Belgians! - 5/22/07 - Another Tour of Belgian Chicago

Who would be up for a tour of the sites of Belgian settlement in Chicago?

What, you say, Belgians? In Chicago?! Yes and yes.

For several years now, I've driven past a structure at 2625 W. Fullerton with the intriguing and peculiar inscription, "All Belgians Are Equal -- 1921." (Mrs. JiLS actually noticed the inscription for the first time a couple of months ago.) So, that was unexpected, and mysterious.

I did some research and learned that, among other ethnic groups who settled Logan Square in the early 20th century, were Belgians. As it turns out, they included a large number of janitors, who founded the janitors' union here in Chicago. They also built the Belgian Hall, with its "All Belgians Are Equal" inscription, as well as a very significant church on Logan Boulevard, and much more.

Although the Belgian presence is more attenuated today (e.g., the Belgian Hall was purchased in 1976 and has been used for storage for the past 30 years), this is a very interesting bit of Chicago history that is not often touched upon, and here it was in my own back yard.

Long story short, I eventually made contact with Krista Reynen, who works at the Newberry Library and has made something of a specialty of the Belgians in Chicago. Ms. Reynen wrote the entry on Belgians in the Encyclopedia of Chicago, and will be giving a tour of Belgian sites of interest in October. She has graciously offered, however, to do a tour for a private group, if we can get 6 to 10 interested parties. This sounds like an offer too good to refuse. Plus, afterward we could retire to Quenchers or the Map Room (or trek to Hop Leaf) for some Belgian beer and/or food.

For those who would be interested, please PM me with preferred dates in August (let's start with just the one month). Once (if) we have a group of 6 to 10 with an agreed-upon date, I'll contact Ms. Reynen and make it happen.

Belgian American Historical Society of Chicago

Another point of interest for LTH: Apparently, the DeJonghe family of Shrimp DeJonghe fame were Belgians (scroll down to page 7). Very interesting! They apparently could DeJonghe a brickbat. I'd personally love to try veal sweetbreads DeJonghe.[/b]

Jim,

Are you thinking weekends, evenings? I would be interested for the first part of the month (August 1-8, or 15, 16).

Jim,

I'll p.m. you with more details regarding dates but will just quickly say that I'd be interested in joining in but August will offer few if any possibilities for me.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Another point of interest for LTH: Apparently, the DeJonghe family of Shrimp DeJonghe fame were Belgians (scroll down to page 7). Very interesting! They apparently could DeJonghe a brickbat. I'd personally love to try veal sweetbreads DeJonghe.

I'm not surprised. In fact, the name De Jonghe is not just Dutch (and so to be traced back to Belgium or the Netherlands) but, given the form/spelling, it looks very much to be from West or East Flanders. I would assume the family traces its roots ultimately back to that westernmost part of Dutch-speaking Belgium. Quite appropriate that the name is remembered in connexion with a shrimp dish, since the Flemings have traditional caught and eaten a lot of the little critters.

Antonius

Jim, that's a cool find. I'm kinda pissed I never detected it myself in my Logan Square years.

Now, not to down play your idea, which in itself sounds great, and yeah, maybe we should have something dejonged, but you know Logan Square is filled with all sortsa of these oddities. I know of two dormant synagogues, there is the still active Norwegian church, there is a Serbian Church in Palmer Square (there are an amazing number of churches in Palmer Square), there is the fjord esque ex-Viking club building, well, there's a lot...

Perhaps there is something additional to be worked out, maybe in cahoots with the house walk (which is a worthwhile event).

Just thinkin'.

Rob

GAF wrote:Jim,

Are you thinking weekends, evenings? I would be interested for the first part of the month (August 1-8, or 15, 16).

I was thinking a Saturday afternoon would be nice, as that could meld into Belgian beer drinking, an early dinner, or whatnot. I will monitor responses and pick a date that seems to be the most available for interested parties. But keep in mind, even if you miss this event (or it doesn't occur), you can still join in on the already-scheduled tour in October.

Sounds like fun to an amateur anthropologist such as moi -- I am hors de combat weekend Aug 12/13 and Aug 19/20 ...

A Saturday afternoon that starts 12:30 or after will enable me to join the crowd, and I'd enjoy being in on it.

Giovanna

Fun! A Saturday sounds good.

The wellspring of interest in this tour has already yielded 10 participants (assuming Antonius can make it).

As I noted above, our guide indicated she could lead a tour for 6 to 10; I am not sure if that's a firm upper limit, and maybe I can convince her to add a couple of extras, if there is more interest in this. Regardless, here is the current contingent of 9 (or 10):

JiLS and Mrs. JiLS
GAF
Vital Information (I assume your post = interest in joining us?)
Cathy2
Jay@HG
SGFoxe
Giovanna
leek
Antonius (maybe)
Rene G (if there is room)

Based on the responses received, I'm going to target Saturday, August 5 or 12, at 12:30 p.m. (Hope one of those dates works for you, Tony.) I've asked our guide to confirm which of those dates (if either) works for her, and will report back here when I hear from her. Thanks again for your interest and support for this tour, which started from a bit of whimsical poking about on my part and now looks to be far more interesting - and more connected to the interests of this board - than I would have ever expected.

It is too bad that this cannot be held at some later date.

My AFS brother from Antwerp will be arriving at the end of August to attend his American High School Class Reunion.

I know that he would love to join this group.

E.M.

Erik M. wrote:It is too bad that this cannot be held at some later date.

My AFS brother from Antwerp will be arriving at the end of August to attend his American High School Class Reunion.

I know that he would love to join this group.

E.M.

That really is too bad; for obvious reasons, it would be really neat to have an actual Belgian on this tour. However, the majority of folks responding so far who expressed a preference had conflicts during the second half of August. That being said, I will take notes during the tour and will offer to accompany you and your Belgian bro' (and anybody else who wants to participate) on an informal "amateur tour," if you'd like.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:[That really is too bad; for obvious reasons, it would be really neat to have an actual Belgian on this tour. However, the majority of folks responding so far who expressed a preference had conflicts during the second half of August..

What about early September?

He will still be here.

But, really, I do understand the difficulties, Jim.

If you stick with early August we may take you up on your offer of an informal tour.

Thanks,
E.M.

Erik M. wrote:What about early September?

That's when I have conflicts! Sorry ...

Early August=Bad;

Late August, Early September=Good;

Being able to join informal tour (with beer and food emphasis)=Happy .

pd

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Based on the responses received, I'm going to target Saturday, August 5 or 12, at 12:30 p.m. (Hope one of those dates works for you, Tony.)

Jim,

For me, 5 August possible (not definite, but looks okay now), 12 August impossible.

A

Thought folks might appreciate the following link to the Encyclopedia of Chicago entry on Belgians in Chicago.

Current attendance list looks like the following:

JiLS and Mrs. JiLS
GAF
Cathy2
Jay@HG
SGFoxe
Giovanna
leek
Antonius (if we can do August 5)
Rene G

Still haven't heard back from our guide as to whether she can do 8/5 or 8/12. Hope to have word back from her soon and will post a definitive date and attendee list here asap!

Our guide, Krista Reynen of the Newberry Library, has confirmed that she will lead our group on a tour of Belgian sites in Logan Square on Saturday, August 5 beginning at 12:30 p.m.. I will get more details regarding the proposed meeting spot and the anticipated length of the tour and post that information here prior to the 5th.

ALSO: Krista indicates that she can take a larger group ... so, anyone who wants to join, please feel free!

We'll probably play it by ear regarding food and drink, but if anybody has a strong preference, please post it here.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:ALSO: Krista indicates that she can take a larger group ... so, anyone who wants to join, please feel free!

Jim, I'd enjoy joining in. Thanks.

The following is from our tour guide, Krista Reynen --

"The tour will start at 12 pm (to accommodate the church). We will meet in front of St. John Berchmans Church at Logan Boulevard. There are no steps to get into the church at the moment but we will enter via a side entrance.

"We will spend a long time at the church because all the props are there to talk about history and we can sit. We will then walk over to Fullerton and Talman to visit and continue the tour there. The tour takes about 1 1/2 hours depending on how fast people move. The tour ends at Fullerton and Talman. It might be better for people to park their cars at Fullerton and Talman or for those who don't want to walk, first park at the church and then drive to Fullerton and Talman and park there."

St. John Berchmans Church
2517 W. Logan Boulevard
Chicago

NOTE THE TIME CHANGE TO FROM 12:30 TO 12:00

See you there at 12:00 sharp, Saturday!

[Could all who plan to attend please re-confirm ... I'd hate to have significant no-shows, considering our tour guide is doing this gratis. Thanks!]

Can't make it

leek wrote:Can't make it

Sorry you can't make it ... but everybody else, please keep in mind that despite earlier information that the event was limited to 10 attendees, that has been completely opened up ... if you can come, you should come! This is especially true as now, as three or four folks have been forced to drop out, and it would be great to make a strong showing for LTH. Thanks!

Just bumping this up as a reminder to all participants that tomorrow, Saturday, August 5 at noon is B-Day. See you at the church!

I want to thank everyone who came out for this event; the turnout was fantastic (I counted 23 in attendance)! Late lunch at Honey 1 was also a treat, although I think everyone would like to get back to the Fireside when the bar is open for business.

Special thanks to Cathy2, who wrangled the majority of our group from among her contacts; it was fun seeing some new faces. I know I will never look at the 2600 block of Fullerton the same way again. Hope those who were photographing the tour will post their pictures and thoughts here.

Jim,

Thanks really all goes out to you.

What a wonderfully eccentric guide who begins the tour announcing she is a Belgian who hates Belgians who dreamt of coming to America since she was 10 years old. She took scant interest in Belgium's history to concentrate on America's. Once she fell into writing the Belgian section for the Chicago Encyclopedia, then had to learn Belgium history to understand the context why immigrant Belgians located where they did or took issue over various topics.

A day well spent is when I learn something new. Yesterday was a bonanza!

Regards,

Our tour guide, Krista Reynen, asked if I could post this link to her webpage, for those who have a deeper or continuing interest in this topic and Chicago history in general: http://www.chicagoreynen.com

I greatly enjoyed the lecture and tour but won’t even attempt to summarize the flood of information. Here are a few photographs.

Saint John Berchmans Church, 2517 W Logan Boulevard


Stained Glass Window at Saint John Berchmans

Yes, those DeJonghes.

Belgian Hall, 2625 W Fullerton

Unfortunately the Hall is privately owned and not open to visitors.

Time Out has a little thing on the Belgian lady and her tour this week, too. It is accompanied by almost exactly the same photo as Rene G's third one.

Mike G wrote:Time Out has a little thing on the Belgian lady and her tour this week, too. It is accompanied by almost exactly the same photo as Rene G's third one.

Wow, I feel so au courant! Or avant-garde or whatever.

HI,

Is she doing a 2nd tour this week or was there a TO person on the trip?

Regards,

Mike G wrote:Time Out has a little thing on the Belgian lady and her tour this week, too.

Just to clarify, the “What’s up with that?” section in Time Out Chicago (August 10-16, 2006) discusses Belgian Hall but without mentioning Christina Reynen or her tours. It does cite her article in Encyclopedia of Chicago without naming the authors.