Who would be up for a tour of the sites of Belgian settlement in Chicago?
What, you say, Belgians? In Chicago?! Yes and yes.
Conducted by Krista Reynen
(Who wrote the entry on Belgians in the Encyclopedia of Chicago)
The tour will start at 12 pm (to accommodate the church). We will meet in front of St. John Berchmans Church at Logan Boulevard. There are no steps to get into the church at the moment but we will enter via a side entrance.
We will spend a long time at the church because all the props are there to talk about history and we can sit. We will then walk over to Fullerton and Talman to visit and continue the tour there. The tour takes about 1 1/2 hours depending on how fast people move. The tour ends at Fullerton and Talman. People might want to park their cars at Fullerton and Talman or for those who don’t want to walk, first park at the church and then drive to Fullerton and Talman and park there.
LTHforum poster JiminLoganSquare contacted and arranged for Ms. Reynen, this is how he learned of the Belgium connection:
For several years now, I’ve driven past a structure at 2625 W. Fullerton with the intriguing and peculiar inscription, “All Belgians Are Equal — 1921.” (Mrs. JiLS actually noticed the inscription for the first time a couple of months ago.) So, that was unexpected, and mysterious.
I did some research and learned that, among other ethnic groups who settled Logan Square in the early 20th century, were Belgians. As it turns out, they included a large number of janitors, who founded the janitors’ union here in Chicago. They also built the Belgian Hall, with its “All Belgians Are Equal” inscription, as well as a very significant church on Logan Boulevard, and much more.
Although the Belgian presence is more attenuated today (e.g., the Belgian Hall was purchased in 1976 and has been used for storage for the past 30 years), this is a very interesting bit of Chicago history that is not often touched upon, and here it was in my own back yard.
Long story short, I eventually made contact with Krista Reynen, who works at the Newberry Library and has made something of a specialty of the Belgians in Chicago. Ms. Reynen wrote the entry on Belgians in the Encyclopedia of Chicago, and will be giving a tour of Belgian sites of interest in October. She has graciously offered, however, to do a tour for a private group.
From the Belgian American Historical Society of Chicago http://www.bahsc.org/home.html
Another point of interest for LTH: Apparently, the DeJonghe family ( http://www.bahsc.org/images/newsletter/bahsc_newsletter_2006_07_14_v_2_n_1.pdf ) of Shrimp DeJonghe fame were Belgians (scroll down to page 7). Very interesting! They apparently could DeJonghe a brickbat. I’d personally love to try veal sweetbreads DeJonghe.