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 »

In Rudy Nimocks’s office, there is a wooden clock centered on the back wall. A five-pointed police star with the seal of the city appears on the face. Around the star, numbers are engraved: 1989, 93, 1956, 272, 503, 1967 and 11727. These numbers are milestones in Nimock’s career, in his words, of “playing cops and robbers in Chicago for nearly half a century.” In 1956, Nimocks became an officer in the Chicago Police Department (CPD). In District 503, he got his first star as a lieutenant. In District 93, he made the rank of captain. In 1989, he retired from the CPD. He came to the University of Chicago shortly after, saying, “I left the [CPD] on Friday and came here on Monday. And I’ve never looked back. I’ve been here nearly nineteen years.” Read the rest of this entry »