Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is traditionally a religious holiday in Ireland. The celebratory nature of the day was created by Irish immigrants to the United States as a way to retain their Irishness and ease the transition into American society.

The Irish immigrated to the United States beginning in Colonial times, but the largest wave came between 1820 and 1880, when almost 3.5 million Irish arrived, among them my ancestors from County Meath. These millions left their homeland for many reasons including poverty, famine, religious prejudice, and political subordination.

This circa 1910 postcard from the collections of the Museum's Curt Teich Postcard Archives is a terrific representation of Irish immigration to the United States and the bond between the two countries.

One of the great motivators for Irish coming to the Midwest was the Illinois-Michigan Canal. Built between 1836 and 1848, this 100-mile commercial waterway, linked Lake Michigan in Chicago to the Illinois River in Peru. The canal’s contractors relied heavily on recruiting Irish for the work force and advertised in newspapers in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. After working on the Canal and saving enough money, many Irish decided to settle in Illinois and bought land in Lake County.

Evidence of Irish settlement was reflected in area place names. "Ireland" was located east of the Des Plaines River in Libertyville and Vernon Townships. "Irish Hills" referred to the area of rolling hills around Hunt Club Road and Route 173 where a high percentage of Irish farmers settled. "Codfish Town" was a designation used for the Irish neighborhood near Washington Road in Lake Forest where, in the late 1800s, the smell of codfish cooking on Friday evenings wafted in the air. (For more on Lake County's Irish Place Names check out my post.)

Shown in the photograph (above) is the Fuller family of Waukegan, welcoming their newly arrived Irish cousins in 1918.

Postcards reflected both positive and negative images of the Irish. This circa 1910 postcard proclaiming "Erin go Bragh" or "Ireland Forever" is illustrative of the positive.

Though the Irish immigrants were materialistically poor, they brought a rich cultural heritage with them. Cultural events such as the St. Patrick’s Day parade, first celebrated in Boston in 1737, were regarded by many Americans as evidence of the separateness of these new immigrants. But the Irish desire for self-expression through parades and the “wearing of the green” in their adopted country helped them to retain their heritage while embracing the freedom at the heart of being American.

In the last several years, the Irish-American secular celebration of St. Patrick’s Day has made its way back to Ireland. The national holiday honoring Ireland's patron saint is now marked by a multi-day festival of parades, concerts and fireworks.

The Era of Illegal Vices

As early as the 1910s, the Chain O' Lakes region, particularly Fox Lake, were known for their drinking and gambling establishments.

Shown at right is a real photo postcard of the Ingleside Buffet, circa 1910. Mr. Coleman, the proprietor, is most likely the man standing behind the bar.

During Prohibition (1920-1933), the lakes region became a notorious hangout for Chicago mobsters, including Al Capone's and Bugs Moran's gangs. The Chicago Tribune reported it was “…worse than in the levee districts of the city.”

The situation in Fox Lake was in part due to Chicago’s efforts to “clean up” its vice districts, which caused those districts to re-settle in the suburbs. The Tribune article added, “Probably the most vicious resort is the Mineola Hotel. All of the hotels are supplied with slot machines.” The Mineola is shown in its heydey in this V.O. Hammon Company postcard, circa 1920.

The 100-room Mineola Hotel was built in 1894 by Chicago businessmen. It is the largest wooden structure in Illinois, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is still in use today as a restaurant and banquet facility.

In the late 1930s, Lake County's board of supervisors appointed a Special Prosecutor to deal with the illegal gambling problem. Shown in this News-Sun photo from May 9, 1939, is Special Prosecutor, Charles E. Jack, (right) watching as workmen demolish 80 slot machines and pinball games in the yards of the Diamond Lake Junk Company. The News-Sun reported, "The machines were seized in a series of raids... to drive gambling out of Lake County. Jack filed his final report, announced the county clean, and ended his duties yesterday."

Lincoln's First Inauguration

President Lincoln's first Inauguration was held on March 4, 1861 with the oath of office taking place on the steps of the capitol. Shown here is an artist's drawing made at the event from the collections of Georgetown University.

Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, felt it was important for the new First Family to put their best foot forward. She worried that Washington, D.C. society would look down their noses at the Illinoisians. Mrs. Lincoln's efforts which included wearing the most fashionable clothes and re-decorating the White House were highly criticized.

Mary wore an elegant gown to the Inaugural Ball, as shown here in a photograph by Matthew Brady and held in the collections of the Library of Congress. Brady was famous for his portraits of the most celebrated people of the day, and later for his Civil War battlefield photographs.











A dress worn at the first Inaugural Ball is in the collections of the Lake County Discovery Museum. The wearer's name is unknown, but she was related to a woman who lived in Waukegan. The gown is shown here without undergarments.

Though the dress is in need of conservation, its former beauty is still evident in the details. Shown here is one of the lovely purple florettes that embellish the dress.



The donor, Adaline Roemer Banta, was the granddaughter of Union General Louis Blenker. The dress and the General's papers were donated to the Museum in 1961.

Kuhn's Rock and the Underground Railroad

In 1846, an anti-slavery society was formed in Lake County. Abolitionists promoted the abolishment of slavery. Some aided enslaved people on the Underground Railroad. The "railroad" wasn’t a railroad at all, but a secret network of safe houses and people who helped enslaved people reach freedom in the north.

Under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, it was illegal to aid people seeking freedom from bondage. When the act was strengthened in 1850, underground activity greatly increased. Though Ohio and Pennsylvania probably saw the most activity, Illinois had several underground routes. One departed from Chicago taking freedom seekers to Canada by way of the Great Lakes, and another went north over land through the area of Burlington, Wisconsin.

Photo of Kuhn Family cabin from Browe School History, 1918. Dunn Museum 2003.0.36

Areas noted as antislavery in Lake County included Deerfield, Gurnee, Ivanhoe, Millburn, and Waukegan. The Kuhn Family cabin (above) in Newport Township was reportedly used as a safe house.

Photo of Kuhn's rock from the Browe School History, 1918. This large granite boulder was used as a landmark to direct enslaved people seeking freedom to the "safe house" at the Kuhn family house. Dunn Museum 2003.0.36.

Since the Underground Railroad necessitated secrecy, there were no maps to guide those seeking freedom in the North, only the stars in the night sky, landmarks, and verbal directions. Finding the Michael Kuhn family home in rural 1850s Lake County would have been difficult if not for a distinct landmark nearby known as Kuhn's Rock. Shown above is the John Strock Family on an outing to Kuhn’s rock circa 1918.

The rock was named after German immigrant Michael Kuhn (1800-1882), whose log house was reportedly used as a "safe house" on the Underground Railroad. Kuhn's rock is a glacial erratic. It originated far north of Illinois, and as the last glacier melted and retreated over 12,000 years ago, it deposited the rock here. It is thought to be the largest gray granite rock in the State of Illinois. 

Bess Bower Dunn posing next to Kuhn's Rock, circa 1910. This photo gives a good perspective of the rock nestled on farmland. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum.

With the construction of Interstate 294 in the late 1950s, the rock needed to be moved out of the road's right-of-way. Purportedly, road contractors Campanella and Sons moved Kuhn's rock onto private property where it remains today.

Eucharistic Congress 1926

The first Eucharistic Congress of the Catholic Church took place in Lille, France in 1881. The 28th Congress was held in Chicago, June 20-24, 1926, the first time it had been hosted in the United States. It was considered the greatest religious gathering in modern times.

A High Mass was given at Soldier Field with an estimated 400,000 in attendance. Shown here are the "Nuns and Women's Choir of 10,000 Voices" which sang at Soldier Field on June 22.

On June 24th, 750,000 people made a pilgrimage in a Eucharistic Procession from Chicago to St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. The participants traveled on foot, by auto, bus, and by rail. Shown below is a view of St. Mary of the Lake with the procession being led by Cardinal Bonzano. The Chapel of the Immaculate Conception is at left.

The village's population swelled from 590 to 750,000, as the faithful and Church religious gathered from around the world at St. Mary of the Lake. Chicago's North Shore Line railroad made history when it transported 250,000 people to the event. Today, a trail on the south side of Route 176 is all that remains of the line that brought people to St. Mary's.

In 1920, Cardinal Mundelein had announced plans to build St. Mary of the Lake. At right is a postcard view of the dedication day, celebrating the opening of the seminary.

A colorized view (below) of the Eucharistic Procession at St. Mary of the Lake with prelates crossing one of the bridges on the property.


The village adopted George Cardinal Mundelein's name in 1924, in honor of his building the seminary and for what some called as a way to "cash in" on the free advertising the seminary and Eucharistic Congress would bring.

The Tenpin Game

Perhaps you've heard the saying, "If our town didn't have a bowling alley, we'd have no culture at all."

 Zion Bowling Lanes with Zion Hotel visible in the distance, circa 1955. Press Association Inc. photograph. Notice the contrast between the modern, streamlined bowling alley building and the historic Zion Hotel (built 1901) in the background. Dunn Museum. 

Bowling became hugely popular in the U.S. in the 1950s thanks to television. Broadcasts of “Championship Bowling” and “Bowling for Dollars" had wide viewership. 

Ninepin bowling was brought to the New World by European settlers. The origin of the tenpin game in the U.S. is unknown, but by the late 1800s it was prevalent in Illinois, Ohio and New York.

 
The Ackerman Hotel in the Fox Lake area, shown at left about 1930, was one of many local hotels that had a bowling alley. The Mineola Hotel in Fox Lake also had an alley in its basement.

I love the sound of bowling, the way the ball hits the pins with a crash. One of my clearest recollections of bowling as a child was on vacation with my family in the 1970s. I stood at the line and found my mark, swung my arm back, and the ball went flying off my hand and into everyone waiting their turn!

This bowling-themed purse is from the Museum's permanent collections. It was used in the Prairie View area (now Lincolnshire) around 1962, no doubt on bowling night.


Bowling alley at Fort Sheridan, circa 1970. (left)










The Women's Army Corps (WAC) bowling team, Fort Sheridan, 1959. From left to right: Master Sergeant Ruth Jacobs, Sergeant First Class Betty Bodell, Sergeant First Class Lydia Lambrecht, Major Ethel Martin, Sergeant First Class Marilyn Barahill.

Famous "Jenny" Curtiss JN-4 Biplane

Curtiss "Jenny" JN-4 at WW I Airshow at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio in 2016. 

Photo credit: Thomas Dwyer  https://www.flickr.com/photos/double_o_zero/ 

During World War I, Curtiss JN-4 airplanes were built and tested in Waukegan. Also known as "Jenny" by Americans for the JN designation in the name, the biplane was probably North America's most famous WW I plane.

The Jenny was built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Parts for the Jenny were assembled at a Curtiss plant on Market Street in Waukegan, and some metal parts were made at Fansteel in North Chicago.

 

Chicago Tribune, September 10, 1919.

  

The Curtiss JN-4 was used to train pilots, but each one needed to be test flown first. Curtiss had its own test pilots, and the Army Signal Corps also had pilots test the planes before they were accepted by the U.S. Army. The test field was on the north side of Waukegan in today's Lyons Woods Forest Preserve on Sheridan Road.

Curtiss Flying Field on north side of Waukegan, 1926. The site is now part of Lyons Woods Forest Preserve. News Sun Collection, Dunn Museum. 

The test field's runway was a farm field, rolled by rollers to smooth the ground as much as possible. The planes would fly to other airfields in Wisconsin, Chicago, and Rantoul.

The twin-seater biplane's maneuverability made it ideal to train pilots. Its top speed was 75 mph, and its service ceiling was 6,500 feet. The JN-4B models were built in Waukegan and powered by an OX-2 piston engine; 76 were sold to the U.S. Army, and 9 to the U.S. Navy.

Civilians took flights in the "Jenny" at the Curtis Flying Field with an official tester for the Curtiss Company. Unfortunately, in October 1919, one death occurred after a flight when the passenger, Hazel Nolan of Waukegan, leaned too close to the propeller. 

Chicago Tribune, October 23, 1919.

On July 3, 1920, the Curtiss JN-4 was featured in a parade in Waukegan. During World War I, the "Jenny" was used to entice the purchase of Liberty Bonds to pay off the war debt.

Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" on parade in Waukegan in front of the Academy Theater, July 3, 1920. Dunn Museum, 93.40.1