Anna Carlo-Blasi, “Queen of Little Italy," campaigned for better sanitation to fight cholera.

Anna Carlo-Blasi, “The Queen of Little Italy," born Luiga Anna Chiariello, migrated to Chicago in 1887. 

Two years later, she married Joseph Carlo, who operated a saloon in partnership with his brother-in-law, Frank Taglia. Carlos' had two children, Antonio and Cecilia. In the 1890s, she was active as a midwife, as a leader in several of the dozen Italian mutual benefit societies of which she was a member and as a driving force in First Ward politics. Allied with the infamous Bath House Coughlin and Hinky Dink Kenna, she gained a reputation as a friend and mediator who could help find jobs and get city services from the pols. 

Carlo-Blasi, a popular midwife, lived at 931 South State Street, used her political connections to campaign for better sanitation in an attempt to fight cholera that was killing many of the newborns she delivered. 

Living in a rough neighborhood, she became the first woman in Chicago to get a permit to carry a revolver. Apparently, she needed the gun; her husband was stabbed to death in a quarrel in 1908.

Informal full-length portrait of Annie Carlo-Blasi standing on a sidewalk facing census taker Philip D'Andrea, who is holding papers, with a man and several small children standing in a grocery store entrance and women standing on the sidewalk behind Blasi in Chicago, Illinois. Carlo-Blasi's nickname: Queen of Little Italy. 1914

After only 16 months, Anna Carlo married Joseph Blasi, a First Ward Republican precinct captain, in an elaborate ceremony at Old St. Peter’s Church attended by many prominent elected officials. Apparently, Blasis' developed some personal ambitions for the elective office. 

In June 1913, the big news in Illinois was the passage of women’s suffrage. Almost from the moment, she became eligible to serve Anna Carlo-Blasi, announced her intention to run for alderman. Newspapers around the country breathlessly carried the story, and then, nothing. No mention of her withdrawal or explanation of what happened. 

Her name seems to have vanished from the Chicago print media until her death in June 1920. Thousands attended her wake and funeral which was one of the largest the city had known at that time. Among the honorary pallbearers were current Mayor William Hale Thompson and former Mayor Carter H. Harrison.

What happened to Anna Carlo-Blasi after she announced her intention to run for alderman? She seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth for 7 years until her death.

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Chicago Tribune, Friday, June 27, 1913, Page 2 Article:

Mrs. Annie Carlo-Blasi Becomes Equal of Kenna. 

"QUEEN OF LITTLE ITALY." 

Plans Reform, but Won't Fight "Hinky Dink" or Coughlin.

With the signing of the woman's suffrage bill by Gov. Dunne yesterday there came into existence automatically a new factor in Chicago downtown politics and one expected to prove powerful in future municipal elections. Chicago has a new "boss." It is Mrs. Annie Carlo-Blasi, for twenty years undisputed "queen of little Italy." 

Mrs. Blasi, who lives at 931 South State street, is better known as Annie Carlo, as her marriage to Blael is recent. Her occupation as midwife, which has served somewhat in her political work, is far from her principal occupation. As a furnisher of bonds in South Clark street, as adviser to the politicians seeking information on the probable Italian vote, and as a person of great influence in swinging votes by the thousand ahe has long been well known.

Now Will Control Votes. 
But her influence hereafter is gotrg to be much greater. Heretofore she has had to tell the women, what their husbands must do, and to issue orders to the men themselves --orders which have generally been obeyed. But now she will control the votes of the women themselves, and forcing them to take an interest in politics on their own account will be able through them to swing more of the men's votes. 

But take office? Not a bit of it. She was urged yesterday to tell why. "I wouldn't fight my friends," she said. "They've been good to me. But I want the women to work and I want them to have jobs. We ought to have women on the police force." 

First to Get Revolver Permit.
She smiled as she remarked proudly that she was the first Chicago woman to be given a license for carrying a revolver. Then she exhibited a medal which had been given her by the boys at Pontiac reformatory, and gave every indication she is going in for reform." 

We will make a clean city," continued the queen boss. "There are not enough street sweepers down here." 

Admiring followers asserted she could get any office she wants. They told of her standing at the polls in snowstorms and rain and slush, telling newcomers where they should mark their ballots, and "helping her friends." They say she already has organization of 5,000 Italian women through the city, with a big organization in the First ward. On Sunday she is going to get her west side force busy by holding a meeting at Forquer and Desplaines streets, with the Incoronata society, of which she is president.

Possibility that the boss would fight the present First ward organization was kicked in the head.

"Sure, I won't." said Mrs. Carlo-Blasi. "John Coughlin, Mike Kenna, Carter Harrison, and Gov. Dunne are my friends. When they need me I will give them the First ward." 

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The History of the Lakeside Club at 3138-3140 South Indiana Avenue, Chicago.

THE LAKESIDE CLUB
The Lakeside Club was organized in 1884 as a Jewish social club for young men living south of Twenty-Second Street. The club initially occupied a pair of houses at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Thirtieth Street, but as membership grew, the necessity of a larger facility became apparent.

Architect L. B. Dixon was commissioned to design a building to cost $40,000 and a double lot was secured on the 3100 block of South Indiana Avenue.

The club officially opened on December 31, 1887 with an elaborate New Year’s Eve banquet and ball. The Chicago Tribune covered the festivities:

“The Lakeside Club opened its new club-building last night with much pomp and festivity. There was a grand banquet, a little speech-making, a full dress ball, a splendid orchestra, an abundance of pretty girls, plenty of wine, plenty of flowers, and everything else that man or woman could desire for a New-Year’s Eve jollification.”

The journalist covering the event apparently felt compelled to explain why a Jewish club would choose to hold their opening activities on a Saturday. He went on to note:

“A Hebrew club that has a ball and banquet Saturday evening may be presumed to not be particularly observant of the Jewish Sabbath. The fact is, 99 percent of the members of the Hebrew clubs do not belong to the orthodox Jewish synagogues. The great bulk of them belong to independent Hebrew congregations – congregations that worship Sunday and observe Sunday in a general way as the Sabbath, and that have thrown aside all the old trammels of Jewish ceremonialism and identified themselves with methods and forms in keeping with modern times and customs.”

The building was constructed of pressed brick with brownstone and terra cotta trim, set above a basement faced in rusticated stone. The Tribune article described the interior:

“The finish, furnishings, and decorations are exceedingly pretentious. The interior work is mostly in antique oak. The large front room to the left is the ladies’ parlor, furnished with modern French art furniture and a grand piano. The front room on the right is the library and reading-room. Between these rooms and the dancing-hall in the rear are the reception and cloak rooms. The portiere at the end opens into the assembly-hall, with a dancing floor 47’ x 94’. The hall has a series of high arched trestles of antique oak pattern.

The general design is Gothic; and, with the clusters of gasoliers and hundreds of lights, the place is strikingly brilliant. The basement comprises the billiard-room, with three tables, a bowling alley, a small dining-room, barroom, kitchen, carving room, and the main dining-room. The second floor has half a dozen or so card and recreation rooms. The third floor is used for storerooms and servants’ quarters.”

The clubhouse was the scene of many prominent social events in the Jewish community, including the 50th anniversary of the Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv (KAM) congregation in 1897. Their iconic synagogue building, designed by Adler and Sullivan, stood just 1-1/2 blocks to the south.

UNITY HALL

The building is best known for its second owner/occupant, the Peoples Movement Club, founded in 1917 by Oscar Stanton De Priest.

De Priest was the first African-American to be elected to the Chicago City Council, serving as alderman of the 2nd Ward from 1915 to 1917. The Peoples Movement Club was organized to give voice to the African-American community politically, and it became one of the best organized political groups in Chicago’s Black Metropolis neighborhood.

In 1928, when Republican congressman Martin B. Madden died, Mayor Thompson chose De Priest to replace him on the ballot, and he went on to serve three consecutive terms in the U.S. Congress representing the 1st Congressional District covering the Loop and part of the South Side. De Priest was the first African-American elected to Congress from a northern state, and the first in the 20th century.

After the Peoples Movement Club left the building, it became the political headquarters for William L. Dawson. Dawson, like De Priest, served as alderman of the 2nd Ward, and then served in the U.S. House for 27 years until his death in 1970. From the mid-1950s onward, the building was occupied by various churches, and it slowly deteriorated from deferred maintenance.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and was designated a Chicago landmark on September 9, 1998, one of nine buildings included in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District.

RECENT HISTORY
By 2012, the building was sitting vacant and for sale, the upper windows boarded up, and scaffolding erected across the façade.

Although protected from demolition as a city landmark, there was widespread concern that the deferred maintenance and exposure to the elements could cause its demolition by neglect.

The small congregation that owned the building had moved out due to building code violations and could not afford the repairs needed. That year, Preservation Chicago listed the building as one of their “7 Most Threatened Buildings” in the city.

Recently, an extensive restoration has returned the exterior of the building to its original 1880s appearance. The interior has been dramatically transformed into modern student housing, a successful example of historic preservation and adaptive reuse.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Kalo Shop was the "leading maker" of the Arts and Crafts silver movement in Chicago.

In many respects the Kalo Shop was the single most important American handwrought silversmith. The Kalo Shop produced the widest range of classic handmade holloware, jewelry, and flatware for nearly 70 years, and was a critical influence in the Arts & Crafts movement.

The Kalo shop and affiliated Kalo Arts and Crafts Community House, a training school and workshop noted for silver and jewelery in nearby Park Ridge, Illinois, were founded in 1900 by a group of six young women who had trained at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Thirty-two year old Clara Pauline Barck (1868-1965) was the group's leader and most notable member. The other founders were: Bertha Hall, Rose Dolese, Grace Gerow, Ruth Raymond, and Bessie McNeal.

The Kalo company name was taken from a Greek word meaning "to make beautiful."

In addition to pyrography (the art or technique of decorating wood or leather by burning a design on the surface) and leatherwork, Barck initially sold textiles, copper items, baskets, and jewelry. In 1905, Barck married George Welles, a coal merchant and amateur silversmith.

In 1907 she bought a house to serve as the workshop for the Kalo Arts Crafts Community in Park Ridge.

The Kalo Shop metalsmiths, jewelers, designers and crafts workers seated in front of the Kalo Arts Crafts at 255 North NW Highway in Park Ridge, Illinois. circa 1910

When Clara and George divorced in 1914 and the Shop moved to Chicago at 222 South Michigan Avenue, George convinced her to focus exclusively on the handwrought copper and silver items for which it is best known. In 1912 Kalo opened a branch store in New York that lasted only until 1916 because of war constraints.

Kalo Shop, 152 East Ontario Street, Chicago. circa 1924

In 1959, Barck transferred the shop to four of the craftsmen; Robert Bower, Daniel Pederson, Arne Myhre, and Yngve Olsson. Barck hired women designers almost exclusively, although the immigrant Scandinavian craftsmen were male. At its peak, Kalo employed 25 silversmiths.

After Barck retired, the Shop continued making copies of the early pieces, adding a few modernist items and some in the Danish taste.  Many of its forms are classics, and very collectible, reflecting Welles' motto:  "Beautiful, Useful, Enduring." Kalo closed in 1970 due to the difficulty of finding young people willing to apprentice as silversmiths.

In the summer 1992 issue of American Silversmith, Bower, the last, surviving Kalo silversmith, explained to an interviewer that, "We ran out of silversmiths. In the last year we lost our three top silversmiths; men who could not be replaced. It was difficult trying to find men willing to learn silversmithing and it took years to train them."

Today, Kalo pieces bring high prices at auction and belong to the collections of major museums.

Large early Kalo coffee urn from the shop's Park Ridge studio.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Frederick W. Job, Attorney and Secretary of the Chicago Employer's Association.

The Frederick W. Job (rhymes with 'robe') residence at 4575 South Oakenwald Avenue, Chicago, was built in 1897 by Pond & Pond Architects. Mr. Job was an Attorney and Secretary of the Chicago Employer's Association and the Chairman of Arbitration for the State of Illinois. His office was in the Marquette Building at 56 West Adams Street, Chicago.

Frederick W. Job residence at 4575 South Oakenwald Avenue, Chicago 

From the July-December 1902 book, "The World To-Day" a monthly record of human progress.

A splendid success was achieved during the first week in June for the policy of conciliation by the settlement of two dangerous strikes in Chicago. Teamsters employed by the large packers to deliver meats to local markets struck for an increase in wages and other substantial benefits. Efforts on the part of the packers to supply the city with meat by sending out their wagons in long caravans furnished with a strong police guard led to terrible street riots, extending for miles through the heart of the city and resulting in the killing of a few persons and the serious injury of many. In the meantime, members of the arbitration committee of the National Civic Federation and Frederick W. Job, chairman of the Illinois Board of Arbitration, used their best endeavors to secure a peaceful settlement of the bloody war. Mr. Job, by patient endeavor, first succeeded in bringing together representatives of the department store managers of the city and of the drivers of their delivery wagons, who had struck in a body because two of their number had been discharged for refusing to haul meats from the packing houses during the teamsters' strike.

Frederick W. Job

This meeting led to an agreement between drivers and employers, arrived at by mutual concessions, and the drivers returned to work. Mr. Job then turned his attention to the greater strike of the stockyards teamsters. After a long day of rioting and bloodshed in the principal streets of the city, a night of negotiation, made possible by the tact and address of the chairman of the arbitration board, who had brought together representatives of the Packers and of the Teamsters' union, resulting in a harmonious settlement of the strike. The intense relief of the community, which for some days had been on the verge of a meat famine and which had seen the streets turned into battlefields, expressed itself in enthusiastic praise of the policy of conciliation invoked with such skill by Chairman Job. Seldom has a more impressive lesson Teamsters’ Strike in Chicago been given of the superiority of reason over sullen non-intercourse on one side and brute violence on the other.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Chicago Home for Aged Jews was established on the South Side in 1891.

The Chicago Home for Aged Jews was established on April 6, 1891 with Morris Rosenbaum as prendent, at 6140 South Drexel Avenue at 62nd Street (the northwest corner) to serve the German-Jewish community. Abraham Slimmer of Waverly, Iowa, donated $50,000 for such a home in Chicago, on condition that the Jews of Chicago raise an equal amount. The money was obtained without difficulty.

The Home for Aged Jews was dedicated and opened Sunday, April 30, 1893 and at the end of the year the number at the home was 44.

The building was demolished in 1959 for construction of a north wing addition to the 1950 expansion (by then renamed Drexel Home and which is now known as the Drexel Terrace Apartments).

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.