253; bottom right: Wikimedia Commons, photograph by Paul R . Burley. 33, architectural records and p e r s o n a l p a p e r s o f D w i g h t Pe r k i n

, ( C

i c a g

r y M u s e u m ) , s e r i e s 2 , b ox 2 3 4 , t o p : D w i g h t H Pe r k i n s

i v e d

Perkins continued to build schools, such as New Trier a n d E v a n s t o n To w n s h i p H i g h S c h

national recognition. Perkins designed some 150 educational structures, but never again for the Chicago Board of Education

Barr y Kritzberg teaches English at VanderCook College of Music, Chicago He has frequently written about Chicago in fiction and nonfiction, including eight Kelly O’Quinn mysteries, a historical novel (QWERTYUIOP Spells DANGER), and a histor y of the militar y school that became the first preparator y school for the University of Chicago (1892–1907)

I L L U S T R A T I O N S | I l l u s t r a t i o n s f r o m t h e c o l l e c t i o n of the Chicago Histor y Museum unless otherwise noted Pa g e 2 6 , a r c h i t e c t u r a l r e c o r d s a n d p e r s o n a l p a p e r s o f

D w i g h t Pe r k i n s , ( C h i c a g o H i s t o r y M u s e u m ) , s

l e c t i o n ; b o t t o m : U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i c a g o p r e p a r a t o r y school catalogue, c 1900 28, top: DN-0002611, Chicago

D a i l y N e w s c o l l e c t i o n ; b o t t o m : I C H i - 0 1 0 9 2 7 2 9 , D N -

E N D N O T E S

1 There is no published book-length biography of Perkins, but I did read drafts of Wilbert Hasbrouck’s unfinished biography in the Daniel Burnham Librar y of the Art Institute of Chicago It is thoroughly researched and rich in detail, but only covers Perkins’s life up to 1908 (he lived until 1941) Architectural insights were provided by Donna R Nelson’s 1988 dissertation, “School Architecture in Chicago during the Progressive Era: The Career of Dwight H Perkins,” Loyola University Chicago; Jennifer Gray ’ s “Social Practice and the L aissezfaire Metropolis: Dwight Perkins in Chicago, 1895–1915,” Architecture MPS 5, no 1 (2014); and Dale Allen Gyure, The Chicago Schoolhouse, High School Architecture and Educational Reform, 1896–2006 (Center for American Places, 2011)

2 The most useful books for the political background discussed here were Paul M Green and Melvin G Holli, eds , The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois

H o u s e ; b o t t o m : A r t I

Burnham Art and Architecture Archives.

F O R F U R T H E R R E A D I N G | For more on Chicago’s

s c h o o l b u i l d i n g s , s e e : D a l e A l l e n G

S c h o o l h o u s e , H i g h S c h o

Reform, 1896–2006 (Center for American Places, 2011)

Fo r m o r e o n C h i c a g o p o l i t i c s , s e e : Pa u l M G r

n d M e l v i n G . H o l l i , e d s . , T h e M a y o r s : T

Tradition (Southern Illinois University Press, 1995) and Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan, L ords of the Levee: The S t o r y o f B a t h h o u s e J o

Company, 1943). For general background on the histor y of Chicago of this era, see: Lloyd Lewis and Henr y Justin Smi t h , C h ic a g o : Th e H ist o r y o f I t s R e put a t io n ( H a r c our t , Brace & Company, 1929); Henr y Justin Smith’s two volumes, Chicago: A Portrait (The Centur y Co., 1931) and C h i c a g o ’ s G r e a t C e n t u r y, 1 8 3 3

(

P u b l i s h e r s , 1 9 3 3 ) ; a n d E d g a r L e e M a s t e r s , T h e Ta l e o f Chicago (G P Putnam’s Sons, 1933)

University Press, 1995) and, for the aldermanic high jinks of Hinky Dink McKenna and Bathhouse John Coughlin, Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan’s L ords of the Levee: The Stor y of Bathhouse John and Hink y Dink (Indianapolis, IN: BobbsMerrill Company, 1943)

3 Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of Cities (New York: Hill and Wang, 1957), 163.

4 Maureen A Flanagan, “Fred A Busse, A Silent Mayor in Turbulent Times,” in The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, eds Paul M Green and Melvin G Holli (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1995), 57

5 Flanagan, “Fred A Busse,” 57

6 Ibid

7 Chicago Tribune, November 28, 1909, 9

8 Illinois chapter of American Institute of Architects meeting, Februar y 2, 1910

9 Chicago Tribune, Februar y 15, 1910, 6

10 Chicago Tribune, Februar y 7, 1910, 10

11 Transcript of Proceedings, Board of Education versus Dwight Heald Perkins, March 7–31, 1910, 261 The typed tran-

script of the trial can be found at the Chicago Histor y Museum in the Abak anowicz Research Center The Chicago Board of Education does not have a copy, so the Museum’s copy is ver y likely the only one extant

12 Proceedings, March 7, 1910

13 Proceedings, March 7, 1910

14 Proceedings, March 8, 1910

15 Proceedings, 218–19

16 Proceedings, 249

17 Proceedings, 267

18 Proceedings, 269

19 Proceedings, 581

20 Proceedings, 590

21 Proceedings, 590

22 Proceedings, 593

23 Proceedings, 594

24 Proceedings, 606

25 Proceedings, 642

26 Proceedings, 758

27 Chicago Tribune, April 7, 1910, 9

A menudo, los pueblos indígenas han sido excluidos de los debates sobre las comunidades latinas. Sin embargo, en la región de Chicago existen muchas comunidades indígenas de origen latinoamericano, cuyas identidades indígenas son más fuertes o predominan sobre su identidad latinoamericana o estadounidense. L os Kichwa Otavalo de Ecuador, por ejemplo, han emigrado a Chicago durante décadas y han formado organizaciones sin fines de lucro como la Kichwa Community of Chicago y Comunidad Runa, con el objetivo de preservar y transmitir su identidad cultural. L a Kichwa Community of Chicago, además, colabora con el Chicago Histor y Museum en el proyecto Aquí en Chicago

L os otavalos son un grupo étnico particular de los pueblos andinos de lo que hoy es el norte de Ecuador. En 1990, la población indígena del valle de Otavalo se estimaba entre 45,000 y 50,000 personas, con otros 5,000 a 8,000 otavalos viviendo en comunidades migrantes en Ecuador y en otros países. Tras la colonización española del siglo XVI, los otavaleños enfrentaron la imposición del idioma español Sin embargo, los indígenas kichwas, incluido el pueblo otavalo, nunca dejaron de hablar el kichwa A pesar de la represión, han mantenido viva su lengua a lo largo de los siglos. L o que ha resultado en un proceso de revitalización y fortalecimiento de su idioma para asegurar que no se pierda para las futuras generaciones

L os kichwa otavalo de la región de Chicago forman una comunidad geográficamente dispersa, pero culturalmente muy unida, de unas 30 familias En todo el mundo, los kichwa otavalo son artesanos y comerciantes, sobre todo en la venta de productos de fabricación kichwa, como textiles procedentes de Ecuador Durante la temporada navideña, suelen abrir tiendas y quioscos en centros de comercio

En lo que sigue, los miembros de la Kichwa Community of Chicago comparten un aspecto de la filosofía andina denominada Runa K ay; la historia del Aya Huma, una figura mítica de las celebraciones andinas del norte de Ecuador; así como un registro visual de su vestimenta tradicional a lo largo del tiempo. Todos estos elementos son cruciales para el mantenimiento de su identidad como kichwa otavalo, que transmiten laboriosamente de una generación a otra a través de espacios de enseñanza cultural kichwa, la enseñanza de la lengua kichwa y la celebración de los cuatro R aymis (ritos estacionales) más importantes de la comunidad Estos ensayos enlazados ofrecen una ventana a una cultura indígena próspera y floreciente aquí en Chicago ***

La c o m u n i d a d K i c h w a O t a v a l o e n C h i c a g o e s t á f o r m a d a p o r m á s d e 3 0 f a m i l i a s q u e h a n l l e g a d o a e s t a c i u d a d d e s d e l a p r o v i n c i a d e I m b a b u r a e n E c u a d o r C o n l a e s p e r a n z a d e m a n t e n e r v i v a s n u e s t r a s

t r a d i c i o n e s m i e n t r a s c o n s t r u i m o s n u e v a s v i d a s e n e s t e territorio, hemos trabajado incansablemente para preservar

ENGLISH: United in culture and tradition, the Kichwa Community of Chicago after an event at the Chicago Histor y Museum

SPANISH: Unidos en cultura y tradición, la Comunidad Kichwa en el museo de historia de Chicago

KICHWA: Historia Museo Chicago llaktapi, kichwa runa kawsaykuna

• K I C H W A

Ec u a d o r m a n t a I m b a b u r a k i t i r u n a ku n a m i k a y C h i c a g o l l a k t a m a n , v i d a m a s k a y p u r i s h p a k a y p i yacharishpamitiyanakupanchi kimsa chunga (30) ayllupurakunami k ay Chicago llaktapi k awsapanchi

Shinallatak yuyapashk anchi nuk anchi shimi, nuk anchik awsaykunata ama kungashpa cashunchi; shina yashk atawatan watan paktachishunchipacha nishpamitantanajushpa kunank aman purijupanchi

Inti R aymi nuk anchi jatun punlla k apan, ima shinanuk anchi punda taytakuna k awsashk akunatayuyarishpami, k ay k aru k aru llaktapimi tantanakushpaimagutapash rurashpa k apanchi. K awsayk amanga.

The Kichwa Otavalo Community in Chicago

I n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e a r e

o f t e n o v e r l o o ke d i n d i s -

c u s s i o n s a b o u t L a t i n e

c o m m u n i t i e s . B u t t h e r e

are many communities of I n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e o f

L atin American heritages

h e r e i n t h e C h i c a g o a r e a whose Indigenous identities supersede their L atin

A m e r i c a n o r U S - b a s e d o n e s M e m b e r s o f t h e K i c h w a

O t a v a l o p e o p l e o f E c u a d o r r e s i d e i n a n d a r o u n d

C h i c a g o , h a v i n g m i g r a t e d h e r e f o r d e c a d e s , a n d h a v e

f o r m e d n o n p r o f i t o r g a n i z a t i o n s s u c h a s K i c h w a

Community of Chicago, one of CHM’s advisors for A quí en Chicago, and Comunidad Runa to preserve and pass down their cultural identity

The Otavalo people are a distinct ethnic group among the Andean people of what is now northern Ecuador. In 1 9 9 0 , t h e I n d i g e n o u s p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e O t a v a l o Va l l e y was estimated at 45,000–50,000, with another 5,000 to 8 , 0 0 0 O t a v a l o l i v i n g i n ex p a t r i a t e c o m m u n i t i e s i n Ecuador and in other countries. After Spanish coloniza-

t i o n i n t h e s i xt een t h c en t u r y, t h e O t a v a l o p eo p l e f a c ed t h e i m p o s i t i o n o f t h e S p a n i s h l a n g u a g e H o w e v e r, t h e Indigenous Kichwa, including the Otavalo people, never stopped speaking Kichwa. Despite repression, they have ke p t t h e i r l a n g u a g e a l i v e o v e r t h e c e n t u r i e s T h i s h a s resulted in a process of revitalization and strengthening of their language in the present day, to ensure that it is not lost for future generations.

K i c h w a O t a v a l o p e o p l e i n t h e C h i c a g o a r e a h a v e a geograp h i cally d i sp erse but cult urally t i gh t ly- k ni t comm u n i t y o f a b o u t t h i r t y f a m i l i e s A r o u n d t h e w o r l d , Kichwa Otavalo people are artisans and merchants, particularly in selling Kichwa-made goods, such as textiles, f r o m E c u a d o r D u r i n g t h e b u s y h

, t h e y open seasonal shops and kiosks.

In what follows, members of Kichwa Community of C h i c a g o a r e s h a r i n g a n a s p e c t o f A n d e a n p h i l o s o p h y

c a l l e d Ru n a K a y ; t h e s t o r y o f Ay a H u m a , a m

h i c a l figure from Andean celebrations in northern Ecuador;1 as well as a visual record of their traditional clothing over t i m e A l l o f t h e s e e l e m

n a n c e o f t h e i r K i c h w a O t a v

l o i d e n t i t y, w

i c h t h e y painstakingly pass down from one generation to the next through Kichwa cultural school, Kichwa language educat i o n , a n d t h e c e l e b r a t i o n o f t h

r a n n u a l K i c h w a Otavalo seasonal rites or R aymis These connected essays offer a window into a robust and thriving Indigenous culture at home here in Chicago

Tmade up of more than thirty families from the p r o v i n c e o f I m b a b u r a i n E c u a d o r W h i l e w e build new lives here, we also work tirelessly to preserve our culture, traditions, and language Over the course of time, we ’ ve organized ourselves around our traditional celebrations, with Inti R aymi as the most important one among them. This celebration connects to our a g r i c u l t u r a l c a l e n d a r, a s i t f o l l o w s t h e

Earth) so generously provides us

I n t i R a y m i i s m o r e t h a n a c u l t u r a l c e l e b r a t i o n . I t ’ s a l s o s y m b o l i c o f o u r r

f i r m r o o t s E v e r y y e a r, t h e K i c h w a O t a v a l o i n C h i c a g o organize and celebrate Inti R aymi with a gathering that reinforces our identity and reconnects us with our roots, even as we adapt to living life abroad

Our History

Kichwa Otavalo migration to Chicago started more than two decades ago, fueled by a pursuit for better opportun i t i e s a n d a b e t t e r f u t u r e f o r o u r c h i l d r e n . Fr o m t h e

nuestra cultura, tradiciones y lengua A lo largo de los años, n o s h e m o s o rg a n i z a d o e n t o r n o a n u e s t r a s

y m i .

Esta festividad, conforme a nuestro calendario agrofestivo, está íntimamente ligada al ciclo del maíz y a la cosecha de g r a n o s q u e g e n e r o s a m e n t e n o s b r i n d a l a Pa c h a m a m a (Madre Tierra).

El Inti R aymi no solo es una celebración cultural, sino también un símbolo de nuestra resistencia y perseverancia A pesar de estar lejos de nuestra tierra natal, mantenemos nuestras raíces firmes. Cada año, la comunidad Kichwa Otavalo en Chicago organiza y celebra el Inti R aymi, un evento que refuerza nuestra identidad y nos conecta con nuestras raíces, mientras nos adaptamos a la vida en un país extranjero.

Nuestra Historia

L a migración Kichwa Otavalo a Chicago comenzó hace más de dos décadas, impulsada por la búsqueda de mejores oportunidades y el deseo de ofrecer a nuestros hijos un futuro prometedor Desde el principio, nuestras familias enfrentan numerosos desafíos, desde la barrera del idioma hasta la adaptación a una nueva cultura Sin embargo, siempre hemos mantenido el espíritu de solidaridad y unidad que caracteriza a nuestro pueblo

A lo largo de estos 20 años, el Inti R aymi ha crecido en alcance e importancia, reflejando nuestro esfuerzo por mantener vivas nuestras tradiciones en un entor no nuevo

Desde los primeros días de nuestra llegada, nuestras familias han estado organizándose colectivamente para llevar a cabo diversas actividades culturales y deportivas, apoyándose mutuamente en la celebración del Inti R aymi Aunque formalmente nos constituimos como organización en el año 2022, esta red de colaboración ha sido fundamental para enfrentar los desafíos juntos Con ello, hemos buscado no solo preservar y celebrar nuestras tradiciones, sino también promover el bienestar de cada uno de nuestros miembros. Nuestra organización oficialmente constituida se dedica a la v i s i b i l i z a c i ó n y a l f o r t a l e c i m i e n t o d e n u e s t r a c u l t u r a , enfocándose en el futuro de nuestros jóvenes y niños

Principios Económicos y Culturales

R anti R anti y Mink a (solidaridad, reciprocidad, trabajo)

El esfuerzo y lucha de los Kichwa Otavalo por ser visibilizados en Chicago está dando frutos El trabajo en comunidad ha sido una parte esencial de nuestra cultura, y se refleja en la mink a, una tradición que implica la colaboración de todos los miembros para un fin común. Un claro ejemplo es la “pamba mesa ” , donde cada familia contribuye con lo que puede, ya sea con alimentos, recursos o tiempo, para el bienestar de la comunidad De igual forma, en nuestros eventos culturales,

Nikanchi Kawsaykunamanta

Otavalo runakunaka ishkay chunga yalik watakunata kay Chicago llaktapi kawsanajupanchi nukanchi ayllukuna sumac kawsayta charichun Shinapash mushukshimikunata yachajushpa, shuk kawsaykunata riksishpamikapanchi; ima llakikunatapash yalipashkanchimi. Shinallatak jatun ruraykunapipash, raymikunapi ranti ranti yanaparishpa k awsanajupashk anchi Pukllaykunatarurashpa, takishpa, tushushpa asha asha k aypi niarijksirishk a kapashkanchi kay punllakamanka.

Nuk anchik jatun organizacion oficialmente constituidak arikuyta charinchi may jipa punllakunapi wawakuna shinllishinlli niuk anchi k awsaykunata rikuria k achun

Economico Cultural Kamachikkuna

* R anti R anti

* Mink a Otavalomanta runakunak a niuk anchita riksichun nishpak a, mink akunaman k ayashpa, gulpi ayllukunallataima kuk abikunata apamushpa k apashk anchi Imagutapash atirishpallata k ay punllakunapi niapaktachishk anchi, rikunchimi k ay shinchi llamk aykunata

Paktachishkakuna,

Riksirinakunapash

Shuk 21 de Junio 2023 niuk anchi jatun organizacionlegalmente chaskishk a k apanchi, k ay Chicago llaktapi Tucuy Otavalo runakunak a asha asha k ay Chicagu llaktapishinlliyashpa, yacharishpa k apashk anchi, imatantanakuyman rishpa, tucuy mink aykunaman shamushpa

Niuk anchi punda y kunan k awsayta riksichishk amanta, rikuchishk amanta kunan punllapik a nia rijsirishk ak anajunchi k aipi k awsak shuk gintikunawambash.

Shinallata Chicago Apukkunak a uyashk ami niuk anchik aparikta

Yupaychanchi gulpi ayllukunata wayk arishk amanta

Jipa Punllakunapa, Shinlli Yalinakuna, Shuyanakuna

Paktachitak a paktachishk anchi shinapash faltanchira

Niuk anchi runa shimita ama kungashpa k achun niuk anchijipa wawakunata yachachita yachachinapash K anchi; shinllik a shinllimi pero paktachingak aman k ashunchi. Shinallami niuk anchi taytakunapak yuyaykunata, yachachishk akunata ama chingarishpa k atichun

K aypimi K anchi, K aymi kanchi. (Aquí estamos, asísomos)

Muyushna tarpushpa niuk anchi wawakunapi May sumakraymikunata rurashpa, yanapaykunatapash rurashpa, niuk anchi shimita yachachishpapash paktachishpak a,

outset, our families faced several challenges, from a language barrier to learning how to adapt to a new culture

N o n e t h e l e s s , w e ’

that has characterized our people

Over these twenty years, the Inti R aymi has grown in reach and influence, mirroring our efforts to keep our traditions alive in a new setting From the outset, the Inti R aymi celebration has been the means through which our families have come together to partake in cultural and sporting activities. This collaborative community network has been crucial to overcoming challenges together, ultimately leading to our establishment as a nonprofit organization in 2022 Through this venture, we seek to not only preserve and celebrate our traditions but also to be active participants in the well-being of each of our members Our organization is dedicated to strengthening and making our culture visible by focusing on the future of our young adults and children.

Economic and Cultural Principles

R anti R anti y Mink a (solidarity, reciprocity, and work)

The efforts made by the Kichwa Otavalo toward visibility in Chicago are paying off Collaborative community work is an essential part of our culture, and it’s reflected through the concept of minka, a tradition built around collaboration toward a common goal A representative example is the “pamba mesa, ” a gathering where ever y family contributes what they can, whether that be food, resources, or their

ENGLISH: Keeping heritage alive through transgenerational traditions

SPANISH: Herencia viva, generaciones en tradición

KICHWA: K awsaykuna, tukuykuna paktakuna

time, all to address the community’s well-being Similarly, ever yone works together on our cultural events, providing mutual support in the ongoing effort to share and preserve our identity. These collaborative roots have allowed us to remain united and grow as a community

Milestones and Achievements

On June 21, 2023, our community was officially recognized by officials from the City of Chicago, marking a historic milestone in the city ’ s recognition of the importance of cultural diversity For us, the recognition of “Inti R aymi Day ” by the City Council is both a substantial triumph and an example of the value of acknowledging cultural diversity This achievement is the result of the tireless work done by ever y one of our members, all of whom have contributed their time, resources, and talent. Furthermore, this celebration also continues to reinforce Otavalo empowerment as it strengthens our sense of unity, and the preservation of our cultural heritage Through our celebrations and traditions, we ’ ve been able to educate the local public about the richness of our heritage, and in the process promote intercultural collaboration and understanding.

Kichwa Otavalo

todos trabajamos en conjunto, apoyándonos mutuamente para preservar y compartir nuestra identidad. Esta colaboración ha sido la base que nos ha permitido mantener nos unidos y seguir creciendo como comunidad

Logros y Reconocimientos

Desde el 21 de junio de 2023, nuestra comunidad recibió un reconocimiento oficial por parte de las autoridades de la ciudad de Chicago, marcando un avance histórico que subraya la importancia de la diversidad cultural

L a distinción del Inti R aymi por parte de las autoridades de Chicago es un triunfo significativo para todos nosotros y un reflejo del valor de la diversidad cultural Este logro es fruto del trabajo incansable de cada uno de nuestros miembros, quienes han contribuido con su tiempo, recursos y talento A demás, esta celebración fortalece el empoderamiento de los Otavalos y refuerza el sentido de unidad y preservación de nuestra herencia ancestral

A través de nuestras celebraciones y actividades tradicionales, hemos logrado educar a la población local sobre la riqueza de nuestra herencia, promoviendo el entendimiento y la colaboración intercultural

Desafíos y Esperanzas para el Futuro

Aunque hemos logrado mucho, todavía enfrentamos desafíos como comunidad. L a lucha por mantener viva nuestra lengua, enseñar nuestras tradiciones a las nuevas generaciones, y mantener la cohesión dentro de nuestra comunidad en un entor no tan diverso como Chicago no es fácil. Sin embargo, estamos comprometidos a seguir adelante, guiados por los valores que nuestros ancestros nos han transmitido.

Hace dos años, tomamos conciencia de la importancia de formalizar nuestra organización jurídicamente Con el objetivo de continuar visibilizando y dando a conocer nuestras fiestas (raymikuna), nuestra lengua (ñuk anchi shimi), nuestra filosofía andina (ñukanchi kawsay yuyay), y aprender e integrar nos a otras culturas en esta ciudad, buscamos el sumak kawsay, una mejor convivencia en una sociedad pluricultural, pensando en nuestros jóvenes, niños y las nuevas generaciones

K aypimi K anchi, K aymi k anchi.

(A quí estamos, así somos)

Con cada celebración, con cada palabra en kichwa que enseñamos, y con cada acto de solidaridad que practicamos, estamos sembrando una semilla en nuestros jóvenes Creemos firmemente que, a través de ellos, nuestras raíces continuarán creciendo y floreciendo en esta nueva tierra. Seguiremos trabajando para que la cultura Kichwa Otavalo no solo se mantenga viva en Chicago, sino que prospere y se fortalezca, dejando una huella imborrable en las generaciones venideras

shinlli sapiwan,sisarishpa viniank a k ay k aru llaktakunapi

Llank ashpa k atinchi k ay Chicagu Llaktapi mana k awsangapaklla , chayk arimbash chink ariringa; ashtawank arin shinlliyashpa winiay k awsayta k ay k arullaktapi charingapak

Filosofia Andina Runakunapak Yachay Mushuk Pachapak

Runak ay Manta

Runak ayk a Niuk ami k ani nishpa ninchi K aypi rikuchinchiimashina niuk anchi k awsay, niuk anchi yuyarina, nuk anchillank ay, niuk anchi tarpuy, niuk anchi shimi, n i u k a n c h i c h

runapurakuna, warmikunapash,wawakunapash, kunambik a maijanniuk anchiwan pacta niawpaman ringapak k an; imagutayarishpa, tapushpandi ima imashina niuk anchi niawpataytakuna k awsank anak ark a.

ENGLISH: The spiral path, tending to the present

SPANISH: Camino en espiral, tejiendo el presente.

KICHWA: Kunank aman ñuk anchik chururi ñanta awanchik

Ta y t a ku n a k a Ay a H u m a n i s h p a s h u t i c h i n k a r k a

Chaytak apushakmi nin k ark a Espanioles chayamushpa jipamanmushuk yuyaykunata apamurk a imposicionkunatachurark a, paykunami Supaypa huma (Diablo Huma) shutichirk a mallachingapak chay Ayak a na allichumallanay ayami nishpami crichishpa runakunatak a Shinallata tukuy ima raymikunata na alichu nishpajuchami nishpatan k aruyachink apak chingaringak amanmunark a k ay E s p a n i o l e s ku n a k a ; p e r o n a p a k t a c h i k t a u s h a r k a c h u Sinami villan niuk anchi niawpak taytakuna.

Aya Huma Manta Villay

Challenges and Hopes for the Future

Although we ’ ve accomplished a lot, we still face challenges It is not easy to keep our language alive, to teach our traditions to new generations, and to maintain cohesion within our community in a place as vast as Chicago. Nonetheless, we are committed to keep pushing forward, guided by the values instilled in us by our ancestors

Two years ago, we recognized the importance of registering our organization through the proper channels

With the goal of increasing visibility and raising awareness about our celebrations (raymikuna), our language (ñuk anchi shimi), our Andean philosophy (ñuk anchi k awsay yuyay), and in learning how to integrate ourselves into other cultures in this city, we seek sumak k awsay, a better existence in a multicultural society, thinking about the futures of our young adults, children, and future generations

K aypimi K anchi, K aymi k anchi (We are here, this is who we are.)

With each celebration, with each Kichwa word we teach, and with ever y act of solidarity we practice, we ’ re planting a seed in our young people We firmly believe that our roots will continue to grow and flourish in this new land through them We’ll continue working so that Kichwa Otavalo not only remains alive in Chicago, but also thrives and leaves a lost footprint for future generations

Andean Philosophy: Indigenous Wisdom for a New World

R una K ay is not a literal concept but a philosophical one The deceptively simple expression of “Runa K ay ” or “I am ” contains within it a deep and detailed statement of Kichwa identity that encompasses philosophy, politics, and culture.

Runa means man, and K ay expresses being united It is equivalent to “I am, ” but this expression carries something more profound in the Indigenous vision of the cosmos. The name ’ s root says, “It is the construction of a Universal being,” meaning a person who works to deepen his identity is convinced that he possesses it, and identifies himself with a people and/or a nationality This philosophy is what will help him to navigate his life ver y sure of who he is and his roots At the same time, the Runa K ay philosophy also contributes to a whole educational and political process

R una K ay represents the fundamental activities and expressions that define what it means to be a Runa, a Kichwa term that can describe any Indigenous person, or any individual seeking to better understand themselves as they navigate life. In this essay, Runa is used when specifically referencing Kichwa Otavalos Understood this way, the concept of Runa is more than just a marker of identity. It also encompasses the process of under-

standing and accepting our heritage. It is both a personal journey of self-discover y and a collaborative effort through which we are able to construct and affirm our larger cultural consciousness With K ay understood as the spirit, both Runa and K ay are needed to construct a sense of self Runa K ay guides our educational and political efforts, supporting the progress of a people with a sound understanding of who they are, and their origins.

Since ancient times, Indigenous peoples have been the guardians of Mother Nature, seeking to promote the convergence of their thousands of years of knowledge with new currents of Western knowledge. Kichwa people hope to build new paradigms with a different vision of the world and contemporar y reality.

This is what some I n d i g e n o u s t h i n ke r s call “spiral thinking,” w h i ch can be bet t er understood as cyclical Ever ything around us, including that which we cannot see, is part of a larger, interwoven universal balance, or “spiral,” with no beginning o r e n d . S p i r a l thinking seeks to establish a culture of collective rights and community-based self-determination, as well as balance a balance with nature and a balance of individualism and the collective First Nations are the bearers of a traditional epistemology unfamiliar to the Western world, but fully compatible with contemporar y scientific understanding

Aya Huma

Our taytas (forefathers) called him Aya Huma, which means head of the spirit, guide, and leader Aya Huma represents a wise man, an elevated yachay (knowledge) that permeates ever y aspect of his education, knowledge, and leadership After the arrival of the Spanish, new thoughts and impositions took root in our lands, but the resistance of our taytas to preserve our culture, traditions, and way of life proved to be much stronger The Spanish renamed the Aya Huma, “Diablo Huma,” which translates to Devil’s Head, since for them, all Andean spiritual festivities, such as the worship of spiritual gods like Pachamama (Mother Earth), the Sun, and the Moon, were considered negative and/or pagan But to speak of Aya Huma is to immerse oneself in the deep spiritual wisdom of the Runa Kichwa Otavalo.

The most important symbol of the Aya Huma is the mask, which has two round eyes that represent the myster y of deep natural wisdom.2 From its mouth emerges a

Filosofia andina: Sabiduría indígena para un mundo nuevo

Runa K ay no es un concepto literal, sino filosófico. L a expresión aparentemente sencilla de “Runa K ay ” o “ Yo soy ” contiene en su interior una declaración profunda y detallada de la identidad kichwa que abarca la filosofía, la política y la cultura

Runa significa hombre y K ay expresa ser unidos que equivaldría a Yo Soy Pero esta expresión lleva algo más profundo en la cosmovisión Indígena L a fundación del mismo nombre dice “Es la construcción de un ser Universal” de una persona que profundiza su identidad que está convencida de poseerla y se identifica con un pueblo y/o nacionalidad L a misma que le servirá para emprender su vida muy segura de quién es y de sus raíces. Al mismo tiempo aporta a todo un proceso educativo y político.

Runa K ay representa las actividades y expresiones fundamentales que definen lo que significa ser un Runa, un término kichwa que puede describir a cualquier persona indígena, o a cualquier individuo que busque comprenderse mejor a sí mismo mientras navega por la vida En este ensayo, Runa se utiliza cuando se refiere específicamente a los Kichwa Otavalos. Así entendido, el concepto de runa es más que un indicador de identidad También abarca el proceso de comprender y aceptar nuestra herencia Es tanto un viaje personal de autodescubrimiento como un esfuerzo colaborativo a través del cual somos capaces de construir y afirmar nuestra conciencia cultural mayor Entendiendo K ay como el espíritu, tanto Runa como K ay son necesarios para construir un sentido del ser Runa K ay guía nuestros esfuerzos educativos y políticos, apoyando el progreso de un pueblo con una profunda comprensión de quiénes son y de sus orígenes

L os pueblos indígenas desde tiempos remotos hemos sido los guardianes de la madre naturaleza buscando promover la convergencia de su saber milenario con las nuevas corrientes del conocimiento occidental Se busca la construcción de nuevos paradigmas con una visión distinta del mundo y la realidad contemporánea.

Esto es lo que algunos intelectuales indígenas denominan “pensamiento en espiral”, que puede ser mejor entendido como cíclico Todo lo que nos rodea, incluso lo que no podemos ver, forma parte de un equilibrio universal más amplio y entretejido, o «espiral», sin principio ni fin El pensamiento en espiral busca establecer una cultura de derechos colectivos y autodeterminación basada en comunidad, así como el equilibrio: un equilibrio con la naturaleza y un equilibrio entre el individualismo y lo colectivo L as Primeras Naciones son portadoras de una epistemología tradicional que el mundo occidental desconoce, pero que es plenamente compatible con la comprensión científica contemporánea.

Nadie tiene un conocimiento total de las cosas en este mundo Todos somos ignorantes de alguna manera, lo que tú sabes yo lo ignoro y lo que yo se tu no lo sabes Aun así, si tú

Otavalo runakunak a na kunk ashk achichu k ay k awsaykunatak a

Ayahumak a Yuyaysapami k an

Ayahumak a hatun yachaysapami k an

Ayahumak a pushakmi k an

Ayahumapa ashtawan importante y simbolico k an chaymask ara Nishk a, k aykunapi k ashk a

• ISHKAY MUYUK NIAVIWAN- chaykuna k an uku k akyachaypa

• Shimimanta llukshimuk shuk SUNI JALLU- chaymi tukuytiempota warkushk a k an, chaymi Pachamama rimay nin Niawpa taytakunalla ima divinidad y espiritual intinditaushak k ark a chaymantak Ayahumak a makiwanllaruraykunata ruran, ima shina dramatizacionta ruran, rikukkuna entendichun.

Chay llipiyuk mask arapa k an pachamamapa llimpichaymi k an, k awsaykuna, imasha allpa mama niuk anchitamikuchichin, wak aychin, shinallata allpamamami k anmaypi wiwakuna k aparin, fawan, k alpan, arman

ENGLISH: Harmonizing our identity.

SPANISH: Armonías de nuestra identidad

KICHWA: K awsaykuna, ñuk anchik Yachaykuna

long tongue, which is constantly hanging and signifies the language of the Pachamama (nature), and the divinities that “speak” in the silences of the spirit and by means of signs and signals that only initiated Runas are capable of understanding That is why the Aya Huma does not talk, he only makes himself understood by means of gestures and dramatizations.3

The intense multicolored mask represents the colorfulness, diversity, life, and generosity of the Pachamama that constantly nurtures and maintains the continuity of life by offering itself as food and sustenance. The mask reflects the variety of beings that fly, crawl, swim, walk, burrow, jump, trill, moo, meow, bleat, growl, bark, howl, shriek, talk, neigh, bray, croak, dig, and parasitize on Earth; it symbolizes life, death, divinity, nature, ancestors, and ever ything that exists

The mask has several “tubes” of stuffed fabric that represent fauna, forests, and jungles In addition, they represent the different periods of the annual agro -astronomical cycle Therefore, if it has 12 “tubes,” it signifies the solar year of 12 months, representing the Aya or masculine spirit of nature A mask with 13 “tubes” signifies the lunar year with 13 moons (months), representing Sami, the feminine spirit of nature Pachamama is feminine because it is the entity through which ever ything is born Nature having both a masculine and feminine spirit is representative of the ways in which Pachamama maintains balance. While the colorways and individual aesthetics of Aya Huma masks may var y from community to community, the symbolic features remain consistent.

ENGLISH: The Aya Huma: the spirit and guide of our festivities

SPANISH: El Aya Huma: el espíritu y guía de nuestra fiesta

KICHWA: Ñuk anchik raymipi Aya Humak ñawpa pushakmik an.

Kichwa Otavalo Community

y yo unimos nuestros conocimientos ignoraremos los del mundo y el mundo el de nosotros

Aya Huma

Nuestros taytas (antepasados) lo llamaban Aya Huma, que significa cabeza del espíritu, guía y líder Aya Huma representa a un hombre sabio, un yachay (conocimiento) elevado que atraviesa todos los aspectos de su educación, conocimiento y liderazgo Tras la llegada de los españoles, nuevos pensamientos e imposiciones arraigaron en nuestras tierras, pero la resistencia de nuestros taytas para preservar nuestra cultura, tradiciones y forma de vida demostró ser mucho más fuerte L os españoles rebautizaron al Aya Huma, “Diablo Huma”, ya que, para ellos, todas las festividades espirituales andinas, como el culto a dioses espirituales como la Pachamama (Madre Tierra), el Sol y la Luna, eran consideradas negativas y/o paganas Pero el hablar del Aya Huma es sumergirse en la profunda sabiduría espiritual de los Runa Kichwa Otavalo

L a parte simbólica más importante del Aya Huma es la máscara la cual está representada por dos ojos redondos que son los ojos del misterio de la sabiduría natural profunda.De su boca emerge una larga lengua que permanece colgada todo el tiempo y significa el lenguaje de la Pacha-Mama (naturaleza), los ancestros y las divinidades que “hablan” en el silencio del espíritu y por medio de señales y señaleros que solamente los runas iniciados son capaces de comprender, por ello el Aya Uma no habla, solamente se hace comprender con gestos y dramatizaciones

L a máscara de multi color intenso representa el colorido, la diversidad, la vida y la generosidad de la Pachamama que instante tras instante cría y mantiene la continuidad de la vida dándose a sí misma como alimento y sustento Es la variedad de los seres que vuelan, reptan, nadan, caminan, penetran, saltan, trinan, mugen, maúllan, balan, gruñen, ladran, aúllan, chillan, hablan, relinchan, rebuznan, croan, escarban y parasitan sobre la tierra, es la simbología de la vida, la muerte, la divinidad, la naturaleza, los ancestros y todo lo existente

L a máscara tiene varios “tubos” de tela rellena que representan la fauna, los bosques y las selvas. A demás, representan los distintos periodos del ciclo agroastronómico anual Así, si tiene 12 “tubos” significa el año solar de 12 meses, representando el Aya o espíritu masculino de la naturaleza Una máscara con 13 “tubos” significa el año lunar con 13 lunas (meses), representando a Sami, el espíritu femenino de la naturaleza Se le refiere a la Pachamama como femenina porque es la entidad a través de la cual nace todo El hecho de que la naturaleza tenga un espíritu masculino y femenino representa la forma en que la Pachamama mantiene el equilibrio Aunque los colores y la estética individual de las máscaras Aya Huma pueden variar de una comunidad a otra, los

K awsaymanta, waniuymanta, divinidadmanta, naturalezamanta, niawpa taytakunamanta, tukuy imak ashk amantapash rikuchikmi k an

Kutin Ayahumapash charin jawa umapi tubo nishk akuna, chaykunan representan wiwakunata, sachakunata, yungakunata, ciclo agro - astronomico anual nishk atapashrepresentan; k ay yuyaypik a ishk ay chunk a tubokunamicharin, k ay ishk ay chunk ak a k an killakuna, inti wata, Jarinaturaleza k an Kimsa chungata charishpak a kimsachunga killami k an chayk a kutin warmi naturalezatarepresentan nishpa nin.

Ayahumak a ishk ay niawita charin niawpapi washapipash, chayk a Pachamama rikuchik ninmi, tukuy pachaesoacio, niawpak pachamanta- shamuk pachamanta kunanpachapi ukllashk a, K ay ishk ay rikuk niavikunak allaktakunapa yachay villaykunami, shamuk pachamanpurikta munashpak a mana punda k awsayta jark ashpasakinachu Shuk punllak a niawpa k awsayk a shamukk awsamanmi Tigran

Tukuymi imapash shuk pachakutin, shuk tikray, shuktikray k atimun, chaymi pachamamapak k amachikuy

Ishk ay niavik a punchayman rik nianta rikuchin, mana jark achun punllapi jahua intita rikungapak, tutapipash kutin killata rikungapak, chay shina runakunapakk aws a y k a Ya c h a y ku n a , y u y a y ku n a , k a w s a y p u r i n a ku y Ayahumak a horizonte nishk ata rikuchin, chay k apak niantarikuchishpa sumak k awsayman chayangak aman

Tukuchingapak Ayahumak a shinallata charin: Ishk ay singakuna, ishk ay rinrikuna, hanakmantarikushpak a, shuk chak anata ruran, chayk a chusku niantarikuchik, k ayk a k ay pachapi, k ay kunan pachapi runa, samaykuna, naturalezapi, shinallatak niawpak taytaayllukunapi K ay tawa shik ankuna villajunpachakunatapash, chayshukmank a Pachamama o mama k awsay, chayshuktak a Jawa Pacha o Hanan Pacha shinallata chayshuk shink ankunak a Uray Pacha o Uku Pacha Kutimbash yachachin K ay pacha o kunan Pacha, Chaskuy pacha, niawpak tantanakuy pacha, niawpakpacha, jawa pacha

Ayahuma churajunaka may imakunatami charin: yurak yurak churanajunata churan, chayka chayshukpacha nishpa, niawpak taytakunapak yachaykunacharinmi nishpa

Zamarru - k alsun laya churajushk a llama-chivu k arawanrurashk a k aywank a rikuchin ima shina niuk anchi niawparuna llaktakunata llakinayta yalishk ata yarichichin maypihacienda amuk a rikuchin k ark a paypak ushay charikta, paypak millay k akta, paypak furzayukta rikuchink apakshinam niuk anchi niapak taitikukunamank a llakichishpamik awsank ark a nishpami parlank ar yan.

The Aya Huma has two faces, one in front and one in back It is the representation of the Pachamama itself, the integral time-space formed by the past and the future, which unite in the present This double look is a message of wisdom for our people, indicating that if they want to walk to the future, they must never stop looking at the past, because the future is “ written” in the past In due time, ever ything that is future becomes the past.

Ever ything has a Pachakutin 4 This is the law of nature 5 Aya Huma’s double face indicates a path toward enlightenment: to never stop looking at the sun during the day and never stop looking at the moon at night. In the same way it guides the Runa’s life mission to never stop looking at the light of wisdom as the path to follow in this life in order to strengthen learning and raise one ’ s life consciousness. Metaphorically, the Aya Huma is representative of the horizon between the already existing path (k apak-ñan) and the path to harmoniously reach the sumak-k awsay (good living)

Finally, its two “ noses ” and two “ ears ” seen from above form a square cross that points to the four directions, the coexistence in the K ay-pacha, or the present world of the human, divine, natural, and ancestral families in a balance of reciprocal relationships and mutual nurturing.

The dress of the Aya Huma is full of symbols It is dressed in white symbolizing the power of the Chayshukpacha,6 which is a necessar y step to reach the light of life This means that this being also possesses the wisdom of the ancestors The zamarro (a type of trouser) made of goat skin represents the painful process of its people at the time of colonization, when the mestizo, overseer of the hacienda, used this garment as a symbol of his power to humiliate, mistreat, and denigrate Indigenous people By wearing the zamarro, the Aya Huma regains its lost power of leadership and dignifies the current state of the Runa.7

The whip in one hand is a symbol of both human and spiritual authority that is continuously used to whip the floor and the surroundings to purify the dancefloor from evil spirits. The whip is the tool of authority, power, and spiritual leadership In the other hand the Aya Huma carries a conch shell, which he plays constantly This is equivalent to this being constantly intoning and making the voices of the divine heard in the sounds of this instrument, just as our community memories tell us

The most important quality of the Aya Huma is wisdom of silent expression, using pantomime, jokes, and dramatization as its only form of communication with the Runas physically present Perhaps it is the living symbol that teaches us how Pachamama (Mother Earth) communicates with the Runa During each moment of the act, the Aya Huma must be able to communicate the importance of its dance and transmit the deep wisdom of spiritual silence with constant gestural communication laced with humor in the midst of enormous cele-

ENGLISH: Dancing to the rhythm of tradition

SPANISH: Danza al ritmo de la tradición

KICHWA: Tushushpa k atinchi ñuk anchi k awsayta.

brations The Aya Huma possesses a sense of direction in moments of disorder and precariousness in addition to demonstrating how to defend itself and others in moments of difficulty

The Aya Huma is one of the most important preHispanic Andean symbols that has managed to remain almost intact today, and therefore, it is a light that reflects the greatness and wisdom of our ancestors that is still shining for today ’ s and tomorrow ’ s generations.

Kichwa Otavalo Community

rasgos simbólicos permanecen constantes

El Aya Huma tiene dos caras, una delante y otra detrás

Es la representación de la Pachamama misma, el tiempoespacio integral formado por el pasado y el futuro, unidos en el presente Esta doble mirada es un mensaje de sabiduría para nuestro pueblo, indicando que, si quiere caminar hacia el futuro, nunca debe dejar de mirar al pasado, porque el futuro está «escrito» en el pasado A su debido tiempo, todo lo que es futuro se convierte en pasado

Todo tiene un Pachakutin,un cambio regenerativo Esta es la ley de la naturaleza. L a doble cara del Aya Huma indica un camino hacia la iluminación: el de nunca dejar de mirar al sol durante el día y nunca dejar de mirar a la luna por la noche. Del mismo modo, guía la misión vital de los Runa de no dejar nunca de mirar la luz de la sabiduría como camino a seguir en esta vida para fortalecer el aprendizaje y elevar la conciencia vital Metafóricamente, el Aya Huma es representativo del horizonte entre el camino ya existente (k apak-ñan) y el camino para alcanzar armoniosamente el sumak-k awsay (el buen vivir)

Finalmente, sus dos “narices” y sus dos “orejas”, vistas desde arriba forman una cruz cuadrada que señalan a las cuatro direcciones, es la coexistencia en el kay-pacha o este mundo presente de las familias humana, divina, naturaleza y ancestros en un equilibrio de relaciones recíprocas y mutua crianza

L a vestimenta del Aya Huma está llena de símbolos: Se viste de blanco simbolizando el poder del chayshuk-pacha Luego del proceso de castellanización la referencia en español más cercana refiere al proceso de transformación del cuerpo o el retor no a la eter nidad en otra vida.sabiduría de los ancestros El zamarro (especie de pantalón) de piel de chivo describe el proceso doloroso de su pueblo en los momentos de la colonización en donde el mayordomo mestizo de la hacienda utilizó esta prenda como símbolo de su poder para humillar, maltratar y denigrar al pueblo indígena El Aya Huma al utilizar el zamarro recupera su poder de liderazgo perdido y dignifica el estado actual del runa. El látigo en una mano es un símbolo de autoridad tanto humana como espiritual que se utiliza continuamente para azotar el suelo y los alrededores con el fin de purificar la pista de danza de los malos espíritus. El látigo es la herramienta del poder de la autoridad y del liderazgo espiritual En la otra mano, el Aya Huma lleva una caracola que toca constantemente Esto equivale a que este ser está continuamente entonando y haciendo oír las voces de lo divino en los sonidos de este instrumento, tal y como nos cuentan nuestros recuerdos comunitarios

L a cualidad más importante del Aya Huma es la sabiduría de la expresión en silencio usando la pantomima, la broma y la dramatización como su única forma de comunicación

Quizá es el símbolo vivo que nos enseña cómo se comunica con los runa nuestra Pachamama Durante cada momento del

ENGLISH: Our shawls in flight during a dance

SPANISH: El vuelo del rebozo

KICHWA: K awsai rebozo k awsaini.

Kunambik a Ayahuma k ay zamarruta churajushpak a chaychink ashk a k amachikta kutichin, shinami kunanrunakunak a

Ayahumapa shuk makipik a atzialta charijuk, k amachiktarikuchin k ay k awsaypipash chayshuk k aysaypipash. MaypiAyahuma tushukkrin chaypipacha atzialwan allpata shinllishinllita waktashpa waktashpa k an chaypi sapak ayakunaanchurichun Shinallatak chayshuk makipik a shuk churutachaririak k an wakinmbik a fukushpa fukushpa k an maypitushunajuk pushtupi, uyachishpandi K ay uyachikta k anchayshuk k awsakkunapak k apari Shinami niuk anchi ayllu llakta yuyarinakuna

Ayahumata riksinchi payk a yachakmi Upallaman yalinl l a , m a k i t a l l a m k a c h i n i

Wakimbik ayuyanchi alpamamami Shinallata asichitapash asichin, maypi desorden tiyakpipash allichishpak s a k

wak aychik k an

Manara Espaniolkuna shamukpillata Ayahumak a tiyark a. Kunank aman Ayahumak a rikuchijunmi pundak awsaykunata, punchayakta rikurin Shinallatak kunanpunllakunapik a niuk anchipa tayta yachaykunapashpunchayachik shina rikurin.

A Visual Demonstration of Kichwa Clothing Over Time

Clothing is an essential element of identity across cultures For the Kichwa Otavalo people, each traditional garment is intimately linked to the deep relationship between the human being and nature, or cosmovision And in this way, Kichwa Otavalo dress has its histor y, changes, and syncretism with other peoples, but it preserves its connection with the communitarian cultural vision

In the following, see an analysis of the changes in Kichwa clothing from before colonization through the present

Pre-1940s

Prior to Spanish colonization, clothing was simpler and made of wool

Men:

• Kushma, a tunic-like garment

• Pantalones fundillos (flared trousers), so called because of their comfort and loose fit

• Waist sash

• Woolen hat

* Neither men nor women wore alpargates (a type of woven sandal like huaraches).

Women:

• Hat made of virgin wool (no dyes)

• Umawatarina (headscarf), white and loose

• Crossed skirt in a natural color, like a tunic and made of wool

• Fachalina (cape), in black with a knot at the chest

• Anacos (a loose dress), black and white without any quingo (embroider y) only a hem to prevent unraveling

• Mama chumbi and wawa chumbi (woven sashes)

° Mama chumbi: a symbol of strength and resistance of the woman, since she is the one in charge of the work at home and in the field when it comes to seeding and sowing

° Wawa chumbi: holds the mama chumbi and is where the craftsmanship is shown, demonstrating the connection to nature and cultural symbols, be they geographic or otherwise

• Walkas (necklaces), thick, large, and abundant

• Maki watanas (bracelets), made of coral; the coral is the result of trade that began with coastal peoples who exchanged coral for food from the highlands

ENGLISH: The next guardians of our culture SPANISH: Guardianes de la cultura

KICHWA: Yachay riksikuna

Kichwa Otavalo Community

acto el Aya Huma Debe ser capaz de comunicar la importancia de su danza transmitiendo la sabiduría profunda del silencio espiritual en medio de las celebraciones masivas manteniendo una constante comunicación gestual, acciones a la que debe acompañar de capacidad para hacer reír a los presentes Posee un sentido de la orientación en momentos de desorden y precariedad además de demostrar cómo defenderse y defender a los demás en los instantes difíciles

El Aya Huma es uno de los símbolos andinos prehispánicos vigentes más importantes que ha logrado llegar casi intacto hasta hoy, y por lo mismo, es una luz que refleja la grandeza y la sabiduría de nuestros ancestros que aún está brillando para las generaciones de hoy y del mañana

Una demostración visual de la vestimenta del pueblo Kichwa Otavalo a través del tiempo

L a vestimenta es un elemento esencial de identidad en todas las culturas Para el pueblo Kichwa Otavalo, cada vestimenta tradicional está íntimamente vinculada a la profunda relación entre el ser humano y la naturaleza, o cosmovisión

Y de esta manera, la vestimenta Kichwa Otavalo tiene su historia, cambios y sincretismo con otros pueblos, pero conserva su conexión con la visión cultural comunitaria

A continuación, un análisis de los cambios en la vestimenta kichwa desde antes de la colonización hasta la actualidad

Antes de los años 40

L a vestimenta era más sencilla y basada simplemente en la elaboración por lana.

Hombre:

• Kushma entero, como una tunica

• Pantalon fundillos (llamados así por su comodidad, flojos)

• Faja en la cintura

• Sombrero de lana

Mujeres:

• Gorro de lana virgen (sin tintes)

• Umawatarina blanca y suelta

• Fachalina cruzada color natural, como una túnica, hecho de lana

• Fachalina (capa) negra natural, con un ñudo en el pecho

• Anacos, blanco y negro sin nada de quingo, solo dobladillo para que no se deshile

• Mama chumbi y wawa chumbi

° Mama chumbi: Como símbolo de fortaleza y resistencia de la mujer, ya que es la que se encarga del trabajo en casa y en el campo cuando era de sembrío

° Wawa chumbi: Sostiene el mama-chumbi y es donde se demuestra la artesanía demostrando la conexión con la naturaleza y símbolos de cultura, ya sean geográficos.

• Walk as (collares), gruesas, grandes y en abundancia

• Maki watanas (manillas), coral; el coral se sabe que es

Kay Pachakunapi Churajunakuna

May shuk shuk llaktakunami tiyapanchi, cada llakta shukshuk churanakunata charinchi, shinami niuk anchipash, niuk anchi Otavalo runakunapash ushashk agutachuranakunatak a churajunchi Watan watan, asha ashatigrarishk a niuk anchi runakunapak churajunapash.

Chaypak k atin rikuchikrinchi ina shina niuk anchi pundachurajuna cashk ata, shinallatak ima shina tikrarishk aniuk anchi churajuna.

Manara 1940 Waranka Iskun Pachak

Chusku Chunka Wata Kakpita

K ay tiempukunapik a wakk achalla findugukunata churank ashk ata parlank ar yan

Jari Churajuna:

• Kushmata churan cashk a Maki puchashk aawashk apsh, llama milmawan

• Fundillutapash

• Chumbipash

• Pilchi sumbrutapash

Warmi Churajuna:

• Llama milma sumbru

• Yurak uma watarina milmapillata- k acharishk ata

• Yurak fachalina chak ashk ata churashk a

• Yana fachalina niawpaman watarishk a

• Yurak anaku, yana anaku, yanga sirashk agulla ama pucha safarichun

• Mama chumbi- ashtawan shinllita wataringapak

• Wawa chumbi- mama chumbita chaririak k achun

• Walk akuna

• Maki watanakuna- koraltami espaniolkunajatunk anak ashk ata nin chaypa randi kuripi pagana

*Ushutata pipash nara churanchu k apashk a nin

1940 Waranka Iskun Pacha Chusku Chunga

Watamanta Niawpaman

Espaniolkuna shamushpak a shuk laya findukunatamiapamushk a nin, huasipungo tiempokunapi

Jari Churajuna:

• Milma ruana

• Algodon camitza

• Algodon mukiti k altzun

• Milma sumbru

Warmi Churajuna:

• Milma sumbru

• Milma uma watarinata watarishk a

• Milma kushma

• Yurak y yana anaku

1940

With the influence of colonization, the cloth mixes natural materials and those from Spa such as cotton fabric in shirts and lace

Men:

• Wool poncho

• Cotton shirt and trousers

• Wool hat

Women:

• Hat, with collected umawatarina (headscarf)

• Kushma (tunic) in natural wool

• Anaco (loose dress), black and white

• Walk as (necklaces), thick and abundant

• Bracelets, earrings, and ear ties

• Rebozo (shawl) and fachalina (cape)

• Mama chumbi and wawa chumbi (woven sashes)

*Alpargates still not wor n

, made of cloth ol poncho with collar, navy blue hite shirt with collar Pantalones fundillos

Women:

• Hat no longer worn

• Shirt, small, embroidered, and thin

• White fachalina, used as umawatarina (head covering)

• Suco fachalina (umawatarina head covering with a white edge)

• Rebozo (shawl)

Walk as (necklaces), thick and abundant Bracelets, made of coral

ar ties no longer worn

Mama chumbi and wawa chumbi woven sashes)

Anaco (dress) in black and white

pargates still not wor n

Kichwa Otavalo Community

ENGLISH: The art of being a Kichwa woman SPANISH: El arte de ser mujer Kichwa KICHWA: Warmi k awsaymanta

resultado del intercambio que se hacía antes con las culturas de la costa, que traían el coral e intercambiaban con los alimentos de la sierra.

*No utilizaban alpargates ni hombre, ni mujer

1940

Con la influencia de la colonización, la vestimenta mezcla entre el material natural y los que vienen de España como la tela de algodón en las camisas y los encajes

Hombre:

• Poncho de lana

• Camiseta y pantalón de algodón

• Sombrero de lana

Mujeres:

• Sombrero, con umawatarina (pañuelo/bufanda) recogida

• Kushma (tunica) natural de lana

• Anaco (vestido suelto) blanco y negro

• Walk as gruesas y abundantes

• Manillas, aretes y orejeras

• Rebozo, fachalina

• Mama chumbi y wawa chumbi

*Sin alpargates aun

1960

Hombre:

• Sombrero de paño

• Poncho de lana con cuello, azul marino

• Camisa blanca con cuello

• Pantalón fundillo

Mujeres:

• No utilizan más sombrero

• Camisa con bordado pequeño, tela delgada

• Fachalina blanca como humawatarina (cubrecabeza)

• Suco fachalina (humawatarina con filo blanco)

• Rebozo

• Walk as abundantes y gruesas

• Manillas de coral

• Ya no utilizan orejeras

• Mama chumbi y wawa chumbi

• Anaco blanco y negro

* Sin alpargates

1980

Hombre:

• Sombrero de paño

• Camisa blanca con cuello

• Poncho Jijon (doble cara, el lado derecho cuadriculado color café o gris)

• Pantalon largo blanco

• Alpargate blanco de cabuya

• Jundariak raku walk akuna

• Makiwatana, zarcillokuna, orejeras nishk akunapash

• Rebozotapash

• Mama chumbi, wawa chumbi

*Manara pargatitapash churanllu k ashk a k ay watakunapipash.

1960 Waranka Iskun Pachak Sukta Chunka Watakunapi

Jarikunapak Churajuna:

• Paniu sumbruta

• Milma ruwanata ashtawan alli sirashk atakuellokunawan ank as llimpikunapi

• Yurak k amiza kuellokunata churashk a

• Mukiti k altzun

Warmikunapak Churajuna:

• Niana sumbruta churan

• K amitza uchilla sisa burdashk ata, fank alla

• Yurak fachalina, yurak umawatarina

• Suku fachalina makniapik a yurakta awashk ata.

• Rebozotapash

• Llashak raku Walk akunatapash

• Koral makiwatanakunapash

• Mama chumbi, wawa chumbi

• Yana anaku, yurak anaku

• Mana orejerasta churanchu

1980 Waranka Iskun Pachak Pusak Chunka

Jarikunapak Churanakuna:

• Paniu zumbruta

• Yurak k amiza kuylluwan Nishk a

• Ishk ay k ara ruwanata

• Chutarishk a pantalonta

• Yurak cabuya pargatita churashk a

Warmikunapak Churanakuna:

• Algodon k amiza jatun sisata burdashk a, vuelokunawan, punchayachik puchakunawan

• Yurak fachalina

• Tazinashk a purink ar yan llandulla k ank apak yapataindijukpik a

• Mama chumbi, wawa chumbi

• Yana anaku, yurak anaku, ank as anku Espaniallaktamanta apamushk a, raku kinkuta sirachishk a

• Llashak jamzi walk ata churashk a

• Llashak makiwatana

• Niana orejerasta churanchu

• Cabuya pargatita churashk a

• Akchata watarina

1980

Men:

• Hat made of cloth

• Shirt, white with a collar

• Poncho jijon, a double-sided poncho, with the right side checked in brown or gray

• Long trousers, in white

• Alpargates, in white, made of cabuya cloth

Women:

• Shirt, made of cotton with wider embroider y, lace, with longer frills and glitter

• Fachalina (large cape), in white

• Humawatarina (head covering), made of black tacina (a silk-like fabric); its name derives from its appearance when worn, since it looks like a tacin, an inverted bird’s nest

• Mama chumbi and wawa chumbi (woven sashes)

• Anaco, in white, black, and blue, made with fabrics from Spain, and with quingo (a type of thick, colorful embroider y)

• Walk as (necklaces), abundant but thinner

• Bracelets, substantial amount worn

• Ear ties no longer worn

• Alpargates, made out of cabuya cloth

• Headband

Kichwa Otavalo Community

Mujeres:

• Camisa de algodón con bordado más ancho, encajes y vuelos más alargados y brillos

• Fachalina blanca

• Humawatarina hecho tacina negro

• Mama chumbi y wawa chumbi

• Anaco blanco, negro y azul, con telas de España y con quingo grueso

• Walk as abundantes, pero más delgadas

• Manillas bastantes

• Ya no utilizan orejeras

• Alpargates de cabuya

• Cinta de pelo

2000

Hombre:

• Sombrero de paño

• Camisa blanca con cuello

• Poncho de lana, doble cara, azul marino y azul celeste

• Pantalón largo blanco

• Alpargate blanco con más alter nativas puede ser de cabuya, o caucho

Mujeres:

• Blusa es de diferente tela (dacrón, ceda, algodón george Mezcla de algodón y ceda) y diferentes modelos, con el bordado más grande y colorido

• Fachalina puede ser blanca, negra o azul, también dependiendo de la ocasión

• Fachalina cruzada, solteras y fachalina con amarrado al frente, casadas

• Humawatarina utilizan las casadas

• Mama chumbi y wawa chumbi

• Anaco blanco, negro y azul, con telas de España y con quingo

• Walk as delgadas y menos abundantes

• Manillas poquito

• Ya no utilizan orejeras

• Alpargates hay más variedad sea cabuya o caucho, igual modelos con un poquito de taco

• Cinta de pelo

2020

Hombre:

• Sombrero de paño, y también viene variantes en colores

• Camisa blanca con cuello y con un poco de bordado en diseños geométricos

• Poncho de lana, doble cara, azul marino y azul celeste

• Pantalón largo blanco

• Alpargate blanco con más alter nativas puede ser de cabuya, o caucho

2000 Ishkay Waranka Watakunapi

Jarikunapak Churanakuna:

• Paniu sumbruta

• Yurak camisa kuillukunawan

• Milma ruwana, ishk ay k arata churajushk a

• Yurak Chutashk a pantalunta

• Yurak pargatita churashka rikunchi cabuyapi o kawchupi

Warmikunapak Churanakuna:

• K amizakunak a mushuk sisakunawan burdashk akuna, shuk laya findukunapi, shuk shuk llaktamantaapamushk akunata churamun

• Fachalinata kunambik a shuk shuk llimpikunatachurajunmi ima raymikunapi churank apak

• Humawatarinatak a cazadakunalla churamun

• Mama chumbi, wawa chumbi

• Anaku yurak, yanapash, ank astapash churanllami

• Ashalla Jamzi walk akunata churamun

ENGLISH: Through our threaded traditions, we connect across generations

SPANISH: Tejiendo tradición, la vestimenta kichwa conecta las generaciones

KICHWA: Awashpa Ñuk anchik Sumaq K awsayta: Ñuk anchik warmi churaykuna tantachishpa k atin mushuk pachakunapi

2000

Men:

• Hat, made of cloth

• Shirt, white with a collar

• Poncho, made of wool, double-sided, navy blue and light blue

• Long trousers, in white

• Alpargates, in white, made of cabuya cloth or rubber

Women:

• Blouses, made of different fabrics (dacron, silk, cotton, and blends), and different styles are available with large and colorful embroider y

• Fachalina (cape) can be white, black, or blue, also depending on the occasion

• Fachalina, crossed, worn by single women, and tied in front, worn by married women

• Humawatarina (head covering), worn by married women

• Mama chumbi and wawa chumbi (woven sashes)

• Anacos (dresses), in white, black, blue, made of fabrics from Spain, and with quingo (thick stitching)

• Walk as (necklaces), thick and thin, and less abundant

• Bracelets, a moderate amount worn

• Ear ties no longer worn

• Alpargates, made of either cabuya cloth or rubber and have more variety, some styles even have a little bit of a heel

• Headband

Mujeres:

• Blusa de diferente tela (dacrón, ceda, algodón george Mezcla de algodón y ceda) y diferentes modelos, con el bordado más grande y colorido

• Fachalina de todo color dependiendo del bordado de la camisa

• Humawatarina utilizan las casadas

• Mama chumbi y wawa chumbi

• Anaco blanco, negro, azul, y otros colores de diferente material, telas de España y Francia

• Walk as son moder nas con modelos más innovadores (estilo collar)

• Manillas abundantes

• Ya no utilizan orejeras

• Alpargates hay más variedad sea cabuya o caucho, igual modelos más moder nizados, con taco reluciente y en diferentes colores

• Cinta de pelo, o trenza

2020 Ishkay Waranka Ishkay Chunga Watakunapi

Jarikunapak Churanakuna:

• Paniu sumbruta, shinallatak ima llimpi tiyashk akuna

• Yurak camitza,asha burdashk akunawanmi

• Milma ruwana, ishk ay k arata churajushk a,shinapash yanalla ank as shinallata punchalla ank as llimpikunata churamushk a k an

• Yurak chutashk a pantalunta

• Yurak pargatita churashk a rikunchi cabuyapi o k awchupi

Warmikunapak Churanakuna:

• K amizakunak a shuk shuk findukunapi, ima laya sirashk akunami, ima yuyashk akunami kunambik a ruran shinallatak churajun

• Fachalina shinallata, ima llimpikunata chimbapurashpa k amizapi sirashk ata churan

• Humawatarinatak a paya warmikunalla churajun, kuitzakunak a mana churanllu

• Mama chumbita wakin munashk akunak a churan, wawa chumbitak a shinallata chimbapurashpa llimpi k amitzawan churan

ENGLISH: Dancers of our Mother Earth SPANISH: Danzantes de Nuestra Tierra KICHWA: Ñuk anchi llakta tushurikunak

E N D N O T E S

1 See Jefferson Eduardo Cabrera Amaiquema and L ayla López Navas, “Aya Uma: Aportes desde las tradiciones orales a la imagen y el concepto,” Ñawi: Arte diseño comunicación 2, no 1 (June 2018), https://doi org/10 37785/nw v2n1 a5

2 See, J Juncosa, Historia de las literaturas del Ecuador #9 (Quito: Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar–Corporación Editora Nacional, 1989)

2020

Men:

• Hat, made of cloth in different colors

• Shirt, in white with a collar and some embroider y in geometric designs

• Poncho, made of wool, double-sided, navy blue and light blue

• Long trousers in white

• Alpargates, in white either of cabuya cloth or rubber

Women:

• Blouse in different fabrics (dacron, silk, cotton, and blends) and different cuts, with large and colorful embroider y

• Fachalina (large cape), in all colors depending on the embroider y of the shirt

• Humawatarina (head covering), worn by married women

• Mama chumbi and wawa chumbi (woven sashes)

• Anacos (dresses), in white, black, blue, and other colors and diverse materials (fabrics from Spain and France)

• Walk as (necklaces), more modern with more contemporar y jewelr y styles

• Bracelets, worn in an abundant amount

• Ear ties no longer worn

• Alpargates, made of cabuya cloth or rubber with more contemporar y styling, including shiny heels and different colorways

• Headbands or braids

3 See, J Juncosa, Historia de las literaturas del Ecuador #10 (Quito: Estudios Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, 1989)

4 This refers to the Kichwa vision of the cyclical characteristic of time, a regenerative change

5 See Andy Vargas, Mitos, leyendas y tradiciones del pueblo kichwa del alto Napo, Ñawpa rimaykunamanta (Texas: Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica, University of Texas, 2013), 26

6 After Castilianization, or the imposition of the Spanish language onto Indigenous peoples by Spanish colonizers, the closest reference in Spanish refers to the process of a transformation of the body or the return to eternity in another life

7 R K aarhus, Historias en el tiempo, historias en el espacio Dualismo en la cultura y lengua Quechua/Quichua (Quito: Abya–Yala, 1989), 46

Trading Places: Making History Interviews with William J. Brodsky and Leo Melamed

T I M O T H Y J . G I L F O Y L E

In the half centur y between 1970 and 2020, Chicago’s renowned comm o d i t y exc h a n g e s t h

B o a r d o f O p t

and structural revolutions. William Brodsky and Leo Melamed not only p l a y e d l e a d i n g r o l e s i n t h o s e e v e n t s ,

exchanges themselves Melamed became chairman of the Chicago Mercantile E xc h a ng e ( CM E ) i

Merc,” Melamed transformed that institution from a comparatively small agricultural commodities exchange and a secondar y futures market into a global derivatives powerhouse In 1972, under his leadership, the CME created the I n t e r n a t i o n a l M o n e t a r y M a

A Chicago Tribune editor later named Melamed “ among the ten most important Chicagoans in business of the twentieth centur y ”1

William Brodsky was equally recognized as a global leader in the development of the future and options markets He rose to the highest levels of leadership at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange In 2008, Brodsky became the first leader of a derivatives exchange to be named chairman of the World Federation of Exchanges, a global body of m o r e t h a n s i x t y o f t h e l e a d i n g exc h a n g e s i n t h e w o r l d . B r o d s ky ’ s

c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o C h i c a g o ’ s f u t u r e s

a n d o p t i o n s m a r ke t s h a v e b e e n

d e s c r i b e d a s “ a m a j o r f a c t o r i n Chicago’s becoming the world’s pree m i n e n t c i t y f o r t h e f u t u r e s a n d

o p t i o n s m a r ke t s ” 2 B o t h m e n h a v e

b e e n i n d u c t e d i n t o “ T h e O r d e r o f

L i n c o l n , ” t h e s t a t e ’ s h i g h e s t h o n o r

f o r p r o f e s s i o n a l a c h i e v e m e n t a n d

p u b l i c s e r v i c e , M e l a m e d i n 2 0 1 6 and Brodsky in 2022 3

M e l a m e d w a s b o r n L e i b e l

M elamdovi ch i n 1932 i n Bi alyst ok ,

Po l a n d , i n t o a J e w i s h f a m i l y o f

s c h o o l t e a c h e r s , Fa y g a ( B a r a k i n )

M a k i n g H i s t o r y A w a r d h o n o r e e s W i l l i a m

Brodsk y (left) and Leo Melamed (right)

Melamdovich and Isaac Melamdovich. In 1939, following Germany ’ s invasion of Poland and the outb r e a k o f Wo r l d Wa

, Lithuania, then across Siberia to Tsuruga, Japan In the spring of 1941, they crossed the Pacific Ocean to Seattle, Washington, and from there to New York City The Melamdovich parents finally found work as after-school Yiddish teachers through the Sholem A

they changed their name to Melamed.4

Melamed has fond memories of the neighborhood “Humboldt Park was wonderful, especially in winter, because it had a big hill, and you could take a sled and come down that hill You could play baseball, you could play football, you could play tennis,” he remembers “I spent a lot of time there as a kid ”5

B y t h e t i m e ,

s i x t h l a n g u a g e h e w a

s t h

countr y they come from Not me They all make a mistake and think I was born in Chicago,” smiles Melamed. “I got a Chicago accent.”6

At L o w e l l , M e l a m e d h a d h i s f i r s t e n c o u n t e r w i t h a n t i s e m i t i s m i n t h e United States He was, in his words, “swiftly educated that to be called a ‘dirty kike’ was not a phrase limited to foreign environs ” He eventually enrolled in T h e o d o r e R o o s e v e l t H i g h S c h o o l i n s t e a d

f n e a r b y M u r r a y F. Tu l e y H i g h School According to Melamed “that was the norm for Jewish young adults because the rumor was that the local young adults at Tuley were antisemitic ”7

But Melamed adapted. “I learned ver y quickly that to be one of the guys y o u h a d t o b e a C u b f a n , s o

n e s s ” 8 At R o o

president “But nobody knew my stor y Nobody I told nobody in high school because I didn’t want to be considered a greenhorn,” explains Melamed. “I told nobody that I was a foreigner And I didn’t have to be a foreigner because nobody could tell from my language That’s how I won the class presidency ”9 Melamed eventually received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois in 1952 and his law degree from John Marshall L aw School (now the University of Illinois Chicago School of L aw) in 1955 10 Brodsky ’ s family was similarly shaped by the antisemitism in turn- of-thet w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y E u r o p e “ M y m a t e r n a l g r a

t h e r w a s M o r r i s B r o d s ky, and his wife was Gertrude or Gussy her nickname was Gussy Brodsky. They c a m e h e r e a s y o u n g a d u l t s , ” ex p l a i n s B r o d s ky “ T h e s t o r y w a s t

Jewish men would get drafted in the Russian army and never come home,” recounts Brodsky “And so they came here ”11

s e m i t i s m B r o d s ky ’ s f a t h e r E r w i n

e s t m e n t f i r m o f J & W S e l i g m a n & C o a n d b e c a

taxes, literally writing the book on the subject, Stock Transfer Taxes Practically A p p l i e d ( 1 9 4 0 ) . W h e n c

Jewish,” according to Brodsky.12

with his mother (below)

Brodsky was born in Brooklyn in 1944 The family escaped the postwar housing shortage by moving to West Hempstead, a newly constructed Long Island village “It was a two -bedroom house, with a master bedroom and one other bedroom,” remembers Brodsky. “My sister and I shared a bedroom. I was four; she was an infant ” When his younger brother was born in 1950, “they raised the roof, literally, and built two bedrooms upstairs What was a two -bedroom house became a four-bedroom house, and each of us had our own bedroom.”13

Brodsky graduated from West Hempstead High School (1961) and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree (1965) and a Juris Doctor (1968) from Syracuse University While at Syracuse L aw School, Brodsky was elected class president. “I ran against the guy who had won ever y presidency of ever y class he had ever been in from junior high school, to high school, to college, and figured he’d just do it again ” Brodsky ’ s opponent was future US president Joseph R Biden Jr Brodsky won by a single vote and remains the only person to ever beat Biden in a nonprimar y election. The two men and their families h a v e r e m

Biden’s Senate office on Capitol Hill 14

Melamed’s interest in futures trading was accidental While looking for a clerkship in law school, he responded to a job advertisement for a “ runner ” a t M e r r i l l Ly n c h , P

Instead, his employment at Merrill Lynch in the produce futures markets of t h e C M E

This illustration from around 1879 depicts the interior view of the hall of the Chicago P

East Madison Street

elected to the CME board in 1967 15

T h e C M E

dealers left the Produce Exchange in 1898, how-

S w i f t & C

1919, the Board restructured yet again, changing the name to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and focusing on commodities beyond butter and eggs, including potatoes, onions, and cheese For most o f t h e t w e n t i

Tr a d e t h e l e a d i n g a g r i c u l

exc

commodities corn, wheat, soybeans while the C M E c o n

and then expanded into meats with pork bellies, cattle, and hogs.16

Melamed first conceived of financial futures new financial instruments such as foreign currencies as a futures product during the 1960s But h i s i d e a w a

M e l a m e d , “A g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t s w e r e s o entrenched and ingrained in the ver y existence of f u t u r e s t h a t t h e i d e a o f a b r a n d n e w a s s e t c l a s s was beyond consideration.” He even admits that if “I had presented currency as an asset class for futures directly after my election, it would have been laughable at best ”17

Melamed nevertheless persevered. “Milton Friedman, E. B. Harris, and I m e t f o r l u n c h o n S a t u

New York The moment has forever been engraved in my memor y, ” Melamed recounts “I began by asking him to promise not to laugh Then, wasting no t i m e , I p u t f o r t h m y i d e a : ‘ I a m t h i n k i n g o f l a u n c h i n g a f u t u r e s m a r ke t i n

Franklin and Washington Streets, c 1920

444 West Jackson Street were announced From left: E. B. Harris, Dan Jesser, Mayor Richard J Daley, Leo Melamed, and Lee A Freeman Sr

w o r l d c u

Friedman did not hesitate ‘It’s a wonderful idea,’ he said, adding emphatically, ‘ you should do it!’ Stunned, I could hardly believe my ears.”18

In 1972, the CME introduced the International Money Market (IMM), the first financial futures market offering contracts on seven foreign currencies T

explains “Although the IMM began life with foreign currency contracts, itself a revolutionar y departure from the established agricultural base for futures, it represented a much broader concept It introduced the idea of instruments in finance that would forever change and advance the concept of investment.”

In the following years, Melamed led the CME and IMM in creating new, innovative financial instruments, including futures on US Treasur y Bills in 1976, Eurodollars in 1981, and stock index futures in 1982 Nobel laureate Merton

innovation of the past twenty years ”19

After college and law school, Brodsky joined the Wall Street-based investment banking and securities firm of Model, Roland & Co in 1968 Moving b a c k t o h i

with his father “ The learning never stopped,” Brodsky recounts “ We’d get on the train and we’d talk business, and we’d get on the train and go home we would talk more business ” This proved instrumental in Brodsky ’ s education “In many respects I had this amazing opportunity or experience of learning from one of the great teachers on Wall Street, which was constant It wasn’t formal, it was just conversation, but it was one topic, after another topic, after another topic. And I sucked it up like a sponge.”20

Here, Melamed meets with Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in November 1983, the year Washington took office

The fatherly advice was more than just business. “I have letters from when he passed away that I saved for my kids,” explains Brodsky “One letter from one of the partners at one of the successor firms said that he was either the only or the most honest guy on Wall Street Beautiful letters The one thing I ’ v e t r i e d t o i n s

thing I learned ”21

I n 1 9 7 4 ,

Exchange. Over the next eight years, he held a variety of roles, including overs

options trading Brodsky also served for seven years as the American Stock Exchange representative on the board of the Options Clearing Corporation I n 1 9 7 9 , h e w a

American Stock Exchange 22

Brodsky ’ s work at the Options Clearing Corporation required numerous trips to Chicago These proved life changing “It opened my eyes to the culture of the businesspeople on the futures and options side in Chicago that I would not have had,” Brodsky explains “ The American Stock Exchange and t h e N e w Yo r k S t

mean that more people had to share in the profits,” Brodsky admits By contrast, Chicago’s exchanges created thousands of seats as they expanded into f i n a n

“ T

York,” summarizes Brodsky “ To me the biggest cultural difference between New York and Chicago was that in Chicago there was an openness to allow strangers in just because you ’ re willing to give them a chance.”23

In 1982, Brodsky was recruited to the CME as an executive vice president working with the newly formed Index and Options Market “ What we knew a b o u t o p t i o n s c o u l d h a v e b e

admits. “ We needed someone from the equities world who understood both indexes and options ”24 Brodsky was that someone

B r o d s ky a s s e r t s t h a t l e a v i n g N e

Chicago was the biggest risk we ever took,” Brodsky recalls. They had no family and no friends there But the Syracuse University connection came into play o n c e m o r e : t h e a l u m n i a s s o c i a t i o n c o n n e

h e Brodskys to alumna Renée Schine Crown, whose philanthropy established and maintains the Schine Student Center at Syracuse “ We co -hosted a tailgate party with t h e C r o w n s T h e y b e c a m e o u r r o l e m o d e l s i n c i v i c engagement and philanthropy ”25

B r o d s ky q u i c k l y b e c a m e a n ex p e r t i n s t o c k i n d ex futures at the CME and restructured the departments a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s t a f f d u r i n g h i s f i r s t y e a r “ T h e y knew futures, but didn’t know much about the stock m a r ke t . I k n e w t h e s t o c k m a r ke t , b u t d i d n ’ t k n o w much about futures,” Brodsky explains Important risk

m a n a g e m e n t p r o j e c t s w e r e ex p a n d e d a n d r e f i n e d i n Chicago with the electronification of financial futures

William and Joan Brodsk y married (above) a

r e e s o n s , Michael, Stephen, and Jonathan, pose for a family photo

d u r i n g a n u n p r e c e d e n t e d p e r i o d o f g r o w t h a n d w e r e then copied by exchanges all over the world Previously, no such exchanges ex i s t e d a n y w h e r e e l s e i n t h e w o r l d Ac c o r d i n g t o B r o d s ky, “ s t o c k i n d ex futures are all around the world now, but they really started in a meaningful way in Chicago.”26

T h e e l e c t r o n i f i c a t i o n o f exc h a n g e t r a d i n g w a s s p e a r h e a d e d b y L e o

Melamed In 1987, the CME introduced Globex, the world’s first electronic trading system. Melamed became its founding chairman.27 “Over the years, ”

The pit of the Chicago Board of Trade in 1896, located at 141 W Jackson Blvd in a building designed by William W Boyington

In 1933, the Chicago Board of Trade was at the same location, but in a new Art Deco sk yscraper designed by Holabird & Root

technology was going to demand a revolutionar y change in the

from the open outcr y system the seemingly chaotic practice of t

the trading pit was considered heresy Even Melamed thought s o H e w r o t e t

achieve market liquidity the continuous flow of bids and offers for a product ” Another way of putting it, in Melamed’s words: “A departure from open outcr y was the equivalent in physics to the splitting of the atom ”28

T h e w o r l d

coming “ Technology advanced far faster than anyone thought it could,” he now admits “I realized it would not stop nor even slow down ” Melamed quotes the economist John Maynard Keynes: “‘When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’ I totally agree ”29

M e l a m e d r

stake “If we did not accept the future,” he asserted, “ we would p e r i s h . ” M e l a

“

opposed to technology as such; they just wanted to protect their income, which for them meant open outcr y ” Melamed realized if traders could protect their income, they would not resist any electronic advancement. “I took it upon myself to revolutionize the 1,000y e a r- o l d

Globex the CME’s electronic transaction system ”30

Chicago Mercantile Exchange

This undated photograph of the CME shows banks of telephones extending from the original pit

Melamed formally proposed CME’s Globex Trading System in 1987, and it was introduced in 1992 under the name Post Market Trade, or PMT The new system was only applied to new markets and during hours when the current markets did not trade, thereby protecting the open outcr y system in the short term. PMT did not operate during regular market hours from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., except for new markets yet-to -be-devised In effect, “it proposed not to touch existing markets, which represented the income for most of the floor,” explains Melamed. “It thus protected the income for floor traders, and Merc’s markets i

outcr y ” Melamed summarizes: “ The idea was simplicity itself it would fully protect present income while allowing technology to advance ”31 G

Blackberr y, Polaroid, Barnes & Noble, Nokia, R adioShack,

good examples of highly successful enterprises that failed, or whose potential was decidedly diminished as a consequence of changes in technology, which they failed to recognize or adopt ”32

Globex was the world’s first global electronic trading platform for options and futures contracts The fully electronic trading system enabled traders to conduct transactions from booths on the exchange floor, a home office, or a l

recorded on October 19, 2004, CME Globex had become the world’s premier market for derivative trading “ Today of course all world markets trade elect r o n i c a l l y, ” M e l a m e d p o i n

tially Today arguably it is the most advanced futures exchange in the world ”33

Brodsky was integral to this histor y In 1985, Brodsky was named president and CEO of the CME, positions he held for more than a decade Those w e r e h i s t o r i c y e a r s f o r t h e C M E . B r o d s ky

launched the original CME Globex system, expanded the upper trading floor, and released the CME’s fastest-growing product: the E-mini S&P 500 futures contract. He oversaw the evolution from the open outcr y system to an electronic system of trading Electronic systems in other parts of the world represented a threat to the CME and Chicago Board Options Exchange (CB OE), who resisted abandoning the open outcr y system “ Through the evolution of, or the transition from agricultural markets to financial markets,” summarizes Brodsky, “Chicago made its mark on the world for financial innovation or creating tradable financial products ”34

These buttons from the CME commemor a t e t h e G l o b ex 2 Tr a d i n g S y s t e m o n September 20, 1998, and E-mini S&P 500 Futures & Options on September 9, 1997

Distinction in Visionar y Leadership on June 5, 2024

n 1 9

CME to join the CB OE as its CEO and chairman The C B O E w a s c r e a t e d b y t h

n 1973 in order to diversify its financial products, thereby

c r e a t i n g t h e f i

exc h a n

- t

w a s t h e l a r g e s t o p t i

still is the largest options exchange in the world,” reminisces Brodsky “But it was in the shadow of these two futures giants, and most people don’t know the difference between futures and options anyway ”35

B r o d s ky c o n f r o n t e d t w o c h a l l

Fi r s t , “ e l e c t r o n i c t r a d i n g w a s g a i n i n g m o m e n t u m , ”

B r o d s ky r e c o u n t s T h e c r e a t i o n o f t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l

S ec ur i t i es E xc h a ng e ( I S E ) b y E -Tr a d e f ound er W i l l i a m

A s b u r y Po r t e r, “ w a s a d i r e c t c o m p e t i t o r w i t h s a l e s o n the CB OE and all the US options exchanges,” explains

B r o d s ky T h e I S E e f f e c t i v e l y a u t o m a t e d m o s t o p t i o n s

t r a d i n g “ We h a d t o c o n v i n c e t h e t r a d e r s t h a t e v e n

t h o u g h t h e y w e r e a f r a i d o f t h e b l a c k b ox t h a t i f w e d i d n ’ t h a v e a w a y o f c o m p e t i n g w i t h I S E , t h e y w e r e

g o i n g t o t a ke o u r b u s i n e s s a w a y, ” B r o d s ky r e c o u n t s

Not surprisingly, the traders and “ floor members were a f r a i d t h e y w o u l d l o s e t h e i r j o b s . ” Af t e r 2 0 0 0 , “ T h e biggest fight of my business career was getting the floor to recognize if we did not have some sort of electronic trading, we would be out of business ”36

T h e C B O E a d o p t e d a n i n n o v a t i v e “ h y b r i d t r a d i n g system” customers could decide if they wanted to trade electronically or manually “ The hybrid system is what saved CB OE,” Brodsky concludes. “Others would have said forget the floor, just go all electronic And we reali z e d t h a t w e h a d t h i s t r e m e n d o u s r e s e r v o i r o f t r a d i n g talent, and if we could get the best we called it the best o f b o t h w o r l d s

that’s really what we did ”37

The second challenge was transforming the CBOE into a public institution t h r o u g h d

into a public company controlled by shareholders and then issuing an independent public offering in 2010 One source of resistance was the Chicago Board of Trade “It took years of litigation because the Chicago Board of Trade had a stranglehold on it for decades,” recounts Brodsky. Why? “ They ’ re afraid of the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] They didn’t want to own a securities exchange” and thereby be subject to federal regulation

Another pocket of resistance originated from fear “People said to me you guys will not stand as an independent entity for 90 days because you ’ re so attractive and so cheap that the Merc is probably going to buy you, ” explains Brodsky “It didn’t happen because they were afraid of getting involved with the SEC And it still hasn’t happened ” And the independent public offering proved beneficial. “I’m happy to say that the stock, when we went public in June of 2010, was worth about $2 billion; today it’s worth about $10 or $11 billion,” Brodsky points out “If you turned your seat in and got shares, and didn’t sell your shares, you did ver y, ver y well.”39

new position as chief operating officer and exe

Mercantile Exchange

By 2014, the CB OE was the largest US options exchange with an annual t r a d i n g v o l u m e o f a r o u n d 1 2 7 b i l l i o n T h e C B O

o r e than 2,200 companies, 22 stock indices, and 140 exchange-traded funds.40

Melamed remained the leader of the CME throughout the final decades of the twentieth centur y and into the twenty-first “I declined to carr y the title chairman because I believed that a title is overrated,” argues Melamed “I told my Board of Directors that after a couple of years, I will release the chairman title and let the Board find another title for me so that I can continue lead the C M E ” M e l a m

chairman of the CME Executive Committee, and chairman of the IMM “Over t i m e I a g r e e d t o a s s u

with which I am identified to this day ”41

Melamed was instrumental in shaping what proved to be the most transf

decade of the twenty-first centur y. In 2000, CME demutualized and set the stage for the CME to become the first US financial exchange to go public two y e a r s l a t e r I n 2 0 0 3 , C M E c

Chicago Board Options Exchange

merged with some argue took over the Board of Trade in an approximately $8 billion deal The newly constituted CME Group Inc quickly boasted more than $4 trillion in combined notional value of trades per day On Januar y 13, 2 0 0 8 , e

Globex.42 The combined entity remains the largest exchange in the world.

The transformation of Chicago’s exchanges, however, did not end with the merger L ater in 2008, the CME Group purchased and merged with the New York Mercantile Exchange and its Commodity Exchange division, the primar y futures and options market for trading metals such as gold, silver, copper, and a

Commodity Exchange. The value of the CME quadrupled during the next two years, with a market cap of over $25 billion By 2023, CME was the largest options and futures contracts exchange in the world, trading multiple types of financial instruments: interest rates, equities, currencies, and commodities Operating virtually around the clock, the Globex Trading System conceived by Leo Melamed remains the heart of the CME 43

B r o d s ky b e

look back, 1982 was really the beginning of a golden era of exchanges,” he concludes. “ What was going on in Chicago was the catalyst that really gave b i r t h t o exc h

m o d e l

analogy, “became the financial counterparts to particle physics and molecular b i o l o g y. ” A f o r m e r c h

f i n a n c e ” “O v e r t i m e o t h e r exc h a n g e s w o u l d c o m e t o C h i c a g o , ” ex p l a i n s Brodsky The CME simply possessed a more innovative and risk-taking cult u r e a n d w a s a t t h e c u t t i n g e d g e o f e l e c t r o n i f i c a t

“ That’s why we called Chicago the mecca for financial derivatives of futures and options ”44 M e l a m e d ’ s a n d B r o d s ky

Melamed, for example, advised his British counterparts in the creation of the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) in 1982 That was quickly followed with invitations that contributed to the birth of the Korea

Brodsk y with his family at the 2023 Making Histor y Awards, where he was awarded the M a r s h a l l

and Innovation.

Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in 1983, the Singapore International Monetar y Exchange (SIMEX) in 1984, Shanghai Futures Exchange in 1999, a n d t h e S h a n g h

eventually served on the Chinese International Advisor y Council of Chinese Securities Regulator y Commission.45

Brodsky likewise advised numerous startup futures and options exchanges around the world He contributed to the creation of many major futures and o p t i o n s p r o d u c t s s u c h

C B O E Vo l a

chairman of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) in 2007–8, and then c h a i r m a n o f t h e W F

exchange to be named chairman of the WFE 46

M e l a m e d a n d B r o d s ky a c k n o w l e d g e t h e r e v

l u t i o n a r y i m p a c t o f t h e s e changes “ The creation of an electronic trading system was one of the most i m p o r t a n t a

beyond Chicago “ That was true not just for American institutions, but internationally It aided the process of globalization,” argues Melamed 47 Similarly, when asked what was the most historic event of his career, Brodsky responds w i t h o u t h e s

e d l o s

t u m , ” recounts Brodsky “ Winning that battle was the hardest and most satisfying accomplishment of my career ”48

Both men continue their energetic work in the investment and political w o r l d s I n 1 9 9 1 , M e

& Associates He remains the chairman and CEO In addition to multiple governments to which he has served as a special advisor regarding futures markets, Melamed has served on the global markets advisor y committee of the U S C o m m o d i t y Fu

active with the CME Group 49

B r o d s ky l e f

y board of Cedar Street Asset Management, a small boutique investment mana

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange trading f l o o r w a s o n c e f i l l e d w i t h o p e n o u t c r y traders in brightly colored jackets wor n to identif y their firms and draw attention in the pits

investors with stock portfolios 50 Br od s ky ’

interest of public officials in Chicago In 2019, Governor J B Pritzker named him to co -chair the newly formed Illinois Pension Consolidation Feasibility Task Force Under his leadership and recommendation, 652 Municipal Fire and Police Pension Funds were consolidated into two separate funds, one for police and one for firemen “All the cities around the state Evanston, L ake Forest, Highland Park, Peoria, you name it each city had two pension funds, one for the police, one for the firemen You couldn’t think of a more inefficient way to manage money, ” explains Brodsky.51 By consolidating the hundreds of small funds into two billion-dollar funds (the Illinois Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund and Illinois Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund), Illinois taxpayers will save billions, and beneficiaries with receive better returns.

The CME trading floor was busy with runn e r

Januar y 6, 1976, the day the IMM opened for trading of US Treasur y Bills.

I n 2 0 1 3 , M a y o r R a h m E m m a n u e l a s k e d B r o d s k y t o c h a i r N a v y P i e r,

I n c D u r i n g t h e e n s u i n g d e c a d e , B r o d s k y o v e r s a w t h e r e n o v a t i o n o f t h e p i e r, t h e i n s t a l l a t i o n o f a n e w Fe r r i s w h e e l , t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e Ya r d

Theater, and the raising of $8 million from board members to keep the Pier

s u s t a i n a b l e d u r i n g t h e C OV I D - 1 9 p a n d e m i c “ We ’ v e i n v e s t e d o v e r $ 3 0 0

m i l l i o n i n N a v y P i e r i n m y t e n - y e a r t e n u r e , ” d e c l a r e s B r o d s ky “A n d I w i l l

t e l l y o u t h a t I ’ v e d o n e m a n y t h i n g s i n t h e c o m m u n i t y I ’ v e w o r ke d f o r t h e g o v e r n o r, f o r p e n s i o n s ; I ’ v e d o n e h o s p i t a l b o a r d s f o r o v e r 2 0 y e a r s .

N o t h i n g g a v e m e a s m u c h g r a t i f i c a t i o n a s N a v y P i e r b e c a u s e i t a f f e c t s s o m a n y p e o p l e i n t h e c o m m u n i t y ” 52

B r o d s ky a n d M e l a m e d a g r e e t h a t t h e b u s i n e s s c u l t u r e o f C h i c a g o w a s i n s t r u m e n t a l t o t h e i r s u c c e s s . Fo

r e t h e essence: Chicago “is the risk capital of the world”; and “Risk is the name of our city ”53 “One of the things that made the Board of Trade, the Merc, and t h e C B O E s u c c e s s f u l w e r e t h e s e g u y s f r o

Brodsky explains. “ Why not New York? These guys had an openness to new i d e a s t h a t t h e g u y s i n N e w Yo r k d i d n ’ t h a v e A n d i t ’ s t h a t o p e n n e s s t h a t makes this such a good stor y for Chicago histor y ”54

Timothy J. Gilfoyle teaches histor y at L oyola University Chicago and is the author o f M i l l e n n i u m Pa r k : C r e a t i n g a C h i c a g o L a n d m a r k ( U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i c a g o Press, 2006)

I L L U S T R A T I O N S | All images courtesy of the awardees unless otherwise noted 58, CHM, ICHi-051142, Grant Hawtin, artist 59, top: ICHi-075747; b o t t o m : C H M , I C H i - 1 7 6 4 2 5 6 0 , t o p : S T- 1 9 0 3 1 1 8 7 - 0 0 2 6 , C h i c a g o S u nTimes collection, CHM. 62, top: CHM, ICHi-018146; DN-A-0368, Chicago

Brodksy (second from left) at the Centennial Wheel raising in Januar y 2016 in honor of t h e 1 0 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y o f N a v y P i e r T h e n e w w h e e l f e a t u r e d e n c l o s e d , c l i m a t econtrolled gondolas

Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM. 63, bottom: CHM, ICHi051332 64, top: CHM, ICHi-040642; middle: CHM, ICHi-040856; bottom: Ky l e F l u b

19031187-0006, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

F O R F U R T H E R R E A D I N G | On the histor y of Chicago exchanges, see E r i k a S O l s o n

( J

Emergence of a Global Financial Powerhouse (HarperCollins, 1993); and Jeffrey L R o

Stuff Enterprises, 2008) Useful articles and interviews on William Brodsky i

Lyudvig, “ William Brodsky: A Pivotal Figure in Listed Derivatives,” Traders

magazine com/featured articles/william-brodsky-a-pivotal-figure-in-listedderivatives/ Brodsky ’ s philanthropy is discussed in Eileen Korey, “ Turning O

University News, Dec. 5, 2022, accessed March 3, 2023, https://news.syr.edu/ blog/2022/12/05/turning- orange-power-and-purpose-into -a-lifetime- of-civicleadership/ Leo Melamed has lectured and written extensively on financial markets The best place to begin is with his most recent memoir Man of the Futures: The Stor y of Leo Melamed and the Birth of Moder n Finance (Harriman H o u s e L

Markets (John Wiley & Sons, 1992); Escape to the Futures, with Bob Tamarkin (John Wiley & Sons, 1996); and For Cr ying Out L oud (John Wiley & Sons; 2 0 0 9 ) H i s e c

Melamed’s The Tenth Planet (Bonus Books, 1984) is a work of science fiction. M e l a m e d ’ s s o n a n d f i l m

the documentar y Futures Past (2016), which examines the adoption of electronic trading and the decline of the open outcr y system

E N D N O T E S

1 Keynote address by Christopher Giancarlo, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), before the Futures Industr y Association (FIA) Annual Conference, in Boca R aton, Florida, March 14, 2019, quoted in Leo Melamed, Man of the Futures: The Stor y of Leo Melamed and the Birth of Moder n Finance (Petersfield, Hampshire: Harriman House, 2021), Kindle version, location 398, 409 (father of financial futures); “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia, last updated October 18, 2023, accessed March 8, 2024, https://en wikipedia org/ wiki/Leo Melamed (Tribune)

2 Anna Lyudvig, “ William Brodsky: A Pivotal Figure in Listed Derivatives,”

Traders Magazine, March 23, 2022 (preeminent city), accessed April 1, 2023, https://www tradersmagazine com/ featured articles/william-brodsky-apivotal-figure-in-listed-derivatives/; Eileen Korey, “ Turning Orange Power and Purpose into a Lifetime of Civic Leadership,” Syracuse University News, December 5, 2022 (World Federation of Exchanges), accessed March 3, 2023, https://news syr edu/blog/2022/12/05/ turning- orange-power-and-purpose-intoa-lifetime- of-civic-leadership/; “ William Brodsky, The Multi-Purpose JD: How My L aw Degree Helped Me in My Career in Business,” University of Chicago L aw School, 2023 (World Federation of Exchanges), accessed March 31, 2023, https://www law uchicago edu/recordings/

william-brodsky-multi-purpose-jd-howmy-law-degree-helped-me-my-careerbusiness; William J Brodsky biography, The Civic Federation, accessed March 31, 2023, https://www civicfed org/sites/ default/files/brodsky bio 041922 -approved by bb pdf

3 Brodsky biography, The Civic Federation; “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

4 Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 967 (Sholem Aleichem Folks Institute); “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia; Jeffrey L Rodengen, Past, Present & Futures: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (Fort L auderdale, FL: Wright Stuff Enterprises, 2008), 32 (name change); Nathan Guttman, “Leo Melamed Retraces Path of Escape from Nazis to Japanese Port,” Jewish Forward, June 27, 2014 (name

change), accessed March 8, 2024, https:// forward com/news/200802/leo -melamedretraces-path- of-escape-from-nazis-to/.

5 Leo Melamed, oral histor y interview by Timothy J Gilfoyle, June 11, 2024, deposited in the collection of the Chicago Histor y Museum (hereafter, Melamed, interview)

6 Melamed, interview; “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

7 Melamed, interview; Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 971 (dirty)

8 Melamed, interview

9 Melamed, interview

10 “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

11 William Brodsky, oral histor y interview by Timothy J Gilfoyle, April 25, 2023, and May 30, 2023, deposited in the collection of the Chicago Histor y Museum (hereafter, Brodsky, interview)

12 Brodsky, interview

13 Brodsky, interview

14. Brodsky, interview; Korey, “ Turning Orange Power and Purpose into a Lifetime of Civic Leadership” (interns); Shia K apos, “Biden’s Only Head-to -Head Loss,” Politico, Oct 21, 2020, accessed March 3, 2023, https://www politico com/ newsletters/illinois-playbook/2020/ 10/21/bidens- only-head-to -head-lossrestaurant-ruin-lightfoots-lobbying-ruleblago -backs-wilson-490666; “ William J Brodsky,” Wikipedia, last updated Feb 8, 2023, accessed March 3, 2023, https:// en wikipedia org/wiki/William J Brodsky

15 Melamed, interview; “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

16 Brodsky, interview (meats); Rodengen, Past, Present & Futures, 10, 20; “Chicago Mercantile Exchange,” Wikipedia, last updated April 2, 2023, accessed April 4, 2023, https://en wikipedia org/wiki/ Chicago Mercantile Exchange

17. Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 1972

18 Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 2119–32

19 Bob Tamarkin, The Merc: The Emergence of a Global Financial Powerhouse (New York: HarperBusiness, 1993), ix (IMM); Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 398–409, 2255; “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia; “Chicago Mercantile

Exchange,” Wikipedia

20 Brodsky, interview; Brodsky biography, Civic Federation

21 Brodsky, interview

22 “ William Brodsky, ‘ The Multi-purpose JD’” (WFE); Rodengen, Past, Present & Futures, 90; “ William J Brodsky,” Wikipedia (head of options trading); Brodsky biography, Civic Federation

23 Brodsky, interview

24 Leo Melamed, with Bob Tamarkin, Leo Melamed: Escape to the Futures (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996), 314; Rodengen, Past, Present & Futures, 90; Teng, “Complete Interview ”

25 Korey, “ Turning Orange Power and Purpose into a Lifetime of Civic Leadership ”

26 Teng, “Complete Interview ” ; Melamed, with Tamarkin, Leo Melamed, 314 (stock index futures)

27 “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

28 Melamed, interview

29 Melamed, interview

30 Melamed, interview; Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 428 (Globex)

31 Melamed, interview

32 Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 4724

33 Melamed, interview; Rodengen, Past, Present & Futures, 111; “Chicago Mercantile Exchange,” Wikipedia (one billionth transaction)

34 Brodsky, interview; Rodengen, Past, Present & Futures, 91; Teng, “Complete Interview ” ; “ William J. Brodsky,” Wikipedia; Brodsky biography, Civic Federation

35 Brodsky, interview; Rodengen, Past, Present & Future, 91; Tamarkin, The Merc, x; Teng, “Complete Interview ” ; William J Brodsky,” Wikipedia; “Chicago Board Options Exchange,” Wikipedia, last updated March 16, 2023, accessed April 4, 2023, https://en wikipedia org/ wiki/Chicago Board Options Exchange; Brodsky biography, Civic Federation

36 Brodsky, interview; Teng, “Complete Interview ” (biggest fight); L aura Bianchi, “Catching Up with Former Longtime CB OE Exec William Brodsky,” Crain’s Chicago Business, August 19, 2022 (lose jobs), accessed March 31, 2023,

https://www chicagobusiness com/ takeaway/executive-profile-former-longtime-cboe-exec-william-brodsky

37 Teng, “Complete Interview ”

38 Brodsky, interview; Bianchi, “Catching Up with Former Longtime CB OE Exec William Brodsky ” (litigation); “ William J Brodsky,” Wikipedia; Brodsky biography, Civic Federation

39 Brodsky, interview; Bianchi, “Catching Up with Former Longtime CB OE Exec William Brodsky ” ($11 billion)

40 “Chicago Board Options Exchange,” Wikipedia

41 Melamed, interview

42 Rodengen, Past, Present & Futures, vii; “Chicago Mercantile Exchange,” Wikipedia; “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

43 “Chicago Mercantile Exchange,” Wikipedia; Will Kenton, “ What is COMEX? Definition, Histor y, and Examples of Metals Traded,” Investopedia, updated May 19, 2022, accessed April 25, 2023, https://www investopedia com/terms/c/comex asp

44 Brodsky, interview; Melamed, Man of the Futures, location 4804–19 (particle finance)

45 Melamed, interview; Melamed, with Tamarkin, Leo Melamed, 315 (LIFFE); “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

46 “ William Brodsky, ‘ The Multi-purpose JD’” (WFE); Lyudvig, “ William Brodsky: A Pivotal Figure in Listed Derivatives” (VIX); “ William J Brodsky,” Wikipedia; Brodsky biography, Civic Federation

47 Melamed, interview

48 Bianchi, “Catching Up with Former Longtime CB OE Exec William Brodsky ”

49 Melamed, interview; “Leo Melamed,” Wikipedia

50 Brodsky, interview; Lyudvig, “ William Brodsky: A Pivotal Figure in Listed Derivatives”; Teng, “Complete Interview ” ; Bianchi, “Catching Up with Former Longtime CB OE Exec William Brodsky ” ; Brodsky biography, Civic Federation

51 Brodsky, interview; Brodsky biography, The Civic Federation

52. Brodsky, interview.

53 Melamed, interview

54 Brodsky, interview