Maxwell St.: Destruction of folk places by high-culture institutions (invitation to lecture at U. of Chicago*, Feb. 4, 2000)

I wanted to let everyone know that we will be having a presentation this Friday by Steve Balkin, Professor of Policy Studies at Roosevelt University and Vice President of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition. The talk will be entitled "Maxwell Street: Destruction of folk places by high-culture institutions" and is being co-sponsored by MAPH and the Cultural Policy Program. The presentation will begin promptly at 3pm in Classics 10, and will be followed by our standard cocktail hour at 4pm.

I've attached a short abstract of the presentation below. We hope to see all of you there.

Cheers,

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ABSTRACT

From the shetles of Eastern Europe, the plantations of the Mississippi Delta, and the villages of Mexico, they came to this Chicago neighborhood to make the transition from feudalism to capitalism. "Blacks plus Jews equals Blues" is a saying from the old Maxwell Street area in Chicago. Professor Steve Balkin of Roosevelt University and other members of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition will be giving a presentation about the historical, cultural, and contemporary importance of one of Chicago's oldest neighborhoods. This area is under imminent threat from the University of Illinois wrecking ball. For background, please visit the Preserve Maxwell Street website <www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html>.

*Note by Steve Balkin: The names University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago are often confused with each other. University of Chicago (U of C) is an old prestigious private university on Chicago's South Side. In contrast University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is a relatively new middling public university on Chicago's near West Side. Although the two universities are not related, UIC would like to have the status that U of C has. Rather than acquiring prestige the old fashioned way (by earning it), UIC thinks it can muscle its way to academic status by public relations, abandoning its historical mission to local poor and minority students and residents, hiring a few outside stars, and tearing town low income/culture rich neighborhoods in its vicinity.

**

"Stanley Fish gets media attention," says Judith Reese (UIC Trustee). "And to a certain extent, that's what you need to attract support, to make it seem like UIC is an exciting place to teach or to go to school." quoted from Chicago Magazine, February 2000, p. 99.

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