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AUSTINWEEKLY news ■
Vol. 35 No. 7
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February 12, 2020
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7th District candidates spar in Austin,
austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
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Getting real about racial covenants, page 5
Behold, Frederick Douglass Park
A rogue painter changed the signs in park community members say has been past due for name change
Photos courtesy Darryl Harvey/Facebook
Little readers
By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
An official campaign to change the name of Stephen A. Douglas Park to Frederick Douglass Park on the West Side got an unofficial boost thanks to someone who was tired of waiting for the Park District to right a historical wrong. Citing Stephen Douglas’ racist past, a group of students launched a campaign in 2017 to strip Douglas’ name from the park, which sits in a neighborhood that is 87 percent Black. But as the campaign stalled, someone with a steady hand made the change for Chicago, carefully painting an extra “S” on all of the park’s green signs. Behold, “Douglass Park” … at least on its signs. Stephen A. Douglas, a Civil War-era Illinois senator, was one of history’s most notorious slavery advocates. In 1858, he famously debated Abraham Lincoln in support of allowing expanded slavery across U.S. territories. While Douglas was not known to have personally owned slaves, he is considered to have de facto endorsed See DOUGLASS PARK on page 8
The second annual Chicago Black Child Book Fair, held Saturday at Jensen Elementary Scholastic Academy, 3030 W. Harrison St., brought out readers of all ages. Read more about the event on page 11.
City Catholic schools to share nearly $50M St. Catherine-St. Lucy, and St. Angela among 30 to receive Big Shoulders Fund support By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Two Catholic schools in Oak Park and Austin were listed among 30 in the Chicago area to receive a $47.5 million commitment over 10 years from Big Shoulders Fund, an independent charitable organization that supports inner-city Catholic schools. Officials with the organization made the announcement in a statement released on Jan. 29. The schools — which include St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy School, 27 Washington Blvd. in Oak Park, and St. Angela School, 1332 N
Massasoit Ave., in Austin — will receive “significantly increased” funding for operations, Big Shoulders Fund officials explained in their statement. The commitment represents a 51 percent financial stake in the 30 schools, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. In addition, the organization will “take on an expanded leadership role with principals in these schools to help them manage their schools toward specific goals in key operating areas of academics, enrollment, development and finances,” the statement explains. “We are honored to be able to provide this historic level of investment to help strength-
en communities throughout the greaterChicago area,” said James J. O’Connor, the founding chairman and current co-chairman of Big Shoulders Fund. “Our own research has shown that alumni of our schools go on to vote, study, work, and volunteer at rates higher than their peers, becoming the citizens and neighbors that make our communities and Chicago a better place for all of us who live,” O’Connor said. Josh Hale, the president and CEO of Big Shoulders Fund, said that the $50 million
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See BIG SHOULDERS on page 4
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