This series of roughly eighty markers, produced as a joint effort of the Chicago Tribune Foundation, the Chicago Cultural Center Foundation, and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, commemorates "notable Chicagoans by marking the places where they lived or worked". See ChicagoTribute.org for more information.
On 35th Street near Cottage Grove Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
From 1847 until his death in 1861, Stephen Douglas was both a powerful U.S. senator and an influential Chicago resident. Douglas moved from Vermont to southern Illinois at age 20 to begin his career in law and politics, rising quickly among the . . . — — Map (db m235224) HM
On South Martin Luther King Drive, on the right when traveling south.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
1862-1931
Social reformer
Ida B. Wells-Barnett spent her life crusading against lynching
in America. An advocate for civil rights, woman’s suffrage and
economic justice, her anti-lynching campaign stirred the . . . — — Map (db m181804) HM
On South Indiana Avenue south of East 37th Street, on the right when traveling north.
Richard Wright
Novelist, playwright, social critic
1908-1960
Through eloquent and powerful
writing, Richard Wright established
himself as one of the greatest writers
of his generation. His novels and
drawn from his own experiences, . . . — — Map (db m180696) HM
On East 53rd Street at South Shore Drive, on the right when traveling east on East 53rd Street.
Harold Washington
Politician
1922 - 1987
Harold Washington’s election in 1983 as Chicago’s first
black mayor gained national attention. He won with the
support of a “rainbow coalition” of blacks, Hispanics,
Asians, liberal . . . — — Map (db m188263) HM
On West Warren Boulevard east of North Kedzie Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
Finley Peter Dunne
Journalist
1867 - 1936
One of the most memorable characters in
Chicago literature is Martin Dooley, the
loquacious and opinionated Irish immigrant
who tended bar along Archer Avenue in
the Bridgeport . . . — — Map (db m188239) HM
On West Washington Boulevard at North Kostner Avenue, on the right when traveling west on West Washington Boulevard.
George Halas
Football Coach
1895-1983
For half a century, George “Papa Bear” Halas was
synonymous with the Chicago Bears. Founder of
the football team, he was the team’s coach for 40
years and general manager for an additional . . . — — Map (db m188238) HM
On North Lake Shore Drive at Banks Street, on the left when traveling north on North Lake Shore Drive.
The 1870 marriage of Bertha Honore and Potter Palmer united two of the wealthiest and most influential families of 19th century Chicago. Both were strong-willed individualists who used their economic power and social positions to carry out their . . . — — Map (db m188620) HM
On North Astor Street at East Banks Street, on the right when traveling north on North Astor Street.
Irna Phillips
Script Writer
1901-1973
The "mother of the soap opera," Irna Phillips
single-handedly created a unique form of entertainment
that began on radio but reached its biggest audience
through television.
Phillips's . . . — — Map (db m188085) HM
John Wellborn Root
Architect
1850-1891
John Wellborn Root's architectural designs
helped to establish Chicago as the
birthplace of modern architecture.
After the Great Fire of 1871, Root came
here from New York City to . . . — — Map (db m188509) HM
On North Astor Street, on the right when traveling south.
Louise DeKoven Bowen
Social Reformer
1859 - 1953
Although she lived with all the privileges of wealth,
Louise DeKoven Bowen dedicated her life to social
reform in Chicago. Her tireless efforts for the rights
of women, children, . . . — — Map (db m188525) HM
Robert McCormick
Newspaper editor and publisher
1880 - 1955
Robert McCormick, known as “the Colonel” for his
service in World War I, served as editor and
publisher of the Chicago Tribune for 30 years. He
made the . . . — — Map (db m188582) HM
On South Martin Luther King Jr Drive at East 41st Street, on the right when traveling north on South Martin Luther King Jr Drive.
Bessie Coleman
Aviatrix
1892-1926
During the mid-1910s, Bessie Coleman moved from Texas to
Chicago, first working as a manicurist at the White Sox Barber
Shop and later running a chili parlor on the corner of 35th Street
and . . . — — Map (db m180888) HM
On East 44th Street east of South Martin Luther King Jr Drive, on the right when traveling east.
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong
Jazz Musician
1898 - 1971
One of the most gifted musicians in the history of jazz,
Louis Armstrong spent his most inventive years—1925
to 1929—playing the clubs of Chicago’s Black Belt,
especially the . . . — — Map (db m180936) HM
On South Vincennes Avenue north of East 41st Street, on the right when traveling north.
Nat "King" Cole
Musician
1919 - 1965
Nat "King" Cole's warm, relaxed, velvety
voice made him a best-selling recording
star. His 1949 hit "Mona Lisa" sold more
than three million copies, and in 1956 he
became the first . . . — — Map (db m180615) HM
On South King Drive, on the right when traveling south.
Oscar DePriest
Politician
1871-1951
Shrewd, smart and street savvy, Oscar
DePriest was a natural politician. He
became Chicago’s first black alderman
and the first black congressman elected
from a northern state.
Born in . . . — — Map (db m181271) HM
On South King Drive, on the right when traveling south.
Robert S. Abbott
Newspaper publisher
1868 - 1940
On a May evening in 1905, Robert Sengstacke
Abbott appeared on the streets of Chicago selling
his four-page Chicago Defender, proclaiming it “the
only two-cent weekly in . . . — — Map (db m181014) HM
On South King Drive, on the right when traveling south.
The Marx Brothers
Comedy team
The Marx Brothers lived here at 4512 Grand Boulevard
(now King Drive) when they moved to Chicago to tour the
vaudeville circuit in the 1910s. Their act, “The Six Musical
Mascots,” included all five . . . — — Map (db m181366) HM
On North Sacramento Avenue, 0 miles south of West Division Street, on the right when traveling north.
One of America's greatest landscape designers and conservationists, Jens Jensen emigrated from Denmark to the United States in 1884 and settled on
Chicago's West Side.
In 1886, he became a street-sweeper with Chicago's South Park Commission. . . . — — Map (db m234422) HM
On North Humboldt Boulevard at West Wabansia Avenue, on the right on North Humboldt Boulevard.
Lyman Frank Baum lived at 1667 North Humboldt Boulevard in 1899, when he wrote the most famous of his works, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Born in Chittenango, New York, Baum worked as an actor. In 1888, he and his wife Maud moved to the . . . — — Map (db m234541) HM
On South Woodlawn Avenue south of East 55th Street, on the right when traveling north.
The atomic age arrived on December 2, 1942, when Enrico Fermi produced the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. He did this in a laboratory under the Stagg Field bleachers at the University of Chicago. That work led to the . . . — — Map (db m188035) HM
On South Ellis Avenue at East 49th Street, on the right when traveling north on South Ellis Avenue.
Julius Rosenwald
Businessman and philanthropist
1862 - 1932
Sears, Roebuck & Company became a household
name because of the energy and vision of Julius
Rosenwald. He developed Sears’ mail-order
business when much of the nation . . . — — Map (db m188774) HM
On South Lake Park Avenue at East 46th Street, on the right when traveling north on South Lake Park Avenue.
Louis Henry Sullivan
Architect
1856 - 1924
Known as the “prophet of modern architecture,”
Louis Sullivan advocated creating buildings that
honestly mirrored their time, place and technology.
Unlike many architects of the period . . . — — Map (db m188759) HM
McKinley Morganfield "Muddy Waters"
Blues musician
1915 - 1983
Nicknamed for the puddles he played in while
growing up in Mississippi, Muddy Waters learned
harmonica and guitar while working as a
sharecropper. He came to . . . — — Map (db m188336) HM
On North Pine Grove Avenue south of West Surf Street, on the left when traveling south.
Pearl M. Hart
Attorney
1890-1975
Pearl M. Hart practiced law in Chicago for
61 years as an advocate for the oppressed,
most notably children, women, immigrants
and homosexuals.
Hart grew up in the bustling Russian Jewish . . . — — Map (db m188273) HM
On North Hermitage Avenue, 0.2 miles north of West Grace Street, on the left when traveling north. Reported unreadable.
Born in London, Abe Saperstein grew up in Chicago and began coaching basketball in college. He went on to become the owner, promoter, coach, and occasionally, at 5'3", substitute player of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters. Saperstein had . . . — — Map (db m234468) HM
On North Lakeview Avenue, on the right when traveling south.
László Moholy-Nagy came to Chicago in 1937 to
direct the New Bauhaus, an experimental art and
design school. One of the most creative
personalities of his time, Moholy-Nagy was a
writer, painter, photographer, filmmaker,
teacher, . . . — — Map (db m188068) HM
On North Lakeview Avenue at West St. James Place, on the right when traveling south on North Lakeview Avenue.
Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini
Catholic nun, founder of religious and social institutions
1850 - 1917
Mother Frances Cabrini was the first American declared a saint
by the Catholic Church. She was recognized for her tireless
work . . . — — Map (db m187989) HM
On 25th Street at Karlov Avenue, on the left when traveling west on 25th Street.
Rudy Lozano's short life was characterized by passionate community activism. He strove to empower workers and forge coalitions among Latinos, African Americans, and other minorities.
Lozano's activism began at a young age. While a student at . . . — — Map (db m237840) HM
On Rush Street south of East Huron Street, on the right when traveling north.
Cyrus McCormick revolutionized farming. Taking up his father’s interest in agricultural technology, he invented the horse-drawn mechanical reaper in 1831. He was 22. Three years later, he patented it, but he worked another six years to improve it . . . — — Map (db m234728) HM
On North LaSalle Avenue, on the right when traveling north.
Ellis Chesbrough
Engineer
1813-1886
By 1855, Chicago was a growing city encountering problems with
its water supply and sewage disposal. In response to cholera and
dysentery epidemics, the Chicago Board of Sewage
Commissioners . . . — — Map (db m188067) HM
On Ontario Street west of Rush Street, on the right when traveling west.
A visionary businessman who became Chicago's first mayor, William Butler Ogden helped to write the city charter, oversaw construction of nearly 100 miles of city streets, and built Chicago's first railroad.
Like many early settlers, Ogden was a . . . — — Map (db m234659) HM
George Pullman established his reputation in Chicago in 1859 by inventing a way to raise buildings to the new street level required for installation of a sewer system.
In 1863, he began converting railroad passenger cars into luxury sleeping . . . — — Map (db m99944) HM
On South Francisco Avenue north of West Roosevelt Road, on the right when traveling north.
Benny Goodman
1909–1986
Musician
Benny Goodman, premier jazz clarinetist, band
leader and composer, enjoyed a career that spanned
seven decades.
The Goodman family settled at 1125 South Francisco
Avenue when Benny was eight. . . . — — Map (db m187766) HM
On South Lake Park Avenue south of East 40th Street, on the right when traveling south.
Hannah Greenebaum Solomon
Social Reformer
1858 - 1942
Hannah Greenebaum Solomon's lifelong activism on behalf of
women and children stemmed from her deep conviction for
social justice and universal brotherhood.
At Chicago's . . . — — Map (db m188316) HM
On North Hermitage Avenue south of West Leland Avenue, on the left when traveling north.
Hog Butcher for the World. Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling. City of the Big Shoulders...
The first five lines from Sandburg's 1914 poem "Chicago"
Poet, . . . — — Map (db m234538) HM
On North Michigan Avenue south of East Ohio Street, on the right when traveling south.
Ruth Page
Dancer and Choreographer
1899 - 1991
Ruth Page was a pioneering figure in
American dance, and the most influential
dance presence that Chicago has ever
known. Choreographing operas into ballets,
she created an . . . — — Map (db m181012) HM
On West Sherwin Avenue, 0.1 miles west of Sheridan Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
A pioneer of children's television, Burr Tillstrom's earliest puppet shows were put on in the window of his boyhood home for the neighborhood children.
Graduating from Senn High School in 1935, Tillstrom turned down a college scholarship to be . . . — — Map (db m243039) HM
On Pershing Road at Wentworth Avenue, on the right when traveling west on Pershing Road.
Andrew “Rube” Foster dominated the Negro leagues as a pitcher, manager, owner and league organizer. His professional career began at age 18, pitching for New York’s Cuban X-Giants. He won four games
in the 1903 “Colored Championship of the World.” . . . — — Map (db m235191) HM
On South Indiana Avenue at East 84th Street, on the left when traveling north on South Indiana Avenue.
Mahalia Jackson
Gospel singer
1911 - 1972
One of thousands of black Southerners to move north
during the Great Migration, Mahalia Jackson arrived in
Chicago in 1927, bringing with her the rich tradition of
New Orleans gospel . . . — — Map (db m188245) HM
On South Indiana Avenue north of East 80th Street, on the left when traveling south.
Thomas A. Dorsey
Musician
1899 - 1993
The “father of gospel music,” Thomas Dorsey mixed jazz, blues
and spirituals to create a new musical genre. Composer, publisher
and promoter, he toured the United States with legends
Mahalia . . . — — Map (db m188247) HM
Considered the founders of Chicago, Catherine (1756 - 1809) and Jean Baptiste (1745 - 1818) Point du Sable established a fur trading post on this site in the 1770s or early 1780s, approximately a half century before Chicago was incorporated. This . . . — — Map (db m99739) HM
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Architect
1886 - 1969
The master of Modern architecture and one of the
greatest architects of the 20th Century, Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe reshaped the skylines of America’s
major cities in the 1950s, '60s, . . . — — Map (db m181521) HM
On North Michigan Avenue at Madison Street, on the right when traveling south on North Michigan Avenue.
Born in New Jersey, Ward grew up in Niles, Michigan. He left school at 14 to work as a laborer and then a clerk. In 1865 he moved to Chicago, where he clerked briefly in the dry goods emporium of Field, Palmer and Leiter. His next job, selling a St. . . . — — Map (db m237359) HM
On West Ainslie east of North Sheridan Road, on the left when traveling west.
Margaret Anderson
Editor and Writer
1886-1973
Margaret Anderson awoke one night
curiously depressed from the realization
that there was nothing inspiring in her life.
As the remedy, she founded the avant-garde
literary . . . — — Map (db m188044) HM
On West Evergreen Avenue east of Damen Avenue. Reported damaged.
Between the curved steel of the El and the nearest Clark Street hockshop, between the penny arcade and the shooting gallery, between the basement ginmill and the biggest juke in Bronzeville, the prairie is caught for keeps at last.
. . . — — Map (db m233593) HM
On East 61st Street, on the right when traveling west.
John Dewey
Philosopher and educator
1859 - 1952
John Dewey was one of the foremost philosophers of the twentieth
century and a founder of the Laboratory School at the University of
Chicago. He played a role in public life that few . . . — — Map (db m188254) HM
