What is the "Maxwell Street Sound"?

Who is the Maxwell Street Foundation (MSF)?

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Why is Maxwell Street Important?

What is the status of Maxwell Street today?

What can I do to help?

What should I say?

LINKS to other web sites with good Maxwell Street content

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Current and Upcoming Events:

FREE MAXWELL STREET TOURS BEGIN APRIL 1.

The April Maxwell Street Walking Tour is a featured event in the city’s calendar of cultural events celebrating Chicago's 175th birthday year. It will be conducted on Sunday, April 1, 2012, starting at 11 AM (1.5 hours). Meeting location: Maxwell Street cul de sac, one block south of Roosevelt Rd., ½ block west of Halsted.

Maxwell Street tours will be given on the first Sunday of each month through August (May 6, June 3, July 1, August 5).

The tour is free but pre-registration is required at info@maxwellstreet.org. Please include your tour date, name, and the number in your party.

Maxwell Street was within the new city's boundaries when Chicago was incorporated in 1837. The neighborhood developed rapidly in the 1860s, extending west from the Chicago River. Maxwell Street escaped the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 which burned northeast, sparing its numerous frame dwellings which remained until the 21st century. Most were demolished for the recent redevelopment. Sites along this walking tour will point out extant churches that represent the neighborhood’s ethnic transition; the city’s first German School, and other remnants of the original neighborhood. It will explain the re-installment of historic facades from some early dwellings and discuss the Maxwell Street Market, its entrepreneurs and distinctive foods, its flow of immigrants and migrants, its merchants and vendors, and the development of Chicago Blues music.

Click here for more information about "175 Days to Love Chicago."

Save GETHSEMANE MISSIONARY BAPTIST. COMMUNITY MEETING APRIL 26.

On Thursday, April 26, 7 PM, Please join the Maxwell Street Foundation for a presentation and community meeting about the future of the Gethsemane Missionary Baptist church building in the Maxwell Street neighborhood. The meeting will be held in the Community Room at Powell’s Books, 1218 S. Halsted. Alderman Barcer will be at the meeting. The main topic will be a proposal by the Newman Foundation at UIC to demolish the church and build a student residence on the site.

Built in 1869 as Chicago’s first German school, the church building at the corner of Liberty and Union is one of the last remnants of Maxwell Street's 19th century heritage. For more information, please contact the Maxwell Street Foundation at info@maxwellstreet.org.

THE MAXWELL STREET MARKET.
Every Sunday, 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Desplaines Street, North from Roosevelt Road

No, it's not the same, but what is? The Maxwell Street Market is still a lot of fun. There are many merchants selling a wide variety of merchandise. Some of it is used, of the flea market variety, but some is new and unique. Depending on the season, there is fresh produce and flowers. There are food stands and, sometimes, music. Many of the merchants used to sell proudly at the old locations and do whatever they can to retain that heritage at the present site. When you go, ask them about it. Most are happy to talk about the old market.

Plus, the current site is only a few blocks from the original Maxwell Street neighborhood. (Walk over and have a look.)

Although it is not the same as the old Market, the basic principle of freewheeling and raucous entry-level entrepreneurship is alive and well. The Maxwell Street Market is operated by the Mayor's Office of Special Events (MOSE). Click here to go to their web site.

The Market moved to its present location in September of 2008. The city refers to the Desplaines Street location as "permanent." It had been on Canal Street, where it moved from the original Maxwell Street location in 1994. For more about the relocation click here.

MAXWELL STREET COLLECTION
Photography Portfolio (Fundraising Project)

The Maxwell Street Collection is a portfolio of limited edition photographs by eleven Chicago photographers. All proceeds from the Maxwell Street Collection benefit the Maxwell Street Foundation, a not-for-profit organization preserving the legacy of Chicago's legendary Maxwell Street.

The photographers are: Tom Arndt, Patty Carroll, Ron Gordon, James Iska, Jack Jaffe, Kenneth Josephson, Nathan Lerner, Tom Palazzolo, Marc PoKempner, Bob Thall, and Jay Wolke. You can view the images here.

The Maxwell Street Collection portfolio has been produced in an edition of seventy-one copies, of which sixty are for sale. Eleven have been distributed to the contributing photographers.

The black and white enlargements, by the Ron Gordon studio, were printed on 11" x 14" Ilford Multigrade IV FB or Ilford Multigrade FB Warmtone papers. They were developed in ILFORD Bromophen developer and toned in Selenium per museum standards.

For further information about the Maxwell Street Collection please contact:

Ed Hirschland
312-201-1111
hirschland@aol.com

Why is Maxwell Street important?

Maxwell Street is important as the primary immigrant gateway neighborhood in Chicago for more than 150 years and home of the world renowned Maxwell Street Market. From approximately 1880 to 1920, it was a neighborhood of poor Jews from Eastern Europe and as such it is central to the history of Chicago's Jewish community. Maxwell Street was also the birthplace of Chicago blues.

For more extensive history, see:

"Maxwell Street, Still Hanging On."

"The Maxwell Street Beat."

"Requiem for Maxwell Street."

The Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition's National Register nomination application, section 8.

What is the status of Maxwell Street today?

Maxwell Street, a world-famous landmark, was almost completely destroyed by a greedy combine of developers and public officials, fronted by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The university was aggressively insensitive to the culture and history of the neighborhood, and initially tried to obliterate all memory of it.

Most of the old buildings in the Maxwell Street neighborhood are gone, their unique fixtures discarded, their bricks bundled for resale as vintage masonry.

In 1994, the Maxwell Street Market was closed by the City of Chicago and transplanted to a new site one-half mile to the east, on Canal Street. The New Maxwell Street Market still operates there every Sunday morning between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM. It is still a lot of fun. You should go.

(Stay tuned for information about the market's move to Desplaines Street. Check the Maxwell Street News Update Page for the latest information about the impending move.)

In 2000, the City of Chicago imposed a compromise plan on UIC and its developers, and they executed an intergovernmental agreement. They agreed to save 8 buildings and 13 facades. The buildings are primarily on the east side of Halsted Street both north and south of Maxwell Street. The facades were re-erected onto new buildings, including a parking garage, on the block of Maxwell Street between Halsted and Union. Only a couple of facades were re-erected in their original locations. The rest were taken from elsewhere in the neighborhood.

In 2004, the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition became the Maxwell Street Foundation. We remain committed to monitoring UIC and City compliance with their intergovernmental agreement, supporting the historic businesses that wish to remain in the neighborhood, supporting neighborhood institutions such as St. Francis of Assisi parish, supporting the new market, and preserving the memory and history of Maxwell Street through archival and educational activities.

Volunteers and donations are needed to help us continue this work.

Current projects include:

• Public presentations of the original theater production "And This Was Free," with appearances by an authentic Maxwell Street artifact, the Blues Bus.
• Distribution and promotion of the books Chicago's Maxwell Street, by Lori Grove and Laura Kamedulski, and Jewish Maxwell Street Stories, by Shuli Eshel and Roger Schatz.
• Distribution and promotion of the documentary "Maxwell Street, A Living Memory," A Film by Shuli Eshel.
• Presentations about Maxwell Street history at public venues such as the Harold Washington Public Library, the Chicago Architecture Foundation and the Chicago Cultural Center.
• Development of exhibits and programs about the immigration, entrepreneurship and cultural history of the Maxwell Street neighborhood.

Despite the massive destruction, everything in the Maxwell Street neighborhood is not gone. With your help, the last remnants of the authentic, historic Maxwell Street can be preserved and protected as an asset for the new neighborhood, and for all of Chicago. Your voice can help make that happen.

Here are some examples of what still can be done:

• UIC should apply to the appropriate city, state and federal agencies to gain landmark status for the restored buildings and re-erected facades.
• Street vendors should be encouraged to return (properly licensed, of course).
• All proposed street reconfigurations and other changes that affect parking and access to the historic St. Francis of Assisi Church should be submitted to the Church Preservation Committee for review and approval.
• A free and open public blues stage should be part of the new "gateway park" planned for the corner of Halsted and Roosevelt Streets.

Who is the Maxwell Street Foundation?

See the News Update page for the latest information.

What can I do to help?

There are several ways you can help the Maxwell Street Foundation continue its important work. First, you can buy something at the "Save Maxwell Street" Store, like a book or video. Proceeds help support the work of the Maxwell Street Foundation.

You can make a donation. The Maxwell Street Foundation is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and donations are tax deductible. Send your check to: Maxwell Street Foundation, P.O. Box 6435, Evanston, IL 60204, or use the PayPal "Donate" button below.

You can volunteer to help the Foundation. We are a community-based, grass roots organization, which means we are just a bunch of regular folks who believe strongly in this and who invest our time and energy to preserve the legacy of Maxwell Street for future generations. To volunteer, contact us at info@maxwellstreet.org.

Another important way to help is to let UIC, the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago know you support Maxwell Street and the preservation of its heritage.

The mission of the Maxwell Street Foundation (MSF) is to preserve the history of the Maxwell Street neighborhood for future generations. The MSF is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation and contributions are tax deductible. Our web URL is Maxwellstreet.org.

To make a secure, tax-deductible donation to the MSF via PayPal using your PayPal account or any major credit card, click on the DONATE button below.

What should I say?

When you write to UIC, the governor or the mayor:

• Tell who you are and why Maxwell Street is important to you.
• Urge them to honor and preserve the important heritage of the Maxwell Street district through sensitive restoration of the buildings that are being retained, through historical plaques and other exhibits, and by allowing neighborhood institutions -- like the hot dog stands and St. Francis of Assisi Church -- to remain in the area unharassed. See the list above for more ideas.
• Urge them to seek official historic district status for the Maxwell Street neighborhood from appropriate city, state and federal agencies.
• Urge them to work with the Maxwell Street Foundation to develop programs and exhibits to preserve the legacy of this historic Chicago neighborhood.

Other web sites with Maxwell St. content:*

NOTE: A new window will open.

• There is a good picture of the Maxwell Street Blues Bus taken in 1992, with a story about it, at Blues Music Now, Scenes from the Road.
• Take a look at what photographer Allan Koss shot at the old market.
• Maxwell Blues is a web site by photographer Tom Smith. It consists of slide shows and photo galleries taken from his personal collection of 20,000 images, shot at the Maxwell Street Market between 1976 and 2006.
• The original Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition site. Steve Balkin has been fighting for Maxwell Street for many years. His site contains a vast amount of information about the street and the movement to save it. This was the original site and is liberally linked back and forth with the one you are visiting now.
• Studio IT "And This Is Maxwell Street" is about a project to release the original audio recordings from a famous 1964 documentary about Maxwell Street, "And This Is Free."
• Ellis Kell is a music columnist and blues musician in Rock Island, Illinois. You can visit his website or listen to his original song, "Muddy's Tears on Maxwell Street."
• Nathaniel Burkins has a site with Maxwell Street photographs taken between 1975 and 1984, which he hopes to develop into a book.
• Want to buy a cool Maxwell Street T-shirt from some real Maxwell Street vendors? Click here.
• The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band is keeping the spirit of Maxwell Street's original music alive. (They provided some of the music in the documentary "Maxwell Street: A Living Memory" and performed at the film's premier.)
• The people who run My Kind of Town Tours are friends and supporters who include Maxwell Street on many of their Chicago-area tours. Contact them for more information.
• The Gorilla Gourmet took its cameras to the new Maxwell Street Market to sample some of the street cuisine. Visit their website for a schedule of when the program will appear on Chicago Public Access TV, and for information about ordering a copy on VHS or DVD.
• For more information about having a culinary adventure at the new Maxwell Street Market, consult David Hammond’s "Maxwell Street Market Guide."
• Robb Packer has generated a history and a lot of photographs of old Chicago synagogues called Forgotten Synagogues.
• Phil Ranstrom is the director, producer and writer of "Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street," a documentary about the history of the open air market and birthplace of electric blues, from its emergence in the late 19th century to its systematic dismantling by the City of Chicago to make way for the expansion of UIC.
• Shuli Eshel is the producer-director of "Maxwell Street: A Living Memory, The Jewish Experience in Chicago.A Film by Shuli Eshel," and other documentaries. She is the co-author, with Roger Schatz, of the book Jewish Maxwell Street Stories. For more information, go here.

Contact Us

TO REACH US VIA EMAIL:
mailto:info@maxwellstreet.org

TO REACH US VIA THE USPS:
Maxwell Street Foundation
P.O. Box 6435
Evanston, IL  60204

TO LEAVE A COMMENT IN OUR GUESTBOOK:
To leave a memory or other comment click here. To read what other visitors to this website have had to say about Maxwell Street, click here.