In the city with the greatest number of theological schools in America, the neighborhood with the biggest fraction of these is Hyde Park. Besides the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, it is home to five of the eleven members of the Association of Chicago Theological Seminary (ACTS), a consortium of seminaries whose students can cross-register and share academic resources. Within ACTS, the Hyde Park Cluster of Theological Schools forms an even closer community, fostering collaboration and dialogue among its six member schools. Hyde Park may be dominated by the UofC in terms of educational institutions, but its theological seminaries deserve just as much renown.

In the coming years, though, the neighborhood’s high concentration of seminaries will drop, as two of them move a few blocks south to the community of Woodlawn. The Meadville Lombard Theological School plans to move to 62nd Street and Ellis Avenue in 2011, and the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) will relocate to 60th Street and Dorchester Avenue in 2012. Read the rest of this entry »

On November 4, a small group of Hyde Parkers voted the 5th Ward’s 39th precinct dry, effectively canceling plans to replace the decrepit Doctors Hospital with Hyde Park’s first real hotel. Fortunately, a host of alternative lodging options exist around the neighborhood. Why stay at the boring old Ramada at 49th and Lake Shore when you can relax in the comfort of someone else’s home, in an old-fashioned bed & breakfast? Read the rest of this entry »

In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition brought economic prosperity to Woodlawn. Unfortunately, it left economic hardship in its wake that would persist for much of the next century, especially as a sudden racial succession turned the neighborhood from 87% white in 1930 to 89% black in 1960. Racial issues and class tensions, particularly with its northern neighbor the University of Chicago, only exacerbated its economic problems, and admittedly they’re far from resolved, even today. With the school’s continued expansion south of the Midway Plaisance, these issues will only continue to influence the identity of the neighborhood. But whatever its future may hold, there’s much to appreciate in this historic area. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Thursday, Kevin Walsh awoke to discover a discarded pair of pants on the lawn of his Woodlawn home. They had been taken from a stolen car that had been abandoned on his block for four days. Raided again and again by various passersby, everything valuable had already been taken. Though it was parked directly in front of a fire hydrant, the car had yet to receive a ticket. Walsh likes his block and has great neighbors, but he has some complaints about his neighborhood. The roads are bad, public transportation stinks, and the police don’t stop for anything. Read the rest of this entry »

In the 1960s, the University of Chicago was subjecting Hyde Park and South Kenwood to a harsh regimen of urban renewal. It invoked eminent domain to take control of property in areas of “blight” and redevelop them, displacing many low-income residents and businesses. When it turned its gaze southward, however, it met far greater resistance to its gentrifying influence. The Temporary Woodlawn Organization (now The Woodlawn Organization, or TWO) united Woodlawn residents, activists, and religious leaders in opposition to the University’s agenda and the neighborhood’s decline. Led by then-president Arthur M. Brazier and helped by renowned community organizer Saul Alinsky, TWO protested against the unresponsive, underhanded practices of local businesses, landlords, and city officials. Its members called for an end to landlords’ neglect of their buildings and the sale of inferior products at inflated prices. On both counts they won small victories, but 1964 marked a major triumph: TWO extracted a promise from the University not to expand south of 61st Street. Read the rest of this entry »

“A large church is pretty much like a small town,” says Bishop Arthur M. Brazier, and he should know. Brazier is the pastor of the Apostolic Church of God (ACOG) in Woodlawn, whose congregation numbers around 22,000, more than any other church in Chicago. By any standard, this qualifies the ACOG as a megachurch, which Brazier says is a label he would embrace. Read the rest of this entry »

Aside from the occasional political button or t-shirt, the people crowded into the high-ceilinged atrium of the Experimental Station showed no obvious signs of radicalism. They sat quietly before each panel of speakers, punctuating the dialogue with the occasional burst of applause. Even when “apparatchiks” were mentioned, it was as a means of condemnation rather than description. Read the rest of this entry »

Woodlawn was a battleground. It’s been claimed by Hyde Park Township and annexed by the City of Chicago. It’s been defended by immigrants and refugees, the University of Chicago and street gangs. Though battles still happen here—most notably between the University of Chicago and neighborhood residents—the physical cost has been reduced. Woodlawn is remaking itself in its own image, becoming one of many success stories among Chicago neighborhoods. Read the rest of this entry »