Eric Paul-Hus <eric.paul-hus@dr.cgocable.ca>
Letter One <Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997>
Dear Sir,
DON'T DESTROY WORLD HERITAGE.
I heard that what's left of Maxwell Street is in jeopardy of being bulldozed ? And if I'm correct, by an institution of higher education - the University of Illinois at Chicago?
I don't think I have to explain to faculty members and University administrators the value of historical landmarks. Maxwell Street is one of the cradle from which the modern Blues stepped out ... to take the world in a storm...
Tearing those buildings down would be a sad impoverishment of the Worldwide Blues Heritage. This site is renowned worldwide and cited in the majority, if not all, Blues encyclopedia as a site to visit to grasp the look and feel of the early electric Blues environment.
I honestly think that destroying this historical asset is doing the City of Chicago a great disfavor... And it is the kind of wrongdoing that future generations will sadly remember...
I urge the decision makers to save and preserve Maxwell Street... And if need be, it should be taken under the UNESCO protection as a World Heritage Site.
I plan to attend the Chicago Blues Festival and, like many other Blues lovers around the World, I hope I can walk on Maxwell Street and see at least part of this Blues Monument still standing ...
Maybe it was not brought to your attention in the early stages. But now that it is, please preserve this historical site. Blues lovers around the globe will be grateful...
Bulldozing Maxwell Street would be a crime against the Blues Community, the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, all the hordes of Americans that love Blues ... In short, destroying World Heritage is a crime against mankind ...
I and the zillions of Blues lovers around the globe are hopeful
you will reconsider and save the remains of Maxwell Street...
To keep thing in perspective this has the same value for Blues
historians than the Pyramids have for archeologists.
Warmest and hopeful regards,
Eric Paul-Hus
Drummondville, Quebec.
Letter Two <Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997>
Dear Chancellor Broski,
You probably already guessed what World Heritage Landmark I wish to discuss: Maxwell Street, of course ...
First, pardon my malleable English, I am a francophone from Quebec...
My letter wants to appeal to the scholar within you. Don't you agree that an institution of higher education is expected to set the example in regard to historical landmarks ? Isn't there plenty of evidence that they all consider themselves as curator of historical buildings in and out their campuses ? I can think of Harvard in Boston, UQAM and McGill Universities in Montreal... And I am pretty sure that you can fill up many pages with those *you* know.
If we accept that the "preservation" mission is a part of the educative process helping in understanding and feeling major historical and sociological events. Then what we have to focus on is the socio-historical value of Maxwell Street ... What is Maxwell Street from the Blues Culture point of view. Notice that I am not talking about the blues music but about the Blues Culture ...
Maxwell Street has the worldwide reputation of being the "Ellis Island" of all the Southern Black musicians who migrated north following the Mississippi ... They were leaving behind underpaid sharecropper's exploitation and hoping to make it in an industrial city... Amongst those were many Bluesmen for whom a better day job and a more populous area was twice an incentive to make the trek ... From that boomed the world renowned "Chicago Blues" style. Many say Blues was born in the South but electrified in the North ...
Maxwell Street is where Muddy Waters, BB King, John Lee Hooker became stars ... It is very close in the Blues lovers hearts to what Graceland is for Elvis' fans ... That's part of the cultural ... I also see more value into Maxwell Street than into Alcatrz. If the Americans preserve a prison, could not they preserve Maxwell Street ?
But there's more: due to segregation in radio, Maxwell Street is where the Black community started successful commercial enterprises producing Black artists ... The recent public television show, "Record Row, The Cradle of Rhythm & Blues" demonstrates that with clarity and plenty of documentary evidence ... If you did not see it, I am sure that the UIC library can arrange a showing for you.
Just to put things in perspective, a BLUES-L subscriber from Scotland just shared his traveling diaries dating from the early 70's. He made the trip then, more than 20 years ago, to visit the Mecca of electric Blues ... How many people on the list read his letters and cherish the idea of making the same pilgrimage one day ... By how many ten-folds would the emotions multiplicated if he has been an African-American ?
Because one thing is clear: Even if blues is now a somewhat cross-cultural music genre, it is also a cultural legacy ... And each culture has specific location that are so full of history in memories, that gave birth to legends ... For the Blues, Maxwell Street is one those locations ... The place where Chess and Vee-Jays took a chance in producing what was then called "negroe music", the place where the Black music industry became a symbol of all-Black success, the place where bloomed such talent as Muddy Waters, BB King and John Lee Hooker ...
In a sense, Maxwell Street is a product and a monument of the Civil Rights movement ... It is a monument to emergence of Black emancipation in the record industry; it gave some African-Americans jobs in Black operated companies and, in turn, that fueled the dreams of thousands ...
The decline came from the effective end of segregation in the radio industry: "Record Row" fell victim of its success ... But nonetheless, destroying it can only been seen as a "revisionist" position on history ... Scholars, like those who must be there at UIC, certainly know better than I do the significance of taking care of such socio-cultural sanctuaries ...
I can accept without problem that you were unaware of many aspects of Maxwell Street history at the time the original decision was taken to tear down the stones that host part of Blues soul. But now you *are* informed, maybe not convinced but *informed*. I have faith that the scholar person you must be will feel obligated to investigate further.
I personally would not want to be cited in all the future Blues anthologies as "the shortsighted person who let the bulldozers reduce Maxwell Street to rubble". Nor would I like to be part of an education institution that will be reported as "having put their short term interests above their duty towards Culture and History".
I appeal to the nobility of your function and to your heart and soul of prominent educator: Consider the facts, consider the history, consider the Culture and try to find solution ... Take all the time necessary to study all the avenues ... Since the sad news that Maxwell Street could be tore down, Blues lovers worldwide are appalled that it was even considered.
I would also consider fair that you ask collaboration in finding a solution or, at least, a suitable compromise ... Taking a good look at what can be preserved and at what cost. Consult the people a little more, there's certainly a solution lying in there, the crux is finding it! Since any demolition is irremediable, I beg you to give Maxwell Street "a stay of execution" ... Even if UIC first decided to destroyed it forever, in French we say "Seuls les fous ne changent pas d'idee" (~only fools refuse to change their minds)... I have the strong belief you are not a fool, and that the rest of the decision makers at UIC aren't either...
Now that the matter has been brought to your attention I'm optimistic you'll inquire further into that matter and take every possible way of looking at other alternatives. And don't hesitate to e-mail me if you think I can be of any assistance in resolving this situation so it is agreeable for all parties involved.
Please, Mister Chancellor, accept my deepest respect and my warmest regards.
--Eric Paul-Hus
>From Drummondville, Quebec.
DBF Volunteer, BLUES-L member
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