Novel on Prairie Avenue to be released in 2012

Prairie Avenue is due to receive some well-deserved attention with the release of a novel, The Pursuit of Lucy Banning, in June 2012.  The volume, book one of three in the “Avenue of Dreams” series, has just been added to the online catalog of the publisher, Fleming H. Revell. 

The title character in the series, Lucy Banning, was born on October 8, 1871 (the same week as George Glessner, and also the date of the Great Chicago Fire), and is turning 21 at the time the novel opens.   Banning has enjoyed the privileges of a Prairie Avenue upbringing, but yearns for more than a life of ease and the obligatory marriage to a banker that her family expects.  Although the story is fictional, it is deeply rooted in the history of Prairie Avenue, with countless references to the actual people who lived on the street during its heydays in the 1890s.  Just like Arthur Meeker’s fictional Prairie Avenue, which was published in 1949, the novel brings to life the “sunny street that held the sifted few” during one of the most remarkable periods in Chicago’s history, including the World’s Columbian Exposition.

The series was conceived by Glessner/Clarke House docent Stephen Reginald in collaboration with author Olivia Newport.  Reginald did the research (including frequent inquiries to the Glessner house), and Newport did the writing and character development. 

A release party and booksigning will be held at the museum in June 2012.  If you are a fan of Prairie Avenue and Chicago history, this novel is sure to appeal to you.

For more information, click on the link below to The Pursuit of Lucy Banning on the website of Revell (now a division of Baker Publishing Group) at:

http://www.revellbooks.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=0477683E4046471488BD7BAC8DCFB004&nm=&type=PubCom&mod=PubComProductCatalog&mid=BF1316AF9E334B7BA1C33CB61CF48A4E&tier=3&id=0492A9D0F9034A40B5A31CDCCA5CF867

Business Encroachment on Prairie Avenue

A newspaper clipping from the Chicago Daily News dated July 8, 1914 was recently “rediscovered” in the Glessner archives.  The article reflects the changing character of the street from residential to business and cites the blocks immediately around the Glessner house as holding out against the encroachment of business.  That would not last long however.  Less than a year after the article was written, the palatial home of the late banker and meatpacker Samuel W. Allerton at 1936 S. Prairie Avenue would be sold, razed, and replaced with a factory for the Hump Hairpin Manufacturing Company.   The drawing above shows the 1800 and 1900 blocks of Prairie Avenue as they appeared at the time, Allerton’s home is at far left in the bottom row.

Here, in part, is the Daily news article:

BUSINESS CROWDS OUT PRAIRIE AVENUE HOMES

Personal Property Tax Lists Show Encroachment in Residence District.

SMALL SECTION RESISTS

Portion of Street Between East 16^th and East 22d Still Has Many Palatial Homes.

Encroachment of business on the Prairie avenue district has resulted in enormous increases in the personal property valuations in that section, though there are many names missing from the list of home owners.  It is said, however, that that part of Prairie avenue between East 16^th and East 22d streets has offered more resistance to breaking up as a center for palatial residences than probably any other section of Chicago.

This assertion is substantiated by the following list of personal property assessments placed against individuals along the part of Prairie avenue referred to.

Prairie Avenue Assessments. (only those with an assessment of $90,000 or more are shown in this blog posting)

Mrs. Philip D. Armour, $150,000

Estate of Samuel W. Allerton, $882,736

Mrs. Henry Corwith $112,000

Mrs. Edna N. Fish, $140,000

John J. Glessner, $90,000

Mrs. Charles M. Henderson, $90,000

Mrs. Elbridge Keith, $180,000

Mrs. William W. Kimball, $250,000

Mrs. George M. Pullman, $250,000

Byron L. Smith, $150,000

James Ward Thorne, $94,995

Henry H. Walker, $100,000

Levy Taxes on One-Third.

Taxes will be levied on one-third of the above assessments.

The board of review will meet Monday at 10 a.m. according to law, to arrange for the hearing of persons who believe they have been unjustly assessed.  This is the Supreme court in tax matters and the only relief for those who wish to have their assessments reduced.  Occasionally some one appears and complains of too low an assessment and there have been instances in the past where men made indignant protest because the assessors had ignored them.  The notices of assessments have been in the mails only a short time and comparatively few complaints have been received.  The rush is expected to begin to-morrow.

The Museum Store has Prairie Avenue Items

Our Museum Store offers a modest selection of Glessner House and Victorian inspired merchandise for sale in the Tour Center.  You can select items from books on the Arts & Crafts Movement, architecture, and Chicago history to William Morris inspired items to special souvenirs of your visit.  Here are three items that focus on our Prairie Avenue heritage.

Chicago’s Historic Prairie Avenue

by William H. Tyre

Prairie Avenue evolved into Chicago’s most exclusive residential street during the last three decades of the 19th century.  The city’s wealthiest citizens - Marshall Field, Philip Armour, and George Pullman - were soon joined by dozens of Chicago’s business, social, and civic leaders, establishing a neighborhood that the Chicago Herald proclaimed “a cluster of millionaires not to be matched for numbers anywhere else in the country.”  This paperback book, part of the Images of America series published by Arcadia Press in 2008, contains over 200 historic photographs and traces the history of the area from 1812 to the present day.  $19.99 + tax

Postcards of America:

Chicago’s Historic Prairie Avenue

This booklet features fifteen selected views from the main volume (shown above) formatted for use as postcards.  Informative captions on the reverse of each card provide details on the houses and other buildings featured.

$7.99 + tax

Prairie Avenue Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Prominent 19th-Century Chicago Families

by Carol Callahan

This unique hardcover cookbook provides recipes taken from prominent 19th century households along Prairie Avenue.  All recipes have been tested and modernized for today’s cook.  Illustrated with photographs of Prairie Avenue homes and its residents, this cookbook is filled with fascinating anecdotes and facts about the social history of Chicago.  Published by the Southern Illinois University Press in 1993. $38.50 + tax

If you have any questions or are looking for a specific item, please call Museum Coordinator Gwen Carrion at 312-326-1480.