82nd and Morgan

This article about the block club at 82nd and Morgan from DNAInfo Chicago really tickled me this morning. Just yesterday I sent the manuscript for Neighbors: The History of Block Clubs in Chicago back to the University of Chicago Press, which plans to publish it in fall 2016.

This article encapsulate so many features of block clubs: they meet monthly in one family's basement; they collect $10 in monthly dues; they have a block telephone directory, which is sometimes activated to respond to crime; they make a point of talking to visitors on the block; they send welcome letters to new neighbors; they send donations when someone dies or when there is a fire; and, of course, they hold a block party.

The block club was created around the year 2000. Its purpose, according to the article, was to extend the close-knit family feeling among the descendants of the block's first black residents. Seven families moved onto the block in the mid-1960s and shared the experience of being racial pioneers who watched white neighbors move out as they moved in.

The last line of the article notes that they call themselves "A Block of Unity." This motto is emblazoned on a block club sign, which appears at both ends of their block. A photograph of the sign, taken by David Salk, will appear in the book. If you need a preview, try taking a virtual walk down the block using Google maps.