The Story of Division St.
Even though I had the privilege of growing up in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, the city was still only a place I visited while celebrating big occasions or taking an excursion with my friends. Although I learned something new during every trip I took, I never had the time to fully immerse myself in the culture or learn some of the deep-rooted history behind many of the landmarks sprinkled throughout the city.
This Immersion Week at DePaul was no different. Every day, we took a trip to several parts of the city, and we were lucky enough to hear from some of the Chicago natives who had some time to spare to tell us their stories but I have to admit; The most fascinating of our expedition of the week was the walk we took on Division St.
As we saw in Nelson Algren’s quote, he states that writing about a single Chicago street would be “good life’s work” and I believe that as a class we experienced exactly what he meant by that. We began our adventure around 9 a.m. in Humboldt Park with Eduardo Arocho who gave us a tour of Paseo Boricua. It was there he told us the story of Puerto Rican history through the community’s efforts to put together murals and sculptures representing their history dating back to the 1500s. He explained to us that their art and their construction were a way to immortalize their history and keep true to their roots. The longer we were walking the neighborhood streets, the more alive the community became. The rustling of residential construction, the passing by of pedestrians and bikes, and the aroma of restaurants beginning to open. Everything he showed us was a visual representation of their fight against gentrification.
After the tour of Paseo Boricua, we continued our walk down Division St. and even the architecture had something to tell us. The sidewalks became thinner, the mom-and-pop stores became rust shops, two lanes of traffic became four, deliberate murals became small pieces of graffiti, and sidewalks lined with trees became lined with cigarette butts and broken glass. The passion that we saw in Paseo Boricua had dimmed and what had started as a passionate story about resilience against gentrification eventually turned into one of neglect and urbanism.
However to my surprise, as our walk carried on, I noticed another transition, and it came as we walked over Goose Island. I stopped seeing (so many) cigarette butts and blackened pieces of gum on the sidewalk, and instead, trees began lining the sidewalks again. As we walked into what I was told was “Old Towne”, more history unfolded before my eyes. Buildings got taller, skyscrapers made their presence known, and on the corners of intersecting streets, we could see homes with much older styles or architecture clashing with the modernism of a newer and growing Chicago. This was an area in progress. Bikes began to line the street and busy trains could be heard from overhead. It was absolutely fascinating to watch different portions of the same street convey a different message and even though I may have forgotten some of the history that was taught to us during the duration of our excursion, I will never forget the breathtaking transitions that took place on the street. After this week, I cannot believe that all of these landmarks and sights were only a train ride away.
There is some truth to Algren’s statement, in that, I could walk down Division St. ten times, a hundred times, and have a new story for you every time.
“People ask me why I don’t write about nature or the suburbs. If a writer could write the truth about one Chicago street, that would be a good life’s work.” ~Nelson Algren
