Wabash Avenue YMCA

Wabash Avenue YMCA..
Address: 3763 S. Wabash Ave.
Year Built: 1911-1913
Architect: Robert C. Berlin
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998..



The plaque reads..
Chicago Landmarks..
Wabash Avenue YMCA
Built 1911-13, addition 1945
An important center of community life, this Young Men's Christian Association facility also provided housing and job training for new arrivals from the South during the "Great Migration" of African-Americans in the first decades of the 20th century. It closed as a YMCA in the late 1970's. It is one of nine structures in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District.
Designated on Sep 9, 1998
Richard M. Daley, Mayor
Commission on Chicago Landmarks..

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Unity Hall

Unity Hall..
Address: 3140 S. Indiana Ave.
Year Built: 1887
Architect: Laban B. Dixon
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998..



The plaque reads..
Chicago Landmark
Unity Hall
L.B.Dixon, architect
1887
Originally built as the Lakeside Club, a Jewish social organization, this structure was renamed in 1917 when it became the headquarters of the Peoples Movement Club, a political organization headed by Oscar Stanton DePriest, the first African-American elected to the City Council and the first northern black elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. This rare surviving example of a 19th-century clubhouse building, is one of nine structures in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District.
Designated on Sep 9, 1998
Richard M. Daley, Mayor
Commission on Chicago Landmarks..



The sign reads..
Chicago landmark District
Black Metropolis - Bronzeville
These nine structures are what remains of "The Metropolis", one of nations most significant landmarks of African American urban history. Developed during the first decades of the 20th century, this "city-within-a-city" was home to numerous nationally prominent, black-owned-and-operated business and allied institutions..
Commission on Chicago Landmarks,
City of Chicago,
Richard M. Daley, Mayor..

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Supreme Life Building

Supreme Life Building..
Address: 3501 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
Year Built: 1921, remodeled 1950 and 2006
Architect: Albert Anis
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998..

This was the longtime headquarters of the first African-American owned and operated insurance company in the northern United States. Founded in 1919 by Frank L. Gillespie [as the Liberty Life Insurance Company], the firm moved in 1921 into the second floor of this building, which had been constructed by the Roosevelt State Bank. Liberty Life bought the entire structure in 1924 and, in 1929, merged with two out-of-state firms to form the Supreme Life Insurance Company of America. In 1950, after becoming one of the few major businesses of "Black Metropolis" to survive the Great Depression, the company modernized the building by covering the original classical-style facade with porcelain-metal panels. It is one of nine structures in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District..

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Sunset Cafe

Sunset Cafe..
Address: 315 E. 35th St.
Year Built: 1909, 1921, 1937
Architects: Alfred Schartz, Sobel & Drielsma
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998..
Now it's Ace hardware store..

It's city's earliest and most legendary jazz venues. it was originally built in 1909 as an ordinary automobile garage. In 1921, Edward Fox and Sam Rifas, remodeled the garage, and opened it as "Sunset Cafe". It was a white-owned black-and-tan cabaret. The cabaret was managed by Joe Glaser, who later became Louis Armstrong's manager. Soon Sunset Cafe became an important jazz venue. It featured famed musicians as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Johnny Dodds, and Earl "Fatha" Hines. Many promising young artists, including Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Gene Krupa, got their start at late-night sessions here. It was remodeled again in 1937 and renamed as the Grand Terrace Cafe. It remained a popular night club until 1950. It later housed the office of the Second Ward Regular Democratic Organization and became a hardware store in the 1970s. It is one of nine structures in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District.

The name of Sunset Cafe is closely associated with that of Louis Armstrong.. He was born in New Orleans and came to Chicago in 1922. Armstrong recorded his first record "Hot Fives" at Sunset Cafe..

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Eighth Regiment Armory

Eighth Regiment Armory..
Address: 3533 S. Giles Ave.
Year Built: 1914-1915
Architect: James B. Dibelka
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998..











This was the first armory in the United States built for an African-American military regiment. The "Fighting 8th" traces its roots to the formation of the volunteer Hannibal Guard militia in 1871. It later became a division of the Illinois National Guard and during World War I was incorporated into the 370th U.S. Infantry (also see Victory Monument). After the armory closed in the early-1960s, it became the South Central Gymnasium. In 1999, following an extensive renovation, it was reopened as a public high school. It is one of nine structures in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District..

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The 47th Street Blues District - Bronzeville

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Images above: Bronze sculptures: Guitar player, saxophone player, trumpet player and female jazz singer.. at the interesction of Kings Drive and 47th Street.

The 47th Street Blues District..
Bronzeville - Southside Chicago
It was so sad to see the Blues District the way it is now!!! The commemorative signs and promotional statues [images above] seems to be the only reminder of the vibrant community that once was, [and still is] the Chicago Blues District! Although the energy and the vitality is long gone now..

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But memories of it's heydays have not faded yet. People still remember and talk about the good old days and it's very likely to stumble into someone who have seen the big names in Chicago Blues perform there..

I love Chicago Blues, and when I say that, I don't mean that I'm an aficionado with an in-depth knowledge of various songs, singers and their different styles. I only mean that I love whatever I've heard. If I have to spell out a few names, it would be B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Koko Taylor and a few others.. But beyond that, I'm totally blank. I couldn't tell Memphis Blues from Delta Blues. I'm bringing this up because whenever I try to dig into the history of Chicago Blues, I come across so many names and styles that I feel clueless and turn off. So without going into too much details, here's a brief history..

Chicago maybe called the Blues Capital of the world, but is not it's birthplace. The place credited with the birth of Blues is the North Mississippi Delta region and the musical form emerged around the turn of the 19th century. But the story of Blues dates back to the Civil War. Influenced by African roots, field hollers, ballads, church music and rhythmic dance tunes called jump-ups evolved into a music for a singer who would engage in call-and-response with his guitar. He would sing a line, and the guitar would answer...

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The Chicago Blues, is a result of many developments that took place in the 1920’s, especially "The Great Migration". The African Americans in southern states were facing many problems like failing crops and increased discrimination against them. On the other hand northern states were growing as industrial centers and generating fresh job opportunities. Chicago in particular was a hub of many labor-intensive industries like steel and meat-packing, and there was also an increased demand for labor during the WW-I. The combined result of these situations lead to a mass migration of African American from southern to northern states, called “The Great Migration” between 1910 to 1970. Chicago attracted about 500,000 of the approximately 7 million African Americans migrating north. Before this migration, African Americans constituted 2 percent of Chicago's population, but by 1970, they were 33 percent.

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The Great Migration brought singers from the Southern States to the Chicago region. Singers like Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon and Koko Taylor, to name a few, found home in Chicago.. Combined with this was the growth of music industry. Although the music industry suffered during the Great Depression [1929-1933], the city still continued to serve as incubator of Blues Music. It was during the 1950's that Chicago Blues really flourished. Chicago Blues changed from Mississippi Blues by adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums, piano, and sometimes saxophone, and making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier. In fact, some even used the trumpet..

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Coming back to the Chicago Blues District, it was once a mecca for African-Americans migrating from the impoverished south, and it bustled with black-owned businesses and with well-dressed men and women.
When I saw it two days back, it was hard to believe that that it was the same place I had read so much about.. Nightclubs like the Regal, Savoy, and Metropolitan have long shut down and even razed. 47th street is now a shopping street with lots of vacant spaces.. and the only hint of the old glory that it once was, were the four bronze statues and commemorative signs on streetlamp fixtures proclaiming the "Chicago Blues District"..

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I saw this marker at the 11th street..
The Blues Trail
Mississippi to Chicago..
The "Great Migration" from the South to "The Promised Land" of Chicago brought more African American here from Mississippi than any other state, especially during and after World War II. With the migrant came the Delta blues that was the foundation of the classic postwar Chicago Blues style. Muddy Waters who became the King of Chicago Blues, was among the thousands of Mississippians who arrived on the Illinois Central train at Central Station, which stood across the street from this site from 1893 to 1974..

To continue..

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Update

Here is one book I have been greatly inspired by.. Chicago Figural Sculpture, A chronological portrait 1871-1923.. by Gregory H. Jenkins, AIA. click here.. The book has an amazing selection of figural sculptures, from the time of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to about the mid Roaring Twenties.. For me, the most impressive are photographs of the architectural sculptures that surround us and that we so easily overlook. It certainly made me notice and appreciate the art and architecture around us, much more than I used to. He also maintains a wonderful blog.. Check out CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE in the Loop.. click here..

I started my series on "Architectural Ornamentation /Sculptures" based on the book.... click here.. Yesterday was a gorgeous day. Clear blue sky, warm golden sunshine and crisp clean air! I wished the day never ended. I did manage some good photographs and have updated some of my earlier posts on architectural sculptures, with somewhat better images, mostly taken yesterday..





















Few updated posts..
# Harold Washington Library..
# Manhatten Building..
# Fisher Building..
# Heald Square Monument..

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