By Cecilia Smith
Project Task Force Members: Cecilia Smith, GIS & Maps Librarian
By far, the maps most frequently requested at the University of Chicago library are the
social scientists maps published by UChicago researchers in the 1920s and 1930s. Out of dozens of maps, however, there is a showstopper:
East 63rd Street : Cottage Grove Ave. to Stony Island Ave.Like the other social scientists maps, the East 63rd Street map was produced sometime in the early 20th century. Our best guess is that it was printed in the 1930s by a sociology researcher. Unlike its cohort, East 63rd is a showstopper for three reasons:
- It’s huge: The East 63rd Street map is about 112 inches x 15 inches. While relatively narrow, finding space to unfold a map that is nearly twice a person’s height is challenging!
- The historical changes are striking: The map depicts a bustling thoroughfare with busy storefronts and an elevated rail stop (that’s the ‘L’ for Chicagoans) at Stony Island Ave. established in 1893. For a time, the area was the largest entertainment district.
- Decades of racially motivated housing covenants and economic decline followed. The Stony Island Green Line stop was closed in 1982 due to bridge disrepair. Today, E. 63rd Street is the target of urban renewal plans, including the Obama Presidential Center and Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses, bringing new, and often controversial, focus to the area.
- It provides in-depth data: It covers about 12 blocks at a scale of 1:600, providing lots of room for detail. The map shows building and property lines, number of building floors, basements present, addresses, streets, transit, parks, property owner names, and business names. This is a fantastic snapshot of public life in the 1930s.
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| Detail of bottom left corner showing the intersection of 63rd and Stony Island Ave |
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| Detail of bottom left corner showing the split intersection of 63rd and Ingleside Ave. |
