Herbert Televox, the Mechanical Man, Chicago, Illinois

Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co's first robot was Herbert Televox, built in 1927 by Roy Wensley at their East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania plant. The robot was based on the patents of Wensley, filed in 1923, 1927 and 1929. The first man weighed 600 pounds, but the one above only weighs 40 pounds. The Televox could accept a telephone call by lifting the telephone receiver. It could then control a few simple processes by operating some switches, depending on the signals that were received. Televox could utter a few primordial buzzes and grunts and could wave his arms a bit. Although speechless when first created, Televox later learned to say two simple sentences.

From the January, 1928, issue of Popular Science Monthly journal:

Look first at that mechanical creature answering the telephone. He is the invention of R. J. Wensley, an engineer of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, and goes by the name of Televox. It you could dissect him you would find his inner workings much like those of your radio receiver, and little more complicated. Yet if you should establish him at home in your absence—which the inventor says is not at all impracticable—he would serve you as a trustworthy and obedient caretaker.

The mechanism consists primarily of a series of electrical relays, each sensitive to a sound of a certain pitch, and capable of translating that sound into specified mechanical action, such as opening and cloning the switches of electrical appliances. Each relay is actuated through a tuned electrical circuit responsive to vibration of a given frequency and no other, somewhat as the circuits of your radio can be tuned to a broadcasting station of a given wave length.

The mechanical man is not connected electrically to the telephone, but listens much as you would. His ear is a sensitive microphone placed close to the receiver. His voice is a loudspeaker close to the transmitter. And the language he speaks is a series of mechanically operated signal buzzes.

Experimentally, he has been made to understand and respond to words uttered by human voices, but for practical operation the language which spurs him to action has been simplified to three different sounds of different pitches. These sounds are made either by three tuned pitch pipes or, as in the New York demonstration, by three electrically operated tuning forks.

For illustration, imagine you are at the house a friend and are calling your home equipped with a Televox. In the ordinary way you telephone your home. Why, your phone rings. Televox lifts the receiver and utters a combination of buzzes which tell you that you have the right number.

Now you sound a single high note from the first pipe, which means, "Hello, get set for action." Televox stops buzzing and responds with a series of clicks, saying "All set: what do you want?".

Next you sound two short notes from the same pipe. These tell Televox to connect you with the switch on the electric oven. The reply is two short buzzes saying, "You are now connected," followed by a long buzz-z-z-z, which informs you that "the switch is open."

At this, you sound a deeper note on the second pitch pipe, meaning "Close the switch and start the oven." Immediately Televox ceases the long buzz, closes the switch, then replies with a short, snappy buzz informing you that the switch has been closed and the oven is going.

Next you may wish to inquire about the furnace, and with the first pitch pipe you sound three shrill notes. This means "Connect me with the furnace and tell me how hot it is." The reply is three short buzzes, telling you that the connection has been made, followed by a pause, then two more buzzes which say, "The furnace is pretty low."

So you blow four blasts from the same pitch pipe, meaning "Connect me with the switch operating the drafts." Televox replies with four buzzes, signifying that the connection has been made; then one short buzz informing you that the drafts are closed. With one blast from the second pitch pipe you order the drafts opened. Televox instantly opens them, then gives the long buzz to say that the job is done.

If nothing further requires attention, you blow the third pitch pipe, the lowest in tone of the three, which says "Good bye." Televox hangs up the receiver, and stands ready for the next call.

Each of these astonishing actions, as already explained, is accomplished by a different sound-sensitive relay. When the bell rings, the noise causes the first relay to lift the telephone hook and start the signal buzzer. The high note of the first pipe serves to connect any desired one of a number of relays, each of which has been arranged to control a certain operation. Thus, when the note is sounded twice, it moves a switch that connects relay number two, controlling the electric oven. When sounded three times, it connects relay number three, and so on, according to the number of operations for which the apparatus is designed. Each time a relay is connected, Televox gives a corresponding number of buzzes, indicating that the connection has been made. Moreover, it sounds an additional long or short buzz indicating whether the switch to be operated by the relay is open or closed.

The lower note of the second pitch pipe is the operating note; that is, it causes the connected relay to open or close the switch as may be required; also to report the fact by changing its long buzz to a short one, or vice versa. The deep note of the third pitch pipe simply causes Televox to quit work and ring off.

To demonstrate that Televox will respond to spoken words as well as musical notes, the inventor has set up in the Westinghouse laboratories at East Pittsburgh, Pa., a mechanism which will open a door to the call of "Open sesame!". The sounds of the voice, however, are too highly complicated for use in general practice. Still, a person with a good ear for music can get response from Televox by whistling or singing in the exact notes to which the relays of the machine are tuned.

Three of the machines already are in actual use in Washington, D. C., replacing watchmen at reservoirs. By their buzzes they tell the distant caller the height of water as shown by the gage in the reservoir, and also control the flow of water at his bidding…

The Herbert Televox robot became a national sensation, and was followed by a parade of increasingly advanced machines.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The East St. Louis, Illinois Race Riots of 1917.

The city of East St. Louis, Illinois was the scene of one of the bloodiest race riots in the 20th century.  Racial tensions began to increase in February of 1917 when 470 African American workers were hired to replace white workers who had gone on strike against the Aluminum Ore Company.

A mob beats a Negro man in front of a streetcar, while the militia charged with restoring order stands by and does nothing.

The violence started on May 28th, 1917, shortly after a city council meeting was called. Angry white workers lodged formal complaints against black migrations to the Mayor of East St. Louis.  After the meeting had ended, news of an attempted robbery of a white man by an armed black man began to circulate through the city.  As a result of this news, white mobs formed and rampaged through downtown, beating all African Americans who were found.

The mobs also stopped trolleys and streetcars, pulling black passengers out and beating them on the streets and sidewalks.  Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden eventually called in the National Guard to quell the violence, and the mobs slowly dispersed.  The May 28th disturbances were only a prelude to the violence that erupted on July 2, 1917.

Negroes Fleeing their homes as local whites look on. East St. Louis, July 2, 1917.

After the May 28th riots, little was done to prevent any further problems.  No precautions were taken to ensure white job security or to grant union recognition.  This further increased the already-high level of hostilities towards African Americans.  No reforms were made in the police force which did little to quell the violence in May.  Governor Lowden ordered the National Guard out of the city on June 10th, leaving residents of East St. Louis in an uneasy state of high racial tension.

On July 2, 1917, the violence resumed.  Men, women, and children were beaten and shot to death.  Around six o'clock that evening, white mobs began to set fire to the homes of black residents.  Residents had to choose between burning alive in their homes, or run out of the burning houses, only to be met by gunfire.  In other parts of the city, white mobs began to lynch African Americans against the backdrop of burning buildings.  As darkness came and the National Guard returned, the violence began to wane but did not come to a complete stop.

Six blocks of Walnut Street reduced to rubble from fires started during racially motivated riots in East St. Louis, IL.

In response to the rioting, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sent W.E.B. DuBois and Martha Gruening to investigate the incident.  They compiled a report entitled “Massacre at East St. Louis,” which was published in the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis.  The NAACP also staged a silent protest march in New York City in response to the violence.  Thousands of well-dressed African Americans marched down Fifth Avenue, showing their concern about the events in East St. Louis.

Police and others look for bodies after the riot in East St. Louis. Local investigations were inept, making an accurate death count improbable. The bodies of some black victims were buried in a common grave. Others were thrown into Cahokia Creek, which ran between downtown and the riverfront railyards.

The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) also responded to the violence.  On July 8th, 1917, the UNIA’s president, Marcus Garvey said: “This is a crime against the laws of humanity; it is a crime against the laws of the nation, it is a crime against Nature and a crime against the God of all mankind.”  He also believed that the entire riot was part of a larger conspiracy against African Americans who migrated north in search of a better life: “The whole thing, my friends, is a bloody farce, and that the police and soldiers did nothing to stem the murder thirst of the mob is a conspiracy on the part of the civil authorities to condone the acts of the white mob against Negroes.”

A year after the riot, a Special Committee formed by the United States House of Representatives launched an investigation into police actions during the East St. Louis Riot. Investigators found that the National Guard and also the East St. Louis police force had not acted adequately during the riots, revealing that the police often fled from the scenes of murder and arson.  Some even fled from stationhouses and refused to answer calls for help. The investigation resulted in the indictment of several members of the East St. Louis police force.

VIDEO

East St. Louis Race Riots.
(PBS - KETC TV, St. Louis, Missouri)
Runtime [8:04]

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Chicago Radio Laboratory (CRL) [Zenith Radio Corporation] of Chicago, Illinois.

Among the hundreds of radio manufacturers that arose with the popularization of radio in the very early 1920s was the Chicago Radio Laboratory (CRL) in 1918, selling radios under the name "Z-Nith," later to become Zenith Radio Corporation. From the beginning, CRL/Zenith hung its hat on quality being more important than cost, and this philosophy allowed the company to grow and prosper in the fluid environment of the 1920s. By the onset of the Depression in 1929, Zenith was stable enough to weather the financial storm and emerge as a major manufacturing and marketing force.

The 9ZN garage building--the first Chicago Radio Laboratory factory in early 1919. Half of the 14' X 18' garage, located on Chicago's lakefront at 57XX Sheridan Road, Chicago, Illinois (land owned by the Edgewater Brach Hotel), was used for amateur station 9ZN and the other half was devoted to radio production. The sign on the side of the building reads: "9ZN, Testing & Demonstrating, equipped with CRL apparatus."

FOUNDERS
The founders of what was to become Zenith Radio Corporation were two radio amateurs, Ralph H.G. Mathews and Karl Hassel. The two were joined in business a bit later by Eugene F. McDonald, Jr., who contributed his considerable finances, publicity skills, and inventiveness. Soon after Zenith was formed, master businessman and accountant Hugh Robertson and legendary merchandiser Paul Klugh joined the group, forming the nucleus that eventually propelled Zenith Radio Corporation to a position as a major national manufacturer.

RALPH H.G. MATHEWS
Ralph Mathews built his first amateur radio station (9IK) in Chicago in 1912, soon after becoming interested in amateur radio. While attending Chicago's Lane Technical High School in 1913 and 1914, he perfected an aluminum saw-tooth, rotary spark gap disk with such a distinctive radio signal that it could be instantly identified by his amateur contacts. Already well-known in the amateur community, he began to accept requests from other amateurs to build equipment of his own design for them. Mathews graduated from high school in 1914 and began a commercial operation in 1915 to supplement his college costs. From 1915 until 1917, when World War I stopped all amateur activity, he covered most of his college and personal expenses by building and selling saw-tooth rotary gaps, radio receivers of various kinds, and other equipment for amateur purposes.

In March 1916, Mathews was appointed trunk line manager for the central region of the U. S. for the newly formed Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL); in February 1917, he was elected to the Board of Directors for the group. About this time, his station call letters were changed to 9ZN, and with the increased prominence of the station, its operator and his call, his manufactured products became known as "9ZN Spark Gaps" or "9ZN Receivers."

Soon after the War started, Mathews enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He was assigned to the Naval Communications Division, and he met Karl Hassel while stationed at Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois.

KARL HASSEL
Karl Hassel was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, on January 25, 1896. He attended Westminster College from 1914 to 1915 and continued his studies in 1916 at the University of Pittsburgh. He had received his amateur license in 1912 and, at Pittsburgh, operated the university's 2 K.W., 500-cycle synchronous rotary spark gap station. This very efficient station operated with a special license 8XI and had an antenna 125 feet high and 600 feet long stretched between two buildings. It operated primarily on 425 meters and could work in a large geographic area because of its high antenna.

With the beginning of World War I, the government closed all and dismantled most radio stations. However, the influential University of Pittsburgh station was reserved as a government station. Hassel was one of three operators who took and passed the government examination and operated the station on a 24-hour-a-day basis.

Several published accounts of Hassel's involvement with the Pittsburgh University station state that the station became KDKA, the first licensed broadcast station. Indeed, this story is related to several of Hassel's obituary accounts. The Pittsburgh University station was dismantled in 1918 and did not become KDKA. Some confusion may have stemmed from the similarity of calls: the Pittsburgh University station was 8XI, while Frank Conrad's call (the station that developed into KDKA) was 8XK.

In early 1918 when the university station was dismantled, Hassel joined the Navy. He became a radio code instructor at Great Lakes Naval Training Station and met Ralph Mathews. The two worked together at Great Lakes for a few months, then both were transferred to the Naval Intelligence Service offices in Chicago's Commonwealth Edison Building.

When the War ended, they were held briefly before discharge with little to do. During this time, they decided to enter into a business partnership manufacturing amateur equipment. In early 1919, after being released from the Navy, they formed a formal partnership. By June 1919, along with friends M.B. Lowe and Larry Dutton, they built amateur equipment under Chicago Radio Laboratory (CRL).

THE CHICAGO RADIO LABORATORY
Hassel and Mathews initially lived in the Mathews family home at 1316 Carmen Avenue, and their first manufacturing location was a table in the kitchen in 1918. Operating as the Chicago Radio Laboratory, they produced a catalog in mid-1919. Mathews' father was involved in a printing company and helped them with the catalog. As Hassel said, "...it didn't cost us anything, or we wouldn't have had a catalog. I'm telling you, we didn't have any money."

At first, CRL operated as a retail mail-order supplier of amateur equipment, selling a variety of non-CRL apparatus as well as its own. The equipment featured in the first catalog was not stocked but manufactured or obtained as ordered.

Karl Hassel's account of the earliest days of production was recalled as: "We used Bakelite panel, and they were all engraved by hand with many a resulting blister. We used what we thought was a unique method of mounting the various parts on the Bakelite panel so no mounting screws would show. We used a double panel with the apparatus properly mounted on the back panel, and then the front panel was held on the back one by the pointer stops. I remember how we used to get a set together and discovered we had left off something, so we had to take it apart again to mount the part on the back panel. We were often on the point of discarding this idea and letting all the mounting screws show, but we never did."

Some of Mathews' impressions of the early manufacturing days, recalled in 1978, were:

"As to how many sets we made, I cannot give you a figure. We had 3 workmen building them by hand. We built them 12 at a time, which took about 2-3 weeks. The total amount I cannot give you the. Then, as the business grew, we started building about 20 at a time.

"Due to our small hand construction, we seldom had much of a stock, but they weren't built specifically to order unless something special was specified when we would make modifications to order."

EXPANSION
In mid-1919, manufacturing operations were moved to one-half of a 14' x 18' 2-car garage erected two blocks north of the Edgewater Beach Hotel at 5525 Sheridan Road. Mr. Dewey, the hotel manager and a friend of both Mathews and Hassel, allowed the unrestricted use of the hotel-owned land to understand that the building would be removed if the hotel ever needed the property. The other half of the garage was devoted to amateur station 9ZN.

A large antenna was erected, and with the big synchronous rotary spark-gap transmitter, 9ZN was soon heard worldwide. 9ZN was part of the first postwar transcontinental message relay on December 4, 1919 ([1AW to] 9ZN to L.F. to 6EA). In January [1921], 9ZN was involved in setting the cross-country record of 6.5 minutes for a round trip message 1AW to 9ZN to 5ZA to 6JD and return on the same route with help from 9LR. 9ZN was a featured visitation site during the first National ARRL Convention held August 31-September 3, 1921, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. Mathews was the Director General (chairman) of the convention and toastmaster of the banquet.

By early 1921, the garage on Sheridan Road had become too small, and Chicago Radio Laboratory moved to a 3,000-square-foot rented factory at 6433 Ravenswood. The primary product of Chicago Radio Laboratory was a 2-component regenerative receiver. The top portion of the receiver, called the "Amplifigon," housed the detector and amplifier, and the bottom part, the "Paragon," was a tuner. CRL acquired the names Amplifigon and Paragon from the Adams-Morgan Company after it could not receive deliveries as agents for the company. Then, CRL began building and modifying the units themselves.

Karl Hassel could not recall whether the names were purchased or given to CRL. But, in a letter to friend Leo Gibbs on December 6, 1978, Mathew's recalled, "Adams -Morgan and I had the #1 and #2 licenses under Armstrong's patents. We did not copy their set; we bought them out at almost the same time, about six months after WW I. The 'Paragon' name was more or less the name of the circuit originally. I believe they were out with their model a few months before ours, and we originally used one of theirs at 9ZN, for a short time, much for comparison purposes. I can't give you a specific date for the first CRL Paragons and Amplifigons, but it was six months to a year after I got out of the Navy active duty at the end of WWI."

There appears to have been no legal action on behalf of either party. The 1919 Chicago Radio Laboratory catalog states that CRL sells the Adams-Morgan Paragon. The Paragon name was dropped in the 1920 CRL catalogs as modifications to the original design produced a new, and exclusively CRL, rendition of the product.

Since its equipment was built for the radio amateur, CRL placed its earliest advertisements in QST, the American Radio Relay League magazine, the first in June 1919. At an employee's suggestion, the QST advertisements soon began listing the 9ZN call followed by a small "ith," thus providing the famous trade name Z-Nith.

However, with the development of CRL's first broadcast receiver, the company began placing limited advertising in Chicago newspapers and a few trade publications. Growth, the associated moves to larger quarters, and the arrival of Commander McDonald combined at precisely the right time to lay a solid foundation for the rapid development of the fledgling company.

By late 1921, the popularity of Chicago Radio Laboratory equipment had driven demand to levels that were impossible to support from the small CRL factory on Ravenswood Avenue. In early 1922, Eugene F. McDonald, Jr., who had joined Mathews and Hassel in 1920 as General Manager of CRL, arranged for QRS Music Company at Kedzie Avenue and 48th Street to begin manufacturing CRL products. QRS was to use a combination of its own equipment and employees and those of CRL.

CRL produced only five radios a week in early 1922; by June 1922, it had 50 per week. Since radio sales and manufacturing were cyclical, with the peak period being September to January, a manufacturing output of 50 radios in June would indicate phenomenal growth for the small company.

McDonald formed Zenith Radio Corporation on June 30, 1923, as the marketing arm for the Z-Nith radios produced by Chicago Radio Laboratory. It was not until several years later that the two merged so that both manufacturing and marketing could be carried out by Zenith Radio Corporation. The original patent for the famous Zenith Lightning Bolt was filed on April 24, 1922.

TELEVISION PIONEER
Early television developments included some of the first prototype television receivers in the 1930s and experimental T.V. broadcasts, which began in 1939 and, at the request of the FCC, continued during World War II.

In 1948, Zenith introduced its first line of black-and-white T.V. sets. Among the many pioneering Zenith developments in the early days of television were the industry's first 21-inch, three-electron-gun rectangular color picture tube (1954), the first wireless T.V. remote control, "Flash-Matic" (1955) and then "Space Command," the first ultrasonic remote control, which revolutionized T.V. tuning worldwide for the next quarter-century (1956).

Zenith introduced its first color T.V. sets for consumers in 1961 and quickly established itself as a leading brand. The 1969 introduction of the revolutionary "Chromacolor" black-matrix (negative guardband) picture tube doubled the image brightness of color television and established a new standard of performance for the entire industry. The "EFL" (extended field length) electron gun (1976) and "System 3" modular T.V. chassis (1978) contributed to Zenith's continued strength in color television during the 1970s.

From "ZENITH RADIO" TO "ZENITH ELECTRONICS"
Mounting competitive pressures in its core consumer electronics business-led, Zenith used its broad engineering and marketing expertise to diversify as the company entered the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) components and cable television products businesses in the late 1970s.

In 1979, Zenith acquired the Heath Company, the world's largest manufacturer of build-it-yourself electronic kit products for hobbyists. Capitalizing on Heath's early entry into personal computers, Zenith formed Zenith Data Systems in 1980. Zenith's management built the computer business into a billion-plus-dollar operation by the late 1980s and sold the company in 1989.

By the mid-1980s, Zenith Cable Products (known as Zenith Network Systems) was a leading supplier of set-top boxes to the cable industry and a pioneer in cable modem technologies. The 1990s saw this business evolve into a supplier of digital set-top boxes for wired and wireless networks, and Zenith sold the Network Systems division in 2000.

The company marketed its last radio in 1982 (among other things, the end of the line for the famous Zenith "Trans-Oceanic" multi-band radio). Even as the company changed its name from "Zenith Radio Corporation" to "Zenith Electronics Corporation" in 1984, Zenith remained committed to audio engineering related to television. Zenith engineers co-developed the multichannel television sound (MTS) transmission system adopted by the industry for stereo T.V. broadcasts (1984). They received an Emmy (1986) for pioneering work developing MTS stereo T.V.

A major Zenith advance of the 1980s was the patented "flat tension mask" technology for high-resolution color video displays with perfectly flat screens, glare-free viewing, and superior performance, which earned the company a technical Emmy in 2001. Other noteworthy Zenith television innovations include T.V. receivers with "Sound by Bose" (1986) and "Dolby Surround Sound" (1988), as well as the first T.V.s with built-in closed caption decoders (1991), the first T.V.s with built-in on-screen electronic program guide (1994), and the first T.V.s with a track-ball operated remote control (1995).

DIGITAL HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION
Beginning in 1988, Zenith has been a leader in HDTV technologies. As one of HDTV's earliest proponents, Zenith developed several key digital technologies. Zenith was the first to propose a partially digital signal, pioneered the so-called "taboo" broadcast channels for the transition to HDTV, and was the first to use computer-friendly progressive scanning.

Zenith developed the VSB (vestigial sideband) digital transmission system, adopted in December 1996 by the FCC as the centerpiece of the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) digital television broadcast standard. In 1997, Zenith and other Digital HDTV Grand Alliance members earned a technical Emmy for pioneering developments behind the ATSC standard.

Zenith's first HDTV products, digital HDTV receivers/decoders, were introduced in 1998, followed by integrated Digital HDTV sets in 1999 and HD-compatible monitors in 2000. Zenith introduced the world's first 60-inch HDTV plasma display panel in 2001 and more affordable direct-view integrated HDTVs in 2002. Zenith digital-to-analog converter boxes supported the U.S. transition to all-digital broadcasting in 2008-09.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

South Water Street, Chicago. "The Busiest Street in the World" from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

As early as the first years of the nineteenth century, there was an informal trading post at the Chicago river where Indians and settlers bartered what they had for what have you. A few years later, Mark Beaubien's famous tavern on Lake Street was a meeting place for the earliest commission merchants.

South Water Street, Chicago, Illinois. "The busiest street in the world." (1899)

In its early years, the South Water Street Market flourished along the south bank of the South Branch of the Chicago River on what is now mostly West Wacker Drive. The wholesale produce market grew up with the city and thrived.

Notice the booking office for the South Haven Line, the company that owned the ill-fated steamship SS Eastland.

Jammed all day long with oxcarts, wagons, horse-drawn carriages, weather-beaten men with rough hands, stained aprons, and filled with the din of a cryptic language that few outsiders understood, the area between Wells and Dearborn streets was a focal point of the city's commercial life.

South Water Street market (circa 1913). People, automobiles, and Horses coexist at a busy South Water Street intersection.

City planners decided that its congestion and odors no longer belonged in the central business district and was shutdown on August 27, 1925.

South Water Street market in 1917

South Water Street market. circa 1918

Men loading peaches at Water Street Market.

To make way for a complete transformation of the waterfront, the Water Street Market was relocated to a spot South of 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road) between Morgan Street and Racine Avenue. It continued to operate there as the South Water Market through 2001, when it moved on again, even further from the city center.

South Water Street market's last day. August 27, 1925

Today, the Chicago International Produce Market (CIPM) is a state-of-the-art terminal produce market[1] and one of the few terminal produce markets left in America. Bounded by Ashland Avenue on the East, Blue Island Avenue on the North, Damen Avenue on the West and the south branch of the Chicago River on the South.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

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[1] A Terminal Market is a central site that serves as an assembly and trading place for commodities; an organized market in a city into which large quantities of agricultural products are shipped for distribution and sale.

The Pedway, Chicago’s Loop Underground Pedestrian System.

The Chicago Pedway is a network of tunnels, ground-level concourses, and bridges connecting skyscrapers, retail stores, hotels and train stations throughout the central business district of Chicago, Illinois. With a length of more than 40 downtown blocks, it contains shops, restaurants, and public art and helps pedestrians in inclement weather. Most connections to the pedway are commercial or government buildings, including hotels. Columbus Plaza, The Heritage at Millennium Park, the Park Millennium, 200 North Dearborn Apartments, and Aqua are the only residential buildings connected to the pedway.

The oldest portions of the Pedway, aside from the interiors of some included buildings, are the corridors between State and Dearborn Streets, linking Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line and Blue Line stations at Washington and Lake Streets and at Jackson Street. These were constructed with the subways; while the completion and outfitting of the Blue Line under Dearborn Street were interrupted by rationing in World War II, the two mezzanine connector tunnels were opened and linked the Red Line under State Street to the sidewalks of Dearborn Street.

Construction on the pedway proper began in 1951 and has continued since then, especially after the expansion was included in both 1968's Transit Planning Study: Chicago Central Area and the Chicago 21 Plan introduced in 1973.

The smaller but more elaborate eastern section of the pedway connecting the Illinois Center buildings, Hyatt Regency, Fairmont Hotel, Swissôtel and (later) Aqua, was not directly accessible from the main (Loop-centric) pedway network, although each linked to one end of the Metra Electric Line rail platforms, controlled by turnstiles and inaccessible without paying the fare. Since the Regional Transportation Authority's removal of the turnstiles in November 2003, the two large pedway sections have been united by the platforms.

Entrance from the North-South (Red Line) subway to the Pedway and Marshall Field's.

The southern reach of the main network was reduced when the 2nd-floor passage across Madison Street, linking Three First National Plaza with Bank One Plaza (now Chase Tower), was removed after the two buildings restricted public access to upper levels. 

The tunnels between Chase Tower and Two First National Plaza remain but are closed to the general public. Chase Tower is still connected to the Blue Line subway and to the restaurant structure in the south-west corner of the adjoining Exelon Plaza, and public access is permitted during workday hours.

Numerous smaller pedways throughout the central business district are not connected to the main network. These include the tunnel below Quincy Street and the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, connecting the Red and Blue Lines' Jackson Street stations; within and between the Ogilvie Transportation Center and 2 North Riverside Plaza; within and between the Merchandise Mart and Apparel Center; and the passageways under Chase Tower's Exelon Plaza.

Points of entry and exit for the Pedway include:

1. One North Dearborn Street
2. One North State Street
3. 2 North Riverside Plaza
4. One Prudential Plaza (130 East Randolph Street)
5. Two First National Plaza
6. Two Prudential Plaza (180 North Stetson Avenue)
7. Three First National Plaza (70 West Madison Street)
8. 25 East Washington Street
9. 77 West Wacker Drive
10. 120 North LaSalle
11. 139 North Wabash Avenue
12. 150 North Michigan Avenue
13. 200 North Dearborn Apartments
14. 201 North Clark Street
15. 203 North LaSalle Street
16. 303 East Wacker Drive
17. Aon Center (200 East Randolph Street)
18. Aqua
19. Block 37 shopping mall at 108 North State Street
20. Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower (300 East Randolph Street)
21. Boulevard Towers
22. Chase Tower
23. City Hall/County Building
24. Chicago Cultural Center (formerly main library & GAR memorial)
25. Chicago Title and Trust Center (181 North Clark Street)
26. Columbus Plaza
27. Richard J. Daley Bicentennial Plaza
28. Richard J. Daley Center (50 West Washington Street)
29. Front of Dirksen Federal Building (interior not connected) (219 South Dearborn St.)
30. George W. Dunne Cook County Administration Building (69 West Washington Street)
31. Fairmont Hotel Chicago
32. Grant Park underground parking garages
33. The Heritage at Millennium Park (130 North Garland Court)
34. Hyatt Regency Hotel
35. Illinois Center
36. Lake CTA Red Line station
37. Leo Burnett Building (35 West Wacker Drive)
38. Macy's in the Marshall Field and Company Building
39. Millennium Park
40. Ogilvie Transportation Center (500 West Madison Street)
41. Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Terminal)
42. Park Millennium
43. Jay Pritzker Pavilion
44. Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel (formerly Stouffer Riviere)
45. The Sporting Club at Illinois Center
46. Swissôtel Chicago
47. James R. Thompson Center (100 West Randolph)
48. Washington CTA Blue Line Station 

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Jackknife Bridge, Chicago, Illinois. (1907)

The Jackknife bridge, designed by William Scherzer and built in 1895, spanned the South Branch of the Chicago River between Jackson and Van Buren Streets. It had two side-by-side double railroad tracks used by Chicago elevated 'L' trains until the late 1950s. 

The two halves resembled a pair of gigantic steel face-to-face rocking chairs, which rocked back and away from each other when opening. The bridge no longer exists. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Algonquin Illinois Automobile Hill Climb Contest (1906-1912)

In 1906 the Chicago Automobile Trade Association with the Chicago Motor Club and Chicago Automobile club decided it was about time to field test the many models of cars being made available to the public. Using the hill climbing contests would be an additional marketing approach to entice prospective automobile buyers into purchasing "the best in the field" for their own personal use. Power, endurance and speed were major selling points for the automobile maker.

Automobiles involved in the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest lining a road. 

The association and Motor Club started searching the Chicago area for hills and steep roads. Hills and roads were found in Algonquin, Illinois; a sleepy little town on the Fox River met their criteria need to qualify for hill climb contests, close to Chicago, steep hills, good roads from Chicago, a railroad, and hotel accommodations for drivers and spectators, two large towns nearby to cater to the overflow. What more could the club wish for when planning this regional event? So began the first organized auto hill climb contest west of the east coast.

Crowds sitting in and standing next to s parked behind a wire fence on a field during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

The year 1909 was the zenith of all the seven hill climb contests with 85 cars entering representing 26 different manufacturers. (Note: Up until this time, there were no road signs showing the way to Algonquin. The Chicago Automobile Club completed an association project to create road signs to help expected auto traffic to find their way to the Hill Climb competitions.) Due to the expected large number of spectators attending the 1909 Hill Climbs that could result in injuries and mishaps, the Auto Club petitioned and was granted by the Governor of Illinois to release Company E of the 3rd Illinois Infantry stationed in Elgin to help crowd control during the practice and competition.

Driver Edgar Apperson sitting in the driver's seat of an Apperson Automobile during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

Driver J C Vaughn sitting in an  at the starting line on a road during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

Over 20,000 spectators descended upon this little village on Auto Day. The Chicago Northwestern ran special trains from Chicago to Elgin to bring spectators into the Algonquin area. The Morton House and Riverview Hotels as well as the hotels in Elgin and Crystal Lake were filled to overflowing. Several villagers opened their homes also to accommodate the overflow. Villagers rented their barns to these men and their dust throwing machines.

Driver George Salzman driving an Thomas-Flyer Automobile during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

In 1910 The American Auto Association designated the Algonquin Hill Climb as a National Event sanctioned by the Automobile Association of America. Only two other events bore this badge -- The Glidden Tour and the Elgin National Stock Chassis Road Races. 

Driver J H Seek driving a National  up a dirt road on a hill during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

The hill climb took place on two hills, i.e., Perry Hill one mile south of Algonquin and Phillips Hill (Route 31 North). Later after a dispute with Dundee Township in 1909, the use of Perry Hill was discontinued and replaced with a new hill, the Algonquin Hill (Huntington Drive or Jayne's Hill).

Driver Moukmier driving a Staver Automobile up a hill during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

The use of hill climbs began to decline in 1911 when they outlived their usefulness and purpose. As automobiles became faster and more powerful, the hills no longer afforded much of a challenge to the newer vehicles. In 1913 the last contest was cancelled with 20 entries and the Algonquin Hill Climb association surrendered its charter and disappeared into history. 

Crowds standing in front of the Morton House during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

However, in those few short years, Algonquin made a name for itself in the annals of automobile history. One of the Algonquin trophies can still be seen at the Ford Museum display in Dearborn, Michigan. 

Driver Walter White driving a White Steamer Automobile during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

The Algonquin Historic Commission was fortunate in being able to acquire the 1908 divisional trophy, which can be viewed in the Commission's display case at the Historic Village Hall. Arthur W. Greiner of Elgin won the trophy.

Crowds standing in front of the Morton House during the Algonquin Hill Climbing Contest.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Mary Todd and Robert Lincoln - In the Midst of the Great Chicago Fire, 1871.

After John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln on April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and his passing on Saturday, April 15, 1865, Mary Lincoln departed Washington by train to Chicago with her son Thomas 'Tad.' They moved into the Tremont House [Hotel]. 

Tremont House at the Southeast corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets in Chicago. Circa 1865

Later, Mary and Tad moved into the Hyde Park Hotel with Robert Todd Lincoln. Robert moved into his own residence by the end of 1865 at 653 South Wabash Avenue (today's address on the 1200 block of South Wabash Avenue), Chicago.

In 1866, Mary purchased a house for $17,000 ($300,700 today) at 375 West Washington Boulevard (today's address is 1238 West Washington Boulevard) in Chicago, located between Willard Court (Ann Street) and Elizabeth Street.

In May of 1867, Mary rented out her house, and they moved into the Clifton House Hotel at the southeast corner of Wabash and Madison. 

Later that year, they moved back to her old neighborhood and lived at 460 West Washington (today's address is 1407 West Washington Boulevard), across the street from Union Park at Ogden Avenue. 

Again in 1868, Mary and Tad moved back to the Clifton House Hotel.

Mary Lincoln and Tad, then 15 years old, took a trip to Europe departing Baltimore aboard the steamer "City of Baltimore" on October 1, 1868. The ship arrived at Southampton, England, on October 15th. Two weeks later, Mary and Tad arrived in Bremen, Germany, and from there, they traveled to Frankfurt. Mother and son lived in the Hotel d'Angleterre (five-star accommodations), which was located in the center of the town.

Splendid New First Rate Hotel Building.

While in Frankfurt, Tad attended school and boarded at Dr. Johann Heinrich Hohagen's Institute. For a time, Mary moved to Nice, but she returned to Frankfurt. This time, she avoided the expensive Hotel d'Angleterre and stayed in the more modest Hotel de Holland and was more frugal in her spending habits.

In the summer of 1869, Mary and Tad spent seven weeks touring Scotland during Tad's vacation from Dr. Hohagen's school. They traveled from one end of Scotland to the other, exploring Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Highlands near Balmoral.

They returned to the United States in May of 1871. The return trip from Liverpool to New York was made aboard the "Russia," which held the transatlantic record of 8 days and 25 minutes for the Liverpool to New York run, but Mary's trip took a couple of days longer because of poor weather.

On May 11th, Mary and Tad arrived in port, and on May 15th they left for Chicago. It seems Tad had caught a cold during the ocean voyage and was not well when he arrived in Chicago. By late May, Tad developed difficulty breathing when lying down and had to sleep sitting up in a chair. By early June, he was dangerously ill. He then rallied for a short time. As July approached, he weakened again. Tad's pain and agony worsened as his face grew thinner. On Saturday morning, July 15, 1871, Tad passed away at the age of 18. The cause of death was most likely tuberculosis. 

Tad's death occurred in the Clifton House Hotel in Chicago. Thomas Lincoln was buried at the Lincoln Monument in Oak Ridge Cemetery at 1500 Monument Avenue in Springfield, Illinois.

Mary was staying at Robert's house on Wabash Avenue after Tad's death when, on October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire started behind the O'Leary house at 137 DeKoven Street (today's address is 558 West DeKoven Street) in their barn. Believe it or not, the O'Leary house escaped the fire untouched, and I have the photograph to prove it.

Robert's house was just one block south and two blocks east of the burnt area. Robert and Mary were home when the fire started. Robert quickly ran out to try to get to his law office located at 154 Lake Street in the Marine Bank Building on the northeast corner of Lake and LaSalle to save what he could. But when he managed to get there, the building was already burnt to the ground. Lost forever were some of his father's letters and other keepsakes.

Because of the thick, choking smoke, neighbors panicked and rushed to Lake Michigan, a couple of blocks to the east, to avoid the thick, choking smoke. It's unclear if Mary stayed in Robert's house or if she went with neighbors to the lakefront. Both Mary and Robert survived, as did Robert's house, unscathed.

In 1874, Mary was living at the new Grand Central Hotel on LaSalle Street. On April 6, 1874, she sold her old house on Washington Street.

The Grand Central Hotel, Chicago, Illinois

Just 10 years after Lincoln's assassination, his widow, Mary, was charged with insanity and put on trial in Chicago. The accuser was her only surviving son, Robert Lincoln. The trial was held on May 19, 1875, and she had received no prior warning or chance to organize a defense. The jury deliberated for only 10 minutes, and then she was institutionalized at Bellevue Place Asylum [1] in Batavia, Illinois. Mary was released in less than 4 months, but mother and son never reconciled.

NOTE: All Chicago addresses in this story are before the 1909 & 1911 Chicago street renaming and renumbering to today's standard.

     1909 Chicago Street Renaming Document

     1909 Chicago Street Renumbering Document 

     1911 Chicago Downtown Street Renumbering Document

     An in-depth account of Mary Ann Todd Lincoln's life.

Copyright © 2016 Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

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[1] Bellevue Place Asylum - On May 20, 1875, she arrived at Bellevue Place, 333 South Jefferson Street, Batavia, Illinois, a private, upscale sanitarium in the Fox River Valley.

Bellevue Place as it appeared at about the time Mrs. Lincoln was there. This drawing was used on the sanitarium's letterheads during the 1880s.

In 1854, while the Lincoln family lived in Springfield, this building was constructed of Batavia limestone at a cost of $20,000. It first housed a private academy called the Batavia Institute. By 1867 it became Bellevue Place, a rest home and sanitarium run by Dr. Richard J. Patterson, one of the physicians who advised Robert Todd Lincoln. The building changed owners several times after Mary Lincoln's stay in 1875 and has been converted into apartments. It is not open for tours.