Michael Dietler <mdietler@anthro.spc.uchicago.edu> Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998
Dear Chancellor Brodski,
It is astonishing to me that the University of Illinois at Chicago still may not recognize the historical treasure that lies in its backyard. I am speaking, of course, of the plan to demolish the remaining vestiges of Maxwell Street and replace them with a hotel-condominium complex, or some other structure. In my view this would be a tragedy that the University, and the city of Chicago as a whole, will come to regret bitterly in future generations.
Maxwell Street is not just another quaint neighborhood for which a few people have a certain sentimental regard. It is a uniquely important landmark in the history of music and in the history of Chicago. This is the widely recognized cradle of Chicago's greatest, most influential, and only truly distinctive, cultural contribution to the world: the Chicago Blues. As someone who works and travels frequently in Europe, I can assure you that the Blues constitutes Chicago's greatest claim to international fame. Even more than its impressive architecture, even more than the renowned Bulls, the name of Chicago is associated automatically, and reverently, with the Blues, the inspired music which is the source of a huge proportion of all twentieth century popular music. Some Chicago institutions still seem curiously indifferent to this incredible heritage, but the rest of the world looks on with admiration. If handled correctly, a preserved and revitalized Maxwell Street would become a site of pilgrimage for music fans, scholars, and tourists from around the world.
I would like to emphasize that it is not the architectural merits of the buildings themselves that count here in terms of the importance of preservation. Rather, it is the extraordinary historical significance of the place and the memory that is embodied in this collection of otherwise quite ordinary buildings. These old buildings provide a context for understanding the transformation of the Blues in Chicago into the music that is synonymous with the city, a unique context that will be increasingly important for future generations who will want to understand the identity of Chicago and the roots of American civilization. As an archaeologist, I am keenly aware of the importance of preserving apparently humble things that are of value for their singular historical importance rather than for simply aesthetic criteria. And I have seen many preservation projects of this kind around the world that have produced benefits far beyond the dreams of even their most ardent advocates. A very good example, which shows the way in which preservation can become an asset to commercial development, is the Centre Bourse project in Marseille, France. There, remains of the ancient Greek port were discovered in the course of building a large downtown shopping mall. The plans for development were altered to preserve the vestiges as a large archaeological park in the middle of the shopping mall and an impressive museum was incorporated into the mall itself. This plan was so successful that the museum and park actually draw people to the shopping center, and many people now proudly consider this to be the heart of the city.
In my view, Maxwell Street has similar potential as a focus of development for the University neighborhood. Something along the lines of Beale Street in Memphis would be a very feasible and successful venture. And as part of that project, I would argue for the importance of establishing in some of those buildings a museum and teaching facility dedicated to the Blues. This would create a strong intellectual link to the University and a central cohesive force in defining the historical character of the district. It would also provide a cultural center and source of pride for the still vibrant Blues community of Chicago, as well as a validation of the enormous (yet still underacknowledged) African American cultural contribution to this city. Moreover, if the city does agree to the establishment of a Jazz Museum at the proposed location on the corner of Roosevelt and Michigan Avenue, this would provide an excellent bridge to a Blues Museum at Maxwell Street. A Maxwell Street historical district would then be seen as the western anchor of Chicago's newly configured cultural core.
The advantages of such a development for the image and visibility of the University of Illinois at Chicago would be considerable. Not only would it greatly enliven the campus and be a draw in student and faculty recruitment. Even a modified version of the proposed hotel and condominium complex would ultimately benefit from it. Visitors and prospective residents would feel themselves at the center of something important rather than on the periphery of the city.
Maxwell Street is "ground-zero" for a unique phenomenon of immense cultural significance for this city and the world: the birth of Chicago Blues. The University of Illinois at Chicago holds in its hands an unprecedented opportunity to enhance its neighborhood and its reputation in the city, the nation, and the international community, by linking itself to a singularly important project of cultural preservation. I implore you to do everything in your power to preserve and develop this marvelous cultural landmark. This is an irreplaceable part of the heritage of this great city.
Sincerely,
Michael Dietler
Associate Professor of Anthropology
The University of Chicago
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