October 31 - November 6, 2022

Starting June 27 Streetwise will cost $3

Tips

We Are Giving Our Vendors a Raise!

Beginning June 27, StreetWise costs $3.00 + tips.

Vendors will now earn $1.85 per issue instead of $1.10 for every magazine sold.

Why now?

StreetWise has not increased the price of our magazine to the vendors or customers since 2008! It was only the second increase in the 30-year history of StreetWise.

The cost of living has gone up 34% since 2008. A dollar's worth of goods in 2008 would cost $1.34 today. Our vendors deserve more money in their pockets to offset the rising costs of food, transportation and housing.

StreetWise magazine is an award-winning weekly publication that also serves as a platform for people with lived experience to share their stories and their views as writers and more.

Post-COVID inflation has hit us hard. Our production costs have increased 25% over last year.

Selling StreetWise is a Job

Selling StreetWise isn’t begging, and it isn’t asking for charity. It’s a job. Our vendors are self-employed micro entrepreneurs who build relationships and create connections between and across communities that change perceptions about homeless and low-income individuals.

The new price of $3, with vendors paying $1.15 for their papers, means each paper sold nets the vendor a solid $1.85. It raises the floor so that our vendors earn a wage that is worth their while. It’s time for this to happen. We talked with our vendors and received feedback from some of our customers and supporters. We have nearly unanimous support for the price increase. Now is the time.

The price increase, by expanding one of the most reliable income sources we have, will give StreetWise vendors an income they need to thrive, and not just survive.

Our Vendors Deserve a Raise!

Arts & Entertainment

Event highlights of the week!

SportsWise

The SportsWise team discusses current events.

Cover Story: Hidden Truths Project

Artist Pamela Bannos uncovers the Hidden Truths about Chicago's mid-19th century cemetery, which was located in what we know now as Lincoln Park. This cemetery opened in 1843, after which the Chicago Common Council forbid burials in the city's first two cemeteries. These were located along the lake, at the southern and northern borders of the city: what is now 22nd Street, and at Chicago Avenue, extending to what is now Oak Street and west to Clark Street.

From the streets

The first major new park along South Halsted in more than 50 years, POP! Heights Park, opened on the Far South Side.

The Playground

ON THE COVER: The Couch Tomb on June 14, 2020 (P. Burley photo). THIS PAGE: The Catholic Cemetery Hidden Truths marker located on the south side of North Avenue, be tween Dearborn and State Streets. The Catholic Cemetery was located between North Av enue, Dearborn, Astor and Schiller Streets. Its bodies were later moved to Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, but skeletons have been found in the 20th century. (Pamela Bannos photo).

DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opin ions, or positions of StreetWise.

Dave Hamilton,

Hanney,

Jones,

Youngquist,

773-334-6600

2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Compiled by Dave Hamilton, Suzanne Hanney, and Sarah Linde

Power of Rhetoric!

William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ W hen Caesar’s military prowess and mass popularity put absolute power within his reach, political rivals conspire to assassinate him before he can become Emperor. Through demagoguery, they turn public opinion to their favor. Shakespeare’s tragedy is filled with both action and ideas and will be performed in modern dress in Invictus’s intimate storefront space, the Reginald Vaughn Theatre, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave. Julius Caesar is part of Invictus Theatre Company’s sixth season, focusing on the theme of Rhetoric & Groups. The three-play season – Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar," Katori Hall’s "The Mountaintop," and Arthur Miller’s "The Crucible" – examine the power of rhetoric to move community opinion and action, whether for good or for ill. $35. Monday, Thursday - Saturday at 7 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. More info, tickets, and season subscriptions are available now at InvictusTheatreCo.com. "Julius Ceasar" will be performing through November 20.

Music To Make Time Stand Still!

Osvaldo Golijov: 'Falling Out of Time'

Falling Out of Time is a theatrical concert for voice and instruments, created by one of the world’s leading composers and performed by 13 musicians from all over the world. It began 10 years ago as a prose-poem written by the Booker Prize-winning author David Grossman of Jerusalem, following the death of his son. In 2019 it became a song cycle by composer Osvaldo Golijov, winner of Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundation fellowships. The libretto is adapted by Golijov from Grossman’s novel "Falling Out of Time," as translated by Jessica Cohen. The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. November 3, at The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive. Tickets start at $20 at www.harristheaterchicago.org

Tale As Old As Time!

‘The Tortoise and the Hare’

The Chicago Kids Company at Stahl Family Theatre, 5900 W Belmont Ave., presents the classic story of the "Tortoise and the Hare" with a special twist! The Hare is ready to win all the blue ribbons again at this year’s Stringbean Valley County Fair when an unlikely challenger comes to town. Soon the race is on! But who will win first place? The “slow and steady” tortoise? Or the “fast and furious” hare? This show features a cast composed of silly animals and an excit ing, photo-finish ending. "The Tortoise and the Hare" is a one-hour musical based on the origi nal fairy tale. It features a hilarious script written by Jesus Perez, with original songs composed by Paige Coffman. The show will run from November 3-23, and tickets cost $15. For tickets and more information, visit chicagokidscompany.com/tortoise

Photography, Old-School!

Jay Wolke: ‘Past, Present, Future’

For the exhibition "Past, Present, Future," artist Jay Wolke took a decidedly experimental approach to making pho tographs with the Al Vista panoramic camera. Borrowed from the Rod Slemmons Camera Archive, the Al Vista was made by the Multiscope & Film Corporation around 1900. It was intended to give the amateur photographer the ability to photograph grand landscapes on location. Instead of using this camera as intended, Wolke repurposed this instru ment to record abstract “landscapes” made in the studio. His intention is to merge analogue with digital, choreo graphing film exposures that utilize multiple semi-transparent backdrops and lighting effects in tandem with moving elements. RSVP for the free opening reception on Friday, November 4, 6-9 p.m. at Epiphany Center for the Arts, 201 S. Ashland Ave. at epiphanychi.com

Reviving A Fan-Favorite!

Chicago Danztheatre ‘This Is Not A Pipe’ Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble launches the company’s 2022/23 season with the live remount of its 2006 pro duction “This is Not a Pipe,” Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., November 5 – 20, in the Auditorium at Ebenezer Lu theran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave. The performance will be accompanied by an art exhibition inspired by Rene Magritte. Guests are invited to arrive early or stay after the performance to view the exhibition. With an all-female and nonbinary identifying cast, “This is Not a Pipe” will take the works of Sigmund Freud, Magritte and the birth of modern psychology and will pull it all apart to question what is identity, sexuality, womanhood and dream interpre tation, while bringing some of Magritte’s images to life. The performance is timeless and timely, going to great depth to explore and enlighten. Tickets are $20 at Danztheatre.org

They Are The Champions!

Champions Ball Benefiting Special Olympics Illinois

The Champions Ball is truly that: an inspirational event for those who witness what the athletes of Special Olympics Illinois show them in ability, not disability. The athletes are thrilled to see the many people who support them at this black tie gala that aims to raise over $1 million for Special Olympics Illinois program ming. The program that Champions Ball attendees experience is also second to none, culminating in a very moving and encouraging cinematic piece that promotes unification, ability and sport. The confidence that is instilled in the athletes of Special Olympics Illinois by participating in the program is highlighted as we see them encouraged to succeed and be motivated to achieve their dreams off the field of play as well. $400 at Hyatt Regency Chicago (151 E. Wacker Drive) 6-10 p.m.on November 5 at one.bidpal.net/ championsball

Choo-Choo!

RAILROADERS: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography

Experience the “RAILROADERS: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography” exhibition, orga nized by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art and the Chicago History Museum, open ing in the renovated Pullman Exhibit Hall, 11141 S. Cottage Grove Ave. The exhibition is a strik ing visual exploration of the hard work and heroism of railway workers in the yard, on the trains and in the station during World War II and is accompanied by thoughtful biographies and interactive elements. The exhibit will run through December 31, Tuesdays - Sundays 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., $10, $5 for children under 12, and free for Historic Pullman Foundation members.

Engaging Our Kids!

Story Hour

Enjoy a Family Story hour complete with arts activities for the youngest of creative minds. This weekly Story Hour drop-in includes music, interactive stories, fun with words and movement, and a craft project, too. Each week, explore a new story and theme, all while encouraging young ones to begin expressing feelings and ideas as their personalities shift and shape from week to week. This story hour is geared for preschool-age children with an adult helping hand to join in the fun. Drop in to hear a story and make some art with the little ones in your life (focus is on 18 months to 4 years, but all ages welcome). Cost is $10 per family per week. Wednesdays from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. through December 14 at FAME Center Chicago, 1550 S. State St., #116. Visit famecenter.asapconnected.com to register.

History From an Expert

Pfeffer Family Forum: World War II Military Intelligence Training at Camp Ritchie

Dr. David Frey (pictured), founding director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the United States Military Academy, will discuss the battlefield intelligence training at Camp Ritchie in Maryland that ran counter to the U.S. Army's history of anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant sentiment. One in 5 Ritchie trainees were Jewish refugees and many others were recruited straight out of Japanese Ameri can internment camps. The Army recognized that recent immigrants were often familar with the European terrain and were fluent in French, German, Italian, Polish, and other languages. Ritchie graduates made exceptional contributions to the war effort, post-war occupation governance, war crime prosecution and the creation of the Cold War era. The event is 6:30 p.m. November 3. Register to attend online ($5) or in-person ($18) at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. ihm.ec/pfeffer2022

Patrick: All right, fellas, so we’re getting into that meaty part of the season, what with the World Series, the start of the NBA season, football— both pro and college—in full swing, hockey, etc. Actually, let me kick off with something on my mind. Over a recent week end, I spotted on TV a celebrity bowling match. Nelly and Ter rell Owens and a couple other guys were rocking it out. I no ticed—and I’ve definitely no ticed before—that elite sports players are dang near elite all over the board in numerous sports. In college, I recall the football players having as good a basketball game as the football game we already knew about. It tripped me out.

Donald: You’re right. I’ve seen some of them athletes in golf tournaments on TV as well. Charles Barkley be on there, as well as some other big-time ce lebrities. Michael Jordan…

Russ: I’ve seen Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys out there. Tom Brady, Stephen Curry. But, yeah, on a “real” sports note, I love the heck outta this time of the year. The baseball playoffs, then the World Se ries. The excitement this year is something completely different than anything I’ve witnessed in my time. I don’t know what it is, but teams aren’t afraid of any other team. No one’s afraid of the Yankees or the Dodgers or whoever—it’s just a let’s-playball-and-may-the-best-teamwin attitude.

John: You’re right, Russell. I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen this year with baseball’s elite, but I was way wrong. Who would’ve thought the Philadelphia Phil lies would take out the Atlanta Braves, or that the San Diego Padres would mow down the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. I mean, wow. Definitely not me.

Russ: I’m glad. I always kinda want the team who isn’t sup posed to win, to win. I mean, two wild card teams are in the National League finals to see which’ll get to the World Series. Didn’t need them to slaughter the favorites, which kinda-sorta was the case in the National League, but a good, hard fight is all right.

Donald: A poet and didn’t even know it!

Russ: Right! But, yeah, man, so many sports everywhere you look. Pro, college—ev erything.

John: And don’t forget about the Red River Classic between college football giants Texas and Oklahoma. Should be a good one.

Patrick: You’re right. Y’all know what else I’m looking forward to? Of course y’all won’t be shocked or anything.

John: Does it have anything to do with a net, follow-through, and something Kobe liked to do a lot?

Patrick: John, you’re stoopid, man. On a side note, I can’t wait until me and you get down to the basketball court. Me, you and Javier were supposed to get on a court and make the magic happen.

John: You mean Javier Jimenez? The vendor who just passed?

Patrick: Yep. 42-years old.

John: Yeah, that would have been cool.

Patrick: Luckily, the NBA is in the midst of kicking it off.

John: And, shoot, let’s not forget about all of the betting going on now. Sports every where, and opportunities to bet on everything!

Donald: Agreed. And though I ain’t betting on 'em, I can’t wait to see what our Bulls do this season. We have some solid pieces, especially our rookie guard Dalen Terry.

Russ: Dude’s really good, y’all.

Donald: Guard Lonzo Ball is temporarily out after ar throscopic surgery, so this could be my man’s opportunity.

Russ: It's on, folks! Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org

Rashanah Baldwin

Vendors Russell Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

ARTIST PAMELA BANNOS UNCOVERS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO CEMETERY

by Suzanne Hanney

A map of the Chicago Cemetery in 1863, layered on top of the current Lincoln Park. The Cemetery extended from North Avenue to Asylum Place (Webster) but no graves had been dug north of Wisconsin Street and so residents there wanted the land turned into a park. A map of the 1863 City Cemetery is on the back of each Hidden Truths metal marker. White dots indicate the marker placements. The red dot indicates that marker's placement in the context of the City Cemetery grounds. The marker for the potter's field is located at the west edge of the northern baseball diamonds, east of Dearborn Street. (Images by Pamela Bannos).

Up to 35,000 early Chicagoans could be buried incognito in Lincoln Park, which was the city’s cemetery in the mid19th century, says Pamela Bannos, originator of the Hidden Truths project.

Bannos is an artist and researcher who utilizes methods that highlight the forgotten and overlooked; she explores the links between visual representation, urban space, history, and collective memory.

A native Chicagoan, Bannos became involved with the hid den history of Lincoln Park because of the Ira Couch mau soleum, which is immediately north of the Chicago History Museum and east of Clark Street along LaSalle Drive. Why was the stone tomb all alone, she wondered.

“I walked over there to have a look in 2007, and I did not stop until it was done,” she said in a telephone interview. The Tri bune had just started to allow access to its digitized version “so technology brought me back to the past in an efficient way.” She kept asking questions, finding period stories, and recording them along with other documents, to the point where the Hidden Truths website (hiddentruths.northwest ern.edu) today amounts to more than 100 pages.

“As an artist, what I was interested in was, 'how did we lose the history of this cemetery? Why don’t we know that the first and second generation of Chicagoans are buried there?'”

Bannos is often interviewed around Halloween, but she does not view Lincoln Park as a “creepy graveyard.” Instead, she sees the Hidden Truths project as manifesting early Chicago history for the masses.

“It’s not a gory story. The best thing this project could do is to recognize these people, bring attention to them and this part of our history.”

“Gentrification” would be the word modern urbanologists use to tell why the bodies remain in Lincoln Park, and to some extent, Bannos agrees. The evolving city had other uses for the land than a graveyard, particularly the “pot ter’s field,” or unmarked graves for the indigent, which were located east of what is now Dearborn Street and north of North Avenue, under the present-day Lincoln Park baseball diamonds.

“Everyone did their diligence. But for me, it always came down to money. Their graves were not marked. We do not know who they are.” After the Chicago Fire of 1871, the 10,000 remains in the potter’s field were supposed to be moved to Dunning Cemetery, far west on what is now Ir ving Park Road, but what Bannos read about the job does not add up. On Sept. 18, 1872, the Tribune noted that 10 men would be able to move 20 remains per day (digging by hand): a job she estimated would take 500 days. Twenty-five days later, on Oct. 13, 1872, another Tribune story said that the job would be completed in a week. The next August, a Tribune story said that “upwards of 6,000 bodies” had been removed — which leaves a gap of 4,000.

Still more changing numbers at the potter’s field concern the nearly 4,000 Confederate prisoners of war who died during

UNCOVERS THE HIDDEN TRUTHS CEMETERY AND LINCOLN PARK

the Civil War at Camp Douglas, which was located at what is now 31st and Cottage Grove. The “rebel dead,” as they were known in city records, were supposedly moved from the POW camp and the City Cemetery to Oak Woods Cemetery on the South Side between 1865 and 1867, according to the National Park Service. Their elliptical, 475-foot by 275-foot plot, topped by a 30-foot column and a Confederate soldier, was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland and 100,000 onlookers in 1895.

“I am saying they didn’t remove 4,000 people,” Bannos said. “There are stories of empty boxes showing up on the other end. The whole thing sounds like a debacle. The cheapest bidder got the job and was the brother of an alderman.”

Bannos bases the estimate of 35,000 overall remaining Lin coln Park graves on the baseball diamond density of 500 graves, side-by-side, and the capacity of the cemetery, which extended along the lakefront from what is now North Avenue to Webster Street. Between Wisconsin and Webster Streets, however, graves had not been dug.

“It’s the changing times, the growing city, the expanding population, all capped by the Chicago Fire. The park was al ready being developed. It was the confluence of many things

that led to the demise of the cemetery and the birth of our beloved Lincoln Park.”

Bannos makes no historical judgments, but she sees six fac tors behind the hidden cemetery in the park:

Sanitary concerns Dr. John Rauch was chair of Rush Medical College, a Civil War surgeon and a member of the Chicago Board of Health. Dr. Rauch wrote an infor mally circulated paper in 1859 (published in 1866) on the dangers of urban burials because of a “miasma” that arose from them, which was harmful to people liv ing nearby. He argued that since the cemetery was be low the water table, bacteria from the dead could seep into Lake Michigan and contaminate the water supply. He first called for the removal of the City Cemetery and furthermore, for the development of a park system, be cause trees absorbed noxious gases and supplied oxy gen.

The rural cemetery movement When the City Cem etery opened in 1843 at what is now the lakefront and North Avenue, it was just outside the city limits. How ever, by the 1860s, the burial grounds themselves were crowded and the city had encroached around them. The

first rural cemetery in the U.S., Mount Auburn near Bos ton, was established in 1831, and the idea of a pleasantly landscaped rural cemetery for repose of the dead had become part of popular culture. Dr. Rauch had even ad vocated for it.

Further sales of burial lots in the City Cemetery were halt ed in May 1859 (although burials continued in the potter’s field and grandfathered lots until March 1866). Rosehill, Chicago’s first rural cemetery, opened in August 1859, followed the next year by Graceland Cemetery – farther up Clark Street – and by the Catholic Calvary Cemetery in Evanston. Each of these new rural cemeteries was more than five miles outside what was then the city limits.

Under a special agreement with the City Cemetery, Rose hill took potter’s field occupants for a short while. Grace land received bodies from 1860 to 1881, particularly dur ing evacuation of the Milliman Tract (1866-67) and efforts to convert the cemetery to Lincoln Park (1872).

The desire for a park on the lake The unoccupied northern section of the City Cemetery was established as a park in 1863 at the request of Chicago citizens. In October 1864, Cemetery Park was renamed Lake Park. One year later, after the assassination of President Abra ham Lincoln, the name was changed to Lincoln Park.

The Milliman Tract In 1862, the heirs of the Jacob Mil liman family sued the City, on the grounds it had illegally

acquired a 12-acre tract within the City Cemetery from them in 1850. The Milliman family had homesteaded in the 1840s, at roughly the site of today’s Lincoln Park Farm in the Zoo, (at about Wisconsin Street).

The mother and father had died by 1850 and were buried there, and their five children were sent to guardians. At torneys for the children, who were now in their 30s, said that the land was taken from them illegally and the case went all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, which agreed. Rather than pay $75,000 outright to the Milli man heirs, city officials decided to vacate the cemetery grounds and to return the land to them. In 1867, 1,635 bodies had been removed from the tract.

The development of the Chicago park system The City Cemetery grounds started under the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Works. People who wished to buy a grave went to city hall and recorded the deed as they would any other real estate transaction. There was no system of perpetual care, as exists in today’s cemeter ies, and families maintained the grounds or moved the bodies themselves – unless they died off. Records for the potter’s field are more sketchy, since no money changed hands for those graves, Bannos said.

However, in 1869, the Common Council officially trans ferred financial responsibility and legal jurisdiction from the Board of Public Works to the new Lincoln Park Com missioners. These commissioners intended to convert

Above: Kennison boulder, Lincoln Park stereograph by Keystone View Company, Aug. 13, 1930 (Library of Congress photo). Right: The Kennison Boulder as it is now, in Lincoln Park, with its plaque and with the "farm" section of the Lincoln Park Zoo in the background, east of Clark St. at Wisconsin St. (Pamela Bannos photo).

the older, southern portion of the cemetery into a park, but they did not have the funding stream to pay for the disinterments.

The Chicago Fire finalized the demise of the City Cem etery, as it burned south from the central business dis trict and north along the lakefront to Fullerton Avenue. Various accounts describe people fleeing north and east through the cemetery, displacing wooden and marble markers over graves. Without tombstones, cemetery offi cials could not be certain where bodies lay. What’s more, the city did not own the land, the individual buyers did.

Over 700 cemetery lots were condemned in 1874, yet headstones remained of individuals who had no friends or family to rebury them elsewhere. Lincoln Park Com missioners wanted to finish the transition to a park, so they moved the scattered marked graves farther north of the ball diamonds. A few years later, these headstones were also removed.

By the late 1870s, the Couch mausoleum was the last visible remnant of the cemetery. Early in the 20th century, however, three Revolutionary War groups collaborated to put a boul der over what was said to be the grave of 115-year-old David Kennison, the last survivor of the Boston Tea Party.

The memorial to Kennison reinforces the idea that contem porary Chicagoans recalled the area as a cemetery, Bannos says. However, in a 1973 essay titled, “David Kennison and the Chicago Sting,” Albert G. Overton wrote that Kennison assumed the identities of other Kennison/Kinnison men to tell his story. He was actually 7 at the time of the Boston Tea Party, saw no Revolutionary War service and was only 85 when he died.

“Hopefully, this publication will….be used as an example of what can be found through proper research efforts, and amuse those who will appreciate the humor of the little old man who conned his way into history and stung Chicago for a most valuable piece of real estate as his final resting place,” Overton wrote.

Ira Couch of the namesake mausoleum had owned the fancy Tremont House, where both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas launched their U.S. Senate campaigns in 1858. When Couch died in 1857, he left his estate in trust for 25 years. But real estate comprised the majority of his assets, so the Chicago Fire bankrupted them, Bannos said. At the time, it was said that the rivets holding the tomb together were so fused that it would cost $3,000 to move it. “It all ends up be ing about money,” Bannos said. “In the end, nobody would take responsibility to pay for it.”

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Bannos has been told that the Couch tomb was supposed to be her beacon into the project. She acknowledges that everything flowed together for her afterward, from the Free dom of Information Act, to the digitization of the Tribune and being able to read newspaper stories as they were unfolding. She is bemused by stories that appear to be shocked by the discovery of remains in Lincoln Park.

“It’s like a game of telephone. Eventually we lost this history because it wasn’t told properly. It wasn’t indexed.”

The “Unexpected Findings” section of the Hidden Truths website, however, has captured a March 22, 1899 newspa per story that told about Lincoln Park crews who found sev eral coffins and bones while laying a sewer near Eugenie and Clark Streets. An assistant superintendent said that nearly every year, some human remains were exhumed during a public improvement project, “but they are always laid back in the same place.”

Skeletal remains were found in 1932, during excavation for the foundation of the Chicago History Museum; seven more skulls in 1971, while digging for its addition; and 81 more skeletons during construction of its underground parking fa cility at LaSalle Drive and Clark Street in 1998.

Eleven skeletons, including a mother with a baby in her arms, were found in August 1986 when crews were placing lines for a new drinking fountain near the Lincoln Park South Field house, west of the ball diamonds.

Bannos has also been able to corroborate the newspaper accounts with Chicago City Council proceedings dating to the 1830s that were presumed lost in the 1871 Fire. They were in a southwest side warehouse. The Lincoln Park Com missioners’ reports were found in a sub-basement under Soldier Field, where the Chicago Park District had its offices.

“All of a sudden, all of this evidence is in front of me,” Bannos said. “All of a sudden, I was able to put it all together and ag gregate it and tell what happened to the lost first generation of Chicago citizens.”

During one media interview, a psychic told Bannos that all the skeletons and unmarked graves in Lincoln Park repre sented restless souls. In gaining them recognition, she laid them to rest.

“I benefit from that, the psychic said. I have good karma from that. I never thought of it that way. I knew I had told the his tory and recognized them for their humanity, which makes me feel good.”

Above: 1903 photograph from glass plate negative (Chicago History Museum). Right: The Couch Tomb as it is now, with its Hidden Truths marker, just north of LaSalle Drive between Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Clark Street. (Pamela Bannos photo).

Grand opening of POP! Heights Park

The nonprofit Far South Community Development Corpo ration (Far South CDC), in partnership with Sheldon Heights Church of Christ, opened POP! Heights Park on October 29. Designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative and located along the South Halsted commercial corridor between 112th and 113th streets (11227 S. Halsted St.), POP! Heights Park is the first major new park along South Halsted in more than 50 years — provid ing nearly 22,000 square feet of multi-use outdoor space for Far South Side communities including Roseland, Morgan Park, and West Pullman.

The new park is supported by $540,000 in grants from Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s Chicago Recovery Plan through the Depart ment of Planning and Development (DPD) and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).

It is one of 12 new public plazas that will create spaces for recre ation, performances, pop-up shops, gardening, and other neigh borhood activities at strategic locations across Chicago through the Public Outdoor Plaza (POP!) program. The POP! program is designed to help community-based organizations revitalize un derutilized land along neighborhood retail corridors.

"The transformation that Far South CDC has achieved at POP! Heights Park is truly remarkable, and will provide residents with a new community space to gather and connect in," said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "This beautiful new amenity represents the type of change we seek to achieve through the Chicago Re covery Plan and the POP! program, which are helping to make our communities that much more vibrant."

POP! Heights Park is divided into six primary zones of activity linked by a lively, brightly colored walking ribbon that mean ders throughout the site. The ribbon transforms from a walking and exercise path in the morning to a roller-skating ribbon in the evening. Visitors will also enjoy a half basketball court, treefilled seating areas with moveable blocks, a shared stage for per formances, community garden, space for markets and a vibrant new mural by local artist Amoz Ben Wright.

“POP! Heights Park is a game-changer for the South Halsted Street corridor and for the greater Far South region of the city. We’re excited to bring this beautiful and inspiring outdoor space to life for our community and invite everyone to come out and join us for a celebratory opening on October 29,” said Katanya Raby, Far South CDC’s director of planning.

The development of POP! Heights Park is part of the Far South CDC's bold Bringing Communities Back Initiative to repurpose nearly 1 million square feet of vacant/blighted community areas into thriving community anchors that will spur economic growth and repopulate communities on Chicago’s Far South Side that have experienced decades of chronic disinvestment. This initia tive was recently named one of six finalists, advancing to the next round of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation’s $10 million Chicago Prize competition. For more information, visit farsouthcdc.org/ bcbi and farsouthcdc.org/popheightspark.

Renderings provided by Far South CDC.

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CIMA’s 3rd Annual Fundraiser runs October 3rd - 17th

Soapbox Productions and Organizing South Side Weekly Street Level: Mildsauce.com Streetwise Third Coast Review TrueStar Foundation Windy City Times