June 10, 2011

Overseers of the Poor

The Social Services of the Day
The term 'social service' refers to the variety of programs made available by public or private agencies to individuals and families who need special assistance. 
Prior to 1935 and the Social Security Act of that year Americans called these services as public charity to be decided by an administrator. The only aid available to people who were poor, elderly, disabled, widowed, orphaned or otherwise in need came from local authorities who administered the “Poor Laws,” laws which came to the United States with English settlers in the 1620's. The first official guardian of the poor in Lake View Township was one of the original organizers of the township, a John Bugner. 
Angel Guardian Orphan Asylum
And on a Personal Note:
Social services played an important part in this bloggers' human development. This blogger was adopted in 1955, at an orphanage called St. Vincent Orphanage located in Chicago. This blogger was provided care until his third month when a young couple adopted him as Edward Nelson (bloggers original name). Without the existence of that organization this blogger would not have gained the love, support, and education that I needed to be a productive, mostly happy member of my Lake View community.
Overseers of the Poor: Past
Angel Guardian Orphan Asylum

  2001 W Devon Avenue
photo - Elizabeth Lynn-Forgotten Chicago on Facebook
An Account of the Asylum 1884
by A.T. Andreas
"A German Catholic Orphan Society was organized in 1865. Its' board of directors being the of the different parishes throughout the city of Chicago and two laymen from each congregation. The buildings were erected at [community of] Rose Hill at an expense $8,000. These were however destroyed by fire October 23 1879.  Previously however on the eleventh September 1872 the Angel Guardian German Catholic Orphan Society of Chicago had been under general State law with its’ object being the support maintenance and education of such orphan and half orphan children as the society may choose to receive. The first trustees numbered nine.  Immediately after the destruction of the asylum building by fire in 1879 the trustees began erection of the present structure which is so a land mark in this section of the town. The building stands upon high ground where the air is pure and commands a beautiful expanse of country. When completed the cost of the building was $35, 000. The T entire valuation of property is placed at $50,000. I hat the institution has fully met the purpose for which it was founded is quite evident from its status. Over one hundred and thirty orphans find a home there under the motherly care of the Poor Handmaids who not only teach their fatherless and motherless charges the rudiments of their education but nurse them in sickness and protect them in health. The grounds of the asylum included houses and farmland cover forty-nine acres of ground."
 a 1887 Sanborn Fire Map of the location
images - Historic Map Works
St Henry's Catholic Church in 1887 ...
a more zoomed view of the church in 1887
1914 - Living History of Illinois and Chicago 
the complex in 1928 via Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
A 1910 census of the population of kids with this link


photos - Chuckman Collection
Located at the northern edge of Lake View Township 
(Devon Avenue was the north border of township) and founded in 1865; seven years after the establishment of the township. This institution housed over 1200 hundred depended children after the Civil War and the Great Depression making this benevolent institution the largest in population and geography in Chicago at the time.
It ceased to be an institution for orphan or dependent children as of 1974. Read a storybook tale of the life of this institution with this link (click on book).
The children in the hothouse (greenhouse) - 1914
1929 Picnic for the orphans 
+ other social services at the time
The buildings are to the right of photo with old St. Henry's beyond the streetcar (heading west) - 1940's maybe
photo - The Trolley Dodger
 image - Ebay
Its' History in a Nutshell 100th year in 1966
that institutional was related to ....
 photo by Jean Ensch (photo 1983)
1928 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the church property
Read and view more on this church in the post called 
House of Worship & School: Catholic 
the video of the complex with this link
The House of the Good Shepherd
1126 W Grace Street/Racine
image - Illinois Medical Directory 1910
The House of the Good Shepherd established in 1859 is an organization that original cared only for abused women. This organization had a presence in the community of Lake View beginning in 1905. The House of the Good Shepherd was initially a shelter for battered women and their children that sought to end the their cycle of domestic violence. 
Daily News Archives - 1909
House of the Good Shepherd mission statement reads as follows: "welcomes with love and compassion women and children affected by domestic violence who seek their help. The shelter is a safe place which seeks to empower women, affirming them in their family role. A woman and her children are offered opportunities for emotional, social, educational and spiritual growth. We are committed to helping families by strengthening their self-esteem and giving hope and continued support for a better future". Currently, the western end of the property is owned by the Wrigley Field organization and used as a parking lot while the remainder is still owned by the Good Shepherd organization.
In this 1922 University of Chicago map (zoomed) the entire property space was located near the historical district of Alta Vista to the east and Wunder and Jewish Graceland cemeteries to the north. 
1923 Sanborn Fire Map with the 
Chicago & Evanston tracks east of property
History: Located on the north Side, the House of the Good Shepherd officially opened in 1859, when four Irish Sisters of the Good Shepherd arrived in Chicago from St. Louis to care for “abandoned women.” Over time the sisters extended their care from those accused of prostitution or disorderly conduct to delinquent and dependent girls. After the turn of the century, most residents (over 400 at the end of the century) found their way to this Roman Catholic institution through the juvenile court. The original building was located until 1984 at 1126 Grace Street.
An Anniversary in 1909
View of building from Wrigley Field (photo right) 1955
shown to indicate the size of the building to the right of photo
photo - Man on Five via Chicago Tribune Archives
A Park Possibility In 1966 
Part of the Original Space now for Cubs 1990
A much smaller presence today
2012 photos - Garry Albrecht
The property was subdivided 
- Wrigley Field's parking lot is west of institution
The same concrete fence remains - 2013
Martha Washington Hospital
2324 W Irving Park Road
 the original building
postcard - Chuckman Collection
image above - Illinois Medical Directory 1910

image - publication called 'History of Cook County, Illinois from the Earliest Period to the Present' - 1884
a view of it in 1887
a view of it in 1923


from a publication called 'A Mile Square of Chicago'
a second building constructed in 1926
 image - Martha Group
According to the Chicago Tribune this former Lake View Township hospital filed for bankruptcy in 1991.
What was left of the old Martha Washington Hospital building on Sunday, October 9th 2005. It was gone by the morning of the 11th. The hospital closed in 1989 and occupied part of 5 acres at W Irving Park Rd and N Western Ave in Chicago 
photo below - John Dunlevy via Flickr
the property is now the home of ...
Martha Washington Apartments
before the hospital there was ...
 (a Facebook album)
and before that a private religious school called ...
Immanuel Hall
Jane Addams Center 
3212 N Broadway
  Jane Addams
Her publication was called 
The Function for her 'Social Settlement' 
3212 N Broadway (Evanston Avenue) - Ebay

Before it was a social service location for Hull House 
and way before it was a local health club this new five-story brick Gothic style structure was intended to be a 
Hull House like settlement house by 1918 
per this 1910 article below

text - Jeff Hamrick via LakeView Historical-Facebook
Sanborn Fire Map 1923 

'The Herman Beardsley Butler House'. Mr. Beardsey was the treasurer and Vice President of the Joseph T. Ryerson 
(iron and steel) Company. More than likely after Mr Bulter's death the building was used as the company's private club. This mansion or social club at all the amenities of a private social club of its day. The architects of the building were Shattuck & Hussey. Below is a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the building - 1923 indicating the ownership at the time.
photo of the original plaque of the building that was donated to the Ravenswood-Lake View Historical Association in 2018
According to Lake View Historical contributor Gil Semmen the years prior to Hull House this building was used as a American Legion Hall. View more information on it above.
A New Owner ...
Testimony of this satellite location for Hull House
"It was 1962 when Hull House moved into the new building on Broadway just north of Belmont. I attended day camp there with my sister and cousins. We were the first to act in the theater (first floor...Peter Pan was the play), play in the gym (4th floor), swim in the pool (basement), and make masterpieces in the arts and craft area (3rd floor)."
- Joe Colangel
Good works in 1967
 photos of Jane Addams Center
 - the satellite branch in Lake View
unknown source

1985 photo - Timeline via Jeff Atkinson
the stairs leading up to the building at the time and
read the commentary from LakeView Historical-Facebook on the amenities inside this institution
The Amenities of Hull House - Lake View
Child care, arts and crafts that included pottery classes, legal resources, english classes conducted by the federally sponsored Vista program, youth improvement activities, community theatre with Viola Spolin, an innovator of improvisational techniques at Second City Theatre, who taught classes there, and an organization called Outpost - unofficial program called the 
At the staff at the 'Outpost' helped residents with tenant rights and healthcare advice.
2009 Pride Float - Photobucket
2012 According to the Chicago Tribune Hull House with their main headquarters at 1030 W Buren Street declared bankruptcy due to a continued drop in private donations.
News of closure by Crain's Chicago in 2012
rendition of the renovated building -  Fabiano Design
photo - Lake View Patch
The new occupants (Lake View Athletic Club - 2009) made good use of the existing building space!  Above is an example of the original brick work reused as part of the clubs interior construction that can be seen throughout this recycled building.  
The Bethany Girls HQ
currently known as
Reside on Wellington
image - Art Institute of Chicago
'The Wellington House was completed in 1900 as a residence for Frederic A. Delano, president of the Wabash Railroad and uncle of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Delano moved to Washington, D.C. in 1914 where he served on the Federal Reserve Board & was appointed to various posts in the administrations of Presidents Calvin Coolidge & Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1922, the Delano residence was purchased by
 The Bethany Girls, a religious & philanthropic organization the was formed to provide lodging, classroom, & dining facilities for fifty young women. The building also served as the organization’s national headquarters. The building was later converted to apartments and a 6-story addition was built to the west. The building is currently called Reside Wellington, luxury rental apartments.' - text from Geo Coaching
lobby and below the parlor
YMCA - Lake View
Initially called the Lincoln-Belmont YMCA
Facebook

photo - CardCow
Photographic Images of Change 
(University of Illinois at Chicago)
a zoomed out view
Image from a publication called the Lake View Saga
Steve Lewandowski via Original Chicago-Facebook
 postcard - Ebay

Ravenswood-Lakeview Community Collection
located at the Sulzer Regional Library
Read about this organization's historical impact 
and Facebook them!
 photo below -YMCA- Lake View gym 2015
The Salvation Army of Lake View
Their other home was on Wilton Avenue
a pamphlet  


Alexian Brothers - Bonverture House
once at Beldon & Racine Avenues

1907 photo - Chuckman Collection
Bonaventure House opened its doors in March of 1889, serving as a facility that was neither hospital nor hospice: it would become a home for people with AIDS and a resource center that provided counseling and an array of supportive services. Bonaventure House now focuses on transforming the lives of our residents by helping them transition to independent living.
Francis E Willard Temperance 
1619 W Diversey Parkway
was part of the
Methodist Hospital of Chicago
in the community of Ravenswood
once part of the Township/City of Lake View
5015 N Paulina Street

 postcard images - Illinois Digital Archives
'Swedish Bethany Home for the Aged Chicago Ill This Home of the Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church was incorporated November 3 1890. Mr John R Lindgren donated $20,000 on condition that an equal sum be raised among the Swedish Methodist churches which was carried out. The Home is under the management of 15 trustees 5 ministers & 10 laymen. It is nonsectarian and some of the inmates have no church affiliation. The present value of property is $35,000 and a new building is in process of erection at a cost of 90,000. The new building will be three stories high and will adjoin the present building. It will be a fireproof and modern construction & rooms for 53 persons. 
The Children's Sanitarium:
its evolution
2401 N Lake Shore Drive
During the days of the Township/City of Lake View Fullerton Avenue was the southern border with Chicago. I decided to included this former institution in this blog post.
 below image - 'Lincoln Park 1899'
'Chicago Daily News 
Fresh Air Fund' Sanitarium 
aka Lincoln Park Sanitarium
1902?-1939
image above
Chicago History Museum via Explore Chicago Collection
 1903
 1903
1907
and below 1910
The Theater on the Lake
photo - Theater on the Lake-Facebook
The building was converted to a summer theater space in 1953 by the Chicago Park District
2009 photo - Theater on the Lake-Facebook
image - 'History of Lincoln Park' by Patrick Butler
renovations as of 2016 
photos by Eric Rojas
A new look for the theater
images - Kaufman | O'Neil Architecture
Counseling Center of Lake View

photo - 44th ward master plan
3225 N Sheffield Avenue
On April 30, 2012 another social service (above pics) closed due to government budget cuts and lack of private financial contributions. Counseling Center of Lake View ended a 40 year run serving those who needed immediate care.
'In 1969, as the de-institutionalization movement in mental health gained steam in the United States. Residents of the Lake View community joined together to form the Lake View Mental Health Council in 1972 along with Centro Latino, a coalition of grass-roots organizations located at 3225 N. Sheffield. In 1975, the Department of Mental Health provided funding for Latino Counseling Services and Lake View Alcoholism Program, the first direct service programs of what is now known as the Counseling Center of Lake View. The Counseling Center of Lake View was a private non-for-profit organization committed to the provision of quality, comprehensive, mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence services for the residents of the Lake View and adjacent communities. The Center was especially concerned about the development of services for population groups traditionally under-served by mental health and substance abuse providers. As an agency, the Center had developed programs for the Spanish-speaking, substance abusers, children and adolescents, homeless youth, older adults, the post-hospitalized psychiatric patient, and the long-term mentally ill. The range of services included: prevention, diagnostic evaluation, assertive case management, counseling and therapy, psychiatry, advocacy,& networking."'
neighborhood newspaper - Insight-Booster
The request for services 1969
(click on article to enlarge)
The 'Li-La-U' Neighborhood Center
a new center in 1968
(click on article to enlarge)

Social Agencies of the Area as of 1984
(click to enlarge image)
Overseers of the Poor: Present
The Lake View Pantry 
still with us but at another location
the location on Broadway 
Initially called the People's Pantry of Lake View, this social service agency was founded in 1970 within the Jane Addam Center that was located on 3212 N. Broadway (now the Lake View Athletic Club). According to their website as of 2014 the agency has a full paid staff of ten with a volunteer force of 800. LVP serves 12,000 individuals each year administrating three programs to assist 41,000 clients within the Lake View area. The agency has been able to these clients after it formed a partnership with the Greater Chicago Food Depository in 1980. The agency's current location is 
3831 N Broadway soon to move to 3945 N Sheridan Road in 2015 according to DNAinfo. Lake View Panty has a second location at 1414 W. Oakdale Avenue also in Lake View.
moving day 2015 - DNAinfo  
Read more about the agency's stories and accomplishments either on their Facebook page or 
their news section of their website. 
image - DNAinfo
Rendering provided/Wheeler Kearns Architects
The pantry doubled the size of its previous home, at 3831 N. Broadway, to 7,500 square feet and provided space for its staff offices, meetings, conference room and cooking and nutrition classes. The pantry fed 8,200 people last year in Lake View, Uptown, Lincoln Park and North Center and offers self-help programs and counseling. Six months after opening 2017, the pantry expanded its client service territory farther north in January, reaching farther into Uptown. It has operated in Lake View for 45 years, renting space on Broadway, but was in need of a bigger, permanent home according to an online news source called DNAinfo.
National Runaway Safeline
Initially called Metro-Help, this agency services as a phone hotline connection to run-away, homeless, and at-risk youth in the Chicago area. Read more about this agency from their website and/or this article. 
LGBTQ Social Services 
photo - snipview
photo - windy city media group
photo - Gensler 
photo - Gensler 
photo - Gensler 
photos - USGBC
Town Hall Apartments
established 2014
Since the late 1970's to early 1980's the gay community has had a presence in Lake View. The community of Boystown became a mecca or sorts for disfranchised LBGT folks who found security and fellowship in a small geographical area of the City of Chicago. Independent businesses dotted the Broadway Avenue and Halsted Street strips by the mid-1980's. LGBT youth within the Midwest discovered Boystown and like the Puerto Rican population of the 1960's needed support and guidance with the establishment of social services that met their unique needs. The AIDS crisis of the 1980's galvanized the need in Lake View with medical support and housing opportunities. Since the 1990's overnight shelters have been established within in the walls of supportive religious congregations. 
The precursor to the Center on Halsted was this holistic organization that was established in a small cafe on Lincoln Avenue called 'Gay Horizon' in 1973. This agency sparked a culture of acceptance and support in Chicago for LGBTQ folks particular the youth.
Rosecrance Lake View is a counseling center and recovery residence at 3701 N Ashland Avenue. This center will afford young adults in the early stages of recovery the opportunity to heal and become grounded in recovery as they progress toward a successful future. Through evidence-based treatment, a structured and supportive living environment, personal accountability, career-coaching and guidance in goal setting, these young adults will receive the best opportunity for help, hope and recovery. No drugs or alcohol will be allowed in the residence or any part of the building.
Community Supported 
'Over Night' Housing
By 2005 the Center on Halsted building was constructed to house and support some of the various agencies that supported the disfranchised LGBTQ community 
within the Chicagoland area. 
Crib/Night Ministry
once located at the Lake View Lutheran Church on Addison
photos - BYC website
As LGBT youth from the Midwest continued to discover Boystown during the turn of the 21st century and gay-friendly organizations began to establish overnight shelters for the youth in Lake View to not only safeguard their presence but that of the community as a whole. Like many of the young faces that in Boystown many of the city’s homeless youth come to what they see as the promised land.
In 2011 the Night Ministry established The Crib with the partnership with the Lake View Lutheran Church. The Howard Brown's Broadway Youth Center once located at 3179 North Broadway and then later housed at the Wellington Avenue Church of Christ in Lake View is sponsored the Center on Halsted. The BYC moved to Uptown in 2017. The Wellington Avenue Church of Christ houses the Youth Lounge since 2010.
The Crib tried to move to Bucktown but there was opposition. According to Block Chicago, "Contending that the homeless shelter has a history of being “bad neighbors” to Lake View families and pointing to a 2013 SWAT team response, some Bucktown residents pleaded with The Night Ministry to stop The Crib’s move to the neighborhood."
A List of Community Agencies as of 2006
image - 44th ward organization

Blog Post Notes: 
View a 1928 list of all the so-called asylums in early Chicago along with a list community agencies as of 2006.

Important Note:
These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!
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