Celebrating Locally

This past weekend, the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest had an open house of its new museum space, all decked out with displays, as regular museum hours are starting.

The museum is in a building (please see picture above) that was originally a firehouse from the days when Oak Park was in the Cicero Township, and in subsequent years served a variety of purposes.  After it no longer functioned as office space for the Public Works Department of the Village of Oak Park, it sat largely unused.  The OPRF Historical Society made an agreement with the Village to use the space as a new location for an OPRF History Museum, which involved extensive renovations.  I attended various open house events throughout the renovation period and was able to see the progress being made in getting the building to the splendid condition it is now in to serve as the history museum.  I went to check it out this past weekend during the open house:  I liked what I saw inside, with many historical items on display representing various aspects of village history (please see picture below).

Thinking about history, earlier this month, there were a number of notable anniversary occasions for prominent parts of history related to the local area.

June 8 was the 150-year anniversary of the birth of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  Born in Richland Center, WI, his home and studio is in Oak Park (please see picture below).

There are many homes nearby of his design in the Prairie style that represented something substantially noteworthy on the architectural scene of the time, and I sense how it reflects the wide open spaces of vast prairies.  Given how prominent he is in the architectural world, it's incredible to think that Oak Park can claim an important piece of him, which is a big tourist draw.

In fact, my brother used to give tours there as part of a program for youths.  At the conclusion of a training process that lasted several weeks, there was a ceremony at which he was officially certified as a tour guide.  As part of that ceremony, he gave my parents and me a privately led tour, much like he would do for tour groups thenceforth.  Looking back on that, I realize the experience was one of a lifetime.

June 7 marked 100 years since the birth of Gwendolyn Brooks, a distinguished African-American literary figure.  She was well-versed in writing poetry speaking to real-life experiences.  She was even at one point in time the Poet Laureate of Illinois, which makes it fitting that her name is on the Illinois State Library building in Springfield.  (She was even designated United States Poet Laureate through a position at the Library of Congress for a one-year term.)  Somehow, her mother ended up in Topeka, KS, where she gave birth on June 7, 1917, but Gwendolyn was soon back in Chicago, which became her lifelong home.

We're privileged in Oak Park to carry on her legacy through Brooks Middle School (please see picture below), which has a stellar performing arts program that gives students the amazing opportunity to channel their creative energies and put on some stunning musicals.

And The Wednesday Journal reports that an artistic mural is being created on the walls on a corner of Brooks Middle School.

June 6 marked the 125th anniversary of the Chicago Transit Authority.  I practically overlooked this anniversary, but it's one that I nonetheless mark with great enthusiasm.

My friend Richard and I were visiting together in Chicago one day in summer 2012.  While at the Chicago History Museum, we posed for this photo--taken by a fellow visitor--inside an 1892 "L" train car.

As a big train fan, I'm very pleased to have this CTA system available in Chicago.  It's a good network that spreads out well over Chicago and into some nearby suburbs.  It's delightful to have colors for the various lines, which apparently has only been around for 25 of those 125 years, as it debuted right around the time the newest constructed line opened, the Orange Line, providing service from Midway Airport to the Loop.

There have been some new stations in recent years, with notable designs, like the Cermak-McCormick Place station on the Green Line, in the picture below, with a fine view of the Chicago skyline.

There are many such corridors on the system that have a vantage point looking all the way to downtown, making for splendid views of the Chicago skyline, like the view in the picture below I took from the last car of a Blue Line train near Halsted Street along the I-290 corridor.

I've ridden most of the routes--the Yellow is the only one I haven't--and ridden most of the parts of the system, or seen parts of the system from nearby road ways, like the end of the Red Line at 95th Street, and the end of the Cottage Grove Branch of the Green Line.

One enjoyable thing I did a couple summers ago was riding the Purple Line all the way to Linden in Wilmette just to say I did it and see what was there.

I can access interesting areas of Chicago, such as ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown on the Red Line, and Pilsen on the Pink Line at 18th Street.  The Green Line provides access to central Oak Park, and I've used it on occasion.

But my line has long been the Blue Line, and my station the Oak Park Avenue stop, providing me access to the Loop Downtown to get to places there, or to transfer to other lines to go elsewhere in Chicago (or nearby suburbs).  I've also used it to reach the Northwest Side of Chicago, where my grandma has lived all the time I've been alive.

While the system is showing its age and could use some extra funds to get it in better shape, it's also doing pretty well in getting people around Chicago and beyond.  So I am definitely delighting in this anniversary occasion.

And I salute all these notable aspects of the local area that celebrated milestone anniversaries this month, as we continue to engage with the history of our area.