Washington Park, Woodlawn

Washington Park is home to the DuSable Museum, one of the preeminent institutions dedicated to African American history and culture in the nation. Its namesake park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, bears the influence of famed architects and designers like Olmsted and Burnham. Oak Woods Cemetery in neighboring Woodlawn is noteworthy to history buffs. Luminaries like civil rights leader Ida B. Wells, Olympian Jesse Owens and former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington are buried there.

Woodlawn/Washington Park: Strong South Side Communities

Written by Alan Solomon, with research assistance from the Chicago Neighborhood Tourism Project.

Woodlawn, immediately south of the University of Chicago, has long been a community with a strong sense of itself. As some other inner-city areas deteriorated in the 1960s, Woodlawn fought back.

The Woodlawn Organization emerged as an advocate for the neighborhood as it dealt with urban challenges. It's still here, is increasingly into community development, and it's still a force.

Organization co-founder Bishop Arthur Brazier, meanwhile, built his Apostolic Church of God into a 20,000-member megachurch at 63rd Street and Dorchester Avenue. Now led by his son Byron, the church -- on most days open to visitors -- combines religion, community service and, through a related agency, also is involved with development.

That hands-on spirit of Woodlawn also lives at Experimental Station, a mix of for-profit and non-profit enterprises (cafe, bike-repair business and farmer's market) on Blackstone Avenue and 61st Street. The cafe, strong on breakfasts and sandwiches, emphasizes organics and recycling: The front counter, in a previous life, was a bowling alley. 

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