In addition to answering many questions about local history and helping people research their families and their homes, the Ridge Historical Society (RHS) helps students, journalists, writers, historians, artists, and many other people with in-depth research for projects they are working on.
Some recent projects included an eighth grader’s history fair presentation on Prohibition (which won awards), a church’s Land Acknowledgment Statement, two artist projects on historical land usage, several media projects on local unincorporated land, and the histories of a local church and a famous south side sign company. We even found the owner of a wedding ring that was discovered buried in a local garden.
So when we were approached by Michael Angland, a student working on his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology at Northwestern University, seeking information on the history of the area, we of course did what we could to assist him.
Cultural anthropology studies humans through the societies they establish by looking at the society’s culture – what the members believe and value, how they behave, the social structures and organizations they form. Researchers in the current world involve themselves right in the society they are studying – they interact and talk with the people, they attend events, they participate in local activities.
Michael is studying the culture of the 19th Ward, which he identified as unique in the city.
He identified such traits as political involvement, multi-generational families, the approach to integration in the 1970s resulting in today’s diverse population, the mix of white-collar and blue-collar workers and city employees, the unique geography, the beautiful historic homes and the importance of home ownership, even the wet-dry issue, all as factors that make the community unique.
This recent article in the Beverly Review introduces Michael Angland.
Michael is interviewing people throughout the ward. Here he is with Fr. Michael Flynn (left), a past associate pastor at St. Christina's Church in Mount Greenwood. People who want to share their perspectives on life in the 19th ward can contact him at michaelangland2026@u.northwestern.edu.
https://www.beverlyreview.net/news/community_news/article_e4dfd340-f109-11ee-9e57-1f78bb2a6c6e.html