Learning from our neighborhood
While attending very meaningful conferences like LeadingAge Annual Meeting, I often look nearby where we are meeting to see how the stories of the surrounding neighborhood touch the present and give insight into the future. #LeadingAge23
We are meeting this week in the McCormick Place Convention Center, and a short walk away are a couple of meaningful memorials - one to Jane Addams and another to the Great Migration.
Located in the Chicago Women's Park and Gardens, in 2011, the Chicago Park District installed a monument in the park in homage to Jane Addams (1860 – 1935), Chicago’s famous social reformer and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Internationally renowned artist Louise Bourgeios (1911 – 2010) created the artwork, which was first dedicated on the city’s lakefront in 1996. The sculpture was commissioned by the B.F. Ferguson Fund of the Art Institute of Chicago.
"Helping Hands" entails six rough hewn stone bases which each support a hand or series of carved black granite hands representing a broad range of people of different ages and backgrounds. The current installation reflects the artist’s original arrangement of the sculptures and their positions.
An introduction to Jane Addams and the sculpture is at the entrance...
SOCIAL PHILOSOPHER - Jane Addams envisioned a peaceful world community based on cooperation, mutual understanding, and acceptance of differences.
PRAGMATIST - She advocated the participation of all citizens in the creation of a just and democratic social order.
WRITER - She authored eleven books and hundreds of articles,
LECTURER - A compelling public speaker, she drew upon her experiences at Hull House as a touchstone for larger social concerns.
DEFENDER - Committed to civil liberty, she deplored violence, stressed compassion and multicultural under-standing, and promoted a vision that valed life over death and liberty over coercion.
MEMORIAL - This first monument in Chicago to a woman is dedicated to Jane Addams and the many she served
SYMBOLS - It depicts different ages of humankind - gentle baby, vulnerable child, able adult, aging parent.
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HANDS - Comforting, helping, strong in solidarity, the hands recall Addams's words: "Perhaps nothing is so fraught with significance as the human hand..."
A meaingful video on Jane Addams and her legacy is at... https://interactive.wttw.com/chicago-stories/jane-addams/video
Also, steps from the #LeadingAge23 conference is Alison Saar's "Monument to the Great Northern Migration" - a testament to the thousands of African Americans who migrated to Chicago in the early 20th century in search of greater freedom and opportunity.
Below are a few photos of the monument...
Partner at RLPS Architects / Leading business communications, content marketing, social media, website, design presentations and focus groups
1 年Thanks for sharing this Larry! There was so much to see walking to and from the convention center and there are a couple of monuments/artwork pieces I photographed and still need to look up for their background stories.