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The Rogers Park/West Ridge
Theresa Janet Zumba The Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society has been recording community history for almost twenty-five years. Its members have documented the growth and change of one of Chicago's most unusual neighborhoods. In fact, the Rogers Park/West Ridge neighborhood is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the nation. Its boundaries are Howard Street to the north, Lake Michigan to the east, Sheridan Road to the south, and Ridge Avenue to the west. It is a lakefront neighborhood in the northeast corner of Chicago. As possibly one of the most diverse urban neighborhoods in the country, Rogers Park/West Ridge is home to many ethnic groups including Germans, Irish, English, Spanish, African Americans, Russian Jews, and other eastern Europeans. All of these groups have helped to create an enormously rich ethnically diverse community. By 1990 the population of this neighborhood had grown to 125,752. The first people to live in the Rogers Park/West Ridge neighborhood were the Potawatomi Indians. The white pioneer founder was Phillip Rogers, who, upon his death, willed more than 1,500 acres of land to his daughter Katherine and her husband Captain Patrick Touhy. On August 24, 1816, the North Boundary Line (now Rogers Avenue) was established by the Treaty of St. Louis. On April 4, 1893, the Rogers Park and West Ridge villages were annexed into the city of Chicago. On July 26, 1975, the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society was founded. It has contributed a lot to the community by sharing information about its fascinating past. Long-time residents, individual donors, and community institutions have all contributed to the society's immense collection of documents, photos, and artifacts. The Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society has taken on the role of community chronicler. In 1975 Mary Jo Doyle, one of the original founders of the historical society, was instrumental in acquiring documents on paper (maps, plates of survey, ledgers, and pamphlets) scarcebooks, period household items, decorative arts, antique dolls, toys, and business-related items to share with the community. In 1991 Doyle became the coordinator of the society and has been planning events, programs, and oral histories since. She videotaped interviews, chaired membership committees, and conducted neighborhood walks and the annual Rogers Park Fall House Tour from its inception in 1985. The annual tour is something many people look forward to because it highlights important buildings and homes, including the Jackson-Thomas Chicago landmark home, and the The Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society owns a large collection of historical photographs. This photo of the Angel Guardian Orphanage and its floral, delivery trucks, along with more than four thousand other images, are valuable resources for local history. (Photo courtesy Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society)
Mundelein Skyscraper Building at Loyola University. In 1983 professional photographer Martin J. Schmidt offered his services to the society. He played an important role in creating a vivid and live history of the neighborhood. He copied and printed historical photographs; he has already restored more than one thousand images. The collection of photos commemorating the communities' history has grown to more than four thousand photos. Schmidt still works in the historical society building. The society is part of two important groups; first is the North Eastern Illinois Historical Council. It is also part of the Chicago North Side Historical Alliance. In the spring of 1986 a quarterly newsletter was created and now has a circulation of 1,500. On October 30, 1995, the society bought the Art Deco building, a potential landmark, on 6424 North Western Avenue. The accumulation of historical materials on Rogers Park/West Ridge became the core of a museum exhibit from 1995 to 1996. The Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society contributed to the overall exhibit series, "Neighborhoods: Keepers of Culture," held at the Chicago Historical Society (December 10,1995 to August 4, 1996). Their contribution was entitled Rogers Park/West Ridge: "Rhythms of Diversity." The historical society hopes to affect the way people look at the community by introducing more exhibits and keeping records of the communities' history. Eventually their efforts may lead to neighborhood improvements. The society hopes to obtain funding so that additional qualified staff can be hired. A committee is currently conducting research for an extensive history of Rogers Park and West Ridge, which will be published in 2000. The Historical Society also hopes to find space where it can display the original materials and installations from the Chicago Historical Society project, "Rogers Park/West Ridge: Rhythms of Diversity." In the year 2000 the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society will be celebrating its silver anniversary.—[From student historian's interview with Mary Jo Doyle, Nov. 5, 1998; Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, Society Chronology, E. Clark, "Rogers Park/West Ridge," Chicago History; "Rogers Park Born in 1816 with an Indian Treaty," 1983, Chicago Tribune; Ravenswood-Lake View Historical Association, "Rogers Park"; Local Community Fact Book: Chicago Metropolitan Area.]
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