http://www.upchicago.com/hull-house-museum
My trip to Chicago’s Little Italy began at the Jane Adams Hull House Museum located on the UIC campus near Halsted and Taylor. Prior to my visit to the museum I had little knowledge on the exact significance of the Hull House, but through just brief walk around I realized what big deal it was to the immigrants and overall every citizen in the city. Jane Adams and the residents played a key role in influencing public policy on areas such as education, fair labor, and immigration just to name a few. One of the great things that came about thanks to the Hull House was the eight hour work day, with that kind of schedule there was much more time to do enjoyable activities and have fun. Overall this was believed to create a more just and happy society.
To the immigrants this must have been a big breath of fresh air given that they were being worked like dogs at the stockyards and many factories in the city. With the eight hour work day they could practice a craft and do the things that they enjoyed. Many of these residents in the Hull House were actually Italian and eventually they became the majority population in the Hull House and the surrounding area. They also picked up on new hobbies and jobs including mechanics, lawyers, shop owners and even athletes. The Italians adopted the neighborhood and from then it was known as Little Italy.
Today a walk around Little Italy will not exactly be as it once was. With the proximity of the UIC campus there are a lot of student that now inhabit the neighborhood, Also, you will see a lot of restaurants and not necessarily all Italian. Walking down Taylor street we came across Stax cafe, it looked like a nice place to have breakfast so Iactually did go back over the weekend and had a really good meal and experience. There are also a few Thai food restaurants including Hana and Thai bowl where you can find really good authentic asian food at a reasonable price.
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/piazza-dimaggio-chicago#M0mIg85NKsS68-9Q2XnGYg
Then of course there’s the famous Pompei restaurant on Ashland and Taylor where you can always find a full house of people grabbing some pizza or a classic pasta dish for lunch or dinner. A few blocks down there is also Piazza DiMaggio, that is named of course after Paul DiMaggio the very famous Italian baseball player. It was actually kind of weird to me to have a pizza place in Chicago named after a Yankee player, but I guess if they even have a statue of him outside it must be more about his heritage than his team. Finally after a long walk in the cold weather we decided to stop by for a slice of pizza at Taylor Made. It was a nice big slice served by a very friendly lady. I briefly talked to her and she said her business was all about serving high quality pies at the best price. That pizza was really a nice slice of what Little Italy is all about.
To end our trip we took a walk over to Our Lady of Pompeii Church located on 1224 W. Lexington St. hoping to be able to go inside but the doors were all locked. We did of course get a nice look at the architecture and it is a very nicely built and designed church. I did want to learn a little bit more so i went on their website to get some history behind the reason for building the church. Once, again we see that the influx of Italian immigrants was a big reason for building a new catholic church and school in the neighborhood. The main building was completed in 1911 and the school was ready for use by 1912. Today, the Scalabrini family who were originally sent over from Italy as missionaries continue to staff Our Lady of Pompeii.
As we headed back home, we walked through a more residential area of Little Italy and I noticed there were a lot of nice looking houses all along Lexington Street. I feel like the architecture of a house is usually a good measure for the kind of people that live in it so I am sure the residents of Little Italy are doing well for themselves. Finally, we spotted the Christopher Columbus statue and took a few pictures regardless of the snow surrounding it. Of course the significance behind the statue is that he was Italian and he is the man credited for the discovery of America.
All said and done I would say that Little Italy is a really nice neighborhood with a rich history and meaning to the Chicago community. It also helps that there is a lot of great food to eat and nice people to meet.
Resources: http://www.ourladyofpompeii.org/content/our-vision-mission-statements-history
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