I came here from Belize in 1973. The importance of the Market is that it got people. People find reasonable buying here from the salesmen. The soul of Chicago is at Maxwell Street.
John R., a vendor, from an interview July 1994
It's livelihood; it's life. All people come together under one banner. There is love and affection here. The people, they worship this street.
Jesse Jefferson, owner of Respect Yourself Clothing Store, from an interview July 1994
Maxwell Street is an original. There is no other place like it in Chicago, and there can never be. You don't destroy such a living tumultuous monument. You save and cherish it.
Ira Berkow, former Maxwell Street vendor. Now N Y Times columnist and author of the book Maxwell Street: Survival in an Urban Bazaar, quoted in article in Jewish United Fund News, July 1993
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