Around the turn of the last century, workers and businessmen attracted by the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition settled down in Woodlawn and South Shore. New homes and brick apartment buildings were built for the predominately upper-middle-class white Protestant residents. The streets of South Shore are filled with remnants of the first decades of the 20th century, with houses designed in styles ranging from prairie home to Renaissance revival, and the most striking structures in Woodlawn are the churches that sprouted up during its initial development. But the buildings here have borne witness to a history far different from the one imagined by their architects.

The immigration of blacks to the South Side caused racial discrimination to flare and produced tensions that are still playing out around questions of gentrification. Many whites fled to the suburbs, taking their wealth and political power with them, and leaving the neighborhood to suffer recurring aftershocks of severe economic depression. The socialite attitude of South Shore largely faded, and was replaced by the working-class ethic of steel mills. Both neighborhoods have seen times of struggle: they were on the front lines of the civil rights movement in Chicago, and continue to battle poverty, crime, and gang violence.

Still relatively poor and politically neglected, both neighborhoods have seen a hard-earned period of reinvigoration over the past 20 years, and a visit to either of these historically and culturally rich communities will show that even in hard times, the raw pasts of Woodlawn and South Shore are giving way to a brighter era.

best experiment
Experimental Station

Founded in 2002, the Experimental Station aims to create a social and artistic nexus that facilitates cultural diversity and discourse within the local community, while simultaneously supporting independent initiatives such as music and publishing. Besides hosting a popular farmers market every Saturday from 9am to 2pm, the Experimental Station offers low-rent studio space and houses several community development efforts. Through the Woodlawn Buying Club, area residents chip in on wholesale orders of organic and natural foods, helping to make good food affordable. The station also hosts Backstory Café, a small coffee shop and restaurant that serves reasonably priced organic dishes. A neighborhood journalism project, Invisible Institute, focuses on building robust public debate out of neglected local issues. The Station’s Blackstone Bicycle Works provides affordable bikes and cheap repairs to the community, while at the same time employing and instructing community youth in the art of bicycle repair and maintenance. Check the Station’s website often for lectures, art exhibitions, and concerts by local musicians. 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. (773)241-6044. experimentalstation.org (Alec Mitrovich)

best olive branch
Woodlawn Collaborative

It’s a poorly kept secret that the University of Chicago has a historically tense relationship with its surrounding communities; we’ve seen it flare up most recently in the UofC’s continuing efforts to expand its real estate with new facilities in Woodlawn. Tired of the divisions, a group of UofC students and Woodlawn residents decided create an independent forum for community involvement and cooperation. The Woodlawn Collaborative is housed in the First Presbyterian Church at 64th Street and Kimbark Avenue, and is designed to be a space where community groups and student organizations can converge and tackle a variety of educational, political, and artistic projects. There is a roving calendar of events and activities hosted by partners of the collaborative, which range from Blue Gargoyle Tutoring to Jelly (a non-profit that teaches juggling) to Students for a Democratic Society. Less than two years old, the Collaborative has quickly established itself as one of the most prominent platforms for cooperation between UofC students and residents of Woodlawn. 6400 S. Kimbark Ave. woodlawncollaborative.org (Isaac Dalke)

best coffee for a cause
Backstory Café

The most commonly accessed component of the Experimental Station, Backstory Café was designed as a communal gathering place in an effort to effect real social change through casual encounters. Sitting inside the small café, it’s easy to tell that the establishment is being used as it was intended to be: conversations about grassroots organizations and community goings-on can always be eavesdropped on, and the clientele is usually diverse. It’s easy to see how such an environment could make anyone’s coffee break more interesting. Aside from beverages, Backstory serves tasty sandwiches, soups, and salads made from organic ingredients and halal meats, with vegetarian and vegan options abounding. There is also a used book selection, provided in part by Powell’s Books, all of which are available for intermittent in-store reading. If you’re looking to escape commercial monotony and support a local, progressive café, this is your place. 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Monday-Friday, 11am-4pm. (773)324-9987. backstorycafe.com (Alec Mitrovich)

best no-bullshit burger
That’s-A-Burger

The menu at That’s-A-Burger is sprawled over two walls of the restaurant, a carnivore’s delight of sausage, chili, chicken, turkey, and other staples of a meat lover’s diet. However intimidating this might be, if you ever find yourself at That’s-A-Burger there is probably only one thing you’re interested in: the burger. TAB doesn’t produce a particularly witty or creative variation on the standard hamburger; rather, they’ve elevated that simple form to almost platonic perfection, heights rarely reached by a humble neighborhood burger joint. While long waits for a TAB burger are not uncommon, even when there are few customers, the reward is well worth the delay. All burgers are cooked to order, and the handcrafted care is apparent. In this era of frozen patties, burger assembly lines, and other mainstays of fast food, eating a well-seasoned burger with a side of hand-cut fries is a delicious change of pace. 2134 E. 71st St. Monday-Thursday, 11am-7pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-9pm. (773)493-2080 (Isaac Dalke)

best ex-country club
South Shore Cultural Center

Replete with a ballroom, stage, solarium, gardens, and a top-notch dining room, the South Shore Cultural Center would seem more apt in the hands of a monarch than in those of the Chicago Parks District. Indeed, the center saw its share of Chicago elitism in its early days as the once Protestant-whites-only South Shore Country Club. Those days are thankfully long gone. Today, the center holds classes ranging from ballet to kickboxing to ceramics, houses a professional culinary institute, hosts a variety of cultural shows and exhibitions, and can be rented for private events (President Obama and First Lady Michelle held their wedding reception there). If you can’t make a class or performance, the grounds are still worth a visit. With a golf course, horse stables, nature reserve and bird refuge, small beach, and a beautiful Mediterranean Revival-style clubhouse, the park is magnificent. 7059 S. South Shore Dr. Varying hours. (773)256-0149. chicagoparkdistrict.com (Isaac Dalke)

best history lesson
Rainbow Beach

Chicago prides itself on its lakefront. The well-groomed network of beaches and parks that line Lake Michigan’s shores are a beautiful background for summer’s blazing afternoons. The beaches’ beauty also means that they see a lot of traffic on a daily basis—but if you look hard enough, there are still stretches of calm. Take Rainbow Beach: spanning over five city blocks and outfitted with a concession stand, bathing house, and field house, it’s one of the largest beaches in the city, and receives considerably less traffic than some of its better-known counterparts in Lincoln Park or downtown areas. The beach also has some fascinating history. It was once an area of racial conflict, largely avoided by black beachgoers because of the hostility of white lifeguards. In July of 1961, an interracial community coalition that included members of the NCAAP youth counsel staged a “freedom wade-in,” a quiet but significant precursor to the techniques of the civil rights movement. Grab a towel and some sunscreen, and take in the beauty of the lake, the history of the beach, and one of the most complete views of the Chicago skyline you are likely to find. 3111 E. 77th St. (312)745-1479. chicagoparkdistrict.com (Isaac Dalke)

best way to eat your vegetables
Yah’s

Standing out colorfully from its surroundings and boasting an equally distinct cuisine, Yedidah King’s globally inspired vegan soul food attracts customers from all around the city. Dishes such as basmati rice casserole, sweet potatoes, smoked greens, baked beans, and even stir-fry grace the eclectic and ever-changing menu. The $10 daily special includes a main course and your choice of three heaping spoonfuls of sides. Yah’s also offers desserts and freshly made juices. But be warned: if blueberry cheesecake (vegan, of course), banana pudding, or pineapple lemonade intrigues your palate, it’s best to arrive early, as many of the restaurant’s sugary selections get snagged up by lunch customers. Service is laid back, but the complimentary cornbread makes the wait enjoyable. Vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike can be more than satisfied with Yah’s hearty entrees, diverse sides, and inspired sweets. 2347 E. 75th Street. Monday-Saturday, 9am-8pm; Sunday, 10am-7pm. (773)759-8517 (Nandini Ramakrishnan)

The origin of the jazz brunch is hard to pinpoint, but it most likely began in New Orleans as entertainment for wealthy tourists. Restaurant brunches almost always tend towards the American and French standards of omelets, pancakes, and eggs Benedict, and the musical entertainment is almost as uniformly jazz or gospel, never Baroque or rock ‘n’ roll brunch. It’s a meal in keeping with the culturally mixed and commercial culture of New Orleans. The central problem, then, is that because brunch is by nature a complacent experience, must it domesticate the jazz that is paired with it? What does that mean when the jazz brunch comes to a city with such a long and strong jazz tradition?

In Chant’s case, the restaurant invites a diverse mix of musicians to provide entertainment at the Sunday brunch. In addition to Morikeba, Chant has featured blues singer Gloria Shannon, jazz vocalist Maggie Brown, and many others beyond the norm of the standard jazz quartet. As an Asian-inspired fusion restaurant, says Chant catering manager Angelique Connor, “we’re interested in combining cultures.” That means accompanying the fried, lobster-stuffed wontons with traditional West African storytelling and songs. As for having a musical brunch at all, Chant’s upscale appeal makes it a natural fit for an experience not offered by many other restaurants on the South Side. And Hyde Park, as Connor points out, “has a very rich history in music.”

In Woodlawn, Backstory Café has a weekly jazz brunch with a buffet and made-to-order menu. In its cozy one-room space, it’s a more intimate affair than at Chant. Though the menu changes weekly, jazz trio Recovery are returning guests; members Ben Brown, Jeff Kimmel, and Brian Sulpizio play experimental music throughout the city. Backstory’s jazz brunch is an enjoyable experience, a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon. But to enjoy jazz as an active experience, the café’s weekly avant garde jazz night is a better bet.

W.C. Handy’s Bistro in South Shore is a “health and entertainment bar” that promises a jazz brunch on Sunday, though they were closed when the Chicago Weekly visited. The restaurant claims to be the “Only One of it’s [sic] Kind in the Mid-West,” and it may be the only of its kind in Chicago: serving meat-filled and vegetarian dishes alike, offerings include salmon croquettes with grits and eggs or vegetarian corned beef with yams. Live music on Sunday afternoons recall the mission of the original W.C. Handy, often called the Father of the Blues, who is credited with bringing blues to the mainstream in the teens and twenties. As jazz has become ubiquitous background music, it may take such a mission to make it a focus once again.

best corned beef
A.P. Deli
It’s no secret what A.P. Deli’s specialty is: Printed all over the store’s outside and inside, even on the receipt, is “Chicago’s #1 corned beef.” Begun in 1984 as a small grocery and liquor store in the far south neighborhood of Roseland that offered sandwiches on the side, the deli now has four branches across the South Side and several in the suburbs. The location at 75th and Chappel isn’t pretty; the grungy exterior, the clear plastic shields separating customers and employees, and the lack of seating cast doubt on the website’s claim that people come “from all over Chicago” to get their corned beef fix. But if they don’t, maybe they should: A.P. knows its specialty well. About half of the menu works out to corned beef under various names (“Big Beef,” “Pound N-Half”) or related sandwiches like Reubens, but the original is probably the best. Make sure to ask for onions, mustard, rye bread, and anything else you want on top, or you’ll get a plain hunk of salted beef in bland bread. But even that might be worth the trip. 2025 E. 75th St. Sunday-Friday, 10am-11pm; Saturday, 10am-midnight. apdeli.com (Sam Feldman)

best sugar rush
Give Me Some Sugah
If you’re looking for a sugar-free meal, this isn’t your kind of bakery. Other than a few breakfast items like muffins and scones, the three-page menu is made up almost entirely of mouthwatering desserts, from pineapple upside-down cakes to chocolate cream pies. Other than the Shawn Michelle’s ice cream, everything on the menu is made on-site, and proprietor Lenore Lindsey isn’t afraid to get creative: Her lime bar manages to condense all the goodness of an entire key lime pie into a surprisingly small volume, and her potato chip cookie is about ten times better than it sounds. If you don’t see the dessert you want on the menu, let her know and she’ll probably make it for you. 2234 E. 71st St. Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-7:30pm. givemesomesugah.com (Sam Feldman)

best multitasking space
Experimental Station
There isn’t really one word for what the Experimental Station is. The nonprofit organization that now occupies the building was born from the ashes of a 2001 fire that destroyed a complex used by artist Dan Peterman for his socially conscious art projects. Today it’s used for a range of purposes, which in the past year have included performances by the Hyde Park Community Players, a monthly film series, King Ludd’s Midway Arcade, and the 61st Street Farmers Market. Aside from these periodic attractions, the Experimental Station includes the Backstory Cafe, which offers free Wi-Fi and serves sandwiches, soups, and Metropolis coffee, and Blackstone Bicycle Works, which not only does bike sales and repairs but also summer and after-school programs that teach neighborhood kids how to work on bikes. This Saturday, September 26, is a good day to check out the Experimental Station, since it’s one of the venues for the third annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival. 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. (773)241-5458. experimentalstation.org (Sam Feldman)

best jamaican
Three J’s
The restaurant Three J’s (standing for Jammin’ Jamaican Jerk) is not fine dining, but the place is a step above Boston Market at the prices of Harold’s Chicken Shack. Don’t be deterred by the modest interior, which looks not unlike a typical burger joint—what the place lacks in décor is made up for in its delicious Jamaican fare. Three J’s eponymous jerk chicken is savory with a home-cooked taste, avoiding excessive greasiness. Their ox tails, an exotic and worthwhile dish, are covered in a creamy gravy over a bed of rice. In both dishes the meat is incredibly tender and slides easily off the bone. Fish and shrimp dishes are sometimes available, but vegetarians should avoid the place unless they desire a meal made up of sides: potatoes either mashed or sweet, steamed and buttery greens, and white bread as dense as pound cake, perfect for wiping your plate clean. Service is slow, but friendly. 1713 E. 75th St. Monday-Thurday, 6am-11pm; Friday-Saturday, 6am-midnight; Sunday, 7am-9pm. (773)667-1360 (Chris Havlin)

best comfort food
Daley’s
Around since immigrant laborers needed lunch in the 1930s, Daley’s has weathered the massive changes to Woodlawn it has seen pass. Not only does its lengthy history give it a perspective few institutions on the South Side can match, it also gives Daley’s solid recipes for everything from pancakes to hamburgers. The history is as thick as the grease; it’s also as thick as the ties that bind Woodlawn together. 6307 S. Cottage Grove Ave. Monday-Sunday, 7am-10pm. (773)643-6670 (John Thompson)

best café with a view
My Soul Cafe
Tucked away at the corner of 72nd and Exchange, this café serves good coffee and better than average sandwiches, as well as organic tea and cold drinks. The prices aren’t bad, either, and with a purchase you can use the store’s free Wi-Fi and fax machine/copier. They even rent out laptops. Best of all, perhaps, is the view out the front window: the Metra trains majestically rushing by on Exchange Avenue. 7201 S. Exchange Ave. Monday-Friday, 7am-7pm; Sat, 8am-5pm. (773)336-8592 (Sam Feldman)

The idea of an informal yet informative lecture series arose from a dinner conversation among some of the housing cooperative’s tenants. Bowers House member Lydia Laurenson proposed inviting speakers to come and share their quirky knowledge with house members and friends. Kevin Rohrer, also a Bowers House resident, thought their project needed a gimmick. His suggestion? French fries. After that, Lectures and Fries took off. Laurenson organized a vetting committee of co-op members to select lecturers, which she proudly dubbed “Team Crispy.” The series’ playful, do-it-yourself approach to learning is the essence of its appeal; its past speakers have presented on topics running the gamut from Jabberwocky translation to the skeptics of science in the Fortean Society.

On Tuesday night, co-op members filed into the living room and started rearranging slipcovered couches and folding chairs in preparation for the lecture. Black arrived and presented a PowerPoint slideshow that chronicled the history of the sustainable, community-oriented business she helped establish. As she discussed the dramatic course of events that led to Backstory’s opening last summer, attendees passed around bowls of Kevin’s Idaho potato and sweet potato fries, along with ketchup and homemade masala mayonnaise. Black described how Backstory Café aims to be “an incubator for community development” by creating a space where Woodlawn locals and University of Chicago students can come together for a cup of slow-filtered coffee or a Monday morning play-date with neighborhood parents and kids. Black’s description of her collaborative project resonated with Laurenson, who found a parallel between the coffee shop’s management methods and the philosophy behind the co-op lifestyle. According to Laurenson, both Backstory and Bowers House “set an important example and encourage people to think about how they could live their lives in a non-normative, cooperative way.”

The lecture ended, but house members kept chatting. And that is really what Lectures and Fries is all about: stimulating conversation and a sense of community. Learning is fun again—and it comes with a side of fries.

Wing, who plays electric guitar and hulusi flute, was himself a performer in the first show of the series, which took place January 21. His group, the Microcosmic Sound Orchestra, boasted an eclectic instrumentation: a singing bowl and a harmonium rounded out the group’s already experimental sound. Ghostly chords drifted from the harmonium, cradled by Ben Boye, while Jayve Montgomery’s saxophone spat eerie melodies. Listening carefully, one could observe his circular breathing, allowing him to play continuously for longer. Wing was no less impressive on guitar, while his brother Eli coaxed snaps and whispers from a three-piece drum set. Throughout the night, he utilized almost every square inch of it to produce music, before adding his body to the mix by slapping his belly and thighs and jangling the keys and spare change in his pockets. Tearing through such self-proclaimed “sonic odysseys” as “The Exorcism of Sarah Palin,” the brothers’ tangible chemistry made watching them play almost as rewarding as listening.

Yet this was not music without a purpose. Both Alex Wing and Ben Boye are alumni of the University of Chicago, and they expressed hopes that this series would encourage UofC students as well as those at the nearby elementary school not simply to listen, but to bring their own instruments and participate in the jam. “I want to have a mix of professional or so-called professional musicians who are gigging and also people who are new,” Wing says. “It’s open and not necessarily sort of another concert series like the other ones that happen in avant-garde, jazz, creative music or whatever we call it.” In dismantling avant-garde elitism, Wing hopes to embrace every aspect of “free music.”

The project is bigger than just one band. The Microcosmic Sound Orchestra is an arrangement of players drawn from a larger collective of experimental musicians, Sonic Healing Ministries. Many of the artists performing in the series are part of this collective. “Everything in existence on the physical plane, all energy/matter, vibrates at a particular frequency that defines it,” reads a statement from the collective’s website. “Love is the force that harmonizes this myriad of frequencies and binds everything together into a functioning whole.” SHM believes its music to be an expression of that love, and “a reverberation of the macrocosmic sound.”

A practical commitment to community development complements the spiritual aspects of the Orchestra’s message. Its title, for instance, suggests the image of a collection of “microcosms” within the larger collective, representing a vision of both musical connections and the ways in which the larger network can influence whole communities. And among its goals, SHM lists “free music/art concerts” and building “ideal performance/healing spaces”—all in line with Backstory Café’s dedication to social change through community growth and activism.

At the show, an audience member pointed out that he participated as well as listened to the Microcosmic Sound Orchestra’s performance. It was true: when performers use their bodies and ambient noise, their separation from the audience gets fuzzy. When a woman knocked over her chair, the performers smiled—had their number just increased? The squeaky door of the Backstory Café seemed to mesh perfectly with the group’s sound. So next week, come with instruments or with your ears alone; whether or not you intend to play, the intimate space and hypnotic sound is sure to pull you in.

Backstory Café, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Wednesdays, 6-9pm. (773)324-9987. backstorycafe.com. A listing of performers is available at www.myspace.com/alexwing

Durica, the founder of Pocket Guide to Hell Tours and a graduate student in the English Department at the University, draws on his research to lead curious South Siders from the site of Franks’s abduction near the Harvard School at 49th and Ellis to the scene of the murder. “Most of the buildings associated with the murder are gone,” Durica says, but both the Franks house and the Harvard School are still standing. Like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, Durica walks the group through the phases of the crime at various Kenwood landmarks.

The Leopold and Loeb tour will be offered on November 9 and 16. Durica is planning other quarterly South Side historic tours, including “The Working Man’s Guide to the Columbian Exposition,” “The Secret History of the University of Chicago,” and a chronicle of the 1919 race riots.
Following the tour, the appropriately named Backstory Café (6100 S. Blackstone Ave.) hosts a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope,” a film inspired by the Leopold and Loeb case. Hot cider, coffee, and pumpkin bars are available for sale. As Durica would tell you, there’s nothing like murder to arouse your appetite. After all, Leopold and Loeb feasted on hot dogs and root beer on their way to dump Franks’s body.

Spots for the “Crime of the Century Tour” are limited and must be reserved in advance. To secure your spot, contact Durica at pgdurica@hotmail.com. All tours are free.