Chicago's Little Village: Lawndale-Crawford

By Frank S. Magallon

Little Village has been known by several names over the past 140 years, but its rich culture and history have never been forgotten. Situated on Chicago s southwest side, Little Village has gone from real estate promoters Millard and Decker s affluent suburb Lawndale to one of the largest Bohemian enclaves in the United States. This vibrant neighborhood is known today as the largest Mexican community in the state of Illinois. Little Village has almost always been a working-class immigrant neighborhood filled with hardworking men and women who want their piece of the American dream. From residents such as martyred Chicago mayor Anton Cermak to the typical immigrant family next door, these strong-willed people have made their mark on Chicago and the rest of the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Apr 19, 2010
• ISBN: 9781439624425

Frank S. Magallon

Frank S. Magallon is a historian concentrating on the suburbs of Berwyn, Cicero, and the Czech neighborhoods of Chicago. He is an avid collector of rare photographs and memorabilia from these areas and shares many never-before-seen images in this book. Magallon's connection to Little Village spans nearly three-quarters of a century with his father's and mother's families residing within the community.

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INTRODUCTION

After the great Chicago fire of October 1871, many residents of Chicago were looking to move away from the crowded city. Areas on the city’s outskirts were quickly being developed, even as the ashes and rubble from the great fire were still being cleared. In 1871, Chicago real estate partners Alden C. Millard and Edwin J. Decker wanted to build an affluent subdivision in the suburban area west of Chicago, choosing an area just short of the Chicago city limits. The original subdivision was bound by Twenty-second Street, Twenty-sixth Street, Hamlin Avenue, and Homan Avenue. Promotional material from the firm in 1875 boasts that the homes from then on would be only constructed of brick, ranging in price from $2,500 to $8,500. There was also a newly built Baptist church and even a hotel within the subdivision. Lawndale also had its own park, which would later be named Shedd Park after one of the subdivision’s early residents, John G. Shedd, who became the president of Marshall Field and Company. Shedd was also the namesake of the world-renowned Shedd Aquarium on Chicago’s lakefront.

By the turn of the 20th century, the west side of Chicago would become the largest industrial section of the city, and as a result, the more affluent residents began to move away from the Lawndale area. They would eventually be replaced by immigrants, mostly of Eastern European extraction, from Bohemia (Czech Republic), Poland, Germany, and Hungary. These hard-working ethnic groups began to purchase lots and build a more working class–style of home as opposed to the palatial residences built by Lawndale’s earlier wealthy settlers. There were also many midsize apartment buildings and two-flats built to accommodate Lawndale’s working-class people. Due to upward mobility and the desire to own one’s own home, many Bohemian immigrants and their first generation brethren began to leave Chicago’s densely populated lower west-side Pilsen neighborhood for the Lawndale community. Many of Pilsen’s residents lived in crowded tenement buildings with no running water or central heat and wanted to get away from the dirt and grit of city living. Because of the spreading word and the promise of prosperity in the Lawndale community, many Bohemians were moving to Česká Kalifornie (Czech California), as the Lawndale community became known by its Bohemian majority.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Bohemians were the dominant group in Lawndale, or Lawndale-Crawford as it was now referred to. These thrifty civic-minded people took a strong interest in the betterment of their neighborhood and brought with them many ethnic institutions and businesses from their old neighborhoods. Sokol Halls; Czech Freethinkers Schools; Bohemian churches, clubs, and benevolent societies; and many Czech-themed businesses began popping up all over the neighborhood. There was now no mistaking that you were in an ethnic Czech enclave. Employment was also very plentiful by this time. The massive Western Electric Hawthorne Works plant on the western border of Lawndale-Crawford served as stable and well paying employment to many of the community’s residents. There were also many jobs to be had in other factories near the area, as well as the thousands of small businesses that lined the business districts of Lawndale-Crawford on Twenty-sixth Street, Twenty-second Street (Cermak Road), Thirty-first Street, and just about every residential block where small corner businesses thrived.

The 1920s were a very prosperous time for the people of Lawndale-Crawford. As a result of a war being fought in the Czech lands during World War I, the community experienced increased immigration. Businesses were successful, and employment was still plentiful. Lawndale-Crawford was home to Czech-born Cook County commissioner Anton J. Cermak, who was elected mayor of Chicago in 1931. This really put Lawndale-Crawford on the map and gave a sense of pride to the Bohemian people and everyone else who lived within the community. Unfortunately, two short years later, Mayor Cermak was assassinated in Miami, Florida, while on a trip with Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The aftermath was a very dark time for the community as well as all of Chicago.

Fast forwarding to the early 1960s, South Lawndale began showing some troubling signs of change. Many of the community’s residents were moving farther west to the Czech-dominated suburbs of Cicero and Berwyn. Businesses were closed and left vacant along Twenty-sixth Street, the community’s major business thoroughfare. This was largely due to fear based on the rapid changes taking place in the North Lawndale Community, which bordered South Lawndale. African Americans began moving into North Lawndale, and within two short years, the neighborhood’s demographic shifted from 99 percent white to 9 percent white. Media in the early 1960s had branded North Lawndale as Slumdale, or as being one of the most depressed and impoverished neighborhoods in the United States. This dramatic change had many of South Lawndale’s residents fleeing for the suburbs, worried that integration was inevitable in South Lawndale. The Twenty-sixth Street Chamber of Commerce and the Twenty-sixth Street Community Council viewed white flight as a problem and stepped in to help preserve the community and stop residents from fleeing the area. This effort was headed up by many community leaders—among them area real estate salesman and civic leader Richard Dolejs—who started with a change of the community’s name to distance themselves from the negative stigma associated with the name Lawndale. In 1964, a movement began to change the name of the community from South Lawndale to Little Village, to reflect the immigrants of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and even the newest ethnic group, the Mexicans, who resided there. Many of these groups had roots in small towns and villages, so the council felt the name would be easy for many to relate