Elise Martel <U16982@UIC.EDU> Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997
Dear Chancellor Broski,
I am a graduate student at UIC who wrote her Master's thesis on the New Maxwell Street Market. I am writing to urge you to incorporate a Maxwell Street Preservation District into the University's plans for redevelopment of the Maxwell Street area.
Just the other day I was visiting with my grandmother and some of her friends. We were flipping through Irving Cutler's book The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb. Every time we thumbed to a page with a photo of the Maxwell Street area, one of the women would excitedly point to the place where she used to shop, or go to Temple, or would break into stories of youth and coming up Jewish in the Maxwell Street area. I had a wonderful afternoon visiting with these older ladies, and I learned something about myself. What these women did was more than reminisce, they were creating continuity, and transmitting to me, a woman of 26, collective memory and a sense of place.
The importance of continuity cannot be underscored enough. Identity is based in large measure on place. This area is real now, why demolish it and turn it into myth? It is not just the Jews of Chicago who have a connection to this area, but also African Americans, Mexicans, Asians, and Italians, to name just a few groups. It is also a place where many people were able to get a foothold into the economy. It is surprising to me that a place which is a testimony to the American Dream would be demolished.
During the CIC Traveling Scholar's Conference which took place on our campus in November, a friend of mine visited from University of Michigan. We got together and I asked him what he would like to see in Chicago. Being a fan of the Blues, he wanted to see the area known as Maxwell Street. He had heard that the University was located virtually on top of this historic site. He was shocked to hear that the University had plans to demolish this area. My feeling is the same.
We have the wonderful opportunity to set an example of responsible development. Not only do we have an opportunity, but, according to the UIC Neighborhoods Initiative Statement, we have an obligation to "strengthen the quality of life in these neighborhoods for the benefit of the residents, businesses, the university, and other institutions". While a simulacra or small scale replica of what was once a thriving community is not the ideal form for neighborhood preservation, it is a compromise, and one that all of us can benefit from.
Thank you,
Elise Martel, Graduate Student
Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago
web page provided by OPENAIR-MARKET NET
return to Preserve Maxwell Street