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| Chicago's "Y" Symbol on the third floor of the original library building (JWB Photo) |
At
2:00 p.m. on this date, May 30, in 1893 Superior Court Judge Kirk Hawes stood
before a crowd of citizens at the corner of Randolph and Michigan and said, “We
have gathered here, my comrades and fellow citizens, to lay the corner-stone of
a structure that shall serve not only as a store-house for the wisdom of the
ages, but also to perpetuate in the minds of coming generations the memory of
those who periled their lives in defense of their country when our bond of
national unity was so seriously endangered.”
[Chicago Tribune, May 31, 1893]
The
cornerstone to which the judge referred was for the new Grand Army of the
Republic Hall and the library that would enclose it. With the formal introduction in place, Judge
Hawes began to outline the history of the property that would be the site of
the “magnificent structure, which will be a credit to the city and take high
rank among the costly edifices already so numerous in Chicago”.
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| Looking east at Randolph and Michigan, 1893 |
The
piece of ground on which the library and hall would rise was originally part of
the Fort Dearborn military reservation, established in 1803 and encompassing 57
acres from the Chicago River on the north to Madison Street on the south and from
the lake (which at that time lapped ashore just east of Michigan Avenue) on the
east and State Street on the west.
In
1839 the fort was decommissioned, and the land was subdivided by the government
and sold in lots to the highest bidders.
In the plat that was drawn up at the time, the whole area was set down
as “public ground.” Thought was given at
one time to selling it to the Illinois Central Railroad, something that,
thankfully, did not occur. From the time
of the 1871 fire until 1890 the city assumed some control over the property
although it remained a “desolate, barren, unsightly spot of ground, without
trees, shrubbery, grass, or anything green.”
Beginning
in 1880 three separate attempts were made to pass federal legislation giving
the land over to the building of a Grand Army memorial and a public library
building. In 1888 the United States Senate
passed such a bill, but it was referred to a House of Representatives committee
chaired by “an unrepentant rebel from Charleston, S. C.” who “openly declared that
he was not anxious to commemorate the military achievements of Union soldiers.”
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| Randolph and Washington (right and left), looking west from Michigan Avenue, 1893 |
It
was at this point that the famous “lakefront case” came before the United
States Supreme Court, which found in its lengthy ruling that “the United States
had no right, title, or interest” in the piece of land on which the present
building stands but that “the title was vested in the municipal corporation of
Chicago as the agent of the State of Illinois.”
At
the time Illinois legislation giving the land to the Grand Army Hall and
Memorial Association was passed on July 31, 1889 the directors of the Chicago
Public Library came forward with a new scheme.
They proposed a library building that covered the entire block between
Randolph and Washington and within the building pledged to “construct and
forever maintain a memorial hall and such smaller halls and ante-rooms for the
period of fifty years as should be required for Grand Army purposes.”
When
Judge Hawes concluded this history, a contingent of eight veterans in full uniform
stepped forward carrying their muskets.
A flag was raised and “in the rays of the bright sun, wafted by the
breeze from Lake Michigan, ‘Old Glory’ fluttered proudly over the site of the
new building.” The Pullman band played
the Star Spangled Banner, after which a prayer was offered and a list of the
cornerstone’s ceremonial contents was read.
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| The oculus of the George Healy and Louis Millet ceiling in the original G.A.R. Hall (JWB Photo) |
General
E. A. Blodgett, the Department Commander of the Illinois Grand Army of the
Republic, then stepped forward, concluding the dedication with these remarks .
. .
In the name of the soldiers and sailors who
have saved our Nation we thank you for the honor. We rejoice that our city thus proclaims to
the world that patriotic self-sacrifice is not to be forgotten. We trust that our beloved land may never
again be deluged in blood . . . The safety of our country is in the
intelligence, the moral character, and the patriotism of her citizens. We believe this structure will be an object
lesson to inspire loyal hearts, and a treasure house to enrich minds.
Today,
of course, the great building begun on this day in 1893 has outlived its
original purpose and serves as the city’s visitors’ center with a healthy
program of exhibitions, lectures, and entertainment. The design by Boston architects Shpley, Rutan
and Coolidge, the same firm that designed the original building of the Art
Institute just two blocks to the south, stands in the Beaux Arts splendor of
the past while transporting its visitors through the present and into the
future of a city that has always had big ambitions.
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