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Chicago "Historic Pullman District" National Monument


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 24 November 2013 - 08:52 PM

Crain's Chicago Business, 11/25:

Opinion

Historic Pullman's story is worth saving

Some 30 miles from downtown Boston, the city of Lowell, Mass., boomed as a center of textile production into the early 20th century only to fall into oblivion as the industry moved south. After being designated a national park in 1979, however, the riverfront burg was revitalized with public and private dollars. Today it thrives with museums and privately owned condo and commercial buildings. The Lowell National Historical Park hosts some 700,000 tourists a year.

Is this what a Pullman National Park could look like on Chicago's Far South Side? Supporters think so.

SNIP

It's unrealistic to think anyone will turn the 300-acre Pullman district into an urban theme park, with tourists trundling down from Loop hotels in refurbished Pullman rail cars. But national park designation undoubtedly would attract other money, and more development, and bring in 350,000 visitors annually, by some estimates. The alternative is to let the prairie reclaim the site and forever lose this important piece of American history. That would be a shame.

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#2 CNJRoss

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Posted 26 August 2014 - 07:34 AM

Chicago Tribune Op-Ed, posted 8/25/14:

Pullman a national park? This could be big

Dozens of attempts to revitalize Pullman, the far South Side neighborhood named for one of the nation's first factory towns, have struggled..

There are finally some signs of life there, and now one really promising opportunity. It — he — arrived in Chicago last week in full park ranger uniform explaining how the Pullman campus might fit into the National Park System. His name? Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service.

Jarvis met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and visited Pullman to listen to residents and take a look around. Jarvis' tour de Pullman was important because he will greatly influence whether President Barack Obama uses his executive authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to declare Pullman part of the National Park System. If Obama agrees, Pullman finally would get the life preserver it has long sought. Pullman would become a national park and would receive funding and staff in the annual federal budget.

SNIP

Jarvis didn't give a specific timeline for the project. He reminded us: "It's not going to happen overnight."

That's OK, Mr. Jarvis. We don't need it to happen overnight. We just need it to happen.

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#3 CNJRoss

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Posted 26 August 2014 - 07:48 AM

DNAinfo Chicago, 8/22:

MY CHICAGO
by Mark Konkol

Rahm: I'll Talk to the President About Making Pullman National Park Happen

PULLMAN — A few years back, I sat on the edge of the Grand Canyon, dangling my Chuck Taylors over the great expanse as the sun set, taking in the brilliant pastels of the natural wonder that U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt had the foresight to designate as National Park to preserve the view for guys like me.

Not once did I think I'd ever live in one.

But if all goes well — and admittedly I have my doubts — my historic rowhouse could wind up smack in the middle of National Park No. 402.

SNIP

. . . Mayor Emanuel was on the makeshift plywood stage telling the eager Pullman crowd that he wants that National Parks designation so bad that he plans to talk to President Obama about it personally, according to a reliable source close enough to actually hear what Rahm was saying.

Anyway, by the sound of the cheers it was exactly what my hopeful neighbors wanted to hear.

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#4 CNJRoss

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Posted 11 February 2015 - 04:22 PM

Chicago Tribune, 2/10:
 

Supporters applaud Obama move to make Pullman national monument

 

Advocates of preserving the Pullman Historic District praised President Barack Obama's decision to designate the Far South Side district a national monument.

 

House Democrat Robin Kelly, who represents the Pullman area, was "thrilled" at the news, her spokeswoman, Kayce Ataiyero, said Tuesday.

 

Kelly worked closely with the National Park Service, the White House and neighborhood activists to keep Pullman's legacy and history alive, the spokeswoman said.

 

The move is not only a boon for the district, "it's also a boon for the state, because it will boost tourism. It will draw more people to Illinois and Pullman to learn about the community's role in our nation's history," Ataiyero said.

 

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#5 CNJRoss

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Posted 11 February 2015 - 04:46 PM

WBBM-TV (CBS) Chicago, 2/10:
 

Obama To Declare Pullman Neighborhood A National Monument

 

CHICAGO (CBS) – President Barack Obama will visit Chicago next week to designate the historic Pullman neighborhood – one of the first “company towns” in the U.S. – as a national monument.

 

Pullman was home to railroad baron George Pullman’s factory town in the 1880s, homes, shopping areas, churches, theaters, a hotel, a library, and other amenities for his workforce at Pullman Palace Car Co., which made sleeper cars for railroads.

 

Obama got his start in politics as a community organizer, meeting frequently at a McDonald’s just a few blocks from the Pullman factory, and he’s familiar with the history and architecture that made the area a candidate for national monument status.

 

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#6 CNJRoss

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Posted 20 February 2015 - 07:15 PM

NPR "All Things Considered," 2/19:

 
Chicago's Historic Pullman District Becomes National Monument

 

The Pullman Historic District on Chicago's far south side was one the country's first company towns where workers at the now defunct Pullman Palace Car Company built luxury rail cars.

 

President Obama returned to Chicago today to make an announcement in his hometown. The historic Southside neighborhood where he worked as a community organizer is now a new national monument along with two other sites in Hawaii and Colorado. The president also announced another initiative to allow some children and their families free admission to national parks. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

 

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#7 CNJRoss

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Posted 20 February 2015 - 07:22 PM

WMAQ-TV (NBC) Chicago, 2/19:
 

Obama Designates Pullman a National Monument
Designation of three national monuments on Thursday brings to 16 the number Obama has created under the 1906 Antiquities Act

 

Calling it among the "places that reflect our national history and our national heritage," President Barack Obama returned to Chicago on Thursday to designate a historic neighborhood on the city's South Side a national monument.

 

Pullman Historic District, between 103rd and 115th streets, was founded by railroad car manufacturer, engineer and industrialist George Pullman in 1880. Pullman built the picturesque company town on 4,000 acres before it became home to porters, factory workers, managers and their families in a time where most laborers lived in very poor conditions.

 

"This site is at the heart of what would become America's labor movement and as a consequence at the heart of what would become America's middle class," said Obama.

 

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#8 CNJRoss

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Posted 21 February 2015 - 03:50 PM

Chicago Tribune, 2/19:
 

Pullman collects nearly $8 million in donations before Obama visit

 

Residents fighting to preserve the Pullman neighborhood cheered President Barack Obama in Chicago on Thursday as he designated the factory district a national monument after an announcement of nearly $8 million in local donations to support site projects.

 

Officials have yet to detail the total cost to develop the Far South Side site, including much-needed renovations to the historic clock tower damaged in a 1998 fire.

As part of the designation, Obama addressed a packed gym of cheering supporters at Gwendolyn Brooks Preparatory Academy in Pullman.

 

"What makes Pullman special is the role it plays in our history," he said. "This place has been a milestone in our journey toward a more perfect union."

 

Railroad mogul George Pullman created the district in the 1880s and is best known for his factories and the housing where his workers lived. Pullman's jobs allowed black porters to escape the Jim Crow South, spreading a message of opportunity across the country.   .   .   .

 

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#9 CNJRoss

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Posted 25 January 2016 - 04:59 PM

Chicago Sun-Times, 1/23:
 

Pullman National Monument restoration plans ramping up

 

Restoration plans for the Pullman National Monument are expected to soon pick up speed.

 

The National Park Service and several partners will gather at Pullman National Monument’s temporary visitor center on the South Side o talk about its future Feb. 19 — the anniversary of its designation as a national monument. President Barack Obama was in Chicago last year for the designation of the former railcar manufacturing neighborhood as a national monument.

 

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#10 CNJRoss

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Posted 05 July 2016 - 09:43 PM

The Herald-News, Joliet, IL 7/3:
 

Then & Now: Pullman Neighborhood – Chicago

 

George Mortimer Pullman was born in Brockton, New York. He and his family soon relocated to the town of Albion, located along the Erie Canal. At age 14, Pullman dropped out of school and began working with his father to move houses during the expansion of the Erie Canal.

 

In 1859, George Pullman established himself in Chicago as a building raiser and mover. Unlike other cities, Chicago sat just a few feet above the water level of Lake Michigan. Built on a bog, Chicago was unable to construct a sewage system without first raising the level of the streets. Using his knowledge of relocating buildings to new foundations, Pullman invented a method to raise Chicago’s buildings to the new grade level. In doing so, Pullman made an early fortune. After raising buildings, Pullman turned his attention to railroads.

 

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