Rogers Park

Images of America: Illinois

by Jacque Day Archer &, Jamie Santoro

Rogers Park bears the name of Philip McGregor Rogers, an intrepid and enterprising Irish immigrant who purchased the first tract of land in the area in the 1830s, a time when it was prairie and woodland, populated by Native Americans and white birch trees. As the federal government forced the Native Americans west, European immigrants arrived in greater numbers, forming a community of woodcutters and farmers. The Great Chicago Fire ushered in an era of economic development, and in 1878, Rogers Park incorporated as a village. In 1893, the town was annexed to Chicago, becoming the city's northernmost neighborhood along Lake Michigan. During the Roaring Twenties, Howard Street's grand theaters, jumping nightclubs, and glitzy fashion shops drew adventure seekers by the thousands. The onset of the Depression saw the rise of an art deco skyscraper housing Mundelein College for women. In the coming decades, local movers and shakers made great strides in social justice and racial equality. Today Rogers Park is one of the most ethnically and socially diverse neighborhoods in the country.

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2007

Reviews

[Nick Zidarescu]

I <3 my wonderful beautiful neighborhood known as RoPo

[Adriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to hear the history of the neighborhood, but I believe the last chapter does not reflect reality.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of great to be able to read a history of the neighborhood I'm in and see photos of older folks I know who are still here, from when they were just kids.

There's a lot of attention paid to the role that Rogers Park has played in forms of social change throughout its history - for instance, how the Loyola University men's basketball team challenged segregation in college sports or the ways in which many residents were involved in the civil rights movement generally.

I also appreciated how the beginning of the book emphasizes the fact that the land that is now Rogers Park originally belonged to the Potawatomi, and details what it was like before they were pushed out during Indian Removal.

Update on 5/2/10: I just reread the second half of the book this evening, and while it pleases me to no end to see photographs of community members I know now from when they were four or five years old, I think that too many of the stories in the last half of the book really only come from a few families, and too many of the broader themes (like the diversification of Rogers Park) are too quickly glossed over.

[Esra Tasdelen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing historical timeline of my neighborhood, which runs parallel to the history of the U.S. Loved the photos and the stories, learned so much about the place I live in.