Field Trip to Bridgeport

Entry 5: Bridge to Ireland? Maybe Not

This is a full map of Bridgeport¹

Field Trip to Bridgeport 4/12/19 Michael Cardiff

This Field trip was very exciting for me, as Bridgeport was mentioned in pretty much every single class up to this point, say for the presentation day. I was excited to see signs of people displaying their pride for being Irish. This is from the fact that this is how Bridgeport was portrayed to us in class, the south-side Irish neighborhood, where not much else was welcome. I did not see much of this surprisingly. One of the first places I went when trying to find a grocery store for food was actually a Hispanic restaurant, that was mostly a convenience store with the restaurant part being in the back with a Butcher. The place was at 3301 S Morgan St and had a variety of supplies that varied from baked beans to cleaning supplies the names of which were in Arabic. 

The Cleaning Supplies found at Martinez Supermercado, 3301 S Morgan

There were obviously a few things that pointed to an Irish Population. I saw many signs that showed support for the police, everything from simple signs that showed respect toward first responders to full-on, custom made wreaths showing support for the "Blue" which refers to the police. This is because it is likely that many of the people who live in these homes are policemen or policewomen. The Irish are known for having jobs that no one else wants, such as being on the police force or being firefighters, hence the rampant support for first responders.

A home on 35th showing support for the Police

Despite these signs, there was still a lot more signs that suggested there was a balance of ethnicities rather than a single majority. I saw houses proudly displaying Mexican flags, as well as a lot of Chinese characters that both suggest the balance of people rather than one culture that was dominating over all else. It was not just in the homes as well, I actually saw these people in the community all over Bridgeport, whether they were working or just with their friends, I saw them, and I saw a lot of them. These observations are supported by statistics as well². In a surprising twist, however, Asians take a majority with Whites being a close second.

The house mentioned above that displayed a Mexican flag

One thing I saw a ton of while just walking up and down streets like 35th or Halsted was the enormous number of one-off stores, stores that you would only find here, either the only one is here, or the first one would be here. Places like Let's Boogie Records and Outlet Kingdom. These places look old and run down, but you can tell they have some soul to them from that. Some of the places I saw were closed, but they definitely seemed important to the sense of community. Many stores, as well as restaurants, proudly would have the Bridgeport name attached to their names as if to show off that they are in fact from the community, they are from here and belong here.

One of the shops I saw walking down Halsted

Another shop on Halsted

A specialty camera shop on Halsted

One of the many shops I found sporting the Bridgeport name

Since Bridgeport is (or was) a community that was majority Catholic Irish, it makes sense that there is an abundance of Churches everywhere you go. I encountered churches while I was on my way to see parks, I encountered churches when I was going to get food, I even encountered churches when I was trying to find other churches. The churches definitely are a large tie of the community. There are posters for community events, not at a park, not at someone's house, but rather the church. This is the one thing that the Irish had that couldn't be taken away from them, they were united in their faith. This union among church-goers definitely continues to this day. The parking lot at St. Barbara's definitively proclaimed that the lot was meant to be for the parishioners only. This is probably to avoid anyone consistently parking there for free without having a connection to the church, but it still seems odd to exclude people so openly. 

You may be able to see the sign here, but it is slightly blurry due to being far away. Something common between all of the churches is their founding dates, most, if not all, had founding years in the late 1800s, from the 1870-90s, with only one being founded in the 20th century, in 1908.

St. Barbara

Monastery of the Holy Cross

Corner of the Monastery

Holy Cross

The Corner in Polish at St. Mary of Perpetual Help

A sign in front of St. Mary

I went to a couple of fantastic places for food, first I went to Bridgeport Bakery on the 2900 block of Archer, and then to the Cermak Fresh Market for some snacks. First was a long walk to the Bridgeport bakery, where I had to wait only a little bit for what would be probably the most amazing bakery experience in my life. To put this into perspective, my bakery trip in Pilsen, in which I bought five baked things, cost me about seven dollars, which was not too bad all things considered, or so I thought up until I went to Bridgeport bakery. A lady helped me to pick out a donut, a muffin, and a cheese danish, all of which cost no more than three dollars. I was so surprised when I heard the price, I was used to paying that price for either a muffin or a danish at somewhere like 7/11, but to get both plus a donut for less than that make me a very happy person. I left while eating the cheapest, but most delicious donut I had ever had.

This relatively small shop is the Bridgeport Bakery

 Next, I walked on to the fresh market, this is where I found the most "ethnic" food. This sadly was limited to Asian and Mexican food, both pretty much limited to rice and some form of noodles, as well as a small variety of snacks, but nothing too impressive that was worth buying. I ended up leaving with a French baguette and some cheese to go with it.

Some of the Asian food at the Cermak Fresh Market

Some of the Hispanic treats I found at the market

More Asian food

Something else that there was an abundance of in Bridgeport is art galleries. A majority of the galleries were owned by someone named Zhou. This refers to the Zhou brothers, ShanZuo and DaHuang, who are two famous contemporary artists that have been collaborating on their work since the 1970s. I initially set my sights upon the Bridgeport Arts Center, but first I encountered the Zhou B art center, where some of their art is displayed, but there is some of their art outside near the parking lot as well. 

The outside of the Zhou B Art Center

Something interesting I found about the building specifically was that on the side it said it was managed by one Michael Zhou. I couldn't find any connection between the artists and him, but it was interesting that they shared a last name nonetheless. I continued along 35th to get to the Bridgeport Art Center, which was probably one of the most interesting parts of the trip simply due to the art I had seen all around it. I felt very intrigued by the art pieces, whether this was pure confusion or interest I am not sure, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Art outside of the Art Center

More art outside the art center 

Art outside the center

A work I found on my way to the art center

 I was really interested in the piece featured in the picture directly above, as it seemed to be on private property, but I went into the parking lot to get a picture of it. I felt as if it was meant to be lived in, or at least interacted with, despite looking untouched. This is probably because we were still in the early days of spring, but it was still magnificently well-kept together.

Art found on the way to the art center

An interesting gallery I found on my trip

The gallery above also had the Zhou name attached to it, but I did not really research into it too much.

A local shop remembering Police Commander Paul Bauer

Something I mentioned earlier but failed to go into is the universal respect for first responders and others in the community. Above is a picture of Chicago Police Commander Paul Bauer³, who was shot and killed in February of 2018. The ribbon next to his picture is representative of the blue lives matter movement, which comprises of people in support of the police. This respect is universal, no one has a problem with it in the community, and the people in the community have a more familial connotation of police, rather than other communities which have other, more negative times associated with the police. The people of Bridgeport think of a cop as someone who works or worked with their dad, or maybe their brother, where someone in a worse off neighborhood may think of a cop as someone who arrested their friend, or the cop that put a stop to their party, so it is very reasonable and in fact expected to see these kinds of differences.

A memorial dedicated to soldiers who fought in World Wars I and II

One last important monument I saw was a Veterans of Foreign War monument what was dedicated to soldiers of World Wars I and II. The monument itself is nothing special, just a standard memorial to American Armed forces. What you may not be able to see from the picture is that it is on someone's front lawn. In fact, the entire time I was taking a photo of the monument (and even almost half of a block later) there was a dog barking at me, thinking he was defending the monument with his life. I have seen this before near my house but with a single soldier. Otherwise, this is very important to show the ideals of the community. The front lawn is usually sacred in small homes in suburbs and is highly coveted in city life, and to give that precious space up for the remembrance of soldiers is highly indicative of what the people here value.

The amazing view of the Sears Tower

One of the last stops before I arrived at the fresh market, I walked by the Henry C. Palmisano Nature Park, and though I was at the edge of the walking Trail, I was able to get an amazing picture of the Sears Tower from the bottom of the hill, this amazed me and sort of putting into perspective why people would live here. Though it certainly is not the closest to downtown, it is close enough to appreciate the beauty of it all. I did not have time to visit the branch of the river that Bridgeport was right by, but I am sure if I did it would be just as amazing as this.



Overall, this trip to Bridgeport was very fun, I had an amazing time with the food, churches, and even walking around the neighborhood. This is most likely due to, however, the cleanliness of the neighborhood. Bridgeport did not have the oxidized walk of fame plates like Bronzeville, or the dirty street behind some art in a corner with a gas station like Pilsen. It reminded me the most of Gold Coast and Boystown, the neighborhoods I visited for the presentations, very white. What separated Bridgeport is the overall sense of community, both of the communities visited for the presentations felt like they were less like communities that were forced into existence rather than communities that came together over time. Sure Bridgeport would not technically exist if the Irish were not allowed to live downtown, but this is unlike the gold coast, which was placed simply because someone decided to put a mansion there. Bridgeport may be the result of pushing out, but the difference between it and Boystown is the fact that Bridgeport is a place people stay, where Boystown was more a tourist destination.

References and Sources

1. All maps from Google Maps
2. Statistic from statistical atlas
1. https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Illinois/Chicago/Bridgeport/Race-and-Ethnicity
3. Information about Paul Bauer from Chicago Sun-Times and the Officer Down Memorial Page
1. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-bauer-star-retire-20180925-story.html
2. https://www.odmp.org/officer/23577-commander-paul-r-bauer

Field Trip to Pilsen

Entry 4: Corners Unturned

This is a full map of the Pilsen Area ¹

Field Trip to Pilsen 3/8/19 Michael Cardiff

This is a location I found particularly interesting. It had both Chinese on the

  building to the right and Spanish on the building to the left.

In stark contrast to the previous two entries, where I had been at least somewhat familiar with the neighborhoods I was visiting (I had been to Chinatown before and my dorm was in Bronzeville). I can say with confidence that I have never once been in the Pilsen neighborhood. I took a different mode of transport from Chinatown to end up at my first stop, the Mexican American Museum of Art. While on the 21 bus, I noticed quite a few advertisements along the way, and since I was coming from Chinatown, a noticeable portion of the billboards was in Chinese. Eventually, as I was entering Pilsen, I began to see the signs changing from being in Chinese to including small bits of Spanish. This was interesting, as we do not often discuss the edge cases of neighborhoods, and this definitely goes to show the fluidity of the neighborhood borders, and how there was no real definition for what exactly was Chinatown and what exactly was Pilsen. Sure the inner locations with places such as Chinatown square or the Mexican American Museum can be defined to be in their respective neighborhoods, but what about the places where people live? That is truly what defines the neighborhood and it is definitely not completely solid in its definition.

In the entirety of the trip, there were three things I tried to pay attention to, to ensure that I was getting a real sense of the culture of Pilsen. I wanted to pay special attention to the art that was around on the streets and how it contrasted with the art found in the museum, I thought they would be somewhat similar despite connotational differences. Next, I wanted to see the political campaigning that was happening due to the recent municipal elections that had taken place. Finally, the food, I have somewhat limited experience with Latin American food, limited to the food I have had either from Taco Bell/Chipotle or the food from my girlfriend's family (they are from Spain and Peru).  

The displays at 21st and Damen

The bus took me all the way down to Damen Ave. After I got off the bus I had walked for maybe two minutes before seeing a (somewhat) public display of art. A garage door had been painted blue and over the blue background had been painted in almost comic book style the name of the neighborhood "Pilsen!" and despite being behind an alley and behind a fence, I was still able to notice it rather quickly. I continued walking down yet another block where I saw two public displays in a row. These displays, both off of 21st and Damen, were beautiful just on their own but something about how they were out for the public to see was even better and made them seem like they were a part of the neighborhood. It is difficult to imagine these spaces without art. This contrasts greatly with Chinatown, instead of having a lot of the space crammed with shops, Pilsen is much more open and has space for garage art and art on buildings. This may also be due to the fact that the main part of Pilsen is much more residential (as in, shops and houses somewhat mix) when compared to Chinatown, where there is a clearly separate residential and commercial area. 

The art mentioned below

I continued down to the corner of 21st and Damen and saw my first of very very many Fridas. Frida Kahlo was a very influential Mexican artist from the early 20th century. Her works embodied both the popular contemporary culture of Mexico as well as the historical culture in Mexico. The particular implementation I saw was a fairly recent one, having been painted in 2016, it draws attention to the fact that Frida is such a prominent figure in Mexican Art, proclaiming "The future is female." After this Frida, It was a straight shot north towards 19th, where I would find the National Museum of Mexican Art.

It happened that the community center near the museum had a religious name

On the way to the museum, walking down 19th street, I saw quite a few people just walking around, but there were also people in the nearby park's baseball field. Most notably, however, was a child in a stroller I had seen along the way who had a big bag of Concha (Mexican sweet bread with a crumbly topping), this was the first sign I had seen of food, and it was not someone munching on fries as they went to their next class, it was a little girl holding a traditionally Hispanic treat. This showed the value of the native culture in Pilsen life, it is extremely important. Even though I saw some people playing baseball, as I got closer to the Museum, I saw even more people playing in a nearby soccer field. Soccer is very important to Latin American culture (and Hispanic culture in general) to the point where recent mayoral candidate Susan Mendoza based her campaign off of the fact that she played soccer with the boys as a kid. After this slight excursion, I made my way to the museum.

The piece discussed below

One of the first pieces I had seen was a realistic piece from the 1940s, which I found really odd, as a lot of Latin American artists are not known for their realistic pieces. This piece depicted an old Aztec tale and goes to show how the people of Latin American (especially of Mexico) value their history as well as their culture. They recognize that they are not completely European and that there is some far removed part of them that is indigenous to Mexico. To paint this scene in a realistic fashion makes it more real, it is a truth possibly in real life, but also to the history of the people.

The Quilt Frida

The entire quilt

Not 5 minutes into my visit I had seen another Frida, but this time it was in quilt form. In the rest of the quilt, there was a large display of Mexican culture, from Aztec traditions and myths to more modern additions (such as Frida). One thing I have failed to mention up until here is the importance of religion in Hispanic culture. Due to the Spanish Invaders forcing Catholicism onto the natives, Catholicism is a necessity in any Latin American household. This continual forcing of Catholicism (despite the lack of Inquisitors) led to the devout Latin American Catholics that are seen today. This extends to art especially. Many European works of art were recreated in the former New Spain region in the Americas. One such example is below, and there are a few key differences. Namely the level of detail in the faces is much lower in the recreation, the king pictured is much less "Kingly" than in the original. The most interesting to me is the fact that everything is flipped down the middle, the right hand is traditionally the hand you are closest to God with, so the fact that they are facing left suggests otherwise to a viewer. This may be minute but it can also reveal the original culture of the Native Americans in South America and Mexico. Another example of the importance of religion is Mona Lupe. In the Mona Lupe is depicted as a woman who looks very similar to the woman in the Mona Lisa. Mona Lisa is representative of a typical Florentine woman of her time, and similarly, the elements of Mona Lupe are typical to different aspects of Mexican culture at the time of her creation. The name is a contraction of Mona Lisa and Guadalupe, the women in Mexican Catholicism that gave birth to Jesus Christ. The presence of Art with biblical connotations continued throughout the visit.

The original Franciscan Allegory in Honor of the Immaculate Conception ¹

New World Recreation of the above work

The Mona Lupe

A more Mexican interpretation of the Birth of Jesus

Some of the more interesting pieces had to do with Mexican Tragedies. These include Mexican-Americans in World Warr II and the women of Juarez. One particularly striking image was Uncle Ernest 5 Minutes Before his Capture. It portrays the artist's uncle, who was a WWII soldier and was captured and survived severe conditions. The work itself simply portrays fear, but the most interesting fact was the fact that was mentioned in the description of the image. It said that Mexican Americans received the highest amount of Congressional Medals of Honor per capita in the US. This seems like something often neglected in modern debate about Mexican immigrants. Often I have heard talk about how they come to the US just to take a job and do nothing when this is a blatant fact that the people arguing this point seem to ignore, that the people who came here from Mexico decided to put their lives on the line for this country. People such as Uncle Ernest that were captured and nearly died of frostbite.

The description for the above painting

The women of Juarez were female factory workers that had come to Juarez for working in factories. Many of these women came and went, so their names had not been recorded or documented at all. This meant that no one truly knew who they were, so they were subject to horrible violence such as sexual assault, gang wars, and robbery. These often ended in the woman's death, and they were buried in Juarez, never to go back to their unknown homes. This somber feeling is portrayed greatly in the painting below, where there are crosses on the side representing the unmarked graves that the women had to bare. The side of the train reads "I can't stand idly by knowing so many people are going through pain." 

The painting about the women of Juarez

My time in the Mexican American showed me a lot of paintings, many more of which I will show at the end, but due to needing to move on, I will now talk about the various political signs I saw on my way. The former 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis was up for re-election, but for various reasons, he was not able to run again, meaning a long term politician is no longer in office and someone has to take over. All of the candidates that I saw running were Hispanic, and the campaign posters were everywhere. One of the more interesting posters I saw was the poster for the candidate Byron Sigcho-Lopez what made his poster important was the fact that it was in Chinese as well as English, which is very interesting, as we were quite far off from the Pilsen Border that had contained Chinatown as well as Pilsen.

A campaign poster for Byron Siggcho Lopez

A campaign office for Alderwoman candidate Aida Flores

A house displaying support for Alderman candidate Alex Acevedo outside the museum

Finally, we move on to the tastiest part of this trip, the food of Pilsen. Whilst walking down 18th, I noticed a large selection of Hispanic bread treats. I went inside and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of sweet bread. At first I looked around to see if there was anything I wanted, and of course, I wanted 1 of almost everything. I narrowed my decision down to a couple things, and I thought I would be out 15-$20 because it was an actual bakery, you were able to see right where they were making the tasty treats. However, after the lady working the register had entered in all of my items, the total came out to only $7! This surprised me, as everything turned out so amazing, and the fact that it was so cheap made me want to take the long trip back to the store just so I can have some more. I was so distracted that I initially forgot to write down the name of the bakery. In case you want some absolutely astonishing baked goods, I highly recommend Nuevo Leon Panaderia on 18th Street.

From Nuevo Leon Panaderia

After the sweets, it was time for a good meal before I left, and I was in the mood for some good food, a better version of the watered down junk I usually would get at Chipotle or Taco Bell. I decided quickly on Taqueria El Milagro. The look of the restaurant is phenomenal, but what I really cared about was how the food tasted. I ordered a burrito while the person I went with ordered 3 tacos. We both were barely able to finish our food. In fact, the person I went with didn't finish, she barely finished her second taco before giving up. This was a super satisfying meal, as I had been walking for so long at this point. The food was absolutely amazing and quite frankly blew me away.

Halfway through I thought I wouldn't be able to finish

My Meal from Taqueria El Milagro

Here are a few pictures that I found interesting in general from the trip but if I were to talk about them in detail I can guarantee this entry would be twice as long.

The 18th Pink Line station

Some interesting commentary on the president

This whole wall had a ton of posters on it

This was part of a larger mural that I couldn't entirely fit

I just liked this

Another display of big women in Mexican Culture

Posters referring to either the farm workers strike or the women of Juarez

An interesting commentary on the status of Latin American workers in Chicago
titled: "Blue Collar"

These three are all part of one single Piece that comments on the working conditions of the farm workers

References

1. https://www.oceansbridge.com/shop/styles/baroque/franciscan-allegory-in-honor-of-the-immaculate-conception

Bibliography

• Rubens, Peter Paul. “Franciscan Allegory in Honor of the Immaculate Conception Painting | Peter Paul Rubens Oil Paintings.” Fine Art America, fineartamerica.com/featured/franciscan-allegory-in-honor-of-the-immaculate-conception-peter-paul-rubens.html?product=art-print.