2016-03 RHS Newsletter – Spring 2016

In the Spring 2016 issue, the Ridge Historical Society introduces a new, easier-to-read design for the Ridge Record newsletter. The updated masthead is a historical scan from the original Morgan Park newspaper of the same name, which premiered in 1899 and prominently featured the Givins House (Irish Castle) in its artwork. The editor invites feedback on the changes and includes historical snippets highlighting the original paper's strong reputation, including high praise from a 1901 New York trade journal.

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Performance artist Carron Little brought her "Neighborhood Magic" project to the Ridge Historical Society, transforming the lawn with fantastically shaped mailboxes designed to collect significant life moments submitted by the public. Little used these submissions, along with oral history interviews from older neighborhood residents, to compose original poems and songs. The interactive project culminated in live interpretations, an opening night event, and a documentary screening, all made possible by the Beverly Area Arts Alliance and Beverly Bank.

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This comprehensive article explores the early history of what is now the Dan Ryan Woods, a tract originally purchased by the Cook County Forest Preserves in 1917 from the estate of John B. Sherman. The narrative covers the geological formation of the Blue Island Ridge, the displacement of Native American tribes who historically used the ridge's "Beverly Bluff" as a signal station, and the broader early 20th-century urban planning movement led by figures like Daniel Burnham and Jens Jensen to preserve a "green belt" around Chicago. A major portion of the piece profiles John B. Sherman, founder of the Union Stock Yard, detailing how he used his sprawling Forest Hill farm on the ridge as a laboratory for livestock breeding and veterinary experiments, while also touching upon the social events, his connection to Daniel Burnham, and even grisly local murder scandals associated with the property before his death in 1902.

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