1.) The Gage Park community began as a primarily Catholic Irish and Easter European people. Although today is is mainly Hispanic populations, Gage Park is quite diverse. Many restaurants, and small stores line the streets. Gage Park is also comprised of bungalow houses.
(
http://www.chicagoneighborhoods.cc/neighborhoods/gagepark.html)
2.) The median income of families in Gage Park is $36,499. Most households are occupied with families with children. Majority of the residents of Gage Park are foreign born.
(
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/IL-Chicago/Gage-Park-people/r_269582/)
3.) 1975-Racial conflict led many concerned parents to speak with the Board of Education about segregating schools. Many of these concerns began at Gage Park High School on 5630 S Rockwell. This was one of the first times that students had a chance to NOT be admitted into their neighborhood schools.
(
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/IL-Chicago/Gage-Park-people/r_269582/)
4.) Settlement began in the 1840s when German immigrants settled here as farmers. At this time, there was only a a few cottages in the neighborhood, and no means of public transportation. The Marquette Manor was established in 1911, and economically stimulated the economy. Most of the people who settled in Gage Park were Roman Catholics. By 1920, most of the residents were mainly either Bohemian or Polish American. Gage Park remains a middle class neighborhood, and its demographics have shifted to being 79% Hispanics today.
(
http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/494.html)
5.) The median income of Gage Park is between $31, 371 and $53, 081. The economy of the population is quite diverse, although some parts are individualized by income. Majority of the population is Hispanic.
(
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Gage-Park-Chicago-IL.html)
6.)
-Total population of neighborhood: 85853 people
| -No High School | 10273 |
| -Some High School | 5156 |
| -Some College | 7364 |
| -Associate Degree | 2710 |
| -Bachelors Degree | 5291 |
| -Graduate Degree | 3252 | | |
-crime rates: above average
(
Chicago Gage Park Demographics - Neighborhood Demographics." Real Estate Listings - Homes for Sale)
7.)
8.)Gage Park is a working class neighborhood. Originally, the neighborhood was Eastern European and Irish Catholic. Today, it remains mainly Catholic, but is comprised of mostly Hispanic people. I think that previous economic boosts encouraged other immigrants to settle in the neighborhood. As a result, the working class population has remained. Development of the neighborhood began in 1873.
(
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Gage_Park,_Chicago)
9.) Small stores, and various small restaurants, as well as the Orange Line keep the neighborhood economically stable. The Colony Theater still stands, the way it did when it was first built in the late 80s.
(
http://nabewise.com/chicago/gage-park)
10.) Gage Park has a lot of historical significance. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walked down Marquette Park during a civil rally in 1966.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4okH6oh2s0&NR=1(Link to MLK JR speech)
(
http://www.chicagoparent.com/magazines/web-only/2011-january/gage-park-high-school-project-brings-chicagos-civil-rights--history-to-residents-fingertips)
11.) CTA began building stations in the very early 1990s. Requests for a public transit system from Midway to the Loop had been proposed since as early as 1940. The Southwest transit projet didn't begin until 1986. The Orange Line has 7 individual stations, plus all the stations that make up The Loop. I think that the public transportation of the neighborhood really had a huge impact on the economy of the community, just because it made transportation easier, and more people were able to go out to jobs and such.
(
http://www.chicago-l.org/history/CTA4.html)
12.) By 1930, Polish immigrants had surpassed Germans as the biggest group of people in Chicago. Many Polish people migrated to Chicago in the 1830s, during the Polish-Russian War. Jobs were a huge pull factor for Polish immigrants to settle in Chicago. The core neighborhoods that these immigrants settled in revolved around business and industry. The Polish population was quite segregated, and built their own churches, schools, and business to remain that way. Churches were the main focal points of Polish immigrant neighborhoods.
(Polish Immigrants and Industrial Chicago: Workers on the South Side)
13.) Irish immigrants in Chicago had the largest Roman Catholic Archdiocese. They were highly involved in Democratic politics. Churches were the focal point of their neighborhoods, like the Polish immigrants. Sources such as the press and newspapers kept the ethnic cultures of Irish Americans alive.
(Mr. Dooley and the Chicago Irish: The Autobiography of a Nineteenth-Century Ethnic Group)
14.) Eastern European immigrants to the Unites States were some of the first to bring the Roman Catholic religion around. During the time period of 1844, and 1879, many parishes were established by Irish and Polish immigrants in local neighborhoods. Many schools were usually Catholic as well, and run by nuns from the church. Churches were one of the only places where immigrants felt comfortable, and were able to connect with other people in similar situations to theirs.
(Corporation Sole: Cardinal Mundelein and Chicago Catholicism.)
15.) The CTA took control over public transportation in 1947. The downtown Loop (orange line) is used to connect all transit lines. As the years passed, the transit lines were remodeled, and improved with time.
(The Automobile and Urban Transit: The Formation of Public Policy in Chicago)
16.) The Gage Park community was named after George W. Gage after his death in 1875. Residents of the neighborhood in the 1990s petitioned for ways to improve the community. Such improvements were made with time. I think that the ethnic cultures of such a segregated neighborhood during this time, helped have a larger impact on improvement because there was more groups of common people who believed in the same things.
(
http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/1094E916-AE69-483F-8A27-D477BF51B4CE.cfm)
17.) The churches built in certain neighborhoods have had a large influence on what races of people have centered their lives in those neighborhoods in later years of the 19th century. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago was one of the main frameworks for Roman Catholicism in neighborhoods in the Cook County area. The churches built had the impact that would tend only to "ethnic Roman Catholics." This contributed to the expansion of the Irish and Polish population in neighborhoods.
( http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1088.html )
18.)During the Civil Rights Movements, areas such as Marquette Park were deeply affected by the racial tension spewed in the air. Schools were segregated, and often, peace marches and unions were formed in order to fight against the racism. During the Summer of 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers did several marches through neighborhoods that were of mainly a white population, including Gage Park and Marquette Park. One specific march resulted in mobs of Caucasian people throwing rocks, sticks, and fire crackers at the group of marchers.“I’ve been in many demonstrations all across the South, but I can say that I have never seen---even in Mississippi and Alabama---mobs as hostile and hate-filled as I’ve seen in Chicago. I think the people from Mississippi ought to come to Chicago to learn how to hate.”-Dr. MLK Jr.
(
http://freedomroadproject.blogspot.com/2007/10/massive-resistance-in-chicagos.html)
19.) Neighborhoods such as Gage Park were developed after a set city structure was already made in Chicago around railroads and lakes. These newer neighborhoods were built around other forms of transportation, such as streetcars, and later, elevated lines. These neighborhoods were built after WWI, when bungalows were built in areas that hadn't already been inhabited.
20.) going to library monday for this book.
21.) Martin Luther King led a Housing March through Marquette and Gage Park on August 5th, 1966. The march consisted of at least 700 followers. The goal of the march was to encourage real estate agents to allow more African American people to settle in houses in the neighborhood, which was primarily white at the time. MLK Jr. describes the neighborhood as one of the most "hostile" he has even witnessed. The article even states that one man was holding a sign that said, "King would look good with a knife in his back." At this same march, while MLK Jr. was leading the protests, someone threw a rock at his head. He eventually got up, and his group of followers stayed by his side to protects him from further projectiles. At the march, 30 people were injured, and 40 were arrested.
(
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-chicagodays-martinlutherking-story%2C0%2C4515753.story)
22.) 2 videos on Dr. MLK Jr.'s speeches and experiences from his housing march in Marquette/Gage Park in 1966.
(
http://www.marquettepark.net/martinlutherkingjrmarchinginmarquetteparkamericannazipartyskokieatmarquetteparkdotnet.html)
23.) Rumor has it that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. rented a house in Marquette Park in order to really make a stand in the neighborhood about how he felt towards the housing situations of the time. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted the real estate agents to make open houses available for all housing areas in and surrounding the neighborhood. During the 1960s, the neighborhoods were kept extremely segregated.(
http://www.windycitizen.com/chicago/2011/08/05/schmidt-dr-king-comes-to-marquette-park)
24.) Realtors in Chicago during the 1960s denied the ability for African Americans to visit open houses in the neighborhood. This happened a lot in the Marquette Park area, just west of Gage Park. The goal of the protest was to march by three real estate offices, but the followers of opposing sides were kept separate by the police. The minute that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped out of his vehicle on 63rd and Sacramento, a rock was thrown to his head, yet he stood up, and still prepared to lead the group of protestors. In the end, his work and suffering paid off when an agreement was reached between the real estate companies, and Dr. Martin Luther King's beliefs.
(
http://www.wbez.org/blog/john-r-schmidt/2011-08-05/dr-king-comes-marquette-park-89583)
25.) "They were looking at a people of color, and rejecting them at face value."
At the same march discussed in earlier note posts, a bystander threw a knife at MLK. Shockingly, the knife missed Dr. Matrin Luther King Jr., and hit another white bystander. From that day forward, violence against African Americans in the neighborhood largely decreased. Two years after his housing march, in 1968, the National Fair Housing Act was passed.
(
Lowenstein, Jeff K. "Resisting the Dream." The Chicago Repoter )
26.) Research shows that real estate agents on the 60's would try to underlie their intentions about segregation by trying to direct African Americans to neighborhoods populated mainly my minorities. Since white people didn't want to change the idea of segregated communities, the began to move out once minority groups began to move into the neighborhoods in bigger numbers. Although this being what King wanted, he hadn't expected white residents to move OUT of the neighborhoods once the minorities settled in.
(
Lowenstein, Jeff K. "Resisting the Dream." The Chicago Repoter )
27.) Technically "open housing" refers to the housing market being open to all races, and no discrimination is involved. Many minorities in Chicago such as Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Jews, and Asians
have suffered from a discriminatory housing market. Yet, African Americans have been the ones to have encounters with this discriminatory housing market. Real estate agents had come up with techniques to make sure that communities would stay segregated. Minorities were restricted to certain neighborhoods, while white people were allowed to live anywhere they could afford. These were the main reasons why the Chicago housing movement began in the 1960s.
28.) Restrictive covenants were basically rules that were given to home owners about things such as landscaping regulations, and regulations on being able to sell or rent the house. "Racial restrictive covenants" were regulations on all things of a house, in an attempt of real estate agents to keep communities segregated. The Chicago Real Estate Board had even come up with plans of how they wanted restrictive covenants to work on their neighborhoods.
29.) The article states that although the government and things of that sort have influenced how the racial population spread, the real estate agencies had quite a large influence on this as well. These real estate agencies would separate subdivisions of the Chicago area. Subdivisions were usually racially integrated with people of the same race. Mortgage lending was also explicitly directed to white people, which also managed what races moved in to certain neighborhoods. This goes back to restrictive covenants where real estate agencies did as much as they could to assure no one other that whites would move into the better neighborhoods.
30.) May 1975-A group of people wanted a more integrated racial setting for Gage Park high school. Initially, Gage Park high school was a primarily white school. Edward Platkus was part of the school board who worked to get a more racially balanced setting at Gage Park high school. He worked through several, violent rallies and boycotts against it. But in the end, quotas were established to diversify the racial population of Gage Park high school, and other high schools around the area, including Whitney Young. (Source #3)
31.) (source #12) Polish immigrants replaced German immigrants as a leading population in Chicago after WWI. The Communist control over Poland, and displacement from WWII also brought a new influx of Polish immigrants to Chicago. In the 1980s, more Polish immigrants moved in to the Chicago area in search for a democracy in the government. These new immigrants were artisans, and people in search for jobs. I think this new population of working immigrants was one of the main reasons that new businesses and jobs were established in the Gage Park neighborhood.
32.) (source #18) Although racial conflicts were far worse in the South, one of the worst situations with racial conflict in the North was the open housing movement. Real estate agents would come up with tactics to assure that neighborhoods would remain primarily white. This is what sparked the civil rights housing movement to create open housing for ALL races in any part of the city.
33.) (source #21) Martin Luther King Jr. rented an apartment in a primarily white neighborhood on the west side of Chicago to show his dedication to his belief in open housing and racial equality in neighborhood populations. A group of people with the same beliefs formed rallies to show their belief on open housing. The main boycott was through Gage and Marquette Park on August 5th, 1966.
34.) (source #24) When Martin Luther King Jr. and his advocates planned their open housing civil marches, they had planned to rally at three different real estate agencies.
35.) (source #14) The Catholic church was one of the main reasons why people moved into the Gage Park neighborhood. When the neighborhood was first established, Irish and Polish immigrants settled in Gage and Marquette Park and built these churches around the neighborhood. As the years passed, and new races began to settle in the neighborhood, the church was still a main reason for people to move in and stay. Most of the present day population of the neighborhood still remains Roman Catholic.
36.) Not only were houses in certain neighborhoods like Gage and Marquette Parks unaffordable to minorities during the 1960s, but even if minorities were interested in purchasing or renting houses in the neighborhoods, they'd be faced with the real estate agencies of the time's restrictive covenants. These would usually not allow minorities to even view a house during the "open house" time of the house for sale. Also, restrictive covenants included putting rules on how houses could look in the neighborhood, which usually meant things that were unrealistic for most people to live by.
37.) The Chicago Real Estate Board or CREB was in favor of restrictive covenants over neighborhoods to assure that the population would remain Polish and Irish American. Speakers from these agencies were sent all around Chicago to campaign for these racially restricted neighborhoods. These restrictive covenants were an easier way to promote racial segregation, as opposed to using complete violence.
38.) In 1948, restrictive covenants were determined "unconstitutional," by the U.S Supreme Court. In 1968, the Chicago City Council also passed a law that open housing should be public, and should not discriminate against anybody just because of their racial, social status, gender, sexuality, income, religion, or heritage. This movement allowed many other cities beyond the Chicago limits to over look race as a discriminatory factor for real estate agencies as well.
39.) The reason that it was so easy for minorities to move into the neighborhood once the open housing movement made things public was because the surrounding areas provided a lot of job openings for people, and public transit allowed people to commute long distances for any purpose. This is what allowed the neighborhood to remain middle class even though the population has shifted from Polish and Irish, to primarily Hispanics.
40.) What made MLK Jr believe that the North's Chicago was far worse than the South was the simple fact that so many racist people were extremely devoted to one cause, in this case segregated neighborhoods, and public housing. According to MLK's speech in Marquette Park, people in this neighborhood were "hostile" and violent.
