https://fifthcityrevisited.net Fifth City Revisited Tue, 13 Jul 2021 22:41:12 +0000 https://fifthcityrevisited.net en https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Home-Map Tue, 13 Jul 2021 15:57:44 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Home-Map <img width="701" height="701" width_o="701" height_o="701" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fe5678523c425029febf5907631c84fd18ae181ea8b6e9b8e64f2dadba47b403/fifth-city-logo-map_210518_00.png" data-mid="113743271" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/701/i/fe5678523c425029febf5907631c84fd18ae181ea8b6e9b8e64f2dadba47b403/fifth-city-logo-map_210518_00.png" /> <img width="21" height="21" src="//freight.cargo.site/w/21/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-no-zoom="true"> <img width="21" height="21" src="//freight.cargo.site/w/21/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-no-zoom="true"> <img width="21" height="21" src="//freight.cargo.site/w/21/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-no-zoom="true"> <img width="21" height="21" src="//freight.cargo.site/w/21/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-no-zoom="true"> <img width="21" height="21" src="//freight.cargo.site/w/21/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9eb697d31eda392240ca56ff6ed726435eaac71e0bafbfa7cbcb80b6cb80502/map-marker_210713_00.png" data-no-zoom="true"> https://fifthcityrevisited.net/About Tue, 13 Jul 2021 16:57:42 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/About About <img width="2633" height="1778" width_o="2633" height_o="1778" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94062bfa74efb64cd23e16d6cea5561eff95777aff854fd4bbb2ccc8444df14a/C05-c002.jpg" data-mid="113753273" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94062bfa74efb64cd23e16d6cea5561eff95777aff854fd4bbb2ccc8444df14a/C05-c002.jpg" /> This online exhibition serves as a repository of information to accompany Meida Teresa McNeal’s solo performance, Fifth City Revisited, which is co-presented by Honey Pot Performance &amp; First Church of the Brethren. The Fifth City movement was a community development project launched on the Westside of Chicago in the 1960s that set out to reconceive what and how communities could be organized. As an initiative between neighborhood residents and the Ecumenical Institute, Fifth City burgeoned as a new model for comprehensive, self-determined community organizing. Fifth City Revisited, the performance project, invites people to consider Fifth City’s plans, symbols, and rituals for community transformation as both a lesson and inspiration for current community organizing and revitalization efforts. Integral to the movement were five core principles: Work must be done in a delimited geographical area, an area that is clearly defined. You must deal with the depth-human problem. The depth human problem in 5th City can be called the “self-reinforcing negative self-image”....or can be talked about as a spirit problem. The use of intentional symbols is key. Symbols operate to embody the possibilities of a changed and expanded lifestyle, and to fix these possibilities in memory. All the problems must be dealt with at the same time. All the age levels must be cared for at the same time. <img width="1860" height="2760" width_o="1860" height_o="2760" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9cd0e3daa942c3ddfaf2830097dd782c8be446aea5b229f8a242b6c5d22f8be2/ICA-BW-024.jpg" data-mid="118299310" border="0" alt="Lela B. Mosely, one of the main community leaders for the Fifth City Movement." data-caption="Lela B. Mosely, one of the main community leaders for the Fifth City Movement." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9cd0e3daa942c3ddfaf2830097dd782c8be446aea5b229f8a242b6c5d22f8be2/ICA-BW-024.jpg" /> .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } McNeal writes, “It is important that this work be in conversation with current citizens’ concerns and activations of energy across the Greater Westside from Garfield Park to North Lawndale, Austin, South Lawndale, Humboldt Park, and Little Village. It is crucial that on the ground community experts and activists be engaged to help spark a larger discussion and offer an array of solutions contemplating what it means to redevelop and what it takes to heal the Westside.” She hopes bringing some of the history of Fifth City’s radical community experiment to light will help contribute to this ongoing conversation and effort. <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c311de78e11aa62dc41ef334a2a53d8f9c71fd59cc7a379c06dc91cabb77b3d/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127808276_o.jpg" data-mid="118302163" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7c311de78e11aa62dc41ef334a2a53d8f9c71fd59cc7a379c06dc91cabb77b3d/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127808276_o.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f05d9a8c66cc13ace50341d321720fbdf1b36850baed550abcd7740932bf81e8/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127808381_o.jpg" data-mid="118302164" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f05d9a8c66cc13ace50341d321720fbdf1b36850baed550abcd7740932bf81e8/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127808381_o.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5d209881a9a286efa4fed5e19f425c3d7482c05203ffe1df63042ac36c0dd6a6/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127841718_o.jpg" data-mid="118302165" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5d209881a9a286efa4fed5e19f425c3d7482c05203ffe1df63042ac36c0dd6a6/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127841718_o.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/974e44e8b2aa1e01d4ff06a96e55b6f9aa25eaaa7694931f5a317c11bc3aa72e/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127841888_o.jpg" data-mid="118302166" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/974e44e8b2aa1e01d4ff06a96e55b6f9aa25eaaa7694931f5a317c11bc3aa72e/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127841888_o.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ba45db8c07facdd82e327dfec876fc807b64d021911d6d64b7c923a88d02047/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127896852_o.jpg" data-mid="118302167" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ba45db8c07facdd82e327dfec876fc807b64d021911d6d64b7c923a88d02047/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127896852_o.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f641d09f12ef77b4da23dda365c1b6ddecea8aed866191fa92b628c435f894b/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127897087_o.jpg" data-mid="118302168" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9f641d09f12ef77b4da23dda365c1b6ddecea8aed866191fa92b628c435f894b/fifth-city-revisited--june-20th-2019_48127897087_o.jpg" /> .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } While McNeal’s performance employs dance, storytelling, and media to evoke the radical thought and action necessary to have brought about Fifth City, this exhibition mobilizes archival research to situate viewers within a trove of history to explore. We have provided a snapshot of Fifth City’s history and context. This is by no means an exhaustive study, but we hope that the material you explore here will catalyze deeper dives into the rich history of the Fifth City Movement. <img width="2511" height="1526" width_o="2511" height_o="1526" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd8481c81bd957abd6ff10731e4825b4b486293a58a45598b33d97ab48f8121b/FifthCityProjectsMap-WEB.jpg" data-mid="113753276" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fd8481c81bd957abd6ff10731e4825b4b486293a58a45598b33d97ab48f8121b/FifthCityProjectsMap-WEB.jpg" /><img width="2557" height="1729" width_o="2557" height_o="1729" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9abd3bf40c838ff23659c8207938a089409ce8d996cfdf5a9fa411e3ccc3bdf/C05-c005.jpg" data-mid="113753275" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e9abd3bf40c838ff23659c8207938a089409ce8d996cfdf5a9fa411e3ccc3bdf/C05-c005.jpg" /> <img width="1768" height="2631" width_o="1768" height_o="2631" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/47c49ca1f9a07df4110476455e5052fbbfa91b111dc12b406918d3cfe886d45c/C05-c003.jpg" data-mid="113753274" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/47c49ca1f9a07df4110476455e5052fbbfa91b111dc12b406918d3cfe886d45c/C05-c003.jpg" /> <img width="1757" height="2593" width_o="1757" height_o="2593" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2530704ff53e1fab0270fa07a68d0f2ba2cec4a7132ed98b440de90e70823e00/C05-2-d029.jpg" data-mid="113753272" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2530704ff53e1fab0270fa07a68d0f2ba2cec4a7132ed98b440de90e70823e00/C05-2-d029.jpg" /> Learn more More about Fifth City More about Fifth City Revisited Lela Mosely’s speech about the 5 presuppositions The Chicago Sun Times on the Fifth City Mural https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Bibliography Tue, 13 Jul 2021 18:17:31 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Bibliography Bibliography History Fifth City Comprehensive Community Reformulation Fifth City Core Principles Evolution of Urban Planning Seligman, Amanda (2005). Block by block: neighborhoods and public policy on Chicago's West Side. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 213–14. The World of Human Development Fifth City: A Decisional City (1983) Four Schools Within A Preschool Educating for the 21st Century: The Fifth City Mini School(A Program For One And Two Year Olds) Fifth City Reshaping Community Development The 5th City Project Oral Histories Address to the Presidium of the Global Spirit Movement ICA CHICAGO: RUTH GILBERT on Human Development Project in Fifth City, Chicago, 1976-80 Fifth City Preschool Kaze Gadway THE FIFTH CITY PRESCHOOL (CHICAGO, 1967-68) Signs of Creative Resistance: Chicago's Fifth City Movement Fifth City Now Town Hall Meeting, December 2020 https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Credits Tue, 13 Jul 2021 22:41:12 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Credits Credits Meida McNeal Adia Sykes Victoria Sockwell Unyimeabasi Udoh Images Credit of: Institute of Cultural Affairs - Global Archives, Ecumenical Institute &amp; Fifth City collection Contact Honey Pot Performance This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency in addition to funding from Foundation of Contemporary Arts, Department of Cultural Affairs &amp; Special Events Year of Chicago Theater microgrant, 3AP project donations, and a Columbia College Faculty Development Grant.&nbsp; https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Original-Iron-Man-Sculpture Tue, 13 Jul 2021 22:36:44 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Original-Iron-Man-Sculpture Original Iron Man Sculpture Site <img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7fdf8f3bfedd793ffb8b3805be671ab72c1b2a44df617d71c3b4e7c00d3636ee/C05-2-d006.jpg" data-mid="114010811" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7fdf8f3bfedd793ffb8b3805be671ab72c1b2a44df617d71c3b4e7c00d3636ee/C05-2-d006.jpg" /> Designed by Jean E. Loomis, a New Zealander, the Original Fifth City was inspired by the colors from a four-day festival. Each festival was a celebration of the gifts and ethnicity of different cultures. The Yellow Man, the Red Man, the White Man, and the last festival were the Black Man. Loomis reflects on a conversation between her and a resident “He was speaking about standing in the moment not as a victim but as a person of faith. The sculpture grew out of this talk and my experience of living in 5th City.” In April 1968, the sculpture was unveiled to the community behind an area of the Node. It was the afternoon before Martin Luther King’s assassination. The neighborhood was affected by the riots, and the people started to rebuild immediately. In commemoration of the events, they built the Iron Man sculpture placed in the center of Fifth City. As you face the front of the statue, the left panel is a wedgeblade—it represents the past. The figure in the form of an X represents the present moment, to stand amid the ghetto; Not as a victim but as a free man. The right-hand panel is again a sun symbol and represents that the future is open. The rib cage shows the decision to give your life, to be a dead man. This statue still stands today as a witness to those residents who decided to drive their very lives like stakes into the city’s ground and take responsibility for its rebirth. Plans are being proposed to refurbish the Iron Man Plaza at Jackson &amp; Homan. It was later relocated to the junction of Homan and 5th Ave. <img width="1712" height="2504" width_o="1712" height_o="2504" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a01cd698d87886cc6476455d3c75555768035a0e774779c3327caf6ff69063d/C05-2-d023.jpg" data-mid="114010812" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a01cd698d87886cc6476455d3c75555768035a0e774779c3327caf6ff69063d/C05-2-d023.jpg" /> <img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c46fb1db4262c0cb8b5a41025b3ab65aed7edc21f6eee27bfa33476c5920ae99/C05-2-d073.jpg" data-mid="114010813" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c46fb1db4262c0cb8b5a41025b3ab65aed7edc21f6eee27bfa33476c5920ae99/C05-2-d073.jpg" /> https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Fifth-City-Child-Development-Institute Tue, 13 Jul 2021 18:55:37 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Fifth-City-Child-Development-Institute Fifth City Child Development Institute <img width="1440" height="1143" width_o="1440" height_o="1143" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b9f02a948c5c01e0c8661781e708446f8ab7e6d407f3bfa270fafc1b50acc306/Fifth-City-Pre-School-Prep-5---1978.jpeg" data-mid="114010894" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b9f02a948c5c01e0c8661781e708446f8ab7e6d407f3bfa270fafc1b50acc306/Fifth-City-Pre-School-Prep-5---1978.jpeg" /> Opened in Summer 1965, the Fifth City Preschool was the first structure that applied the changing of images through a structure, a curriculum, a time design, and the entire school environment. Red and black stood for the African American Community, creating the school colors for the school. The preschool had four schools within the school - Infant, Mini, Pre, and Kinder. The Four schools were able to focus on the unique development of each age level from 18 weeks until age five. The Infant School The Infant School served children from sixteen weeks until they were eighteen months (or potty trained). A daily schedule and lesson plans provided continuity. Each month the infant curriculum emphasized a different global culture. Preschool staff learned from Professors Dolman and Delacotto at the University of Illinois that babies could read if the letters of words were written large enough, they incorporated reading into diaper changing time. The Mini School Mini School served children from eighteen months until they turned two. The 1967 Mini School Manual described the school’s eight week lesson plan. A summary of mini-school learnings are shared in a 1973 report, 5th City Preschooling Institute: An Experiment in Early Education. The Preschool Beginning in 1965, the Preschool was funded by the U.S. Department of Education Head Start Program “because of its provocative approach to change images through art, images, dreams and metaphors.” The daily curriculum and environment bombards the preschoolers with strong positive images of personal integrity, freedom and creativity through rituals and songs. Karen Bueno documented the preschool songs in Children Singing the New Millennium. These songs often took old familiar songs parents knew from their past and rewrote the words to reflect the images of the present day. For instance, “Old McDonald Had a Farm” became “Voom, Room Astronaut.” The Fifth City Preschool was recognized by Headstart in 1969 as “one of the ten best preschools in the nation.” Kinder School As children turned five years of age, they would begin to participate in a rite of passage of Preschool Graduation, moving from preschool to a half day of public school kindergarten and the other half day attending Kinder School. Marjorie Branch, the former principal at Erickson Elementary School, told 5th City Preschool staff that the Kinder Schoolers were always ahead of the other children without a preschool education because they had a “strong personal identity, an appreciation for learning and working with others, a sense of delight and wonder, and the ability to communicate with confidence.” The Fifth City Preschool is one of the longest running federally funded preschools in the nation. Their pioneering curriculum implemented educational techniques that focused on: BASIC (reading, math, and language), RELATIONAL (learning how to live and act with one's family and friends as well as becoming aware of the city/state/nation/world one is a part of), PSYCHOLOGICAL (developing personal skills), and IMAGINAL (developing personal self-images and social images of responsibility) The entire school environment was focused on constantly projecting positive images to the preschoolers about themselves and their lives. This included the decor on the walls, the songs sung throughout the day, informal conversations as well as the formal teaching. Ruth Carter (1936-2013), the dynamic former teacher and director of the Fifth City Preschool, believed the school’s resilience came from its ability to establish a basic foundation for Black children. With each staff member located or once resided on the West Side of Chicago, this created a sense of familiarity in the classrooms. “Many of the children come from a second generation of parents who were also students at the school,” Carter stated in a 1990 article published by the Chicago Defender. She continues to mention that development education “has to do with each child’s creativity and helping to build that child’s mind.” Carter was later honored in 2014 by changing Trumbull Ave., near Fifth Ave., to Ruth Carter Lane. <img width="2577" height="1727" width_o="2577" height_o="1727" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0b52bf021309c2ac60150b0a7412781962f3b6f46a29feabc10e78d052fc72aa/C05-c024.jpg" data-mid="114010888" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0b52bf021309c2ac60150b0a7412781962f3b6f46a29feabc10e78d052fc72aa/C05-c024.jpg" /><img width="2484" height="1673" width_o="2484" height_o="1673" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cf80791fa4c964ca95465250d8aa885979dbd09f632ca969a4b498003a9f8c7d/C05-c027.jpg" data-mid="114010889" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cf80791fa4c964ca95465250d8aa885979dbd09f632ca969a4b498003a9f8c7d/C05-c027.jpg" /> <img width="2556" height="1727" width_o="2556" height_o="1727" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eae13353c1a26b5fb2731c6a2295a933c79d3d168b80c7db61d6f971c3e5e413/C05-2-d024.jpg" data-mid="114010887" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/eae13353c1a26b5fb2731c6a2295a933c79d3d168b80c7db61d6f971c3e5e413/C05-2-d024.jpg" /> <img width="2635" height="1781" width_o="2635" height_o="1781" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/615368c02e60ec78b7348c005a6c1d5abd8b0f1a8d9849f423c319c480a46dd8/C05-c030.jpg" data-mid="114010891" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/615368c02e60ec78b7348c005a6c1d5abd8b0f1a8d9849f423c319c480a46dd8/C05-c030.jpg" /><img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c701050f674d9cbe359bb2c0f0fd7f7d678ea84495bbb56db3169a78dc46c44/C05-c031.jpg" data-mid="114010892" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7c701050f674d9cbe359bb2c0f0fd7f7d678ea84495bbb56db3169a78dc46c44/C05-c031.jpg" /><img width="619" height="527" width_o="619" height_o="527" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/45e6a65570a8a9120f3d1eb10d8bf110e139575933d427e4143ad610e442d3c3/Fifth-City-Child-Development-Logo.jpeg" data-mid="114010893" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/619/i/45e6a65570a8a9120f3d1eb10d8bf110e139575933d427e4143ad610e442d3c3/Fifth-City-Child-Development-Logo.jpeg" /> Learn more More about Ruth Carter: Chicago Defender article and audio recording Video:&nbsp;Fifth City Preschool Kaze Gadway Four Schools Within a Preschool THE FIFTH CITY PRESCHOOL (CHICAGO, 1967-68) https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Fifth-City-Community-Center Tue, 13 Jul 2021 22:39:10 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Fifth-City-Community-Center Fifth City Community Center <img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aaa9b126fd78da86f7b5bc3346827f0732fdd33331a41d63d1c88d390798b97c/C10-f050.jpg" data-mid="114011039" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aaa9b126fd78da86f7b5bc3346827f0732fdd33331a41d63d1c88d390798b97c/C10-f050.jpg" /> The Iron Statue Plaza, the Community Center, and Fifth City Business Careers were symbols of the community’s efforts. The plaza created a web of local social constructs to deal with identified problems. The community organizers created four structures under each of the five major problem areas. <img width="2108" height="1871" width_o="2108" height_o="1871" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/85204f1c239c4122c23b60713759977ecb920a5ede1b0ea58e9337c331cf62ea/FifthCitySocialModel-p1.gif" data-mid="119221110" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/85204f1c239c4122c23b60713759977ecb920a5ede1b0ea58e9337c331cf62ea/FifthCitySocialModel-p1.gif" /> <img width="971" height="693" width_o="971" height_o="693" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c08b2146a581825ea286be8ce86b75dc7dad24e4bc3a44363cefedf2e14f0852/FifthCitySocialModel-p2.gif" data-mid="119221113" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/971/i/c08b2146a581825ea286be8ce86b75dc7dad24e4bc3a44363cefedf2e14f0852/FifthCitySocialModel-p2.gif" /> For example, under the economy are the local Employment Bureau, Redevelopment Corporation, Consumers Association, and Health Clinic. Under education, there is a Preschooling Complex, a Public School Auxiliary, a Citizenship Training School, and a Continuing Education Program; this made up a total of 20 prominent local community structures. Each of these twenty has four projects under it, making 80 in the whole community. The project also built around micro-models of organizing through two community structures called Stakes and Guilds. Stakes divided the neighborhood up into smaller areas to create intimate networks of community care and connection, small enough to engage in ideation and dialogue that would produce a range of helpful solutions for community challenges. <img width="2550" height="1614" width_o="2550" height_o="1614" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/599dfd0ebe497b5c8d7dba9079a721d43f5987edee14354a83c51f91f0b8b937/StakeCareNetwork-WEB.jpg" data-mid="119221231" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/599dfd0ebe497b5c8d7dba9079a721d43f5987edee14354a83c51f91f0b8b937/StakeCareNetwork-WEB.jpg" /> Guilds were structures that organized the work of renewing community divided around specific concepts, labor, and skill sets. Five primary areas were identified: economic, educational, symbolic, social, and political. <img width="736" height="717" width_o="736" height_o="717" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/db5f42a357aa99587b0f218e82bc3d970811fd24c4dc5a054d5ec9d4a8050b50/Fifth-City-Guild-Structure.gif" data-mid="119221249" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/736/i/db5f42a357aa99587b0f218e82bc3d970811fd24c4dc5a054d5ec9d4a8050b50/Fifth-City-Guild-Structure.gif" /> These local structures did not replace existing systems but instead served them. The community created broader machinery on the city, state, and federal level effective for the inner city citizen. The Community Center worked as a bridge between state and federal programs. These structures gave the people power to do something about their needs. The center would go on to create more than 70 jobs within its vicinity. <img width="2637" height="1747" width_o="2637" height_o="1747" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c489c544e15a97096568e1b2c97e032fa84769f57b84d707e60281d6bc547fbf/C05-2-d008.jpg" data-mid="114011048" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c489c544e15a97096568e1b2c97e032fa84769f57b84d707e60281d6bc547fbf/C05-2-d008.jpg" /><img width="2636" height="1782" width_o="2636" height_o="1782" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/821cfd71182c55a727063c629b3f09a88d89d0e8a65eb74a021a8d830732f80b/C05-2-d018.jpg" data-mid="114011049" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/821cfd71182c55a727063c629b3f09a88d89d0e8a65eb74a021a8d830732f80b/C05-2-d018.jpg" /><img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c7572e676308529e34df94c8674aaf9fc9471a1a0465608938c4a854caa8f60/C05-2-d072.jpg" data-mid="114011050" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2c7572e676308529e34df94c8674aaf9fc9471a1a0465608938c4a854caa8f60/C05-2-d072.jpg" /><img width="2633" height="1778" width_o="2633" height_o="1778" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dfa3402370e1f8941d0463773656e3e674c19bc9fccda84fd418528de2e12aaf/C05-c011.jpg" data-mid="114011052" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dfa3402370e1f8941d0463773656e3e674c19bc9fccda84fd418528de2e12aaf/C05-c011.jpg" /><img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c1614c43ce17e744b68c547b7699e4430033fac51da81bd7519792a5b2b58a0c/C10-f031.jpg" data-mid="114011053" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c1614c43ce17e744b68c547b7699e4430033fac51da81bd7519792a5b2b58a0c/C10-f031.jpg" /><img width="2634" height="1779" width_o="2634" height_o="1779" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e1fa866aba91cd207f4f31d9c085267b83555d0f07261dddf0b054cfe110938e/C31-k019.jpg" data-mid="114011095" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e1fa866aba91cd207f4f31d9c085267b83555d0f07261dddf0b054cfe110938e/C31-k019.jpg" /><img width="2593" height="1757" width_o="2593" height_o="1757" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8032d98fcae04f94192662132674f5d30450595bd7f439d62ddb04f4a1fe8984/C34-g018.jpg" data-mid="114011096" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8032d98fcae04f94192662132674f5d30450595bd7f439d62ddb04f4a1fe8984/C34-g018.jpg" /><img width="2632" height="1784" width_o="2632" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2f20c809054831816d433202532f62e3a5eb45700582deace8fe98ca6d722827/C34-g023.jpg" data-mid="114011097" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2f20c809054831816d433202532f62e3a5eb45700582deace8fe98ca6d722827/C34-g023.jpg" /> Learn more Reshaping Community Development: The 5th City Project Community Development That Works Human Development Report: Fifth City https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Meida-s-Grandmother-s-House Tue, 13 Jul 2021 22:38:06 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Meida-s-Grandmother-s-House Meida’s Grandmother’s House Some of my earliest memories are of my grandmother’s greystone building at 314 S. Spaulding. Her house was a gathering place for our whole family: my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. From birth through elementary school, I spent a lot of time at my grandma’s house, first through the Fifth City preschool, then at Faraday Elementary before I transferred to Skinner Elementary. As a kid, after school I took the bus back to my grandmother’s house and spent afternoons and evenings there until my mother was ready to head home. This left ample time for participating in afterschool programs, jumping rope, going to the playground or penny candy store, or just running the streets and being outside as children did back then.&nbsp;Fifth City Revisited begins with some of these memories integrating my grandmother’s house with other potent community anchors of the neighborhood, registering the importance of these spaces and places through a child’s eyes. Below I share one of the beginning monologues tracking these memories and their importance. <img width="1088" height="1658" width_o="1088" height_o="1658" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/84e7ff0201d9d461d61e5e9681f7a70ddc06a1143810c37109cd5ba29622fa36/Copy-of-IMG_0289.jpg" data-mid="118304076" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/84e7ff0201d9d461d61e5e9681f7a70ddc06a1143810c37109cd5ba29622fa36/Copy-of-IMG_0289.jpg" /> The community center The shopping plaza The preschool The Iron Man statue My grandmother’s house I have been returning to these memories more and more. Fragments of childhood. Romanticised beginnings because pieces are all I have. My grandmother’s plastic covered couch and the small living room with big windows facing the bus barn in her 2 flat greystone off the corner of Jackson &amp; Spaulding. My Uncle Johnny’s room off to the left. My Aunt Mary’s laughter coming down the hall across from my Grandma’s room where she kept her TV with the good cable on it. Where she hid the sweets she brought home from work at the Leaf candy factory. My cousins and I would sneak in to watch shows on Spectrum and OnTV and sometimes steal the candy treasure tucked away...Lemonheads, Red Hots, Alexander the Grapes, malted whoppers, and sweeties. <img width="1460" height="1429" width_o="1460" height_o="1429" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/592bd1c17102c1081fa581629524c8e5b9a31b037346df2ab5270c0c4e564daa/Copy-of-IMG_0267.jpg" data-mid="118303447" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/592bd1c17102c1081fa581629524c8e5b9a31b037346df2ab5270c0c4e564daa/Copy-of-IMG_0267.jpg" /> And surrounding this space of my Grandma’s house existed a Westside neighborhood, Fifth City. A community set on rebuilding itself. I have partial memories of this space and place so pivotal to my beginnings...and that continues to echo its pattern of influence on my evolution. These memories are bound up in the markers of space and place. In the space and place of collective action, power to the people, youth investment, and helping ourselves. These symbolic locations and the activities they inspired were gifts I now understand as lineage, passed down and embedded in my being. <img width="2366" height="1633" width_o="2366" height_o="1633" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7267102e956ba7eefedfee0700efe91516a34c92d1c066e0e1bad32e74b6e0cf/Copy-of-IMG_0255.jpg" data-mid="118304077" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7267102e956ba7eefedfee0700efe91516a34c92d1c066e0e1bad32e74b6e0cf/Copy-of-IMG_0255.jpg" /> It is also a space and place of deep sadness, a potential never wholly realized, a lesson etched in the residual history of urban space that is both mourned and modeled...But, that is for later... I begin with these markers that bring me warmth. That hold me strong. That root me deep. That help me imagine possibility. The community center The shopping plaza The preschool The Iron Man statue My grandmother’s house The community center was a place for meetings, social gatherings, celebrations of rites of passage. I remember my preschool graduation there. Tiny me in cap and gown surrounded by other Black children being fed symbols and songs as tools to build a strong sense of self-worth and cultural identity. <img width="1533" height="1481" width_o="1533" height_o="1481" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0f93ca7a12cd54279534b6afc2b73f707128189ae32521c7dcd8fbbeb87b6620/Copy-of-IMG_0285.jpg" data-mid="118304079" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0f93ca7a12cd54279534b6afc2b73f707128189ae32521c7dcd8fbbeb87b6620/Copy-of-IMG_0285.jpg" /> The shopping plaza had a grocery, a laundromat and dry cleaners, a currency exchange, an auto shop, and a fast food joint. All Black owned and operated businesses led and guided by a cadre of local resident leaders: Verdell Trice, Lillie Fox, Ruth Carter, Bertha Pinkston, Lela Mosley. Outside in the concrete square of this small 16 block enclave stood a tall Black Iron Man statue. With arms and stance stretched wide, the Iron Man always felt like bravery, like strength, like foundation, like a mirror to remind us of who we are. <img width="1479" height="1472" width_o="1479" height_o="1472" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/06cbe8e3f06312f6918dd5081d3358c7bafade936652beb9fb91cbbc9208897b/Copy-of-IMG_0268.jpg" data-mid="118304075" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/06cbe8e3f06312f6918dd5081d3358c7bafade936652beb9fb91cbbc9208897b/Copy-of-IMG_0268.jpg" /> In memory space, the preschool was games and songs and learning letters and numbers and getting my hair braided on the playground and chocolate pudding and the secret flavor combination of graham crackers dipped in orange juice and armies of red-shirted Iron Man children chanting Black pride, Black value, Black love. Black. Black. Black as it’s most beautiful...In becoming and being. <img width="1432" height="1885" width_o="1432" height_o="1885" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5cf7f586b242796e213b40552bb7e7fc42beb7cb966aaa293ddff7ee1bfdb1e/IMG_0290.jpg" data-mid="118304078" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5cf7f586b242796e213b40552bb7e7fc42beb7cb966aaa293ddff7ee1bfdb1e/IMG_0290.jpg" /> I was learning who I was, reflected through the teachings of adults who wanted to give us the strongest sense of ourselves. Who wanted us to internalize this love and stand on it. To reinforce this love through songs, through learning, through symbols and adornment, through the world we saw around us. <img width="1471" height="1461" width_o="1471" height_o="1461" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9035509373159f3838d6f5e045655956814c4377f8f5d8cc9363dd27d539fcf7/Copy-of-IMG_0257.jpg" data-mid="118303495" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9035509373159f3838d6f5e045655956814c4377f8f5d8cc9363dd27d539fcf7/Copy-of-IMG_0257.jpg" /> Fifth City remade a world that refused to acknowledge our power. —Meida McNeal <img width="7200" height="14400" width_o="7200" height_o="14400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/08dc54861e9796a833ed2936b9c3b8c5600ebea22bdd0b73bb71b0ee27a483ab/EGP-EphemeraBanner_Page_1.jpg" data-mid="118304513" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/08dc54861e9796a833ed2936b9c3b8c5600ebea22bdd0b73bb71b0ee27a483ab/EGP-EphemeraBanner_Page_1.jpg" /><img width="7200" height="14400" width_o="7200" height_o="14400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fe532c1d07891ba9890f203dd49fdae628e2ed067196637d1cb89891784ba8f5/EGP-EphemeraBanner_Page_2.jpg" data-mid="118304519" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fe532c1d07891ba9890f203dd49fdae628e2ed067196637d1cb89891784ba8f5/EGP-EphemeraBanner_Page_2.jpg" /> https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Rehabbed-Apartments Tue, 13 Jul 2021 22:38:13 +0000 Fifth City Revisited https://fifthcityrevisited.net/Rehabbed-Apartments Rehabbed Apartments (3518-3520 W Congress Pkwy) <img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f11dd2841cb0b341afa26a887550d9c8445245dc9cd5e8e3644189b4fdf8e87f/C05-c046.jpg" data-mid="114011145" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f11dd2841cb0b341afa26a887550d9c8445245dc9cd5e8e3644189b4fdf8e87f/C05-c046.jpg" /> On April 25, 1974 the city of Chicago made its first attempt to rehabilitate abandoned buildings within the inner city area of East Garfield Park. Through a $1.2 million low interest loan, this was the first state funding for restoration of moderate-income housing. The loan was used by the Fifth City Citizens Redevelopment Corporation. Their plan was to restore four abandoned apartment buildings that were located on the corner of S. Homan Ave (225, 251-257, and 422-24) and W Jackson Blvd (3401-11). The apartment would go on to establish 58 three and four bedroom apartments to East Garfield residents at subsidized rental rates by the Federal Housing Administration. The community organizations had only been founded 10 years and were already in their second phase of the Fifth City program; this included three other rehabilitation projects resulting in the restoration of about 160 family units. Fifth City program coordinator, Lela Mosley, mentioned in a news article on May 2, 1974 that it would be less costly if abandoned buildings were acquired as early as possible. She stated, “There would be much less damage and so much less work to do.”&nbsp; Irving M. Gerick, IHDA director, said the development “will prove conclusively that rehabilitation can be a viable option for salvaging some of the decaying inner-city communities in Chicago and other Illinois cities.” The restoration plans were drawn up by the architectural firm of Swann and Weiskopf, with Renewal Builders acting as the general contractor. <img width="2637" height="1783" width_o="2637" height_o="1783" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c0c403169a1159a1db75fa3632e0eb8b35b5627deb48de71684d95e1ec7368ca/C05-c004.jpg" data-mid="114011177" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c0c403169a1159a1db75fa3632e0eb8b35b5627deb48de71684d95e1ec7368ca/C05-c004.jpg" /><img width="2634" height="1779" width_o="2634" height_o="1779" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/774bf09f5d01971b9c4dccc45e26fddae305d2f3fa5581f47fe716ddb21677f3/C05-c050.jpg" data-mid="114011184" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/774bf09f5d01971b9c4dccc45e26fddae305d2f3fa5581f47fe716ddb21677f3/C05-c050.jpg" /><img width="2637" height="1784" width_o="2637" height_o="1784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3207fa9e06e5db8c5ba9c8b6089d813fd0621c211bb1fc61a795f4723dd8d9cc/C10-f033.jpg" data-mid="114011186" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3207fa9e06e5db8c5ba9c8b6089d813fd0621c211bb1fc61a795f4723dd8d9cc/C10-f033.jpg" /><img width="2635" height="1781" width_o="2635" height_o="1781" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c2bedb4e5be64134e77cbdafd97119d94d68e746f0c2de43b3f87e8e17bd81c4/C31-k027.jpg" data-mid="114011187" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c2bedb4e5be64134e77cbdafd97119d94d68e746f0c2de43b3f87e8e17bd81c4/C31-k027.jpg" /><img width="2633" height="1778" width_o="2633" height_o="1778" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/88349070b4bad97ea340493b78b405b5adb9e7a887518760bafe5e02e3e58488/C05-c039.jpg" data-mid="114011178" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/88349070b4bad97ea340493b78b405b5adb9e7a887518760bafe5e02e3e58488/C05-c039.jpg" /> Learn more Article:&nbsp;5th City Model enters new phase (1974) Article: 5th City assumes responsibility for rebirth of area (1974) Article: Project Seeks Return of Affluent Residents (1968)