Washington Heights, Roseland

Washington Heights/Roseland continued...

Vivian Harsh, who died in 1960, in 1924 became the first African American librarian in the Chicago Public Library system. Over her long career she amassed a collection of books, documents, journals and manuscripts related to African American history and literature that today represents the second largest of its kind in the Midwest -- possibly the largest -- and it is here, now, in this building.

"We have a fantastic collection," says Beverly Cook, a collection librarian. "With the computer setup we have, for people from out of town all they need is a drivers' license and we will give them guest passes."

It's ideal for a scholars, or the merely intellectually curious, who wish to study the works of such luminaries as Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, all of whom have original manuscripts in the collection. Genealogical records are also available for folks seeking information on their family history.

In addition, the library is a venue for a variety of exhibits related to African American life, all open to the public seven days a week at no charge.

"There's always something going on," Cook says. "But for things dealing with Bronzeville, early migration, World War II soldiers, this is the place to be."

The main draw in Roseland, whose Michigan Avenue retail district once rivaled the more famous one on the Near North Side, is a mural.
In 1988, Chicago artist Olivia Gude, now a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and friends fashioned a mural at 113th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue that covered the walls on both sides of 113th and spanned the railroad viaduct that symbolically and literally split mostly white Pullman with mostly African American Roseland.

The theme was an excerpt from a poem by Walter Ward, whom Gude taught as a high school student: "I welcome myself to a new place where all the people can join on in."

The mural, though frayed by time and the elements, retains much of its power.

Although dining options are limited in Roseland, Old Fashioned Donuts is a spare storefront on Michigan Avenue where the namesake treats are freshly made and the ladies behind the counter happily guide you through the choices. Sandwiches are also available, but donuts are the thing here.

There's another possibility, an outpost of a Chicago classic.

Jim's got its start at Maxwell and Halsted Streets in 1939, when the Near West Side corner was in the heart of the city's most bustling pushcart market. Though what's left of the market is elsewhere and Jim's original operation has moved a block east, there's a near-twin Jim's here on the west edge of Roseland on 95th Street just east of the Dan Ryan Expressway/Interstate Highway 90.

The place has the standard hotdogs and burgers, but the true Jim's experience is the Polish sausage or the bone-in pork chop sandwich, both grilled, with mustard and -- this is important -- smothered with greasy fried onions. It should be eaten standing up, and carefully. This is not date food.

But for dining options beyond donuts, dogs and the familiar franchises, Cook, the librarian, suggests the cooking to the west, in the Beverly neighborhood. 

For more information about Washington Heights/Roseland, please contact the Calumet Area Industrial Commission at 773.928.6000.