465 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0a0628544489ea86ccc7956c4c6d86b9.jpg 3ffc9f900c8f502b4ebbc7518d8acad7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1512 Title A name given to the resource LA-9 fighter restricted Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource LA-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Slides Russia Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e0cdcef4eb818679b4e65db88fe38a0d.jpg d4ed8e22a0b885f4e40b9732df4f2ed2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1552 Title A name given to the resource LA-9 restricted fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource LA-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Slides Russia Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd9583f4ad9e6fe6993bd228c52a4c61.jpg ea8a30de0e27998740049ea3ca073ef0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1507 Title A name given to the resource LA-9 Russian fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource LA-9, USSR fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Russia World War, 1939-1945 Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/73cf53c90dc5442948c8742fe483779f.jpg 365fe8648d9bb243df808814bb4cd0ae Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1849 Title A name given to the resource LA-9 Russian fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource LA-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Russia World War, 1939-1945 Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7426bbcd2f8a941de092228be39d32c4.jpg d41edd7d38f3107d162c96c97e4420ab Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_HotelItza_2_1930_001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1930-02-15 Title A name given to the resource Labna Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of an airplane which reads "X-ABC" on its wing and "62" on its tail. The image of the globe on a bird's wing is painted on the side of the aircraft. Three men are working on the plane, standing either on top of the plane or on a stand next to the plane. Two men are standing next to the plane under the wing looking at the camera. Subject The topic of the resource Campeche (Campeche, Mexico) Mexico Airplanes Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ec643099b9581d228d66304f6f47cdfb.jpg d472b6f737d94afeb9b93303c3f91a0c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_HotelItza_2_1930_004 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1930-02-15 Title A name given to the resource Labna Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of an airplane on an airstrip. Behind the plane is a crowd of people. The plane has "Correo Aereo" written on its left wing and "X-ABC" written on its right wing. Subject The topic of the resource Campeche (Campeche, Mexico) Mexico Airplanes Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ab253252f6fdba0f4030d905edd40e04.pdf d2873dd06ec80b10f7427ff5937204dc PDF Text Text DER REICHSKOMMISSAR FlJR DIE BESEtZTEN NIEDERLANDISCHEN GEBIETE DER GENERALKOMMISS..A.R F lJ R F I N A~N Z U N D W I R T S C HA f T HAUPTABTEILUNG AMERSFOORT, datum des Poststempels Konlng :nnel11an 12 Telelon: 39•3 WIRTSCHAFT E1 wlrd gebeten bel Anlworllchrelben dleae, Geschlft1• zelchen und den Gegen1t11nd dle1e1 Sctirelbent 11nzugeben Betr.: Arbeitseinsatz - ZS-Kárten-Verfahren lch bestätige hiermit den ordnungsgemässen Eingang lhres Antrages vom Von dem Eür den Sitz lhrer Firma zuständigen Arbeitsamt wird lhnen demnächst die Entscheidung iiber lhren Antrag bekanntgegeben. lm Auftrag: K 1031 �1DIENSTPOST 1 .... van ....Z.111.jl en ....en ....Termaa t ..........................................:......................·-··· ...13.:r.9.~.k .... OP ... L~ng~.nd.i .Jk ......:4-..'.l.7 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144_Termaat_DOC_1940s-Work-application-confirmation Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Occupied Dutch Territories Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940 Title A name given to the resource Labor application confirmation Description An account of the resource Confirmation of receipt of work application from the Department of Economics, General Commission for Finance and Economics, Reich Commissioner of the Nazi Occupied Dutch Territories, circa 1941. In German. Subject The topic of the resource Dutch Netherlands World War, 1939-1945 -- Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource de Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/82be56c12f2ff214c99e365924dbd6cf.mp4 2b54ebc2f7edf90455e33a5a90f72a78 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b3dfd3a41d2ec800e073fd3a5ad0f2e.pdf 9c3dc36a9e0f9fb6284809dcac80dd25 PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW HELEN LaCAMERA Women in Baseball Born: September 30, 1931, Quincy, Massachusetts Resides: Edgewater, Florida Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, August 5, 2010, Detroit, MI at the All American Girls Professional Baseball League reunion. Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, February 21, 2011 Interviewer: “Helen, can you start by giving us a little background on yourself. To begin with, where and when were you born?” I was born September 30, 1931 in Quincy, Massachusetts. Interviewer: “What did your family do for a living at that time?” My father was an auto mechanic and my mother was a sty at home mom. Interviewer: “Was your father able to make enough money through the thirties that you could get by all right?” Yes, we didn’t know any better, that it was the end of the depression, so we did fine. Interviewer: “Did you live in the same place while you were growing up or did you move around?” We moved around, but all in the city of Quincy. Interviewer: “What kind of education did you have?” I just completed high school. Interviewer: “When did you start getting involved in sports?” From my eighth grade gym teacher, Mary Pratt, I had her in Junior high, as they called it then, and she was the one that got me started in playing in the park league and CYO softball and basketball and then she was instrumental in getting me a tryout to go to the league. 1:15 1 �Interviewer: “Ok, now had she already played in the league before she was a teacher or was she doing them both at the same time or how did that work?” Basically, she was doing both. One year she stopped and she came out to play, but she went back to teaching, so she’s been teaching for forty-eight years one way or another. Interviewer: “You actually got a chance then to play organized sports, to a degree, not just pick-up games out in the street and that kind of thing?” Through her, yes Interviewer: “Now, did you just kind of play with the kids in the neighborhood and things too?” Pick-up with my brother, and I would just kind of tag along with him and if they needed an extra player, I was it, whether it was tag football or baseball or whatever, so that’s how I got the interest in sports. 2:10 Interviewer: “What position did you play?” Third base and shortstop in softball, but Dotty Schroeder was the shortstop at Fort Wayne and nobody was going to replace her. Interviewer: “You had a good arm then, could you throw?” Yes Interviewer: “Were you a good hitter?” A good hitter in softball, not good in baseball Interviewer: “Tell me a little bit more about the leagues you were playing with before you got into the All Americans. The CYO, what was that?” Those were the church leagues around the city of Boston and then the park league played and then we played in the tournaments through the northeast and played against the 2 �Raybesto’s in Connecticut and went out to Pittsfield, Mass and played against the different teams in Worcester for tournaments, so you got a little more experience that way. Saw Bertha Reagan and she really caught your attention pitching. 3:21 She was a thirty nine year old grandmother at the time and you would just stick your bat out and hope that she’d hit it. Interviewer: “When you went and played some of these games in the tournament, did you get much of an audience or following?” They were fairly good, you know a couple hundred or three hundred people depending on where it was held. We had a field in Quincy that every Friday night we played and we drew a good crowd there. 3:55 Interviewer: “How much did you know about the All American league before you tried out for it?” Nothing, not a thing, and Ms. Pratt never talked about it like most don’t, unless she said, “we’re going to take you to a tryout”. Interviewer: “So that was just kind of out of the blue?” Right Interviewer: “Even though she’s coaching softball and doing all this kind of stuff, and she has this kind of professional experience, she wasn’t using that or telling you about it at that time?” No, but she taught us—if you didn’t have the basics, you learned the basics the right way, how to play the sport, truly. Interviewer: “What was the tryout process? Could you do that in Boston or did you have to go somewhere else?” 4:52 3 �The outskirts of Boston, and a scout came and there were three of us girls from our team that got to tryout. Jean Buckley was one of them. She came out and she was with Kenosha and the other girl was still in high school, so she didn’t choose to go. Mary Dailey, I believe, was in that tryout, and Marie Kelley, maybe. Interviewer: “About how many altogether were trying out do you think?” I really don’t know there—once we got through with that and they said, “you can go to South Bend”, and we went there and there were four hundred girls trying out and of the four hundred, forty of us were chosen, and then five to each team that for whatever they needed, pitchers or infielders and that’s how we were selected. Interviewer: “So, the league was doing a kind of tryout for the whole league than?” Right 5:54 Interviewer: “How did you get out to South Bend?” They provided us with a train from South Boston you know, to South Bend. Interviewer: “Did you go out by yourself?” No, I went with Jean Buckley and probably Mary Dailey, I can’t remember at the time, but there were probably six of us from that area you know. Interviewer: “But just people who were trying out, you didn’t have other people along?” No Interviewer: “Had you ever taken a long train trip?” No Interviewer: “So, what was that like?” 4 �An experience, I said, “I thought if you went fifty miles from home that was a big trip, and if you ever got to go to New York City, well, you thought you were on the other side of the earth”, but they met us at the train station and they treated us really well. Interviewer: “What was the tryout process once you got to South Bend?” Well, I think it was April, and it was cold, so the put the four hundred of us in an armory and you just threw the ball back and forth and they eliminated two hundred people the first day, and then they divided it by infielders, outfielders, so you did your fielding for the infield and throwing for outfielders and that’s how they got to sort of eliminate everybody you know. 7:19 Interviewer: “Did they also have you hit?” I don’t remember ever hitting. I don’t know if outfielders did, but infielders didn’t. After that we got on a bus and went to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and we were from five thirty in the morning until twelve thirty at night on the bus. Interviewer: “What year was this that you were ding this?” 1950 Interviewer: “They had their spring training in different places in different years, so we kind of put that in sequence. What kind of facility did they have there?” A rainy one, and it rained for three days and it was like mud, but they had a hotel and there were probably two or three to a room and they provided breakfast and dinner everyday for you, so basically you had two a day when you were practicing. 8:18 Interviewer: “About how long did that time down there last?” 5 �I’d say three weeks and the Racine Belles were with us, so then we started barnstorming coming up—Indianapolis, playing games while we came north until we got to our home city. Interviewer: “As you were going along and doing the barnstorming games, was that getting much response from the locals? Did people come out to see you?” Yes, but it was cold and I give them credit. It was freezing and I got a sore arm out of that one, but other than that, the people, they were welcoming to us all the time. 9:09 Interviewer: “Your destination was?” Fort Wayne, Indiana Interviewer: “So, you’re with the fort Wayne Daisies. Who were the stars on that team?” I would say, Dottie Schroeder, I mean, that was the main one, Dottie Collins was a pitcher, Maxine Kline was another great pitcher, and Vivian Kellogg was a first baseman, Evie Wawryshyn, second base and they gave me third. Interviewer: “How many rookies were on the team? Did they have five?” I think the five Interviewer: “Do you remember your first game?” 10:00 I do, it was Memorial Day weekend and they called you up and lined you up on the third base line and they said my name and I said, “I made it, I belong”, and it was one of the nicest things that has happened. Interviewer: “Do you remember how you did in that game?” I probably walked, and stole a base. I don’t think I got a hit. 6 �Interviewer: “What made it harder to hit since this kind of evolved from the kind of softball you were playing?” I wasn’t used to curve balls and sliders and all of that you know, so I mean, I was fairly good in softball but, “A good field, no hit” that’s me. Interviewer: “At this stage, were they pitching overhand yet?” Overhand 10:59 Interviewer: “Overhand, all right, and the softball you had done, was that underhand fast pitch?” Yes Interviewer: “You have to get used to the delivery and then they mix up the pitches.” Right Interviewer: “That’s not really fair.” I’m looking for a lot of walks. Interviewer: “How did your team do that year?” We went to, they called them the finals, against the Rockford Peaches, and we went to seven games and we lost in the seventh game. Interviewer: “Over the course of that season, are there particular games or things that happened in individual games that kind of stand out in your mind and come back to you a lot?” No, it was just the whole experience of—even when I had to sit down when Betty Foss came, it was just exciting to be there and see, which I thought, was the best brand of ball going at the time. I had never seen so many good players all in one place. 12:00 7 �Interviewer: “You said you had to sit down when Betty Foss came, can you explain that?” Well, she came from Cape Girardeau, Missouri and she was five nine or five ten, she batted left and I think that probably her batting average was like four twenty five, so I said if mine was one thirty one, I could see why I sat down, but when someone got hurt, like Evie Wawryshyn, I would go in and play second base and in the late innings I would play defense for Betty Foss. She was an adequate fielder, but she was a better hitter than fielder. Interviewer: “Now, do you think that the fundamentals that you learned back home in Quincy helped you there?” Oh, definitely yes, I learned the basics and I learned to think—if the ball came at me, what would I do? Wait for the ball to come and then say, “What am I going to do?” And that was from my coach, she did a wonderful job. 13:04 Interviewer: “That paid off for you. Now, in 1950, where was the league in terms of all of its rules and regulations and stuff that the players had to abide by?” Still you had to wear skirts and you weren’t allowed to smoke in public or anything like that, and to behave like a lady because you represented the league. Interviewer: “When you got to South Bend did they give you etiquette training that year?” No, I think that was more in 1943, 44 and 45 when they learned from Helena Rubenstein, but it was still in effect, that you behaved. Interviewer: “And then you had a chaperone for your team? Who was your chaperone that year?” 13:57 8 �Doris Tetzlaff Interviewer: “Tell me a little bit about her.” She did everything from doing your uniforms to make sure they were the right fit and telling you not to fraternize, but everybody did, but she just did everything. If you had a strawberry she fixed it and she was a “jack of all trades”, and an assistant to the manager. Interviewer: “What could you actually do for a strawberry at that point?” She put something on it and you just suffered through it until it healed. You learned how to slide better, and we use to go to the lake and practice in the sand, learning how to slide so it wouldn’t hurt. Interviewer: “Where did you live while you were playing there? Did you stay in someone’s home?” 14:52 Yes, there were two girls to a home as a rule and you paid them five dollars a week to live there and then when you went on the road you stayed in a hotel and they gave you three dollars a day meal money, and as I say, we traveled by bus at night to get there after a game and I couldn’t say enough about it, it was just wonderful. Interviewer: “What were they paying you at that point?” I was paid fifty-five dollars a week as a rookie. I said that if I went back to work—I wasn’t making that when I went out to work, so I would have played for nothing, they didn’t know it, but I think most of the girls would have. They just loved playing and being there. Interviewer: “What was fan support like in Fort Wayne?” Great, I was “Boston Blackie” at the time, “Park your car in the Harvard Yard”, they’d call from the stands you know, so we had good rapport with the fans. 15:57 9 �Interviewer: “Did you have a sense as to how many people would come to a game on a good day?” I would say anywhere from nine hundred to maybe on a good day fifteen hundred, I don’t know, and maybe in the earlier years they drew more, but like I say, in 1950 I thought that was great because I had never played before that many people at all, so I thought they were a good crowd. Interviewer: “Of the other towns that you played in, were there any that you particularly liked to go to or didn’t like to go to or were they pretty much all the same?” No, they were pretty much—I enjoyed every town for reasons, but they were all good and the fans were great to you, so I didn’t really have a favorite, just that you were seeing some other part of the country, which was nice. 16:57 Interviewer: “Now, the people in Fort Wayne, did they use the players at events or for promotions or other thing? Did you get involved in the community in any way?” Not really, the president was Van Ohman who owned the hotel there, so you didn’t really have any, till the last when we were leaving he gave us a banquet at the end, but we didn’t do any special events that I remember. Interviewer: “How long then did you actually play in the league?” Just that one-year Interviewer: “Why did you stop playing after one year?” I went home and my parents sold the home and I went to Florida. I didn’t want to stay there, so I went home to my girlfriend’s and her parents. 18:00 I went for a weekend and I stayed with them five years until I got married. Why I didn’t go back is, I had met 10 �my future husband. I got the contract to back, but I said it was a tradeoff really, so I had two wonderful children and two grandchildren, so I had the best of both worlds, I think. Interviewer: “So, you weren’t really looking to make playing ball a career for yourself?” Well, I didn’t know, I didn’t think so because until you got to South Bend you didn’t know if you were good enough to play, so I was, more or less, taking it one day at a time, one year at a time and I would have loved to have gone back, but somebody got in the way. 18:53 Interviewer: “Did you try to follow the league after that or did that now work if you were on the east coast?” After I got through playing there, I went back to Mary Pratt and played softball again. Even when I got married I was still playing and until I had my first child and I said, “I guess that’s it”. Interviewer: “So you are able to continue on some level and just because you leave the league it doesn’t stop all that?” Oh no, I said, “It’s the love of the game, whether it’s baseball or softball”. It just draws you back to it one way or another. Interviewer: “Did you have a professional career of some kind after that? Did you go to work again or did you just raise your family?” No, I worked in an office until after I got married and I was expecting my first child and at that time, when you were expecting, you stayed home and took care of your children. 19:56 I didn’t go back to work until—my husband was a barber and the barber business went downhill in the seventies, so I went back to work, but I love to drive always, so I 11 �said, “well, if I go to an office again, It’ll just put the clothes on my back”, so I became a school bus driver. I had my summers off and when my kids were off, I was off at the same time, so it was good. Interviewer: “At the time you were playing, did you have any sense that you were doing something significant or pioneering or anything like that?” Had no idea and you went home and like most, you didn’t talk about it until the movie came out. I said, “my goodness, that was something wonderful”, I thought, that you got acknowledged and even my son said, and blames my daughter, “You haven’t been to Cooperstown?” 21:00 He’d get so mad at her and he said, “Your mother’s in Cooperstown and you haven’t even gone to see it”. I can’t get over the enthusiasm of the people you know, they come and we sign autographs and they wait so patiently in line and they say, “thank you and excuse me, I don’t mean to bother you”. They don’t want to interrupt what you’re doing and I said, “It’s just wonderful and I say thank you to them, because if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have been where we are now”, I believe that. Interviewer: “As things changed for women in sports, the Title IX developments in the seventies and eighties and so forth, were you following that or paying much attention to it?” Yeah, I was, we, Mary Pratt and I, say we were born too soon, but I said I think it’s wonderful that girls now can get a scholarship to play softball or golf or to swim, I said it was a long time in coming. 22:05 I don’t know if there’s still parody, but it’s getting there and it’s ten thousand times better than when we started. 12 �Interviewer: “I think that has something to do with why people appreciate what is was that you did. I mean you did not have all these structures in place to help you and people didn’t think that women actually went into playing baseball at all. Now, for you personally, what do you think the overall effect of that experience was on you, getting to play professional ball for a year?” 22:38 I just think it made me a better person, really. You learned to live with everybody, I don’t mean that it’s hard to live with anybody, but I said, to have Cubans like Lefty Alvarez, and different cultures and you get along and you were a team, you weren’t just individual. When they said they would go into Cooperstown as a team rather than individual players, I think that’s the way, because the song says it all you know, “All for one and One for All”, and if you didn’t have that I don’t think you would have the uniqueness of the league truly. 23:22 Interviewer: “It’s really a remarkable experience and I would like to thank you for coming in and sharing some of that with us today.” Thank you 13 �14 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Interviews Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was started by Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, during World War II to fill the void left by the departure of most of the best male baseball players for military service. Players were recruited from across the country, and the league was successful enough to be able to continue on after the war. The league had teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and operated between 1943 and 1954. The 1954 season ended with only the Fort Wayne, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Rockford teams remaining. The League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. Many of the players went on to successful careers, and the league itself provided an important precedent for later efforts to promote women's sports. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-58)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Sports for women World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Oral history Baseball players--Minnesota Baseball players--Indiana Baseball players--Wisconsin Baseball players--Michigan Baseball players--Illinois Baseball for women--United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-58 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-10-02 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-58_HLaCamera Title A name given to the resource LaCamera, Helen (Interview transcript and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource LaCamera, Helen Description An account of the resource Helen La Camera was born in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1931. She grew up playing sports with neighborhood kids, and started playing organized softball in eighth grade. Her coach, Mary Pratt, had played in the AAGPBL, and arranged for her to try out in 1950. She was invited to spring training following the tryouts, and became the third baseman for the Fort Wayne Daisies. She played for one season, and then returned home, got married, and continued to play softball for several years. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) Video recordings All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Baseball for women--United States Baseball Sports for women World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Baseball players--Indiana Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-08-05 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-55)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fa4cfd7aaa7886e0b5efcf7699353c22.jpg 2cda8968f9c2dc9be4fe80114a8a8eb4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Red-Misc-40 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996 Title A name given to the resource LACE-y Aunts Pack a Punch Description An account of the resource The second page of the Red Barn Playhouse's What's Happening? which includes several articles that gives reviews of several of the shows being performed at the theatre. It also has an article about set design. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Community theater Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of Local History from the Saugatuck Douglas History Center for the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9ca91692cd343045d1ac3ff1bb7765e2.pdf 7f5d56a5f52107db4c2137c69a5e74b0 PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Lacey Smith Interviewer: Jose Jimenez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 10/19/2012 Runtime: 01:37:30 Biography and Description Oral history of Lacey Smith, interviewed by Jose “Cha-Cha” Jimenez on October 19, 2012 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. "The Young Lords in Lincoln Park" collection grows out of decades of work to more fully document the history of Chicago's Puerto Rican community which gave birth to the Young Lords Organization and later, the Young Lords Party. Founded by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, the Young Lords became one of the premier struggles for international human rights. Where thriving church congregations, social and �political clubs, restaurants, groceries, and family residences once flourished, successive waves of urban renewal and gentrification forcibly displaced most of those Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, working-class and impoverished families, and their children in the 1950s and 1960s. Today these same families and activists also risk losing their history. �Transcript LACEY SMITH: I wasn’t a brother or something. I was a cuz. I was a cuz, all right? I was a cuz. I don’t know how it grew out the way it did, but, I mean, we’re cousins and I guess that’s pretty much because of the groups that they -(break in audio) JOSE JIMENEZ: Okay. Okay, Lacey. Where were we at? Where were we at? We were talking about -LS: About how -- JJ: Oh, we’re still in (inaudible). LS: Developing a coalition and stuff. Yeah, you know, like different approaches to -- JJ: Yeah, we had different approaches. LS: -- the problem, and we never argue and fight. Sometimes (inaudible) one another, but, you know, the cause was still for people in the community, and that’s, I think -- JJ: Yeah, you guys were doing your own thing with the youth. LS: Well, you know -- JJ: We were trying to do our thing. LS: You were doing your thing as far as what you were doing, but -- JJ: What did you think when the People’s Park was taken over? LS: No problem. I went to the festivals and stuff you know what I’m saying? You had the carnival and stuff there, you know, for a whole week and everything. No, I mean, you’re in our corner. (inaudible) on the corner, remember? 1 �JJ: (inaudible). LS: No, there was no problem. [00:01:00] It’s about doin’ things that are positive for the community. I doesn’t have to be down with a particular ethnic group. The community as a whole because, when there’s a mixture, things go good. It’s when you don’t have a mixture, and you don’t want this colored skin there or this particular person there, that’s always a problem because there’s somebody else - “I wanna be with them.” The same as when I came to St. Michael’s. There were people who you can go to their house and feel comfortable ’cause they’ll take you in?, and there were people like, I don’t know how to explain it, “Get that nigger out of my house,” or, “I don’t want my kids hanging out with them, Puerto Ricans, and spics, and stuff like that.” And the first person their daughter married was a boy -- “I don’t want that kid” -- they fell in love with them. And, at one time, now, Halsted was a lot of hillbillies and stuff like that, you know? And they, once again, also -- they may be white in skin, but they’re black as far as their culture and the way they’re raised, and they hung out with us and stuff like that. The same -- they [00:02:00] ate rice and beans, and their daughter married a Puerto Rican or vice versa. Once again -- JJ: So, there was that kind of stuff going on in the neighborhood, or --? LS: Yes, it was goin’ -- I mean, everyone is not prejudiced, and everyone wasn’t. JJ: So, “Get him out of here.” LS: Hey, I ain’t gonna fight ’em. Might as well join ’em. (inaudible). No, and there were other things that united us, drag racing especially. JJ: Oh, yeah, talk about the -- 2 �LS: (inaudible) drag racin’. I had been in a whole bunch of different things, which has made me a better person, once again. JJ: What was the drag racing? Where was that --? LS: Clybourn. JJ: Okay, and how was that? How was that? LS: It was good. You know, we raced the cars (inaudible) Wooly Bully. JJ: Wooly Bully, yeah. LS: Yeah, and we had the car with the -- JJ: Who was the other one? LS: The other car we had? Chances Are, that was us. JJ: Chances Are? LS: Chances Are. That was Wilson’s car, Louie, (inaudible) -- JJ: Okay, so everybody had a car -- different names? LS: Oh, of course. JJ: And then, we went on Clybourn, but how do you -- LS: When we challenge -- JJ: -- (inaudible) it’s against the law? How did you [00:03:00] do that? LS: So, it was crossing the street against the light. All right? Been goin’ drag racing in those -- JJ: Sometimes, there were cops there. LS: And sometimes there weren’t. Okay? And that -- JJ: So, was that --? LS: And that was a sport. That was a good sport. 3 �JJ: So, we had Chances Are, and who else (inaudible)? LS: Well, Wooly Bully was Tucson’s car and everything. People used to come from all around Chicago to show their car. I mean, that was a sport. You know, the best car wins, and next -- JJ: Why did they come to Clybourn? LS: Because Clybourn was a street that went straight down without interference. JJ: It was the factories -- LS: Factories was closed at nighttime, and so was Elston Avenue, and that’s what -excuse me. During the week, you work on the car. You go to work every day, and you check the -- put the new transmission in there or buy the hits for the carburetor and stuff like that. You know, (inaudible). That, once again, was little cliques also. So, we had another community. We had an awful lot of -- JJ: Right, ’cause that was a clique -- wasn’t that mainly [00:04:00] Paragons? LS: No. We had around -- JJ: Imperial Aces too. LS: Well, Louie, myself, Wilson, and Mike, Carmello and stuff like -- I mean, Carmello was (inaudible) -- Angelo. We were all part of that little clique there with Wilson and stuff like that. Then, you had Tucson there, and he had a whole bunch of the guys from the South End, which, at the time, was (inaudible) station on North Clybourn and Halsted. And then, that was a good way of unitin’ people because you got everybody, any color there, had their money and their blood and sweat in their car, and you want to perform, and the place to perform was on Clybourn Avenue on Friday night or Saturday night, and who give a doggone about the 4 �pigment of your skin with that car performing? Unity. You know? And, unfortunately, yeah, it was against the law. It’s against the law in any state, but it still happens. JJ: Yeah, but, I mean, but, usually, it wasn’t bothered. Nobody got [00:05:00] bothered. LS: Well, for a long time, it wasn’t bothered. On Sundays, we took the car out to the track because we had tested it already the night before. But, no, we’ve had some weird thing that have happened to us. No, we’ve had some people that were killed there on the strip there, you know, car rolled or some idiot stood up in front of a car and the car came by, chewed them up. Those things happen, but, as far as the safety aspect of it, it was US 30 or the Grove, you know. But, no, we ran the streets. JJ: In fact, people went to the -- LS: Oh, you know -- JJ: -- drag races. LS: You got hundreds of people, man. It was on Fullerton too, right there, off of Ogden. Yeah, hundreds and hundreds of people. JJ: Hundreds of people out there. LS: Yeah, you know, and people out there -- you run startin’, like, midnight until five, six o’clock in the morning, runnin’ from here down to 51st Street. I mean, it was a thing. JJ: You mean they would drive through the neighborhood with the cars and (inaudible)? 5 �LS: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. JJ: (inaudible). LS: No, you could tell who’s workin’ on a car?. They start it up. “Oh, someone’s workin’ [00:06:00] in the garage.” But, you know, a street machine pretty much -unless you had an exhaust on that where you can drop the headers?, was pretty much for the track-- JJ: What year was this? What year was this? LS: I don’t know. ’66, ’69, something like that. No, when I met up with Tucson, and the guys -- they were already into that, you know? I was just a follower, which also taught me those skills. All mechanics. JJ: Okay, so, you had a car too? LS: No. No. JJ: Did you just kinda work with them? LS: I hung out with the guys there. I learned about cars and so on and so forth like that, and (inaudible). I mean -- JJ: Where did you guys hang out at? LS: By the garages. JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah, right there, off Kenmore and (inaudible). Tucson’s there, you know. Then, we had the one -- Wilson. We were right there on Dayton and Armitage. No, no. Fremont and Armitage. Yeah, Fremont and stuff like that, you know. It’s a little skill, all mechanics and people from the neighborhood came by. They were cheering for you to get the car right. When you get it running, [00:07:00] they 6 �follow you around. (inaudible) some people and stuff. Other kids, you know, they admire you already from bein’ -- once again, leadership, keeping kids positive. And, before you know it, some kid’s graduating out of eight grade, high school, and he’s saved his money up, and he bought himself a car. Okay? So, I mean, everything snowball, but the thing is -- there were people, you know, always try to keep our race, our people, from growing, and that was a way of growing also. Some things you just couldn’t stop. JJ: St. Teresa’s used to throw dances too. LS: Used to throw dances, a few dances at St. Teresa’s also, yeah. Yeah. JJ: ’Cause I remember we used to go there with our cars. LS: Yeah. I mean, those were Model Ts, stuff like that, you know, in those little (inaudible). JJ: Brand new cars. LS: Yeah. Okay. See, that’s when you stay away from ’em. That was the time you stay away from ’em. JJ: (inaudible). LS: [00:08:00] But, you know, that was another learning experience, and -- JJ: But didn’t we do that? It wasn’t there? LS: I don’t think about the stuff like that. I never get involved with stuff like that. But being in the Near North, Lincoln Park area from the time I started there up until the time I married and moved out, which I was -- everybody from the community would then leave. They always would still come back. Come back to hang or you come back to visit, and, for the most part, you’ll find a lot of people that’s 7 �never grew out of the neighborhood. You know, they’re still in the same corner, and they envy you for havin’ a job. JJ: They would move out, but they came back. LS: They move out. They still come back. That’s the hangout. And there were some people -- “Oh, man, you got a job. You think you’re better than us now, huh?” Well, no, you got a family to support. Of course you’re not gonna hang on the corner drinkin’ with your money and roll dice and stuff, you know? And lot of us - I would say a very large percent of us progressed to pick a job in the city. I [00:09:00] think (inaudible), may he rest in peace also. Lot of us grew. We got families and stuff like that, you know? JJ: So, there were jobs in the city that were -- LS: Some people got jobs in the city. Some people got job with corporations and stuff like that. Can’t remember exactly -- [Nestor?], you know, he grew, and he went -- he works in Washington right now for -- I’m not gonna say which government he was with. He works for the government also. JJ: There’s a -- LS: We all grew. JJ: We got a couple governments? LS: Well, you know, there are different -- JJ: You mean different parties. LS: Different departments -- JJ: Different parties. LS: -- of the government, yeah, of the -- and -- 8 �JJ: Homeland security, you’re talking about. LS: No, not home security. I’m not gonna mention the department, okay? But everyone grew out to do things positive, and there are some who weren’t so successful, you know? And either you go with the flow or you don’t, and you can’t sit in the corner, drinkin’ wine your entire life. If you’re in the corner drinkin’ wine from the time you’re 15 years old ’til the time you’re [00:10:00] 50something, it’s definitely wrong. Okay? If you’re living in your mother’s house and you’re 50, something is definitely wrong. Okay? And we find out those people who settle down, you know, marry and have a few kids and stuff, you know, succeeded. All right? And, of course, there are some that didn’t succeed. Like you and I, two or three wives, all right? But no. But, nevertheless, though -- JJ: [Hey, you can’t put that in?]. LS: -- the drive was always there. The drive was always there to keep rollin’. Got you. All right? The drive was always there to do better, and, you know, the thing that also [still would unite?] was still about people. Okay? Although I’m not in the field of social work anymore, you know, if I was going through Cabrini-Green this very moment and I see some of my old kids, which -- I run into them all the time in the neighborhood in Lincoln Square. I’m still called Mr. Smith or Mr. BUILD, or see someone with a kid. They say, “Oh, this is the guy who [00:11:00] helped us when we were doin’ this and that,” you know? “If you were around, you wouldn’t be doin’ like this and stuff.” I told you there were -- I knew this type of person, and be a neighbor and help people. They don’t forget it. Family, individuals that you know, the guys in jail and stuff like this, going to court to 9 �represent them. “You’re in jail again? Okay, here’s my last 20 dollars.” Things like this, you know? Especially with some programs that I was involved in when I worked with youth as an advocate. You know, you represent them along with the parent in court. They don’t forget those type of things. Walter Washington, I seen not long ago. “Oh, man, Mr. Smith,” all this stuff. Joy Smith at the CabriniGreen. (inaudible). He’s now a state trooper, and, I mean, these kids have gone on to be successes, and I feel good, and I see them, and especially if they’re -oh, yeah. I remember -- yeah, used to go play football [00:12:00] at DePaul out on the side. Used to play tag football. Flag football on Saturdays and Sundays. Janice, I see every now and then in Logan Square by the eagle there. She’s still call me, “Mr. Smith.” She hugs me, you know? We call her Peanut Head now, jokin’ around and stuff, and she tells -- I met one of her kids about a month or so ago. JJ: But is that people you worked with when you were working with -- LS: BUILD. JJ: BUILD, okay. LS: Yeah, but, I mean, the Near North community also there at the time. JJ: And BUILD was a program that works with youth, the gang prevention. LS: Gang prevention, street work. All right? JJ: Street work. Street work. LS: And these same kids would know -- like, I remember I used to take kids [at 12:30, 11:50?], something like that, bring ’em up this end of town. “Oh, man. (inaudible) those people, all the --” Stuff like that. And I said, “No, (inaudible). 10 �That’s what a sport is. You go, and you do your best.” And come out, the whole bunch of them turned around in the marriage. They became good friends and stuff like [00:13:00] that. So, sports also do it for almost anything, and it eliminates boundaries. All right? So, therefore, instead of bein’ afraid to come out from Division Street (inaudible) Armitage and Fullerton. I mean, there was no problem because, all of a sudden, they know someone. You have no fear. You’re gonna come here (inaudible), would you? Because you go over there for the purpose of sports. You go there for a seminar. JJ: So, have you seen people change through that sport? LS: Oh, yes. I’ve seen many people -- some of those I mentioned to you. They’ve changed. Maybe in their heart, they may be (inaudible) or whatever it may have been, or the (inaudible), but they grew up to be a man, and me, I’m a man first. What you did 20, 30 years ago, all right? Fine. It’s in your heart, maybe, but you’re not walkin’ around, carrying that pistol. Your purpose is not to go out there and find another Puerto Rican. See what I’m sayin’? Puerto Ricans are not going out, sayin’, “I’m gonna blow me away a white boy,” ’cause a man he has become. “Oh, man, I don’t want my kids with no Black --” You know, as a matter of fact, I can’t [00:14:00] think of too many Puerto Rican families that ain’t got Blacks in ’em, and it’s not so much from the islands that deal with slavery. It’s because, right now, there’s no prejudice that I’ve ever seen, and the mixing was never a problem. So, therefore, you can find a Puerto Rican -- I’m not gonna say Latino overall, okay? I know some Latinos, they got that little thing, but Puerto Ricans, you know, you’re gonna say, “Don’t bring that Black kid home,” or, “I’m 11 �not gonna do this.” You know, they accept. I can’t think of anyone, actually, (inaudible) with their kid. “Don’t do this and that.” I never seen it. We’re a colorful race. Mixing’s no problem. He or she who has a problem with mixing really has a problem because you’re not gonna survive anyplace else outside of where we grew up here. JJ: Growing up in Lincoln Park, what other activities? We mentioned the car races. What other --? LS: Well, car racing was a sport on itself. Boxing. All right? I got boxing, the YMCA. [00:15:00] Saxton and I represent the neighborhood, and we were the neighborhood champions, you know. JJ: Saxton was there? LS: Saxton (inaudible), yeah. Saxton. (inaudible) JJ: (inaudible) who else? Who else boxed? LS: Well, Saxon and myself, pretty much. No one else held the classes well. All right? We held it at -- JJ: What about the women? What did they do? LS: Women? Well, you know, even all my work I did, I dealt with males pretty much. The women come along with the sports and stuff. I never really had too many programs for women other than the GED and typing. Okay? Better housing and stuff like that, you know, I never went into anything of that nature. JJ: No, no, I don’t mean that. What I’m trying to say on this is, like, what were some of the women involved in? LS: They were -- 12 �JJ: Not the ones you worked with but I mean just in general -- LS: Well -- JJ: -- in Lincoln Park. LS: -- as far as I can remember goin’ back, you know, I can’t recall women bein’ [involved in?] prostitution. I can’t remember that, or I have no knowledge of 00:16:00 it. Okay? Few drug dealer (inaudible) like that, you know. JJ: Drug dealing? LS: Drug dealing. (inaudible) and so on and so forth like that, but, for the most -- JJ: But not using. Just holding? LS: You know, if you’re doin’ one, you’re pretty much doin’ the other. JJ: So a few -- LS: All right? JJ: But not prostitution. LS: I don’t ever recall that. Now, I’m not gonna say they did not exist, but if it was a low profile, that’s the way it should stay in, okay? But -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: Pretty much, you know, just bein’ mothers, I can think of. JJ: Okay. Mothers. LS: Yeah. I’ve seen some women (inaudible), and I could. I seen them (inaudible) and stuff, and sociables. “Look at my man,” you know? But there wasn’t a hell of a lot of that. They were -- 13 �JJ: ’Cause, I mean, they had these women groups like the Imperial Queens, and the Young Lordettes, and what other groups did they have? The Paragons had women always with ’em. LS: Yeah, Lucy and the rest of them, and even some people like that, but you know what? [00:17:00] I don’t recall them being active as far as throwin’ down, you know. They were ladies. JJ: Throwing down. No -- LS: They were just ladies, you know, like no -- JJ: They were just ladies. LS: You know, the identification with them was like we dance ’cause, you know -- and then, the rest of them girls -- remember that? They can get down. And, thanks to them Saxton and I, we were kings of the dance floor also. But as far as doing things other than just bein’ the followers with us, mothers, some became. Others who just the way became lawyers, you know, moved to other states and stuff like that. That’s the role, pretty much, I remember them as bein’. JJ: What do you mean lawyers? They became lawyers? LS: Oh, we have several ladies from the groups that are lawyers or work for -- like, I think -- I’m not sure. I think Lucy Santos. I’m not sure. JJ: Lucy Santos? LS: I’m not sure, but I think so. There’s one other person I can’t think of tip of my head, but I’ve heard that. Okay? [00:18:00] Couple -- my wife Ida, my daughter Judy, her -- JJ: Which Ida are you talking? Not Ida Miranda? 14 �LS: No, no. Ida Miranda -- no, no, no, no. JJ: Did I meet your wife? LS: You probably knew her. Judy? Judy (inaudible)’s wife? JJ: Yeah. LS: Okay, this is her little sister. JJ: Oh, her sister. Okay. LS: Yeah. All right? Her godmother is a policewoman. She’s from the neighborhood, and, excuse me, I don’t remember her name exactly right now. But, you know, we went all directions. I mean, where the grass was green is open field. Our people went there, and apply, and we conquered, which is good. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Educated people own business and stuff. I think Juan owns a computer company, Juan [Cologne?], which was a Continental also. JJ: Oh, is he still around? LS: Yes, (inaudible). His sister Margaret with the CTA just retired. [00:19:00] Louie Laboy CTA, who just retired also. Luis Ayes, he retired. He’s in Puerto Rico. His -- JJ: Retired as a police? LS: Yeah. Pete Rivera. JJ: What happened with Pete? What does Pete do? LS: Pete -- he’s either in Florida or Puerto Rico. One of the two. I see him -- every now and then, he comes back, and he works with the Board of Election. Okay? 15 �JJ: Beau was a police, and who else? Beau, and who was that other guy, the heavyset one? They were pretty good, the -- LS: Beau just retired from the police department also. JJ: Yeah, he didn’t really bother people, but some other people that were police, and they thought they could just -- LS: I think I know who you’re speaking of. He was thrown off the force. I can’t think of his name right now, but, you know, like I said, doors are open, and we were in [with him?], and we got those jobs, whether it’s for the city, state, private, or whatever. Celso Rivera owns his own security company. Celso, once again, was a Continental also. JJ: Oh, Celso Rivera. LS: Yes. JJ: (inaudible). LS: [00:20:00] Exactly. JJ: I’m supposed to interview him. Do you see him? LS: No, I haven’t seen him in many, many years. JJ: So, he owns his own security --? LS: He owns his own security company, from what I understand. Okay? You know, we are positive people. JJ: And you said doors open up. How did doors open up? LS: Well, doors opened up -- JJ: When did that --? LS: -- because of education, one thing. Common sense is another. 16 �JJ: (inaudible). LS: Right? And the thrive, the thrive to succeed. There’s no such thing as you cannot do or, because you are that, you ain’t supposed to. Well, I think you are supposed to do, but, you know, you try it, and if it’s somethin’ where you can become a lawyer, go to school. JJ: Okay -- LS: All right? JJ: -- so, you’re saying doors open just in general. You don’t -- LS: Doors are there. JJ: You don’t mean that somebody opened the door. LS: Sometimes, someone open the door for you, take the chance of goin’ through, and there are people -- a lot of people don’t want -- everybody can’t be a cook, you know? Why should I be a cook when I can be an attorney? Why should I stay an attorney when I can become a judge? [00:21:00] Okay? And, once you’re in that school thing, you know, there’s a charm to keep going. You got your associate’s, your BA, so on and so forth. I mean, the hunger, and it turns out to be, you know, we got judges on TV. We got councilors. We have (inaudible), people in government. We can always succeed. I mean, it’s because of the individual. It’s not ’cause of the race if people won’t succeed who happen to be of that particular race. All right? And that’s what I mean by doors open, okay? Anyone who just sit back and is comfortable with being whatever is not gonna go very far. You don’t have to be Oscar -- what’s his name? The boxer. I mean, like, the name goes with the person. The person is trying to 17 �advance, and us. Name comes, and their surname is Latino, you know? And that’s a good thing. We should all -- [00:22:00] once again, the mixture. JJ: Okay. Where did you learn all these --? LS: ’Cause I felt then as I do now. Education. Learn it. JJ: I mean through the education. LS: Learn it, and go back, and use it. JJ: (inaudible) or what? I mean -- LS: Well, BUILD was the thing that helped me get that high school and that college education because, you know, like Jim used to tell us, “You can’t show me a certificate and no raise.” And that, in itself, was incentive, you know? So, come show my grades. Okay, fine. It wasn’t he was trying to choke us. He was trying to make a better person of us, and you grow, and the model of that BUILD was, as you progress, there’s young blood -- you know when it’s time to walk and the younger blood come in, and I don’t think of anyone who’s ever come through those doors and left hurting [00:23:00] or happy someone else came through. That was the purpose of bein’ (inaudible), so, when it’s time, you (inaudible) walk, you found something better than 10 dollars a month, as an example, you know, you can go in that direction. Jimmy Concilio, salesman, international, you know. Christie Maduro owns her own company. She’s promoting things. All these people are doin’ their thing, and the sky’s the limit. It’s a matter of what you want. JJ: Where did a lot of the people move to? I mean, I know that some moved to the suburbs or something like that. 18 �LS: I can’t tell you who moved to the suburbs. JJ: And how did you feel that we don’t -- that that place don’t exist no more? LS: What do you mean by that place? JJ: Armitage. LS: I don’t travel through very many times. I don’t drive anymore, and, as far as us being moved out -- JJ: That’s what I’m saying. LS: Okay. Well, you know, [00:24:00] we’ve been moved out a lot of places. Lincoln Park, Humboldt Park. As long as we don’t put into that mortar, we can always move it out ’cause, when you rent, got to go sooner or later. You got to own to be a part of, you know? You have to invest in your community. JJ: Yeah, but, I mean, we did invest. LS: But, still, when people came by, gave you the offer, you ran. How many --? JJ: No, no. I’m saying -- LS: How many from all of us in the groups that we knew bought a house? JJ: Okay -- LS: Or bought a building? JJ: No, no, but you were with the Concerned Puerto Rican Youth. That’s a good point about buying a building, but you were a Concerned Puerto Rican Youth. We were with the Young Lords. People were driving cars. I mean, you said some were lawyers, some were -- LS: They invested in someplace else. JJ: Yeah, but that neighborhood’s not there. You’re saying it was our fault? 19 �LS: Well, I’ll tell you what. Yes and no. JJ: Okay. That’s what -- LS: We didn’t have the knowledge that we should invest [00:25:00] there or we wanted to get the heck out, invest someplace else for a better future. Okay? And that’s what people pretty much did. Now -- JJ: You don’t think they pushed us out? LS: Well, yeah. We were pushed, no. We were always bein’ pushed. JJ: I mean, I don’t want to put words in your mouth. LS: You’re not putting words in my mouth. We were always bein’ pushed all the time, but you know what? Some people are tired of bein’ pushed, and, you know, “I’m not gonna pay this high rent, so I’m gonna pay rent to something that’s mine,” and they went to the suburbs. That’s sensible, in a sense. And so, people, you know, they just want to live a peaceful life, have their kids grow up a peaceful area. Now -- they had to walk on the street and, “My kid got shot,” a drive-by. I mean -- JJ: Was it like that in Lincoln Park? LS: No, but it’s nowadays. JJ: Okay, nowadays, but I’m saying -- LS: Okay? But it’s not in our community. JJ: But, when we were getting pushed out, was it like that? LS: Like, Willy Core’s brother. JJ: Core? 20 �LS: Yeah. Remember? He was shot. They stabbed him to death on [00:26:00] Fremont and Armitage. JJ: What’s his name? LS: Core. Core. Remember? They stabbed him. JJ: Oh, Core. LS: Yeah. All right? No, that was all part of us not bein’ part of the community if you may recall back. Okay? But, I mean, there were all this kind of -- JJ: That’s one death. That’s one death. LS: Yeah, I mean, but that one was one too many. Okay? That was a force away because the comments they made afterwards was (inaudible) you know. JJ: Who made the --? LS: The gentleman killed him. I don’t remember the gentleman’s name. I wasn’t there when it even happened. Came up afterwards, but, you know, that was a thing against Puerto Ricans exactly where it was? okay? No -- JJ: You mean he got killed because of -- LS: It was something he did wrong. The guy ran. The guy caught him, and he stabbed him to death. I think it was behind the building over there or something. I don’t remember the whole thing. Let’s just go on, okay? JJ: That’s Core. That’s Core, okay. LS: I don’t remember the whole story. JJ: I wasn’t sure. LS: All right? But, you know, we are [00:27:00] a race not always to be challenged, but it has to be challenged because the sky’s the limit, and we should always try 21 �to reach it. You know? And there’s nothin’ wrong with that, and the way to that, once again, is education and being educated, but, as you’re being educated, teach. JJ: So, we had one death, Core. LS: Well, we’ve had -- JJ: And you’re saying the neighborhood was gang-infested because of that, or --? LS: Well, at that time, there was identification with belonging to so-called gang. Okay? But that particular instance there, I wasn’t there for it, and I don’t wanna go any farther because I’m not gonna blow it -- proportion. JJ: Okay, what I’m asking is do you still feel that, because of the gang and all that, that’s why we left? LS: I don’t think it’s because of the gang. I think of the person that’s being prejudiced. I don’t remember anyone tell me about gang. He was just a comment [00:28:00] racist cop. He made it after he killed him. All right? And -- JJ: Oh, you’re talking about that one incident. LS: Yeah. JJ: Okay. LS: Okay? And, no, we -- JJ: A white person did that? LS: Yeah. JJ: Okay. And he was from Lincoln Park. LS: He was right there, from the bar across the street on the corner. JJ: Oh, that happened in a bar. Is this a bar fight? 22 �LS: No. Something he had done, and the guy chased him out of the bar. JJ: Okay. He did something, but it was at the bar -- LS: Yeah, but he didn’t have to kill him. JJ: Okay, but I’m talking about the neighborhood. LS: The neighborhood itself at that time was -- JJ: They kicked us out of the neighborhood. LS: Oh, yeah. JJ: I’m saying that, but what are you saying? LS: Look at it this way. Actually -- JJ: I’m putting words in your -- LS: Yeah. When I settled down my wife, I didn’t put roots there because I couldn’t afford it. We went a long ways from 50 to 75 dollars a month in rent. The rent jumped big. That’s why, if you didn’t own somethin’ and kept it up, you’re gonna lose it one way or the other. Taxes or the city, [00:29:00] or your house was bein’ fixed, you know. I mean, one way or the other. So, it didn’t really hurt for us so much to move some people, all right? But, you know, a lot of us who moved from this neighborhood went to Humboldt Park, and there are people who went beyond Humboldt Park, and that’s understandable as far as I’m concerned ’cause you want to better yourself, your family, (inaudible). Each person should want their kids growing up to be better (inaudible), and that’s why I think it still should be for those who decide to stay there, rent there, stay right there if you can afford to. And it’s hard to afford to stay in this community, and education will only help so far there. You got to have (inaudible), you know? And lot of people 23 �don’t have it. You got to remember, we are poor people. We are a poor race. Okay? I don’t think many of us are born with spoons in our mouths. Can’t think of any of us, [00:30:00] as a matter of fact, you know? And it’s a changing community, just like other communities are changing, and he or she who is not financially stable or that so-called middle class they (inaudible) ’cause they’re middle class, man, or they had those dollars for the middle class -- I didn’t make that kind of money either. But they don’t talk about lower. They talk about middle. Okay? And I’ve had it rough pretty much my whole life. (inaudible) and stuff. People will think you’re rich. Well, you know what? I am rich. I got this. I’m rich. I can think. Rationalize things. And God gave me this to use, and my parents put me through school to have that. I am rich. I’m not rich like that, though. And that can’t be taken away from you, man, really. Money come and go. This is memories. (inaudible). [00:31:00] I got the big ones up there, like the next person does, that you retain. JJ: Memories. What kind of memories? I mean, you know what I’m saying? LS: I remember all kinds of -- I remember a lot of good things, and I remember a whole lot -- probably more -- bad times, and I have been -- JJ: Which one do you want to start with? The good or the bad? LS: Well, we’ve talked about that, pretty much, though, and I don’t wanna repeat it because -- JJ: Okay. LS: All right? I want to move on. JJ: Okay. What are you moving on to? 24 �LS: This is Friday, may I remind you? JJ: You’re using up my brain. LS: Done that already. All right? But no, I’ve talked about pretty much the good and the bad as far as that goes, you know? JJ: Yeah, what --? LS: I have covered a lot of this, you know? JJ: We’re gonna need a few more minutes (inaudible). LS: We? When did we become friends? I thought we’re Puerto Rican. (laughter) JJ: [00:32:00] So, give me some final thoughts. LS: Final thoughts is -- JJ: What’s the most important thing we got to -- to let the future -- you know, just to get an idea-- LS: The future should be love your brother and love your sister. In other words, live and let live, but be a part of that livin’, and, when it comes to heritage, stick as close by home as you possibly can so your kids can see you’re there for them. When a kid does not feel he has a family at home, the next step is the street, and we know that for a true fact. JJ: All right. Let me ask you -- we went different directions. I mean, we basically were always together, but some of us went different directions. LS: You went to the bar on this corner, I went to the bar on that corner? JJ: (inaudible), but I’m talking about -- some of us fought it, the thing with the city hall, and some didn’t, and whatever, that kind of stuff, but we [00:33:00] were all from the same neighborhood. 25 �LS: Sure. JJ: And so -- LS: It was progress to us one way or the other. JJ: We cared for our neighborhood. We were proud of our neighborhood. Would you agree, or no? LS: No. I cared for the neighborhood. I came back to teach once again. I came back to help bring more kids up. All right? And there were some people that just didn’t give a doggone one way or the other, and they’re (inaudible) of sucking things out the community with them. If I was able to help provide them with something or assistance, yes, but as far as me owing them anything, I think they had the same opportunity in life as I had. Maybe not everything with education to go to a private school and stuff, but, as far -- if you’re street-wise, you’re supposed to be smart enough to know, get off the corner. Don’t be shootin’ up dope. Don’t be trying to sell dope. Don’t look for the fast lane out. Make something of yourself to represent your race. Simple. [00:34:00] That’s it. JJ: That’s it? LS: Yes, sir. JJ: Okay. LS: That’s it. JJ: That’s it? All right, that’s it. (inaudible). All right. (break in audio) P1: On completion of the interview, recording (inaudible) the recording belongs both to Grand Valley State University -- 26 �(break in audio) JJ: Say something. Testing, one, two, three, whatever. LS: Testing, one, two, three. The day is October 19, 2012. JJ: Okay, that’s -- (break in audio) JJ: Okay, Lacey, if you can give me your name and -- LS: A little background? JJ: -- where you were born or what you were -- LS: Okay. My name is Lacey Smith. My early youth years is from the Southwest Side, I guess you would say. (inaudible) Taylor Street there, the Jewtown area. And I -- JJ: Maxwell Street, Jewtown area. And, okay, when were you born, about? What year? LS: I’m born in the mid-’40s. JJ: Oh, the mid-’40s? Okay. LS: Yeah. Okay? JJ: And you were born here in Chicago? LS: Yeah, and I found out, you know, like -- JJ: So, you said you were from [00:35:00] -- you call it Jewtown? LS: Well, Jewtown was not that far away from us, okay? I lived off the Loomis area, south of Roosevelt Road, then the projects. JJ: Oh, Loomis. Oh, by the projects. LS: Yeah. And we moved over there, and -- 27 �JJ: So, in the projects, and what -- you said Loomis, but what other the street? Was it Jackson, or --? LS: No, no. The migration of Puerto Ricans first coming to Chicago were pretty much around Jackson and Loomis, around that area. Okay? JJ: Okay, Jackson and Loomis. Okay. LS: You know, and our family, we lived south of Roosevelt Road there. As a matter of fact, 13th and Loomis is where our family lived in the projects there, and we went there in the late ’50s. All right? And transferring from the school I came from on the Far West Side, I went to Medill Elementary School, which, after a while -- went from there to St. Joseph’s. St. Joseph’s -- JJ: Oh, you went to St. Joseph’s? LS: Yeah. St. Joseph’s [00:36:00] closed after my first year or so there, and we went to Holy Family, and, attending Holy Family, we found out a little bit more about more about prejudism, prejudism, prejudism. As a youth -- JJ: What do you mean, prejudism? Prejudism, what do you mean? LS: Well, Holy Family was a primarily -- a white school. Okay? JJ: This is St. Joseph’s? LS: No, St. Joseph was right in the middle of the projects there, and, whether being Puerto Rican or being Mexican, only way you knew what that meant was you was white as a sheet. Otherwise, everyone was the same. All right? But, nevertheless, you would see the Blacks pickin’ on a couple of Mexican kids who were in school, and, you know, as far as Puerto Rican, they knew of, like, the 28 �Laboy family and stuff like that, myself. We were all from the same area. Louie Laboy, his brother José, and the rest of them. (inaudible). JJ: Oh, Louie Laboy? LS: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. JJ: He was from Loomis? LS: Yeah. They lived on 14th, right there off of Hastings in the projects, right across from the school. That’s how we met. JJ: ’Cause they later lived in Lincoln Park, right? LS: [00:37:00] They moved from there up to the North Side, and I think they lived on the lower part of Sedgwick. I’m not really sure. JJ: They’re right around Sedgwick? LS: All right? I remember, though, before he went to the service, he did live right there, behind the old bank there, off Ogden there, and they put the townhouses through that. JJ: Right, I remember Ogden. Yeah, that was a big -- LS: Yeah. Okay. You know, and -- JJ: So, Ogden, and that’s by Madison, isn’t it? LS: No. Ogden -- right here by North Avenue, down the street from the -- JJ: Oh, by North --? LS: Yeah, by the YMCA there, the Ogden YMCA. JJ: Oh, that’s where they lived? LS: They lived not too far away from that, yeah, you know, and that’s how I -(inaudible) the boys, I met them in the projects there. We’re third, fourth, fifth 29 �grade and so on like that, so that’s back -- even probably like ’55 or so. So, we migrated to the North Side. The rest of the Puerto Ricans (inaudible), and I say, after Puerto Ricans left, I live, work, and survive for the Latin and Puerto Rican cause. Okay? So, therefore, (inaudible) identification of me, I am always gonna say I’m Puerto [00:38:00] Rican, and I always will. Wife, kids, environment, jobs, everything that way. Okay? And -JJ: What was your mom and dad’s name? LS: My mom’s name is Lucille. JJ: Lucille? LS: Yeah. My father’s name is Lacey, which I’m after. JJ: Lacey? LS: Yeah. JJ: Okay, but were they born in Chicago too, or no? LS: My mother’s from Mississippi, and my father, of course, is from Puerto Rico. Okay? So, I go, you know, on the lower side of, as they say, you go with your father’s -- JJ: So, your father was Puerto Rican? LS: My father’s Puerto Rican. Okay? But there’s this long story behind that, and also as far as my last name, okay? But, in the interim of growing up on the North Side, I found there was more prejudice up there than there was on the Lower Side, while living in projects because -- JJ: Now, did you learn Spanish from your father? LS: Spanish is something you had to pick up as you went along -- 30 �JJ: As you went along. LS: Because, in the household, that wasn’t a main language as far as having it mixed and stuff like that. No, it was pretty much Black always and everything, you know? And, for the few family members that -- they’d come to our house and stuff -- either [00:39:00] were afraid to come to the projects or, you know, they were on the outside. So -- JJ: Well, your father spoke Spanish in the house. LS: Not very, very -- no. To whom? All right? So, my interest of knowing the other side -- I grew up thirsty for finding out cultures, language. JJ: Right, ’cause you grew up with Puerto Ricans all your life, right? LS: All my life, pretty much, but the mixture in the projects -- there was pretty much Black, okay? And the only time -- JJ: You got the same problem I got (inaudible). LS: Well, my biggest problem was, like, when crossin’ Taylor Street, I would get my tail kicked by Italians for being Black, and, going back across Roosevelt Road, going to the projects, I got my butt kicked for being Latin, you know? And the most time there we were really blending in with the Blacks there was because it was sports. And, as a matter of fact, Mingo was from the same area, and so was Joe [Ramos?] also. JJ: Oh, Mingo’s from there too? LS: Down from the project area also. JJ: From the projects over there by Taylor? 31 �LS: No, south of it. In the middle of South Roosevelt Road there, [00:40:00] between Roosevelt and 15th Street. JJ: Right, okay. Those (inaudible). LS: Okay? And -- JJ: That’s where Mingo came from? LS: (inaudible), yeah. And -- JJ: So, the Laboys were from there? LS: The Laboys were from the [doghouses?] there. We’re in the row houses there, and Joe [Ramos?] was on my street. (inaudible) was there, but we all met up coming to the school. JJ: Were there a lot of Puerto Ricans there at that time? LS: Oh, yeah, you because, in the ’50s and ’60s, low-income -- JJ: This was early ’50s? LS: Mid-’50s, something -- yeah. Low-income housing always. Rent was like 45, 55 dollars a month, and they put -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah. I think Mingo was on 15, 10, something he lived in. I’m not sure. So, he was in the high rise, and we’re from the lower part of the projects. Anyway, we really didn’t unite until after we were up in the North Side. Okay? And -- JJ: So, you didn’t know each other then. LS: We knew each other, but we weren’t tight. JJ: You weren’t united. 32 �LS: Yeah. You know, we went to school together. Once in a while, we’d play in the schoolyards at lunchtime and stuff like that, but, as far as hangin’, no, we didn’t do. Okay? Our hangin’ became -- JJ: Now, was that the only place you grew up at when you were [00:41:00] younger? LS: Pretty much, as I can remember. That’s where my independency, some would call, came after four, fifth grade. You know, you can go places, and the parents wouldn’t all that worry about you except for, being in the projects, there was always a problem because you had the tall houses, the flat houses, the doll houses, and that created a problem within itself. There were times you can’t turn that corner. You can’t leave the block, and that’s the way we were, so, therefore, seeing some of your friends after school was almost impossible. School was the place that you met one another. All right? But, for those of us or them who moved away, we saw each other in another neighborhood, community. We were glad to see one another, and, therefore, that gave us that unity. All right? And that occur -- JJ: Was this before the university was there? LS: Oh, the university was part of the thing that took a lot of the people out of the community ’cause they were starting to build it [00:42:00] by that time, so it displaced a whole lot of people. JJ: So, what do you mean? LS: The expressway came through, first of all, to take people’s houses, and the university came through, took houses. JJ: What do you mean? 94? 33 �LS: Hmm? JJ: 94? That expressway? LS: 94 came through, yeah. JJ: So, where did people drive before? LS: There was no expressways coming through there. There weren’t any expressways at all coming -- 94, none of that stuff was there. Expressways were a new thing coming through Chicago. JJ: You’re talking about 1950, then. LS: I’m talking about in the mid-’50s. There was no so-called named -- Eisenhower was being built -- JJ: Oh, the Eisenhower -- LS: -- (inaudible) -- JJ: Oh, the Eisenhower. LS: -- was being built, and the Dan Ryan thereafter was connected with it. JJ: Okay, but it was the Eisenhower that wasn’t built. LS: Eisenhower, I believe, was pretty much in place, and I could be wrong about this, but I remember the most about the Dan Ryan going through. JJ: Okay, the Dan Ryan, the 94. LS: Yeah. I remember the most about that because -- JJ: So, that was being built. LS: Yeah, that was being built, you know, [00:43:00] and, at the same time that was going through, U of I also had the campus bein’ built there also. JJ: So, did that divide the neighborhood? 34 �LS: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It sure did, no, because, for those Latins who live east of Halsted had no place to go, so they had to relocate, and, for the Blacks -- JJ: Oh, so, the expressway -- there were Latins living there. LS: Oh, yeah. There was Latins in there, all the way -- going up by -- I would say as far as Jackson, going up pretty much there. All right? On that side. We still have some family homes and stuff over there. JJ: So, they lived east of Halsted. LS: They live east of Halsted. They live west of Halsted. They live right there on Taylor Street. They live on Morgan -- JJ: On Halsted? Right around Halsted? LS: It was scattered. Everyone was pretty much scattered. JJ: Okay, so -- LS: But, you know, the main location was pretty much down Jackson. JJ: Jackson was the main street? LS: Yeah, pretty much. Latinos were there and everything. All right? JJ: ’Cause they used to go down Madison, though, [00:44:00] so Madison was -- LS: Madison area, as a matter of fact -- speaking of Madison stuff -- JJ: You said down Madison, but they meant Jackson too. LS: Madison, Jackson, all that same area. Adams and stuff. That was a real, strong, pretty much, Black and -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah. You know, as a matter of fact, I can still think -- JJ: This was in the mid-’50s. 35 �LS: This was the ’50s, yeah. That was -- JJ: So, that was Black and Latino. LS: Yeah. There were those -- JJ: And there was no expressway at the time. LS: There was no expressway. The expressway was comin’ through, and this -- JJ: And that divided up and displaced people. LS: That displaced people altogether, you know? It wasn’t so much divided us because that area was predominantly Black, as it was, the Italian side was still pretty much as it was. JJ: Where was the Italian side? What area? LS: Well, Taylor Street there. Flournoy. Harrison was pretty much mixed, and Lexington and stuff like that. That’s where, pretty much, the Italians were. All right? They really didn’t go across Roosevelt Road. They stayed in that little area right there, goin’ by Morgan, Aberdeen, back to Halsted. In between the Blue Island Street there, [00:45:00] which no longer really runs that far. Racine. In that area right there, you know, and the Pompeii School, which is no longer in existence, but that was the area, and, pretty much still, now, somewhat is. All right? Although they pretty much moved out much farther west. And, as I said, you know, goin’ -- JJ: Where were the Mexicans? LS: Mexicans were pretty much goin’ farther southwest, 18th Street. JJ: Oh, they were 18th. LS: 18th Street, and they went down to Halsted, and they went -- 36 �JJ: You said they were on Taylor too. LS: There were some, but there weren’t a whole, whole lot. JJ: But there was Puerto Ricans then. LS: There was a mixture on Taylor Street one time, pretty much, you know, and -- JJ: ’Cause I know they had a Spanish Mass at St. Francis. LS: St. Francis of Assisi’s Church still stands today. That was always Mexican church. All right? You had your Spanish -- yeah, right. Holy Family had -- I guess you would say the majority of [00:46:00] Anglo. When we started to go there, that was a little bit of a problem ’cause there was the bleedover, pretty much. And then, the Latinos were kicked to the curb, pretty much, especially for Puerto Ricans, for sure. Okay? Mexicans were already pretty much accepted, but, being Puerto Rican, it was like saying, like, this was poison in your drink. Okay? And we were treated different. In other words, you know, we have different cultures. Okay? And that was something that divided us also. So, you pick and choose who you’re gonna be, pretty much, with, you know? JJ: Okay, so that’s important. The neighborhoods were segregated by culture. You know, divided -- LS: By force. JJ: Divided by culture. LS: By force. Culture -- Latinos -- still in the mix with Latinos and stuff, but, in between there, before Puerto Ricans were becoming so-called Mexicans, which a lot of people -- and even now -- don’t know the difference between a Mexican 37 �and a Puerto Rican or Cuban, [00:47:00] and, listenin’ to ’em arguing, I would know by dialect, pretty much. Everybody was called Mexican, okay? JJ: Okay, at that time. LS: And you could never differentiate who or what. Okay? Blacks would call you all Puerto Rican. We were kinda using spics. JJ: Okay, so they meant there were a lot of Mexicans, but it was mixed, you’re saying. LS: Mexicans were the majority, just like 18th Street is today. Okay? Anything going the other side of the (inaudible), which meant from 15th Street going down back to 26th, was Mexican. Okay? JJ: Okay. From 15th Street down? LS: Yeah, because 14th Street was dividing where the Blacks would go, all right? So, comin’ back from Jewtown, back to Ashland, section was all Black. The projects were there, which were just being built in the late ’50s. Okay? The schools -- JJ: So, the other side of the project was Mexican. LS: South. JJ: So, actually, 18th Street, there was still -- basically, that was there -- LS: [00:48:00] From the beginning. JJ: -- for a long time. From the beginning. LS: From the beginning pretty much, as far as I know. Okay? And, as I said, after St. Joseph’s School was closed, well, those of us who went to that Catholic school were automatically going to Holy Family. JJ: What year did you go to St. Joseph’s? 38 �LS: I don’t actually recall exactly, tell you the truth. Exactly, no. Late ’50s. JJ: Oh, late ’50s. LS: Late ’50s, yeah. Late ’50s, it was, all right? And -- JJ: Now, there was Puerto Ricans living around there. LS: Yeah. As I said, (inaudible) -- JJ: In the projects. LS: In the projects. (inaudible) family from there -- I mean, (inaudible). I mean, they lived in the projects. JJ: Okay, but they came from Roosevelt too. LS: What do you mean by “came from Roosevelt?” JJ: I thought they came from Roosevelt. LS: They lived in the projects from day one. JJ: Oh, those projects. LS: The projects I lived in, the same -- I lived in the Robert Taylor. JJ: Oh, you’re talking about Robert Taylor. LS: Robert Taylor. Okay? Robert Taylor, which was [00:49:00] called ABLA Homes. You had the seven stories, you had the fifteen stories, and they’re row houses, so that was the projects in between Ashland and Halsted and from Roosevelt -well, after they put the ABLA Homes there, you would pretty much say from Taylor Street back to 15. JJ: ABLA Homes? LS: Yeah, that was for three or four story houses. All right? That’s where Jane Addams, I think they call them. 39 �JJ: Oh, Jane Addams. LS: Jane Addams, yeah, and then, on the other side, south of Taylor there, Racine, they’re called the Cabrini, all right? Projects. Okay? Not the Cabrini-Green, but the Cabrini. Mother Cabrini, after the saint. So, that was pretty much, you know, where we were. We didn’t hang out as groups or any things like that. We was pretty much scattered, but we were young. Really, I don’t think I really knew much more about being called Puerto Rican and spic and stuff until we actually -probably might be [00:50:00] my eighth grade or so, perhaps, but one thing I would never forget -- JJ: And what school were you -- then? LS: I was in Holy Family. JJ: Holy Family? LS: Yeah. JJ: Now, Holy Family’s on the West Side? LS: Holy Family’s right next door to St. Ignatius. JJ: I don’t know where St. Ignatius is. LS: Okay. Main Street. Roosevelt. JJ: Main Street, okay. Roosevelt. LS: Okay? And goin’ to Blue Island, there. Okay? To this very day, I can never forget how hard they made things for -- JJ: That community was there for a while there. That’s the community they said was there from the ’40s, the Puerto Rican community there. 40 �LS: The Puerto Rican community was Jackson. All right? They went across in the area right there. All right? But, when the university came, anything that was Latino there lost out. Lookin’ from -- JJ: So, from Jackson south. LS: Jackson is pretty much south. JJ: Right, but Jackson goes east and west. LS: Jackson goes east and west, but you have Monroe, Adams -- JJ: But then you had the highway. You didn’t have the highway. LS: The highway is what [00:51:00] dispersed everyone, pretty much. JJ: So, where the highway is, the Eisenhower, that was Puerto Rican? That’s what you’re saying? LS: There was Latinos there. It was a very good mixture. Very good mixture. All poor. Okay? No one there was really, really rich. All the poor. Blacks, Latin, and a few whites. Okay? But the thing I will never forget is from leaving from St. Joseph, going into Holy Family there, I had a very, very hard time. You know, I’m not a real big smiler. Never have been. Okay? But I recall how prejudiced the nuns were, and it’s hard to believe somewhat, you know, people of the robe being prejudiced. They do exist. High school, preschool. JJ: But, I mean, did they say something to you, or --? LS: Say something -- you were treated horrible. I remember how I was kept after school, how, on the weekends, I was given a thing called JUG. [00:52:00] That was where they made you write 500 times a sentence on the board, so you left school Friday night until you returned Monday morning, that was a whole lot of 41 �work you had to do. All right? But I would never forget the time -- I don’t recall just what was said, how it was, but a nun smacked me with the old desk in the floor, and I flew a couple rows down. Okay? And I went home and told my parents. My parents came back. The nun was very upset. You know, “He doesn’t smile enough. He doesn’t do this enough.” But my work was always done. I was never a problem child. My sister got the same treatment, and several other families, the Bluestars, the Mazes, a whole bunch of us who went to St. Joseph’s, you know? And prejudism, I mean, is somethin’ that you learn automatically because there was a thing about Blacks and white. Even my friends, Raviolas. Raviolas. They lived on Racine there and Roosevelt, up top on the third [00:53:00] floor there. JJ: Raviolas? LS: Raviola, yeah, which I still see, the friends of mine. They were a Mexican family, and, you know, how they used to treat them -- it just seemed that those of us who went from St. Joseph over there, who weren’t accepted, (inaudible), like -- JJ: Now, you went to St. Joseph’s from -- LS: I went from St. Joseph’s to Holy Family. JJ: Okay. So, this must have been a different St. Joseph’s ’cause there’s a St. Joseph over by Orleans. LS: Yes, that’s totally different. JJ: That’s a different -- okay. LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: So, this St. Joseph was on what street? 42 �LS: 13th and Loomis. JJ: 13th and Loomis. LS: Right across the street from my house. JJ: I got you. That’s where I was -- LS: Okay. Yeah. And they closed that down, you know, so there -- JJ: Was there a mixed school? LS: We had somewhat of a mixture. We had Puerto Ricans there. We had a few Mexicans and stuff who live in the community and the projects. That’s a very poor area. So, when [00:54:00] they gave you places in the projects, you know, they gave the Latins there, and the Puerto Ricans and the Mexicans there, or poor, and you’re in a Black community. So, therefore, those parents who wanted so-called have their kids have a better education went to St. Joseph’s, and, after leaving Medill, and my family (inaudible) to pay the tuition for us to attend there, that’s where we ended up goin’. From far as I can remember, I liked it. I wanted to become an altar boy. JJ: You were an altar boy? LS: I wanted to become an altar boy. I never became an altar boy. You know, and you would stay after school, and (inaudible) races and stuff like that (inaudible) and stuff. It was very nice, but the difference came when we went to Holy Family. Holy Family -- it was like pick on me day every day. I still recall in the fifth grade, when they flunked me, you know? [00:55:00] And my test grades were good. Lot of things were good, but what was real, real strange about it was like when they had built a new school and took us out of the old school there, and 43 �I’m in class, trying to look at my other peers and classmates in the next grade up, and myself and two other families stayed right there, but the real, real strange thing -- and this (inaudible) to my parents and to the school. Why were they held back when, each time a question’s asked, they’re the ones that raise their hands? And the answer they came up with -- you know, it was our attitudes. Okay? With me, was because I never really smiled, and my parents went against it. JJ: So, they beat you up because -- LS: Oh, beat me. I got smacked around, stand in the corner, stay after school. On the weekends, I used to get the JUG work, myself, the Maze family [00:56:00] kids. I can’t think of every other -- Michael Perchon, some other kids right there, and one other family. I can’t really recall the name, but, you know, there were certain people that you can just see our names were just as popular as bein’ bad as the name of the school was for bein’ popular, you know? And that’s the way things went pretty much up until I graduated from that school. JJ: And what year did you graduate about? LS: ’62, ’63. Yeah. And, after leavin’ that school, I was trying to get into Ignatius on hardship, but we just couldn’t afford the tuition. Ignatius was a very expensive school. Okay? So, from there, after the first semester or so, I ended up going to St. Michael’s, which was a -- JJ: So, you moved to Old Town? LS: No. I went to school. My family still stayed there. JJ: Your family still stayed there? 44 �LS: Yeah. JJ: All right, by Loomis? LS: Yeah. My mom stayed there almost up until she died 15, 20 years ago. [00:57:00] But St. Mike -- JJ: Did she own the house? LS: No. You don’t own the house in the projects. You know better than that. JJ: Oh, that’s right. It was the projects. The projects. LS: No. When we moved there, it was like 55 dollars a month for rent, and, when my mom finally moved out to a senior citizen home much farther south, and she had the grandkids and stuff there, they charged her like 400-something bucks a month for rent. That’s a long ways from 55 dollars. JJ: But when the university came, you know, a lot of people moved out then. LS: Well, yeah. They were displaced because of the university, so, therefore, they went farther north, south -- JJ: But you stayed living there. LS: They didn’t take us out of the projects. The projects didn’t change. JJ: Right, the projects stayed there. LS: Yeah, the projects -- they didn’t move anybody out of the projects. I mean, the projects were there (inaudible) housing and stuff like that. JJ: Are they still there, the projects? LS: They’re still there with the exception of -- I guess, a decade or so back, they rebuilt them. Okay? But they’re still projects. JJ: Oh, they’re still projects. 45 �LS: They’re still projects. Okay? JJ: Okay. They’re still low-income? LS: I don’t know that for sure. Okay? You know what? I’m gonna say no, and the reason I’m gonna say no is because my baby sister is [00:58:00] in one of those - right across from Hill Street, where the Hill Street Blues -- there’s Maxwell Street Station just across there, and her rent is humungous, okay? But, like I said, we moved there in the projects in the ’50s. I think our rent was like 45 dollars a month. My sister pays (inaudible). My mom, once she had the grandkids, and then the apartment where my sister and I were raised there, the rent was like 400-something bucks. JJ: So, you went to St. Michael’s. Did you know Carmen Trinidad? LS: Well -- JJ: Carmen Rivera? LS: All your family and stuff pretty much knows (inaudible) we hung out and stuff. JJ: Did you know Carmen? LS: We all hung out. All your family (inaudible) over there and stuff. You know, and even -- and I became a Continental. You guys had your thing with the Young Lords, Continentals, the Rebels, the Imperial Aces, the Paragons, so on and so forth. JJ: What group were you in? ’Cause everybody was in a group, right? LS: Yeah, yeah. Continentals. JJ: You [00:59:00] were in the Continentals? LS: Yeah, and Danny, José, Jimmy, stuff like that, (inaudible), yeah. 46 �JJ: (inaudible). LS: You know, we were all -- JJ: So, did you move in that area at all, or you were just --? LS: No, I was still livin’ at my mother’s house. JJ: You just hung around there? LS: Yeah. No, I -- JJ: So, you would take the bus every day? LS: Every day, I take the Number 37 bus from Taylor and Loomis all the way to the North Side, every single day. JJ: To Halsted? LS: Hmm? JJ: Taylor and Loomis? LS: Taylor and Loomis. I wait -- JJ: At that turn? LS: Well, that turn was at Polk Street (inaudible) you’re thinkin’ of. The Taylor bus went down to Polk and turned. They came out again. They took (inaudible) by Chicago, and then they turn -- they get off Orleans, and then turn again (inaudible), and they went -- drop us at North Avenue. Okay? And the thing was -- JJ: So, you went to St. Michael’s. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, what years were you there? LS: I went all four years to St. Michael’s. 47 �JJ: All four years there? LS: Yeah. You know -- JJ: Did you graduate? LS: Yes, sir. My parents wanted me to have a -- JJ: So, what was the population then at St. Michael’s? LS: [01:00:00] Well, at St. Michael’s, the population started out to be -- just prior to us goin’ there was pretty much predominantly all white. And so, when the Latinos and Blacks went there, it’s a big change, and I still remember [Brother Dunne?] -my parents came to interview, and they told us, you know, that too many Blacks aren’t attending school, and they hadn’t graduated from there, and they hoped to see me graduate. A good selling point. JJ: Okay. So, what year was this? LS: ’62, ’63. JJ: ’62, ’63. In the school itself, you didn’t have that many Latins? LS: Oh, no. JJ: But, at Sunday Mass, you had Latins there. LS: Well, I couldn’t tell you that because, on Sunday Mass, it wasn’t mandatory for us to attend. High school, things changed. Okay? It wasn’t like grade school, (inaudible). High school’s different. You didn’t have to show up, period. You know, you went to your own parish, pretty much, even if you’re with the church, but -- JJ: But I’m talking about, like, the Caballeros de San Juan. You didn’t see them? None of those? 48 �LS: [01:01:00] No. No, no. Them (inaudible) Knights of Saint John, you know, we met them -- JJ: ’Cause they were on the weekends. They would come on weekends. LS: Yeah. Come across (inaudible) and social events and stuff throughout the neighborhood, which I became a part of later on in years, you know? And, while I attended St. Michael’s, the thing that I think that got me goin’ was what really -overall really made me as a person in the community and a job in my life, pretty much, was basketball. So, I put a lot of time into basketball. You know -- JJ: For St. Michael’s? You played for St. Michael’s? LS: I played for St. Michael’s, I think, for (inaudible). We had things to do that kept us positive. Okay? You know, the socials at the Y on -- what was it? Tuesday? To the YMCA there on Ogden, and we entered ourselves into different basketball tournaments around Waller High School. We used to play after school in Lasalle schoolyard. We would play in the back in St. Michael’s [01:02:00] parking lot, the courtyard and stuff like that, and thanks to Louie, (inaudible), José, and Danny, you know, few of the other guys -- Winston and stuff like that -- that’s what we lived and died for, pretty much. But we also -- JJ: Now, you did play basketball at the Corner House? LS: Yeah. We used to whup you guys all the time. JJ: Oh, yeah. (inaudible). LS: I remember Thurman too, yeah. Yeah, Thurman married Carmen Laboy. JJ: Thurman was pretty good, now. 49 �LS: Well, Thurman, as a matter of fact -- when we were playing at the Arnold League there, Thurman did play with us for a little while. JJ: We played dodgeball. You remember playing dodgeball? LS: No. JJ: You didn’t play dodgeball? LS: No. No, no, no. You got to show (inaudible) for that. But, you know, being a member of the Continentals, we had the basketball team, and that was the other thing about having -- quote -- clubs. We weren’t gangs. Okay? JJ: So, at that time, it was clubs, right? LS: [01:03:00] We were all clubs, and our interaction was basketball, baseball, things of that nature. We weren’t out among ourselves, shootin’ and stuff like that. Rebels, never fight and stuff. They went to school together. The Young Lords, the Imperial Ace -- I mean we weren’t fighting among ourselves. We’re at the socials at the Y. We’re at the socials at the church, so on and so forth, and Paragons, Aces, the Latin Eagles and stuff like that, you know? We didn’t fight among ourselves. We were clubs, and our competition was on the baseball field, on the basketball court and stuff like that. We weren’t gangs. The community labeled us as that, but, also, as the community labeled us, there were people in the community who (inaudible). The Corps. That’s why there were conflicts, you know? And, as we all know, pretty much, the St. Michael’s Drum and Bugle Corps was a choir, which turned into a gang. JJ: They turned into a gang. 50 �LS: Okay? And, [01:04:00] seeing they were the big white group of the community, they challenged, you know], and we had a union among ourselves, but, therefore -- Drummer Boys. We defend ourselves, so, you wanna call us a gang, we defend ourselves. It was Latinos, and we didn’t fight among ourselves. They came against us. We stood together. Okay? But that was the biggest challenge, and the police department, of course. JJ: So, they had a gang, and then they attack, and that’s the only reason -- LS: Well, that’s why we were labeled -- JJ: -- the Latinos attacked back. LS: Yeah, we fought. You had to defend yourself. In those time and ages, us bein’ the underdog at all times -- JJ: So, you’re sayin’ the Latinos didn’t have a gang. LS: In the clubs I just mentioned to you, we weren’t gangs. Continentals certainly weren’t gangs. Our biggest thing was dressing. Double pleat pants, Stacey Adams shoes, the brim hats and -- you know, we dressed, and that’s our competition (inaudible). They’re clubs for us. There was nothing like, “Hey, man, you’re crossin’ our territory.” [01:05:00] You walk down North Avenue all you want to. You come to Orchard, never no problem. As you passed over through North Park, Rebels never jumped you. All right? We went by you guys. None of that stuff never occurred. We were unity as far as respect in our own community. We didn’t go out brickin’ people in the community and stuff. We didn’t rob people going down (inaudible) Street like that and everything. I think we were a positive thing more than we ever really were negative -- excuse me -- and the negative 51 �aspect came because people challenging us or try to keep us displaced or disorganized. Housing for the white people, 50, 60 dollars a month. For us, 175, 200 dollars. All right, move, you know? JJ: So, what do you mean? It was divided like that, or --? LS: They helped divide us like that. They -- JJ: So, was there prejudice in housing? Is that what you’re saying? LS: Yes. You know there was prejudice in housing. (inaudible). JJ: I’m just asking how you saw it, how you saw it. LS: Yeah. I saw it like that, and me [01:06:00] bein’ -- I will say a visitor because I came there pretty much to go to school, but, I mean, after bein’ involved in basketball, and softball, and things of that nature, and having all my friends pretty much there, well, I’m there seven days a week. There was always something to do, and it was never fight, or rob, or shoot nobody. As I recall still, (inaudible) guns. It was TV and stuff like that. We didn’t have any guns (inaudible). There was a brawl. I still remember, you know, in front of the Waller High School there, Oscar Mayer -- no, not Oscar Mayer. I can’t think of the name of the school. It’s the tip of my tongue. But, you know, one time, we were (inaudible) groups. Everybody stood back inside the fence right there, and they knuckled it out. JJ: That was within the group. LS: Within two groups. That’s -- JJ: Within two groups. They were just fighting it out. LS: Yeah. No, everybody stood back and watched. JJ: So, the clubs were just -- 52 �LS: We were clubs, and we still weren’t gang -- it just -- you and I had a disagreement -- JJ: So -- LS: -- and that’s the way we settled it, [01:07:00] and nobody interfered. Nobody brought baseball bats. There was no zip guns. None of that stuff. And the best man won. Everybody went the same way -- their separate ways. JJ: And did you say this was at Arnold or --? LS: It was in the Arnold yard, right there on Orchard, yeah. JJ: Around Burling. LS: Yeah. So, you know, like -- JJ: So, you’re talking about Burling and Armitage, right? There’s a little playground. LS: Well, just as you go to the entrance to the school ’cause, at nighttime, the school is closed. It was the park -- JJ: Okay. So, Arnold, and across the street was the Waller entrance. LS: Across from the Waller entrance, yes. Everybody’s there -- JJ: This was on Orchard. On Orchard. LS: Yeah, on Orchard. Two guys got in there, and they fought it out. Best man won. No retaliation, comeback, nobody shooting or 50 guys in there, you know, and stuff of that nature. We never did that among ourselves. But the thing that I really remember the most is, like, they used to pass the hot dog stand there, police come by over there, pick us up and tell us, “All you frickin’ spics,” you know, (inaudible). JJ: The hot dog stand by Halsted and Armitage? 53 �LS: Halsted and Dickens. JJ: Halsted and Dickens. LS: [01:08:00] Yeah. You know I hung there a long, long time ago. I hung in -- JJ: So, people used to hang around on Halsted and Dickens. LS: Oh, yeah. That was the Paragons, the Latin Eagles, (inaudible). JJ: And there was a hot dog stand. LS: There was a hot dog stand called George’s. Okay? JJ: George’s Hot Dog Stand. LS: Yeah. (inaudible). JJ: And everybody had credit, right? LS: Huh? JJ: Everybody had credit? LS: Well, you know, we had a bad reputation for bein’ a group there, but, then again, at that time, we would defend our turf, and that was the time (inaudible) -- JJ: So, by that time, we were going into the gang. LS: Well, we were a little more sophisticated, and we stood strong. Okay? We stood strong. All right? And I still remember, you know, to this very day, how, even hanging out (inaudible), cops come by, and grab us, and take us down to 18th District. We had to walk back past Cabrini. Even Halsted and Dickens, you know, Dickens down there, or far right (inaudible), we had to come back past the Drummer Bugle Corps right there. That, in itself, man, like, that’s prejudism. JJ: So, what were [01:09:00] some of the sections where the youth groups were? LS: Was my group from? 54 �JJ: No, what were different hangouts where the youth groups were in Lincoln Park? LS: Well, there was the Young Lords on the East Side there, north end of Weiland. Okay? JJ: (inaudible) Young Lords. LS: Yeah. Next block over or so were the Rebels. JJ: The Rebels were in North Park and -- LS: North Park. In between there, there was pretty much nothin’ until you got down to Orchard. That was us, the Continentals. JJ: On Orchard and -- LS: And North Avenue, yeah. JJ: Was the Continentals. LS: Yeah. And, as you went -- JJ: I thought the Gypsies were there. LS: Gypsies lived right there in the area too, but that’s where we pretty much were. All right? And we also, you know -- seein’ nobody owned anything, we would visit each other. For the most part, (inaudible), all of our family. Family. Cousins and everything, brothers here. So, therefore -- JJ: They really (inaudible). LS: -- there was no friction, you know? JJ: Oh, so there was families in between -- LS: Well, each group had -- JJ: A family member there. LS: Yeah. With your clique, with the cliques in there. 55 �JJ: [01:10:00] My cousin -- LS: Cousin. JJ: My cousin was a Rebel, was the president of the Rebels. LS: All right, and -- JJ: And another cousin was the president of -- LS: Of the Continentals. So, therefore, where was there friction between us? There was always a peace, you know? And, if there was a misunderstanding, it had to be on the basketball court or the softball field, and there was no baseball bats (inaudible) anyone. So, we did like that for years, and -- JJ: Right, and, later on, I remember playing baseball, and, if somebody come out and say, “Hey, somebody got beat up,” everybody -- LS: Joined together, and -- JJ: -- left the game. LS: We used to play softball there, up around Waller. We used to play -- JJ: In Lincoln Park. LS: -- in Lincoln Park and IC. JJ: What’s IC? LS: Immaculate Conception, remember? JJ: Oh, yeah. Immaculate Conception. LS: Down North Park, you know? And we never fought one another still. But I think, man, for the most part, that prejudism always -- JJ: What about women? 56 �LS: Well, the women so much -- we didn’t have women with us. We would’ve played cool (inaudible). [01:11:00] You know, we all dressed with our club sweaters and stuff like that. JJ: So, there was always women around. LS: Of course there’s always women. They went to school with us. JJ: ’Cause you were players. LS: Yes, there you go. JJ: (inaudible) heartbreakers. LS: We weren’t about that fighting stuff, you know? We were about just being [glamorous?] as we were, and the girls like that stuff, and we went to play sports. The girls were out there with us, rooting for us, of course. I’m not even sure of all the girls (inaudible) label anyone, but they were part of our clique, and we had one hell of a good time, you know? And then, with the socials at Ogden Y -- JJ: So, the Ogden YMCA -- (inaudible) YMCA. LS: (inaudible) YMCA right there. We had socials -- JJ: What kind of socials? What do you mean? LS: Well, we were dancin’, you know? Like (inaudible). You guys had one week, and we had another week and stuff like that. JJ: So, all the different groups were organizing events? LS: We could always go, yeah, and always -- JJ: Everybody would go to each [01:12:00] other’s. LS: We had support there for one another. JJ: So, they were all in different neighborhoods, so that neighborhood was big. 57 �LS: We crossed boundaries. There was no fear of crossing boundary -- we went (inaudible) you guys at the dances. We (inaudible) girls, you know, with the twist and stuff like that and everything, and -- JJ: I’m saying that whole area was Spanish there. LS: Well, no, no. We weren’t all Spanish, pretty much, because, you know, Old Town Triangle -- JJ: Oh, not Old Town. Not Old Town. LS: -- they didn’t let that happen. JJ: Right, not Old Town. LS: And -- JJ: But I mean, like, when you get more into Lincoln Park, like Armitage and -- LS: Well, we had problems, but anything we did, really, our way up there -- and I’m sayin’ our way at that time because, after, pretty much, the Continentals were dissolved, still, I was up Armitage and Halsted with the Paragons, and the Imperial Aces, and stuff like that. JJ: Okay. So, then, you got into the Paragons? LS: Ace. Still slick. JJ: Imperial Aces. You got into the Imperial Aces. LS: Imperial Aces and stuff, you know? And -- JJ: So, who was the leaders? Who was the leaders in the Imperial Aces and Queens? LS: I remember [01:13:00] Louis Miranda and, yeah, Michael (inaudible), godfather of my daughter. 58 �JJ: But that’s the Paragons, Louis Miranda. LS: Yeah. JJ: But I mean the Imperial Aces. Do you remember them? LS: That one, I can’t remember if it was Bob, or Louie, or what. I’m not sure. I don’t remember. Okay? And, once again, still, we’re not challenging each other to hurt one another. We’re challenging others to the dance floor. We hung at the same hot dog stand. JJ: I think the Lugos -- weren’t they Imperial Aces? LS: Ralphie Lugo and his brother, I don’t really recall because, see, originally, I’m not from them originally. I’m still Continental. All right? But, no, as we dispersed, we went -- and then, again -- JJ: ’Cause they had the church. Weren’t they --? LS: They were at the church -- well, we had the church afterwards. All right? All right. We used to be there on Sundays and stuff like that with Wilson, Louie, and myself, and Michael (inaudible), may he rest in peace, and Victor and stuff like that, and we went there. The attraction was still, once again, basketball. [01:14:00] Softball, you know. Marvin, may he rest in peace also, was a -- JJ: Marvin passed away? LS: Yeah, Marvin passed away a few years ago. JJ: What about Wilfredo? LS: Wilfredo? JJ: Does he still have a store? LS: No. Wilfredo -- he’s -- lives around -- 59 �JJ: (inaudible) Village. LS: He lives in a senior citizen home over off Damen there, by Sheila, I believe. I see him all the time on Division Street. JJ: You see him? LS: Yeah, all the time. Very frequently. JJ: So, he doesn’t have a store? I’m talking about Wilfredo Ramírez. LS: Yeah. (inaudible). No, he doesn’t. He’s had his ups and downs in life, you know, and I see him occasionally. You’ll see him in the park. If you were in Chicago a little more, you’d run into him. Just go on Division Street. You hear him -- probably, he’s over by the old (inaudible). He’s playin’ dominoes or checkers on the sidewalk there. You know, as I said, for the most part, we still weren’t trying to be gangs and stuff. Sports were the thing. But, [01:15:00] you know, as I went through that phase in life, I met a young lady, which made my life change real, real good, and I married her and had a couple kids with her, and -- JJ: Who is this? Who is this? LS: Hmm? JJ: Who is this? LS: It was Rina. JJ: Rina. LS: My first wife, yeah. And that put me up more on a positive basis. When the same time as, roughly, I married her, I went even more positive because things that I had done in the community, I became able to spread myself out and do 60 �more positive things, and, thanks to Mingo, all right? Who also (inaudible) the YMCA -JJ: Mingo Ayala? LS: Yeah. You know, brought me on as part of BUILD when it started in 1969. All right? And -- JJ: What was BUILD? I mean -- LS: BUILD. Broader -- JJ: Did you work at the YMCA (inaudible)? LS: I started out there with him, yeah, as a part-time worker. JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah, 10 bucks a month. JJ: Ten bucks a month. LS: Yeah, 10 bucks a month as a field assistant. And that was the same philosophy we took with BUILD, [01:16:00] all right? And -- JJ: So, what did they do? LS: Okay. Well, BUILD -- JJ: ’Cause I don’t want people to say, “I got paid 10 bucks (inaudible).” LS: Well, the 10 bucks a month was an incentive. It was like stipend fund. JJ: And that was for the leader, right? LS: It was for -- well, the person who best identified with the group to go back and get the guys involved in sports, education. (inaudible). JJ: So, it was like a gang prevention program. 61 �LS: Gang prevention. You can call it also that. You know, and we did a lot of prevention as far as -- with BUILD. JJ: So, whoever could identify the most with the youth group. LS: Well, the person who was so-called leader or the most influence, all right? And I was good in sports, and I was a person -- he and me each had a meeting, and he got his little stipend of 10 dollars. Okay? But, for the years we were there, from ’62, when they had the Detached Program with the YMCA, we pretty much took the same philosophy in BUILD, which we started in March in 1969, and I’m still, to this day, very glad and proud to have been a part of them. [01:17:00] All right? Because, at that time, when I was given the area to work, which was Near North, Cabrini-Green, I went right back to peers in the area that I grew out of, and I was able to help them much more positive and better. All right? Organizer -- I have never been a real great organizer, but I can organize people, and, as we all know, my strength is people. All right? And, once again, from bein’ the basketball player -- and I keep thinkin’ about the boxer. That’s what made you real strong. JJ: Oh, you boxed too? LS: I boxed. Yeah, me and Saxton. We were the neighborhood champs. JJ: Was that the time that we boxed? Everybody boxed? LS: Yeah, we always boxed there. We challenged you guys. That was part of the YMCA. It grew -- JJ: I boxed one year too. LS: Yeah, you can’t remember that. Was that a knockout? 62 �JJ: Was that the one that I hit the guy? LS: Oh, you know what, now? I remember that. Yeah. (inaudible) -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: We were in a league of YMCA. League of YMCA. [01:18:00] This is the tournament. Cha-Cha gets into a fight, and then he bites the guy. I do recall that, yeah. Yeah, that was really funny. JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah. Okay. Cha-Cha was pullin’ -- what’s his name? A Tyson. A Tyson. JJ: I didn’t practice. LS: Yeah, you were practicing all right, man. JJ: (inaudible). LS: But I would know, in the future, to feed you first, okay? But, you know, yeah, that was the type of programs that the Y had offered. We offered the same thing, but we were keyed in on certain communities, but that also was given by the community for us to come and work those areas. We were private. We weren’t owned by the city or state. We’re all private. Our dollars were given to us private by donations. And we were assigned to various communities who put the money up for us. JJ: So, wait a minute. So, you were getting 10 dollars a month. LS: No, no, no, no, no. I grew way past that. JJ: You went past that later. LS: Yeah. Yeah. No -- JJ: Oh, that was BUILD when you started -- 63 �LS: With BUILD, yeah. I came from the field assistant to the -- I think it was director. This was all part-time, [01:19:00] and then I became a full-time worker, which I left my job at the time. I used to drive a truck for an art supply company, so I left that, and I came on board with BUILD full-time, which gave me lots of time. I’m a street worker. That’s my title. So, therefore, between working the gangs in Cabrini and up to the Near North, you know, I guess it was probably a very good move for me because of sports is how I made any and everything because I’m known in Cabrini-Green -- basketball, little bit of boxing. I went to St. Michael’s. We had a lot of (inaudible) with basketball there, you know, Waller High School and stuff like that. I knew multiple people, and, that way, it was easy to [relate?] - JJ: But you didn’t go to Waller School. LS: Pardon me? JJ: ’Cause you went to St. Michael’s. LS: I went to St. Michael’s. JJ: But you hung around with Waller? LS: Well, you know, in my deals with sports, I got to meet people from all the schools in the area there. Even with DePaul [01:20:00], even, you know? JJ: DePaul? Okay. LS: Even with -- yeah. I can’t think of Booker’s first name, but, you know, played with and stuff. I happened to be in a team from the Continentals. Louie, myself, José, Danny, we played with lots of teams. They recruited us. And, especially when tournaments came by, you know, whoever had us had the trophy. And 64 �that’s another thing about playing those tournaments. Trophies were offered. It was the park district, or the schools. They offered trophies, and that was a thing that we played for. JJ: That was with BUILD. BUILD was more organized. LS: Well, with the YMCA, they had given us the same opportunity, but, after 1969, when we started BUILD, we concentrated a little more heavier into that, and their funding was for the groups that worked with me (inaudible) assigned to. JJ: What about Sebastian? Did you know Sebastian? LS: Sebastian, yeah. Sebastian -- I still see little man. JJ: [01:21:00] You still see him? LS: Yeah, I still see him. Yeah. JJ: Didn’t he win a -- LS: He was boxin’. He’s boxin’, yeah, for lightweight, and we talk about that each time we meet. His son worked there, over by Wilfredo, Saxton’s brother. JJ: Saxton’s -- oh, yeah. LS: Yeah. Okay? He -- JJ: That’s the one I thought had the store. Is that the one you’re saying? LS: He had the store. JJ: He’s in Humboldt Park now? LS: No. No, no. This is Black Wilfredo I thought you were speaking of. JJ: No, no. I’m talking about Wilfredo, Saxton’s brother. LS: Okay. Yeah. He had (inaudible) men’s clothing. JJ: Yeah, where’s he -- is that still there? 65 �LS: No. He sold out a couple years ago, and he -- I think he’s in Florida still. JJ: Okay. It was a business deal. LS: Yeah. Yeah, we -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah. (inaudible). JJ: Was it (inaudible)? LS: No, no. Luis Ayes. Well, Luis Ayes, he retired from the police department. He lives in Puerto Rico. JJ: Oh, lives in [01:22:00] Puerto Rico? LS: Yeah. His son works with me -- is, as a matter of fact, from my department. He’s a clerk (inaudible). JJ: (inaudible) leader of the Black Eagles. LS: He was? JJ: For a while. LS: I remember he was there. Yeah, I remember Louie. I met Louie just as he left high school and went to the police department. JJ: [He was in a movie. He was in a video?]. LS: I don’t recall that, but I remember I met him afterwards, and he went to the service also. All right? And I met him just prior to that, and after he came out and stuff like that, you know -- same with Miguel. Both Miguels, and Miguel -- I can’t think of it now. Pantoja. JJ: Oh, Pantoja. 66 �LS: Yeah. And then, the other Miguel -- can’t think of the name right now, but I met them just as they had made their move. JJ: The Pantojas were -- weren’t they Imperial Aces? LS: Pardon me? JJ: Were they Imperial Aces, Pantoja, or Black Eagles? LS: [01:23:00] One Pantoja -- JJ: Just, again, these are all social clubs we’re talking about. LS: Yeah, we’re still social clubs as far as -- we are -- as a matter of fact, we’re not 15, 18 years old. We are -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: You better believe it, bro. You know, we are, at this time -- we were adults. We had families and stuff like that, and it wasn’t so much -- for some of us, even though we didn’t hang at the hot dog stand anymore every day, you know, because -- (inaudible). You guys were already low-profile, and you’re into different things far as the movement with the Young Lords. We had resolved our -- JJ: So, what did you think when we were doing that, when we were doing the Young Lords? What did you think? LS: I was still trying to pretty much do the thing with social work. I got involved in that (inaudible). JJ: Did you think we were doing something wrong? LS: Well, you know, we weren’t always on the same page, but, as far as bein’ positive, I guess visibly, what people saw us doing -- 67 �JJ: What was it that you didn’t like about us? LS: Well, I’m not gonna go into what I didn’t like about it. It’s just that we probably had the same goal somewhat, [01:24:00] same intentions. We [went about?] different ways of doing it, and -- because I wasn’t a member of the Young Lords - JJ: [I know?]. LS: People -- they thought I should be [riding that way?], but, still, today, you know, I’m not gonna follow a group. I’m gonna do what I think is right, and that’s the direction I’m goin’ to. JJ: What were the other guys thinking? I mean, did they get mad or something? LS: Well, not (inaudible). As long as I got six, ten, twenty-two other kids behind me and I’m goin’ to the softball field, I’m playin’ flag football -- JJ: So, they just didn’t pay attention. LS: Well, no. It’s not they didn’t pay attention. They did pay attention because, at the time, they said you’re not trustworthy, so they had to watch you, but, watching what we did, you see we were people doing things positive. We were -education. All right? And, no -- JJ: So, we weren’t positive. That’s what you’re saying? LS: No, I’m not saying you’re not positive, brother. By no means at all. Okay? JJ: I just wanna -- LS: From what I did with BUILD, okay? And what you -- JJ: BUILD was positive. LS: Okay. That [01:25:00] (inaudible). 68 �JJ: But you were -- LS: But, even prior to that -- JJ: We weren’t on the same page, you’re saying. LS: Even prior to that, we used to hang out on Dayton Street like that and everything. Of course, I didn’t march, carrying the flag and stuff like that and preaching to people. (inaudible). I don’t have to follow anyone. I have my own thing. That’s what you were doin’. Did you ever see me go the other way against you? Didn’t. The same when we were different clubs. Didn’t go against you. I don’t have to be on the side of the fence to say, “I recognize what you guys are doing.” You had more guts than most people that stand up to other people. All right? I'm not trying to go out and start a picket (inaudible) anything like that. That’s not what we’re doing things that time, and it’s still to now, and I also recognize, pretty much, to win a battle is education. Learn the game. Bring the game back. You win the game that way. You don’t always have to pull up something and fight. [01:26:00] Okay? And (inaudible) my parents and stuff from Catholic school, to learn something. Okay? In the community, you can always learn the negative side about the fighting and stuff, but, like me, I learned to fight in the ring. Okay? And that was (inaudible) lot of people because the the record Saxon and I had as the heavyweight champions is still strong. It’s myself, Ray Ramos, Luis Peña, and some of the other guys had basketball. We were models right there. That, in itself, speaks for itself, and that bring followers because you’re doing something positive, and all kids like sports figures, and we are the sports figures of that community. Okay? 69 �JJ: You guys were the sports -- LS: All right? And, therefore, when a parent allowed a kid to come with us or to join the -- JJ: Luis Ayes and -- LS: Luis Ayes became a policeman. JJ: -- [Dan?] were more like policemen. LS: Luis Ayes -- JJ: You guys were more, like, into sports. LS: Well, even when -- JJ: We were political. We were political. LS: You were political, and [01:27:00] I wasn’t politically involved, but Luis Ayes at the time -- as I said, I met Luis and Juan Pantoja -- they had either come out of the service or gone in. Juan went out, and Luis (inaudible). JJ: But then, they got involved -- see, they got jobs with the city, though. LS: I don’t recall that. JJ: You don’t recall that? LS: No, ’cause Pantoja -- I know he didn’t get a job in the city. Not that I remember. [Toothpick?] did. JJ: Oh, Toothpick got a job in the city. LS: Toothpick, yeah, may he rest in peace also. (inaudible) -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah, Toothpick’s been -- like Marvin. Probably a decade or so, almost. Yeah. JJ: But his brother was involved in the -- 70 �LS: I can’t remember his brother’s name, but I also remember he had a brother, you know? But Toothpick was -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah, but (inaudible), you know? JJ: I know, but -- okay. What I’m saying is some people -- because, when I talked to [Edie?] -- you know, Edie was in the Young Lordettes. LS: Oh, yeah. JJ: And they were going -- what’s his name? In the 31st Ward. LS: 31st Ward? JJ: Ray [01:28:00] Suarez. Ray Suarez. LS: Yeah, Suarez. Yeah. JJ: So, they were part of that organization. (inaudible). LS: You know, I have worked against Ray Suarez, and I don’t remember seeing you there. JJ: I don’t understand how that works. LS: But either -- JJ: How could you guys be in the same room but work against each other? LS: Different times. Edie -- you’re talking about Saxton’s -- JJ: Yeah, wife. LS: Saxton’s brother’s wife? JJ: Saxton’s brother’s wife. LS: Yeah, Ruben. JJ: Ruben. 71 �LS: (inaudible), yeah. JJ: They were both Young Lords. They were -- LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. JJ: But they were working the other way? LS: We may have worked at different times, supporting our candidates. JJ: ’Cause they were more with Daley and stuff like that. We were workin’ against Daley. So, what was that? LS: I’ve been on that tree, up and down it also. Okay? Daley -- JJ: Why did you work with Daley? LS: Well, I was never really, at that time, fully aware about the political movements and stuff. JJ: We’re talking about everybody. We’re not just talking about -- LS: Lot of us were. JJ: -- Young Lords. We’re talking about the neighborhood of Lincoln Park. LS: Yeah, lot of us [01:29:00] were -- JJ: Doesn’t matter which side you’re on. LS: -- because, as a matter of fact -- JJ: I’m just asking-- LS: Okay. ’Cause, if you recall correctly, when politics are brought around (inaudible) [Jimmy?] -- (inaudible) last name right now. They’re Republicans. Okay? And we weren’t really aware that much about voting and stuff?. Jimmy (inaudible) people were doing that. After we became a little more knowledgeable and learned that, us being minorities, our strength was not with the Republicans. Our 72 �strength was with the Democrats, and, therefore, we had to make that conversion. And, in doing so, some people went that way visibly, and other people didn’t go visibly, and I’m still glad today, my time I did (inaudible), it wasn’t for the politics. It was because (inaudible) organization, and we never took a political stance, you know? And I’m still democrat. All right? And -JJ: (inaudible) democrat too. LS: But -- JJ: [But then], Daley, (inaudible) -- LS: -- Jimmy -- JJ: Whenever -- LS: That was Jimmy Miranda, you know? He was goin’ out, gettin’ all the [01:30:00] votes and everything from the people and everything, and not realizing until way some time afterward, we were supporting Republicans who kicked us in the butt. You know, helped us lose our homes and stuff like that. And I learned a little bit about that. As a matter of fact, the thing with Jesse and stuff -- I didn’t know much about politics at that time either, and -- JJ: Jesse Jackson? LS: Jesse Jackson and them movement -- Martin Luther King -- I mean, I wasn’t abreast about of all that stuff, and they were really working things out for us and stuff like that. I wasn’t all that smart about politics. I learned the hard way. Not so much that it hurt me, but I learned, if I’m gonna take a stand, where I really should be standing. Okay? And, in that community, you know, we stand Latino, and we weren’t (inaudible). All right? So, therefore, there were times you had to 73 �request -- they gave you the crumb, and they had the cake, you know? And there were other times -- like, yeah. Okay, yeah. They threw us a little bit more and stuff like that. But, up until -JJ: So, what [01:31:00] you’re trying to say is that you didn’t just join for the heck of it. They had to throw something. LS: That’s the way the game is, right? That’s what it’s about, isn’t it? Isn’t that what it’s about? It’s about jobs. JJ: I don’t know. I mean -- LS: It’s about jobs. A lot of the people went for the job -- I never had a job in the city. I never (inaudible). Didn’t really knock on doors either because, at the time, I wasn’t politically involved. Okay? But, like I said, to get followers in what we’re doing that matter to us and our community right then and there. Okay? That’s the important thing. When this -- Rentes had a problem with housing. Okay? We can go right there to Miguel. I think it was called -- it wasn’t DHS at the time. Can’t think of the name of the project, but, you know, we could go right there to Carmello, and Carmello would help us out. Okay? JJ: So, when you say Carmello, and Rentes, and all this, all these are people from the neighborhood? LS: [01:32:00] Those are people from the community, but, at this time, though -- JJ: But they got some connections. LS: Well, the connection was they had put -- I can’t think of Carmello’s real name right now and the department they had before they called it DHS. Tip of my tongue. 74 �JJ: Oh, DHS over by -- LS: Before that. Before that. JJ: When they were on Dayton? LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: DHS? LS: Yeah, but it wasn’t DHS. JJ: Manchigo? LS: Manchigo, there we go. All right? As a matter of fact, helped us see that goal in Puerto Rico. JJ: Oh, yeah, because he worked for the city. LS: There you go. That was our representative JJ: So, he controlled the jobs. He was a representative. LS: Well, we don’t know about control the job. He was our input to the city as far as I know because there was a problem. That’s what the DHS office was there for. JJ: He was just doing DHS. LS: He was -- JJ: Did he have something to do with the --? LS: He was a director. You know how many times Manchigo -- JJ: The director of -- LS: -- got us out of jail and borrow money out of his pocket and stuff like that for various things, you know? He was our spokesperson, and I think, to this very day, his brother, and his wife, and (inaudible) used to chip in and get us out (inaudible) little bit, stuff that really [01:33:00] wasn’t (inaudible). 75 �JJ: (inaudible). LS: Well, you know, there’s always a change. When you’re into that politics thing right there, you’re standing here today, and, tomorrow, you’re over there, but, nevertheless -- so, he was our representative at that time, and I went along with that, and, you know, they had the city side, and they had you guys fightin’ what you fought for, and, at the time, it wasn’t even about housing either. I’m still about moving kids, and recreation, and education. JJ: So, you were into recreation. LS: Okay? And one thing led to another into a agency, went to the Aspect of Life, knowing n our community and Near North there that was a very important thing. JJ: Concerned Puerto Rican Youth. LS: CPRY. Ernesto Hernández. JJ: Ernesto? That was Ernesto? LS: Yeah. JJ: Ernesto Hernández. LS: Ernesto, yeah, and Mingo was there also. JJ: And Mingo. And Mingo. LS: And Mingo, at that time, was with YMCA. Yeah. JJ: So, what was that about? How did that start? LS: That was also for, as it says, concerned Puerto Rican youth, and with the little storefront there, [01:34:00] (inaudible) Armitage, and we built ourselves a little office there, and there were funds freed up somehow, I’m assumin’, okay? Well, as a matter of fact, I’m not gonna assume ’cause I know (inaudible) Bissel 76 �hardware, and some of the other businessmen along Armitage put money and stuff up, so we had a secretary. JJ: So, you guys got the money from the store owners? LS: We had the businesspeople support. Okay? JJ: So, you guys went out and raised money. LS: They went out. JJ: And just depended -- LS: They went out, you know? So, we were able to -- JJ: And you guys are working with youth, trying to stop the -- LS: Working with youth and stuff like that, and, you know, at the time, we had the Latin Kings up there and that kind of thing and stuff like that, fighting, and we had, coming from the North Side -- can’t recall the other group. It’ll come to me sooner or later. All right? JJ: Latin Eagles? Were they Latin? LS: No, no, no, no. Latin Eagles -- once again, that’s family. We don’t fight. We didn’t have no fight there, you know? But there were rival groups at that time, which came -- JJ: You mean rival with the Latin Kings? LS: The Latin Kings, yeah. And [01:35:00] even with the Gents, they didn’t have no problem. We didn’t have no problem. Even the Gents were being in the middle of all of us there, going out on Orchard and stuff, and -- I can’t think of the name of the other street right now. 77 �JJ: But, I mean, the Concerned Puerto Rican Youth -- didn’t they get money at all from the city, or (inaudible)? LS: I can’t speak to that. I think they did, but I can’t say yes, for sure, because, as I say, I wasn’t a part of that. JJ: They were trying to build something like BUILD, right? LS: They were building a neighborhood thing centrally located in our community for Puerto Ricans, which also -- CPRY influenced Black, white, Latin, whatever. People from our community were there, you know? JJ: People from the community. LS: And people donated books. We had people come in and teach classes, volunteers, (inaudible) right there. JJ: ’Cause we got along real good with Ernesto. LS: Pardon me? JJ: We got along real good with Ernesto. LS: But, see, once again, that’s why we were not -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: That’s why we were never gangs, because we were offering the same things, [01:36:00] just come at different angles, and we’re -- support of our community. JJ: They were just trying to -- LS: Okay? It was those who didn’t want to survive or spark up too many sparks, you know, to stop them from allowing us to be part of our community or with our cultures. 78 �JJ: So, you guys were organizing that youth group, the Concerned Puerto Rican Youth. Now, it was the same thing that we were trying to organize the Young Lords. LS: You already organized, and you had People’s Park already. JJ: [You were?] -- LS: You already had People’s Park, and you took the church over and stuff. All right? All right? JJ: So, were you guys jealous of us, or were we just --? LS: (inaudible) jealous of you? I still dress better than you. (inaudible). The thing (inaudible), you know, you weren’t a competition, and we didn’t try to compete against you. The purpose was to educate -- JJ: We were just different. You were more into sports and stuff like that. LS: Yeah. The thing is to educate our people. JJ: I say we’re both trying to educate our people. LS: Yeah. All right? Educate the people. And those people with the housing problems, help out. [01:37:00] We all have resources, but we all have the same resource, so, therefore, you could be help comin’ from left field, and help is comin’ from right field. Okay? And the field that should be helping both sides, you know, we could attack it or (inaudible) -- JJ: I got to change this. One second. LS: Okay. What time is it? JJ: What do I care about time? LS: If I say, “I quit,” you do. 79 �JJ: Okay. Just a few more minutes. LS: We fight and wrestle all the time. END OF AUDIO FILE 80 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/572823d836a231e614de32653114b3cd.mp4 735ce88af9f67ac58b43f860d6a713d6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Lacey Smith vídeo entrevista y biografía, entrevista 1 Descripción Spanish language Description entry La historia oral de Lacey Smith, entrevistado por Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez el 10/19/2012 acerca de los Young Lords en Lincoln Park. Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexicano-Americanos--Relatos personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Mexico-Americanos--Illinois--Chicago--Condiciones sociales Relaciones raciales Conflicto social Identitad cultural Partido Pantera Negra. Illinois Capí­tulo Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65_Smith_Lacey_1 Title A name given to the resource Lacey Smith video interview and transcript, interview 1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Smith, Lacey Description An account of the resource Oral history of Lacey Smith, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 10/19/2012 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jimenez, Jose, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexican Americans--Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Mexican Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Social conditions Race relations Social conflict Cultural identity Black Panther Party. Illinois Chapter Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-10-19 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bf91a6b553164f6e7087133151e22a88.pdf a1e0c8a5b6c53d174f08f911a3eb9faa PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Lacey Smith Interviewer: Jose Jimenez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 12/14/2012 Runtime: 01:55:40 Biography and Description Oral history of Lacey Smith, interviewed by Jose “Cha-Cha” Jimenez on December 14, 2012 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. "The Young Lords in Lincoln Park" collection grows out of decades of work to more fully document the history of Chicago's Puerto Rican community which gave birth to the Young Lords Organization and later, the Young Lords Party. Founded by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, the Young Lords became one of the premier struggles for international human rights. Where thriving church congregations, social and �political clubs, restaurants, groceries, and family residences once flourished, successive waves of urban renewal and gentrification forcibly displaced most of those Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, working-class and impoverished families, and their children in the 1950s and 1960s. Today these same families and activists also risk losing their history. �Transcript P1: Right. LACEY SMITH: You know? And the other thing, also, the city has been cuttin’ down right now? They are takin’ -(break in audio) JOSE JIMENEZ: Okay, Lacey. Give me your name, full name, date of birth. LS: My name is -- JJ: Where you were born. LS: Okay. My name is Lacey Smith. I was born here in the city of Chicago, and my birthday is in December 28 of nineteen hundred and -- JJ: Which is coming up, so -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- happy birthday. I won’t be here. LS: I know you were gonna tell me that anyway. Yeah. ’48. And I’ve been residing here in the city of Chicago my entire life. JJ: Your entire life? LS: Yeah. JJ: So, how do you feel about that? I mean, feeling -- LS: About living in Chicago? JJ: Yeah. LS: Well, you know, Chicago is a very unique city in all aspects. We have a [00:01:00] great mixture of people. Politicians, education, environment, living 1 �conditions, and I feel a small part of some of all of those. Coming from a poor environment -- I pretty much still do live in a poor environment, but a middle-class poor environment, I suppose you would say. Education. JJ: Middle-class poor environment? That’s what you said? LS: Sure. JJ: Okay. What do you mean? What do you mean by that? LS: I was pretty much raised in the projects, and, gradually -- JJ: 16th and what? LS: 13th and Loomis. JJ: 13th and Loomis. LS: Yeah. JJ: Okay. LS: That’s Robert Taylor. JJ: Robert Taylor, okay. LS: Yeah. You know, came out of there, and, from there, we went to Catholic school, and then went to public school also, and, from there, back to another Catholic school. JJ: But you mentioned the Catholic school you went to was what? LS: St. Joseph, which was right across the street from our house there, like a minute and [00:02:00] a half across the street. JJ: St. Joseph LaSalle, by (inaudible)? LS: No. No, no. No, St. Joseph on 13th and Ashland -- I mean 13th and -- JJ: Right by the projects, right by -- 2 �LS: Yeah. Yeah. Right across the street from our house right there. JJ: So, that was Catholic school, and then you went to the public school? LS: Well, we had gone to the public school prior to that, which was about two and a half blocks south. It was Medill Elementary School. JJ: All around there. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, what kind of neighborhood was that while you were going? LS: Well, as we grew up back in the ’50s there, it wasn’t that much of a mixture, but predominantly Black. JJ: Predominantly Black? LS: Yeah, there was Anglos there, and there were Latinos there and stuff in the project area. JJ: But, as you went to Roosevelt and Taylor Street, what was that --? LS: Oh, that was like pretty much a dividing line, somewhat, although there were the Jane Addams housing there, on the Roosevelt Road there. You get to Taylor Street, that was Italian. JJ: So, by the Jane Addams House, over -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- by -- where Circle Campus is now. LS: No. We’re still west of that. JJ: You’re still west of that? 3 �LS: Yeah, we’re on 13th, [00:03:00] and Circle Campus started pretty much by the other side of Morgan, Blue Island, stuff like that. So, we’re still a little ways away from there. JJ: Okay, a little ways away -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- from there. But, so, you didn’t cross into that area ’cause that was the Italian neighborhood? LS: Well, once we were in high school, I had to go there every day to go to school. I caught the Number 37 bus, and, prior to that, we had -- JJ: How was that? No discrimination, none of that stuff? LS: Well, that depends on what you were doing because I had friends already over there, Taylor Street and stuff like that, you know, playing sports. When you’re involved in sports, you meet lots and lots of people, and other kids, who, like myself -- there’s no such thing as a boundary line. You go where the sport is, you know, and your peers and stuff of that nature, but, eventually, you will find there is a boundary, but whether you honor it or not, that’s your choice, pretty much. JJ: So, how did you get around to Lincoln Park? How did you get there? What was that situation? LS: Oh, that was -- JJ: You know, when we say Lincoln Park, the Armitage -- LS: Well, no, [00:04:00] that was a thing of -- after not bein’ able to survive educationwise in St. Ignatius because they had the grades and stuff, (inaudible) fund also, 4 �I wanted to try something different rather than to go to the Crane, or Cregier, or whatever schools there were down in that area there, so, you know, St. Michael’s was on the list. And so, chose St. Michael, and I’m always thirsty and hungry for something new. I like challenges all the time. So -JJ: So, you went from the (inaudible) homes to St. Michael’s every day? LS: Yeah. Sometimes six, seven days a week because I loved basketball. JJ: Oh, okay. (inaudible) basketball there. LS: Yeah, and, in basketball -- was a door to me to do lots and lots of things. Our relationship -- (inaudible) other people ’cause I’d been a part of the North Side for the past 55, 60 years, I guess. JJ: On the North Side. LS: Yeah. JJ: Yeah, the North Side. LS: [00:05:00] So, this is my (inaudible), wives, kids, education, employment. Everything I have has pretty much been coming from the North Side. Basketball, baseball, school, degrees and all. You name it. I’ve acquired all that from bein’ on the North Side, and -- JJ: So, you’re a North Sider. (inaudible) North Sider. LS: Yeah, I’m a North Sider. JJ: If I tell the West Side people, they -- LS: I’m a North Sider. (inaudible). Yeah. Yeah. So, I’ve acquired everything over there, school, and (inaudible) came from, you know -- as a young kid, didn’t know much about prejudice and stuff like that, and gang was a word that really wasn’t 5 �for me other than it being a word that I wasn’t really involved in it, and come to the North Side -JJ: So, gang was not a word, you’re saying. LS: It was a word. I never was affiliated, involved [00:06:00] in it. And, even as a young man on the North Side, quote-unquote that word gang was not something I was a part of. It was a thing that was labeled, that was given to us, pretty much, because we were all about athletes, athletics and stuff. Each block had their own boys in the clubs and stuff. We called ourselves clubs. (inaudible) boys, Armitage boys, North Park boys, Sedgwick boy -- we were all about sports and stuff. JJ: Okay. So, you’re talking about the Lincoln Park neighborhood. LS: Lincoln Park neighborhood, Near North, anything up in that area there, which is all Near North. JJ: It was all sports. It was all sports. LS: With us, as far as us, sports and stuff. The Young Lords there, on the other side there -- we weren’t gangs and stuff like that, Continentals, and Rebels, and stuff. We weren’t gangs. We were block clubs. We used to be about the sports. JJ: But we were being called gangs. LS: We’re always being called gangs by the system because that’s what they label us, but I can’t ever, until this very day, recall any of us rebelling against one another. [00:07:00] You know, (inaudible) baseball, basketball field, but it wasn’t called a gang thing. Nobody came out with guns, and knives, and bats, and stuff like that. 6 �JJ: So, nobody was fighting each other in that area. LS: No. We never did nothing like that with the Aces and Paragons. You know, we never fought one another -- with the dance contests and stuff, the picnics and so on. JJ: So, it was more like fighting at the dances? LS: Well, that’s because the young ladies (inaudible). JJ: It was competition. LS: Yeah. Competitions for dancing, yeah. You know how that used to be, the twist and so on and so forth, and -- JJ: The twist and all that. LS: The bop, the two-steps and stuff, yeah. You know? “You’re dancing with my girl.” Something like that. JJ: The Continentals? The Continentals and all that. LS: Yeah. (inaudible) this very day. The Continentals, we were still the coolest. JJ: Twine Time. LS: Twine Time, yeah, with “The Twist,” Chubby Checker, and stuff like that, you know? JJ: So, that was that age at that -- LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: There was competition on the dance floor. LS: Competition on the dance floor [always?]. JJ: But no fighting each other. LS: [00:08:00] (inaudible) stuff like that. 7 �JJ: Straight-up dancers. LS: Yeah, you know. JJ: Lovers. LS: Yeah. We were still the best at that also. We were still the best at that too, you know? And the neighborhood labeled us like that. That was nothin’ like -- we were not shooting and fighting each other down the streets and stuff. JJ: So, we weren’t fighting each other, but did we fight others? LS: Well, it wasn’t a thing that we had set up, we were rivals against Eagles, anything like that. You had those little rough bumps and stuff like that, but it wasn’t enough that we went shootin’ and stuff like that, or you’re gunning for this person. If someone from another area came, you know, just put your sweater over your arm, you know, and come through the neighborhood. There was nothin’ like we’re fighting -- (inaudible) Belmont and catch the Lords maybe like that. That stuff didn’t exist. We were labeled like that, you know? JJ: So, you mentioned put the sweaters over your arm. What was -- LS: That was respect. JJ: What was that? LS: [00:09:00] That was respect. JJ: You had sweaters? Was that --? LS: We all had sweaters and stuff like those jackets. JJ: What kind of sweater? LS: Like the high school sweaters, stuff like that. JJ: High school sweaters? 8 �LS: Yeah. We’re carryin’ our colors. JJ: Okay. High school sweaters, and you carry your colors. LS: That was the club we were -- the type of wool sweaters we had of the colors. Blue and white we were, red -- whatever, may have been brown. The same as the high school (inaudible), pretty much, you know? And those were our representation of our club. Everyone know, pretty much, who you were by the colors, but it was nothing like -- you were not feudin’, fightin’, and shootin’ with one another still. JJ: Everybody’s just proud to wear your colors. LS: Yes, proud to wear their sweaters. Yeah. JJ: Your sweaters. LS: Yeah. JJ: Everybody had their sweaters, and -- LS: And that’s where they had them. (inaudible) with the emblem and everything on it. JJ: So, it was more like sharp-dressed, (inaudible) sweater. LS: Yeah. Yeah. We’re sharp. JJ: Instead, it was sports (inaudible). LS: There was sports, you know. Yeah. Yeah. And there’s a mixture of people. We grew up, I think, in one of the most diversified areas there were, and Lincoln Park was -- we lived in there, between -- what was that? Division [00:10:00] and perhaps all the way, maybe, up to Diversey, perhaps, over there, and Lincoln Park, Triangle, and stuff like that. To school, though. 9 �JJ: Okay, there were still a couple fights, right? LS: Pardon me? JJ: There were still, like, a couple fights, but this was outside -- LS: Fights were minor scraps, I would say. There weren’t things like someone shooting somebody or -- JJ: No, but I’m not talking about with each other. I’m talking about other -- LS: Other areas? Yeah. JJ: Like the Romas. Were they angry with us? LS: Of course, because we’re Latinos. JJ: Okay. And what about -- there was that pizzeria, Benny’s pizzeria and all that. LS: Well, Benny’s Pizza wasn’t that much of a thing because that also -- at that time, I had moved pretty much up -- even with the sports and my affiliation with sports - JJ: We’re uniting -- LS: I lived there, yeah. JJ: We’re uniting like the Paragons. Is that what the group did? LS: Yeah, Paragons and Black Eagles up in there. JJ: So, you were in the Black Eagles and the Paragons? LS: No. We moved out there with Aces. The Imperial Aces. JJ: Imperial Aces. LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the Paragons -- JJ: Tell me [00:11:00] about the Imperial Aces. Who was the leaders? Who was --? 10 �LS: I can’t remember exactly who everyone was at that time, but, once again, still, I’m a sportster. You know? So, I represent -- as -- JJ: Well, they threw dances at the church, didn’t they? LS: Yeah, at -- JJ: (inaudible) -- LS: -- Armitage (inaudible), yeah. JJ: -- before it was Peoples Church. LS: Right. Yeah. Right. But, you know -- JJ: That was their hangout before it was Peoples Church. LS: That was their hangout there, and even the Paragons and Aces -- JJ: ’Cause the Imperial Aces and the -- LS: And the Paragons and -- JJ: The Paragons too. LS: Yeah. Yeah. And there was a hot dog stand. But, you know -- JJ: The hot dog stand? Where was that at? LS: Halsted and Dickens. JJ: Halsted and Dickens was the hot dog stand. LS: Yeah. Right. Right. JJ: George’s Hot Dog Stand? LS: George’s Hot Dog Stand better known as, yes. And -- JJ: Now, this is your interview. Why am I telling you this? LS: You’re asking me, and I’m answering your questions once again. Well, the things I learned about bein’ in the North Side was bein’ a people’s person. I 11 �always did enjoy bein’ with people, like I enjoy sports, and I guess -- and attending St. Michael’s High School gave me a new grip on [00:12:00] people in themself because, oh, there was some prejudism there in the school with teachers, which wasn’t surprising, being a Catholic school. There also was a teacher such as Brother Johnson, who was the first Black teacher (inaudible). He reinforced on us loving everyone. All right? He was very supportive to us and also gave me that new onlook about caring about people. People of color, people of no color, whatever they be, you know? So, that was growth in itself. But, also, I was learnin’ education was the number one thing. He was rough about that, making sure that we succeeded in education, which I did. It was rough sometimes because we were a new breed in the school, and -JJ: What do you mean, a new breed? LS: People of color. And -- JJ: You’re including there people of color -- LS: There’s been Latinos and Black -- JJ: African American, Black -- LS: Yeah. Yeah. You know, because Anglos were gonna make it one way or the [00:13:00] other ’cause, at first, it was a white school, a white community, and so on and so forth. JJ: So, now, these Latinos and Black are going to St. Michael’s? LS: Going to St. Michael’s High School, yeah, payin’ the tuition. JJ: And some of the teachers are prejudiced? 12 �LS: Well, no. It was not exactly a place I found out to be where you were there and it’s accepted. There were people callin’ on you about the prejudism. I found one of the nuns tell a young lady, “It’s not nice to talk with them, hang with them. A white girl like you’d be hanging (inaudible).” And it came back to I was a basketball player, you know? People of color don’t care about who the fans are. I mean, you care about the person who plays a sport. And this was told to us by several people, and I also heard it face to face because this young lady was talking to us. I thought we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Teacher told us just like that, face to face. But -- JJ: Were you worried about it? LS: No. Didn’t lose [00:14:00] no sleep over it. I kept on livin’ life like I live life this very day. Accept people as they accept you. Do for those that you can help, and hopefully they can do for you if you’re in need of help. And I went through school, and I got my education, and, along with my education, I still played sports. JJ: You graduated from St. Michael’s? LS: Yeah. I graduated from St. Michael’s also. Which led me out to the streets, and, at that time, being older, you know, you got into street activity and stuff, but still playing sports. Basketball, boxing, baseball, stuff like that, with the group of other streets. Not -- JJ: Was the neighborhood changing? What year was that? LS: Mid-’60s. JJ: Mid-’60s? 13 �LS: Yeah, mid-’60s and stuff. JJ: Okay. So, I think it started changing with late ’50s, right? LS: Well, late ’50s, I wasn’t up there at that time, late ’50s. JJ: You weren’t up there. LS: No. No. JJ: But mid-’60s, you were up there. LS: Yeah, early ’60s. JJ: Early ’60s. LS: Early -- yeah. JJ: Did you notice any changing? LS: Well, you know, housing, especially with the rents and stuff like that. We were pretty much from 40, 50 dollars a month for rent, jumped up to [00:15:00] 100, 120 dollars, and people couldn’t really afford it. JJ: The rent was 40 and 50 dollars a month? LS: Forty, fifty dollars for some apartments, yeah. JJ: And then it went up to what? LS: And it doubled in some places. They wanted the people out because the whites were movin’ in, you know? Converting apartment and stuff, and, all of a sudden, there was no place for us there. So, that was part of that migration to Humboldt Park. They pushed us out, far west and stuff like that, which was a racial problem at some time, but, then again, it kinda was changing. They was just getting rid of us totally, and that’s why we started coming west. JJ: You’re saying it was a racial part at some times? 14 �LS: Yeah, it was a racial -- because some of those buildings there were full of Latinos, Latin and, say, white, but everyone in the building -- rent didn’t go up. They just wanted their property, and they want to do what they want to do with it, which cleared us out, the Latinos and Blacks, and, in that part of the area, there weren’t that many Blacks there, and I, at that time, didn’t really reside there because I always went back down to my mom’s house. JJ: So, I thought it was just about money, so -- LS: Well, if they’re [00:16:00] gettin’ you out of the apartment and raisin’ the rent, it is about money. JJ: Right. So, it was about money, but you’re saying it’s also about race? LS: Sure. The whites there weren’t moving to Humboldt Park. It was the minorities, people of color, always the ones that were bein’ thrown out and came to Humboldt Park, although, at the time, Humboldt Park was Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, as it is somewhat today, but we outnumber ’em probably about seven, eight, nine, ten to one some places, you know? So, that was where the migration from there came, west. JJ: Oh, so, you’re saying it was there first. LS: We were all in the north -- a very good mixture. They cleaned us pretty much out of there. You couldn’t afford or own property there, you had to move out because you couldn’t afford the rent, you know? And those who didn’t go to public school had to find those places to go to altogether too, and that was a lot of movement. A lot of movement, you know? That was pretty much the [00:17:00] mid-’60s, and that brought a lot of problems. Lot of problem. 15 �JJ: How did people see it? I mean, did they notice it -- LS: Well -- JJ: -- or did they notice -- I know they notice it today, but, when we were living there, did we notice that we were being kicked out? LS: Sure. There was rebellion against that. I was part of the picketing and stuff you guys did, walks back and forth, protesting. JJ: The Young Lords? LS: Yeah. JJ: The Young Lords protests? LS: Exactly. Yeah, picketing, protesting the rent, people being evicted. It was a big thing there. It was all about money, and the politics was changing, pretty much, and the Republicans were taking over. You know, we didn’t have that much of a democratic voice there because, once again, it was all Anglo there, and -- JJ: But, when we were doing it, a lot of people were against what we were doing. LS: Sure. JJ: Why do you think that was going? LS: Because there’s ways of doing things to some people, and there are ways of doing things right. What’s good for this hand doesn’t mean this hand has to agree with it. Okay? And -- JJ: So, people felt that we weren’t doing -- you felt that we [00:18:00] weren’t doing it right? LS: Well, with my situation, you know, I -- JJ: That’s okay. I just want to know how -- 16 �LS: Yeah. JJ: -- you felt at that time. I know -- LS: I -- JJ: -- today is different. LS: We didn’t see eye to eye about things (inaudible). I found out, in doin’ the things I did for the community and the kids of the community, working with the YMCA and social agency -- I worked for BUILD and things like that, and DHS, you know -- were a different approach than you did, and, with the format you know, we followed by it, and we had funding through the city or through private agencies, and that’s what we followed pretty much by, you know? JJ: But your approach more -- ’cause you said you’re into sports, and you were helping the youth. LS: Oh, yeah. That -- JJ: We saw you helping the youth, and we saw that was okay. LS: Well, it’s always -- JJ: (inaudible) too. LS: Yeah, but, before, you know -- and, working with BUILD -- let’s go ahead a little bit. In working with BUILD, BUILD has been the most healthiest thing I think I’ve ever done my life. Okay? Because BUILD introduced me to people, Near North, Cabrini-Green, which I was assigned to in the early [00:19:00] part of the ’80s, and I worked there -- JJ: BUILD as in Broader Urban Involvement for -- LS: Broader Urban -- 17 �JJ: Involvement for -- LS: Leadership Development. Okay? JJ: So, they worked with gangs, gang prevention. LS: We pretty much worked with the street gangs. We worked with elementary schools, and we continued with the sports and education. If you aren’t knowledgeable about things going on -- JJ: And, before that, it was the YMCA. LS: Well, we came out of the YMCA. JJ: Detached working? LS: Yeah, (inaudible) detached workers program, you know? JJ: Okay. So, you were working on the street there. So, it was you guys (inaudible). And then, you had -- I know Mingo had the other group. LS: CPRY? JJ: CPRY. LS: Yeah. JJ: We saw you as doing good. You were working with youth. LS: Yeah, working with youth. JJ: But you weren’t concerned about the housing at the time. LS: Well, at the time, that wasn’t an issue that we were involved with, although, you know, as years went on, found out it was a thing that we should be a part of also because -- JJ: It was later, [00:20:00] years later -- LS: Yeah. Years later. 18 �JJ: You realized -- LS: Well, we felt that was a thing that we should be a part of also. You know, it doesn’t help to be a part of all sports and no education. JJ: But, at that time, how did you feel about what the Young Lords were --? LS: The Young Lords were doing their thing. We were doing our thing, pretty much, just with different ways of approaching ’em. JJ: So, you didn’t see us as enemies. We had grown up together. LS: We’re not enemies. Just didn’t see eye to eye. JJ: We didn’t see eye to eye? LS: Yeah. JJ: They’re doing our thing, we’re doing ours. LS: They’re doing their thing, and the thing was -- JJ: We’re not attacking each other. LS: No, not physically. You know, verbal and stuff like that, of that nature, but the thing was to do for the people. JJ: But, I mean, so, you were disagreeing. My point is we weren’t attacking each other, but you guys were -- among each other, you were talking, right? LS: You were doing things with the housing. We’re doing things with the sports and education. JJ: That was it? LS: For the time, that’s what it was. You know, we were leading kids -- well, education -- JJ: You didn’t give us no mind. Is that what you’re saying? 19 �LS: Well, no. You were doing [00:21:00] things, as I said, your way. JJ: Yeah. I mean -- LS: All right? And -- JJ: -- you didn’t see us as trying to be terrorists or something? LS: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The word “terrorist” wasn’t a thing even (inaudible) those days. Militant. Militant’s the word to use. But yeah. JJ: The militants. LS: But that didn’t stop us from doing our thing. JJ: So, them guys are trying to be militants. Is that what you’re saying? LS: No. That’s (inaudible). I didn’t think we put that label on you or anything. You were doin’ just as you were doin’. JJ: Your thing, and we were doing our thing. LS: And we were doing the thing with sports and education. JJ: Okay. So, you saw that we were doing something. It just -- you didn’t agree with it. LS: You were doing something for the community. No question about that. JJ: (inaudible). LS: Yeah. Yeah. You’re doing something for the community, and -- JJ: You gave us that respect. LS: Sure. I mean, I’ve always respected you. JJ: No, no, I know we always-- LS: But I pushed -- coming from a house that I -- my mother, lived with my mother and father most of my life, everything. I always found out, you know, dealing with 20 �kids, you have to be a model to them, and we’re a model to the kids in sports. The father was in prison. The mother was in prison right there. JJ: [00:22:00] So, you had -- LS: I tell a child about sports. Without education, you’re not gonna advance. Education is something everyone should be gotten into, whether they’re good at it or not. If they need assistance at doin’ it, you know -- it’s not an option to be without. Okay? But those of us who did take education and move on with it, it was a thing that -- everyone with a high school diploma or degree progressed. There were some that didn’t, but a whole lot of us did, and they show in society that being people of color is a very good thing. Judges, policemen, military. We have a whole lot of Latino judges and stuff now, you know? Corporate leaders, nurses, so on and so forth. JJ: Because you’re working with youth, so you have to work with judges, and probation officers, and all the, you know -- LS: Well, over the years, that has become a factor because, through [00:23:00] BUILD, working with the kids -- JJ: And the police, you had to have ’cause I remember BUILD, once a year, played sports with the police. LS: Well, yeah. We used to have the annual softball and basketball game with the local districts, and the (inaudible), and stuff. JJ: To build relations. We were trying to -- LS: To keep the relationship -- JJ: You’re building good relations, and we were attacking the police. 21 �LS: Well, see, but our relationship at the time wasn’t in the 13th District -- I mean 18th District. You were in 18th District. We were the 13th and 14th at that time. Okay? JJ: So, you were -- LS: So -- JJ: -- in a different district. LS: You know, we had not expanded back that way until I came back in ’82. I guess it was around that time. JJ: Well, I guess my question is what did you think? Because the Young Lords used the word “pig” for the police. What did you think? LS: Well, you know, I felt, respectfully, their name is officers. Police, all right? All right. Respectfully, you know. But, nevertheless, there were times then, and there are times now -- JJ: We’re not using that -- LS: -- the policemen did not do -- JJ: We’re not using that term right now, but I’m saying -- LS: Yeah. But they [00:24:00] were not just doin’ what they should have been doin’ as law enforcers. JJ: Oh, so you agree that there was some abuse there. LS: Some? There’s always been some. There’s always some now today. The guys (inaudible) years in jail for some murders they didn’t do. JJ: So -- LS: DNA’s freed people who’d been in jail for 20, 30 years, you know? So, people have always been framed. Just, nowadays, there are ways of provin’ that they 22 �weren’t the one who raped that person, or killed that person, or that one commander who coerced a confession out of this young man -- some things he didn’t do. There’s always -JJ: Oh, so, times have changed, where, now, abuse is more known. For example, like, a policeman coerced a confession out of somebody? LS: Sure. They did then, and they’ll probably do it in the future also. It’s just, they have to be more -- JJ: But, now -- so, that has changed your thinking in that little way. LS: I knew it then, but there are state attorneys who [00:25:00] knew from the jumpstreet and policemen who knew people were innocent, but, once again, that’s a political thing about jobs and stuff. (inaudible) conviction. JJ: But your main concern was to help the youth at that time. LS: Help the youth at that time and -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: And it still is today. JJ: It is, okay. LS: Education -- this is America. You can do and be anything you want to be with education. Always will be. Okay? You can always succeed. The sky is the limit. You know, with the man upstairs lookin’ over you, you cannot fail. You shouldn’t fail. JJ: What are some of the things, going back to Lincoln Park a little bit ’cause we’re trying to get a picture of what Lincoln Park was like at that time -- what are some 23 �of the things that you did or that you remember that maybe the Imperial Aces were doing, and Imperial Queens, [00:26:00] to live daily life? What did they do? LS: Well, I guess we all thrive -- we look forward to that Friday night, though. That was the dance contest at the Y, or you had Immaculate Conception, you know, the YMCA and stuff like that. On Tuesdays, going swimming at the (inaudible) YMCA. We all had, pretty much, part-time jobs. I recall having a job in a car wash. I also remember having a job at Zenith, washing dishes in the kitchen and stuff like that. JJ: What place? LS: Zenith. You remember used to be on Armitage there? All right? No, Zenith was [on Halsted?], and (inaudible) was on Armitage, and Hamlin, all right? Because (inaudible) those little threads and stuff. You know, our parents supported us in household and stuff like that, especially those of us who came from large families, you know, and we went to school. So, we pretty much all had part-time jobs besides school, and -- JJ: You had part-time jobs, [00:27:00] and you waited for Friday. LS: Waited for Friday and Saturday night. That’s when -- JJ: Friday and Saturday. LS: Yeah, ’cause that was when we go out, and we’d do the twist, and we did the bop, and you name it. We danced Northwest Hall, what was it, Swedish Hall. JJ: Northwest Hall? LS: Yeah. We used to go in and dance. JJ: Over on Western and North Avenue? 24 �LS: Webster. The one on Sheffield and Belmont. JJ: Oh, the Webster one. I remember the Webster one. LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right? JJ: What was the name of that hall? LS: Swiss Hall. JJ: Oh, that was Swiss Hall. That was Swiss Hall. LS: Yeah. You know, that was showtime, and during the week was -- we -- JJ: What do you mean, showtime? LS: That’s when you get on the floor. You made that (inaudible) with your feet, man, you know? JJ: You weren’t doing twirls or whatever. LS: No, but we did a whole lot of splits. JJ: Splits. LS: Yeah. JJ: Did a lot of splits. LS: Did a lot of splits and stuff, you know? Yeah, I remember Saxton and myself and -- JJ: Saxton? LS: Yeah. JJ: Saxton -- LS: Edna. JJ: Oh, yeah. LS: Yeah, (inaudible) stuff like that. Yeah. I think -- 25 �JJ: Now, Edna was a Young [00:28:00] Lordette. What were you doing with a Young Lordette? LS: It’s because I was a Continental, you know? The Continentals were sharp. We always had your girls. But never no conflict behind that stuff, you know? And we all went to school. JJ: So, all the different -- LS: We came together. JJ: Different groups, they came together -- LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: -- (inaudible). LS: No problem. JJ: No problem. No conflict. No fighting. LS: No conflicts. Yeah, that’s because we weren’t gangs. It’s ’cause we were not gangs. JJ: Okay. There -- LS: Okay? JJ: -- was no gangs. LS: There were not gangs. All right? Wherever we went to, we always met on Friday or Saturday night. Eagles, Panther -- I mean, Paragons, Continentals. The Rebels didn’t hang that much with us and stuff like that, but we all went, and the contest was threads and dancin’. JJ: So, it was two contests, to see how bad you dressed -- 26 �LS: Yeah. And you get on the dance floor. Then, we took that trophy every weekend, Saxton or I. JJ: And what about cars? Did that play anything? LS: Well, all of us didn’t have cars. Some of the guys had cars. Chino, may he rest in peace also, (inaudible) had cars [00:29:00] and stuff like that. JJ: He was a Young Lord. LS: Chino was Paragons. Chino was Chino. JJ: The one that committed suicide? LS: Yeah. JJ: He was a Young Lord too. LS: Yeah? Okay. JJ: Yeah, he became a Young Lord. LS: Okay. But -- JJ: That’s right, he was a Paragon too, and a Young Lord. LS: He was the president of the Paragons. JJ: Right, he was the president of the Paragons for a while. LS: Yeah. Right. JJ: Then, he became a Young Lord. LS: Mm-hmm. JJ: Okay. LS: And, you know, I think we were all really positive. Going negative was fightin’ for our survival in the community, pretty much, and that was necessity, and a lot of us -- we kept pushing, pushing. We became -- 27 �JJ: You’re talking about Chino, the one that committed suicide. LS: Yeah. Eva and -- JJ: What was that about? What was that about? LS: Russian roulette. JJ: That’s all it was? Playing Russian roulette? LS: Mm-hmm. JJ: So, it wasn’t really a suicide. It was a -- LS: Russian roulette, yes. You play, and you expect it to happen, yeah. JJ: But he did that in his house. LS: In his house. I just left the house. JJ: In front of his mom and dad. LS: We were sittin’ at the table in the kitchen. JJ: What do you mean, “We were sitting?” LS: I was there. [00:30:00] I just left. JJ: Oh, you had just left. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, you had just left. Who else was there? Who was there when it happened? LS: Eva, his sister. JJ: Eva? LS: Yeah. And Sonia. Yeah, Sonia. That’s his mother’s name. Remember? And -see, I’m not sure if Pete was here yet or if he was still in New York, but there were a whole bunch who was there, you know? (inaudible) George’s Hot Dog Stand. We were over at the house, in the basement, sittin’ there. 28 �JJ: And then, he was just playing Russian roulette? LS: I just left. It was my curfew time, and -- JJ: So, you don’t know, but -- you heard the next day -- LS: I heard the next day. JJ: -- that he committed suicide. LS: Yeah, blew his head off. Yeah. JJ: So, that went all over the neighborhood. Everybody -- LS: Sure. JJ: Any time something happened -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- it was a big -- LS: Yeah. Yeah. I came back (inaudible) next day. The first I heard. Very first I heard, you know, which was a very, very sad thing. Yeah, it really was. JJ: And there were other things that happened in the neighborhood. Didn’t Ito get shot or something? What was that about? What was that about? LS: That was -- JJ: This is Ito -- What was Ito’s name? LS: Barrella. Barrella. JJ: Barrella? LS: [00:31:00] Yeah. JJ: Barrella? LS: B-A-R-R. JJ: Oh, Barrella. 29 �LS: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. JJ: And wasn’t that Elvis, his name? LS: Yeah. That was (inaudible). JJ: So, when I say, “Wasn’t that Elvis,” why are you laughing? LS: Well, ’cause Ito was the thing. He loved to sing and stuff, and doin’ Elvis steps and things of that nature, you know? JJ: So, what do you mean, he loved to sing? You mean at the dances? LS: No, he would do it on the street corner, wherever it may be. He would always imitate Elvis. JJ: Did he dress like Elvis? LS: Don’t really remember too much about that. He dressed -- JJ: ’Cause he had hair. He had the -- LS: Yeah, he also wore his hair a little bit long and stuff. Yeah. JJ: Like Elvis. LS: Yeah. JJ: He looked like -- but he would sing in the street corner like Elvis used to? LS: You know, we all used to do -- how do you call it? (inaudible), baritones, and stuff on the corner, you know? “What’s your name?” Yeah, remember that? And stuff like that, and we all used to do that stuff. JJ: What do you call it? Bebop [00:32:00] music? What kind of -- what is it? Bebop music? LS: Rock and roll. JJ: No, rock and roll -- 30 �LS: Rock and roll and bebop. JJ: But that singing. The singing that they -- LS: I can’ think of the phrase right now (inaudible). JJ: But everybody used to sit around and sing -- LS: Right. JJ: -- on those different corners. LS: Yeah, the bottle of wine in our hand and stuff like that. JJ: Bottle of wine. LS: Yeah. JJ: (inaudible) that wine (inaudible). LS: (inaudible). Yeah, I remember those days too. Yeah. But, back to the thing I was sayin’ about -- JJ: And he was good. Wasn’t --? LS: Yeah, he was good. As a matter of fact, at some of the dances, he’d get up on stage there. They’d bring him up, and he’d sing -- JJ: So, they would bring him up to the stage -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- and he would sing -- LS: Yeah. Right. JJ: -- at our dances. LS: Yeah. Right. JJ: And everybody would go (inaudible). LS: Yeah. That was all good. 31 �JJ: Like if he was Elvis, right? LS: Well, you know, he -- JJ: Now, did the girls like that, or --? LS: Oh, yeah. Sure. The girls -- they all loved it. Any of us guys, that time, who had entertaining skills other than basketball, you know, the girls went crazy. JJ: So, the basketball thing was because the girls liked that, and -- LS: Well, the girls, they were our cheerleaders, you know, in basketball [00:33:00] and baseball. JJ: What did the girls do? What did the girls o? LS: Well, the girls had their little thing too, but I don’t think we were supportive to them as much as they were to us. JJ: So, we didn’t support them, but -- LS: Well, not as much as, you know, because, as time went on, I recall -- JJ: But they had their own groups (inaudible). LS: They had their own little group and stuff like that, yeah. They were mostly -- JJ: Now, did they fight in their groups? Were they gangbangers? LS: I don’t recall ever any fights like that and stuff like that. No. JJ: So, they weren’t gangbangers. LS: No. Not even at the beach and stuff like that, when they were at the beach, hanging out and stuff. I don’t recall the girls (inaudible). No, I really don’t. JJ: The girls did not fight. LS: I know we used to go to the beach -- JJ: Were the girls -- I mean, were they, like, street girls, or were they --? 32 �LS: They were all -- you can’t really say street girls. Street-wise, yes. JJ: Street-wise. LS: Okay? Because they went to school. Quite a few of them are nurses, and we have one or two that are attorneys, two attorneys and one judge. Others are business secretaries, and I think a couple even own companies, if I recall this correctly. They were very, [00:34:00] very progressive also, and -- JJ: Professional? LS: Professional. Progressive. Professional. JJ: Progressive. Oh, they were progressive. LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: When you say progressive, what does that mean? LS: They’re ambitious to become something besides what people thought they should have been by amounting to nothin’, hangin’ on the street corner, and just getting pregnant right out of high school, and becomin’ nothing. They had goals, and -- JJ: They had goals. So, they weren’t street people. LS: Street-minded, once again. JJ: They were street-minded. LS: Street-minded, but not -- JJ: But they had goals. LS: They had goals, yeah. JJ: That’s what you’re saying. LS: Yeah. 33 �JJ: That’s what you’re saying? LS: Right. Right. JJ: I don’t wanna -- LS: And -- JJ: -- put something in your mouth. LS: They were -- JJ: This is what they were saying. That’s what you’re saying. LS: Yeah. No, they had goals, and they acquired them. Of course -- JJ: You think of girl gangs, or girl clubs, or whatever -- LS: Girl gangs. Not in that time and age. JJ: So, they weren’t girl gangs. LS: No. Not in our time and age. JJ: Not at our time. LS: No, not that I can recall. JJ: So, these were just groups of -- they just went by their names? LS: Yeah, they were support to us as the group we had, that block group we had. I don’t ever recall -- JJ: You had the Young Lords, and you had the Young Lordettes. LS: Young Lordettes. Okay? JJ: [00:35:00] And you had the Imperial Aces, and you had the Imperial Queens. LS: (inaudible). JJ: What about the Paragons? They had -- LS: Paragons -- 34 �JJ: Just Paragons? LS: Their group was back and forth, the girls. They were pretty much at the hot dog stand, you know? So, it wasn’t like -- I mean, there was like -- JJ: The Miranda girls were Paragons. LS: Yeah, but, you know, they -- JJ: And they had other friends. LS: They had other friends that came over and stuff. JJ: And the Black Eagles had women with them all the time. LS: Yeah, which was -- the girls with them would share the same corner. JJ: They shared the same -- LS: Corner, yeah. Halsted and Dickens. JJ: Halsted -- everybody shared? All the different groups shared? LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. JJ: Halsted and Dickens was downtown, basically. LS: Uptown. JJ: It was uptown. It was uptown. Not downtown. LS: Uptown, yeah. Good times and stuff like that. JJ: So, everybody went there. But then, other people had their own restaurants, didn’t they? Well, who was in A and A? LS: That was on Larrabee and Armitage? JJ: Yeah. Who was there? What groups went there? LS: That was Aces and Paragons also. Yeah. JJ: [00:36:00] Aces (inaudible). 35 �LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. JJ: So, that was everybody too. LS: Yeah. No problem. JJ: And what about the White Front? Who was there? LS: The White Front -- I’m trying to think of it now, White Front. JJ: What was the restaurant --? LS: That was the restaurant on Halsted and Armitage there. JJ: Right. LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember that too. JJ: So, the building was (inaudible). LS: Yeah. Yeah. I remember that too. JJ: And who went in there? That was what? LS: We were all mixed there also. JJ: Oh, we were there, mixed? LS: Yeah, we were mixed there also, you know? I know about that. JJ: I thought it was more Eagles and Paragons there. LS: No, no. JJ: It was all mixed. LS: Mixed, if I recall. I mean, I didn’t go there that often because I went to St. Michael’s, and that was quite a ways away. JJ: Okay. You said there were sports, there was, like, softball. Did they play 16-inch ball? LS: Oh, yeah, 16-inch. Yeah, we played that. 36 �JJ: So, where did they play? LS: And then, on Saturday, we played 12-inch at Lincoln Park. JJ: In Lincoln Park? LS: Yeah, we played slow pitch, hardball, and stuff over there in Lincoln Park, and we had hardball also. JJ: Oh, we play hardball. LS: Yeah. JJ: And what about -- so, you only played in Lincoln Park, or did you play in neighborhood parks? LS: [00:37:00] Well, we played up there softball up on Webster and Sheffield there. We also played up on Addison, behind the police station there. We would play ball up there also. JJ: That was with the Latin Eagles. That was another group. LS: Yeah, with the Latin Eagles and stuff like that. JJ: So, you played against them. So, even -- we’re playing against them. We’re not fighting. LS: No. We had an altercation a time or two, but it wasn’t because of gang. It was over a game. JJ: And that was one or two individuals -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- usually. So, the gang -- LS: It would be a fair thing. JJ: It would be a fair thing? Just these two, let ’em fight, and that’s --? 37 �LS: Yeah. That’s fair. Yeah. That’s fair. JJ: So, there was a few of those things, right? Fair fights. LS: Well, you know, it wasn’t anything were someone got killed, or stomped, or beat with a baseball bat, or shot with a zip gun. Okay? We didn’t -- JJ: It wasn’t that. LS: No. JJ: So, it was just a fair fight. LS: Yeah. Even -- JJ: And everybody made sure that it was -- LS: It was a fair fight. That’s for sure. JJ: Nobody’s gonna get -- LS: Nobody (inaudible), and it stayed fair. JJ: [00:38:00] Okay. So, that was (inaudible). LS: Yeah. JJ: Okay. So, there was really no gangbanging in Lincoln Park. Is that what you’re saying? LS: Not with us, it wasn’t. Not among ourselves. It’s not that it didn’t exist thereafter because St. Michael’s Drum and Bugle Corps -- JJ: Later on, it existed. LS: Yeah, because (inaudible). JJ: St. Michael’s Drug and Bugle Corps. LS: Bugle Corps. From bein’ a band came into a gang. JJ: From a band, they became a gang. 38 �LS: There you go. JJ: So, why do you think that happened? LS: They were whites against us. JJ: They were whites? LS: They’re whites against us. JJ: So, it was mostly a white -- LS: They were a white -- JJ: A white drum and bugle corps. LS: -- drum -- bugle -- they were startin’ to be a band from St. Michael’s. JJ: So, it was a racial thing. LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: So, is that (inaudible)? LS: That’s just what is says. They were a band who came out of St. Michael’s -- JJ: And they were all white. LS: -- High School, and they were all white -- couple Mexican kids there, I remember -- and they were [00:39:00] totally against us. As you may remember, the police used to pick us up in that area and drop us off to make us walk back in their neighborhood, just to make sure that we got jumped one way or the other. JJ: The white police? LS: Would pick us up. JJ: And put us -- drop us off -- LS: And drop us off in that neighborhood, yeah. JJ: To get beat up. 39 �LS: That’s right. That’s right. JJ: So, they looked at us as a gang -- LS: Well -- JJ: -- but it was more racial. Is that what you’re saying? LS: It was racial. You know, why would you take -- if someone in my area was Latino, or, myself, Black, or whomever the other people in there -- you know, there weren’t very many people dark as me, were there? Carlos, a few other people. But deliberately pick us up, and take us for a ride, and drop us off on Cleveland and Armitage? JJ: So, most of the Spanish people in the Chicago -- ’cause, in New York, a lot of the Spanish people are darker-skinned. So, actually, the most of the Spanish people in Chicago and Lincoln Park were more light-skinned? Is that what you’re saying? There was a mixture. LS: We’ve always had a mixture because Latinos -- JJ: I mean, they weren’t light as [00:40:00] me. LS: And they were dark as me, some of ’em. But, bein’ Latino, you know, we aren’t promised any color of pigment. JJ: We got what? LS: (inaudible). Look at my kids. My grandkids. (inaudible). It’s not promised, you know? But, like the cop told me that time, “Why are you with these spics?” JJ: You said problems. We didn’t have problems. LS: We’re not promised color of pigment. JJ: We’re not promised. 40 �LS: Yeah. You know? Like the cops used to say, “What are you with these spics for?” Spics, you know. I am one. And so, therefore, I walk back from (inaudible). But it was a little bit different for me. I went to St. Michael’s. But, nevertheless, I’ve been chased as the same group in the summertime. I remember the old Gas 4 Less gas station there. I’ve had to fight in the middle of there for my life and run. JJ: What was that like? Gas 4 Less was where? What corner? What corner was that? LS: That’s where the drummers -- St. Michael’s. Cleveland and Armitage. JJ: Cleveland and Armitage. There was a Gas 4 Less station. LS: Yeah. JJ: And what was goin’ on there? LS: That’s where that gang [00:41:00] hung out at. JJ: There was a gang? LS: Yeah, up there. Yes. JJ: What do you mean? The Drum and Bugle Corps? LS: You better believe it. Just like Roman’s Pizzeria, Sheffield and Webster. JJ: So, the Drum and Bugle Corps hung out there too? Oh, yeah, because St. Michael’s is on Cleveland. LS: Three blocks down. JJ: So, all they did was just walk a few more blocks down -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- to Armitage. 41 �LS: Yeah. JJ: So, they would catch people there when they went to the gas station? LS: Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was the only gas station, as a matter of fact. JJ: So, when we wanted to get gas, we had a problem. LS: We got beat up there, or the cops called and dropped us off there. JJ: Oh, that’s where they would drop us off. LS: That’s where they dropped -- in that area, right around there. JJ: Right around there. LS: The other side, by LaSalle. We got to come back that way one way or the other, and they were a large bunch of -- group. (inaudible), we’re bound to get caught one way or the other, you know, so there was really no escaping that part. JJ: So, here’s all these Puerto Rican gangs. LS: Groups. JJ: Groups. Groups. I’m sorry. Let me take that word back, say -- I get tricked myself. LS: Okay. I’m gonna trick you, all right. JJ: So, all these Puerto Rican [00:42:00] groups are not fighting each other. LS: No, we’re never -- JJ: But then, they get dropped off in a white -- LS: In a white community -- JJ: White community. LS: -- where they knew there were gangs, you know, who have (inaudible) pop bottles, and beer bottles, and (inaudible) can really recall or care to remember 42 �because of bein’ taken down to that bar our men in blue and dropped us off. Bein’ taken to jail, having to walk back and stuff (inaudible) 18th District. “Oh, we’re gonna let you guys go. We had to walk back. Yeah. JJ: Now, did these Drum and Bugle Corps -- were they a gang? LS: Yes. I think we already established that they were. For the most part, they had already graduated from high school. So, that was their hangout spot, and they’d sit there, and they juiced up, everything like that, and we had to come back through there. So, like I said, I was lucky sometimes because I played ball. JJ: So, they had graduated from high [00:43:00] school, and they were not playing ball. LS: That was the clique of the neighborhood. Like we would hang at the hot dog stand, all right? That was their -- JJ: That was their place. LS: That was the hangout, yeah. JJ: That was their hangout. Okay. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, we did have a hangout, but it was -- LS: Well, some of us did. JJ: But it was racial. LS: It was pretty much racial. JJ: Most of the Puerto Ricans were over by Halsted and Dickens. LS: Well, Halsted and Dickens, North Avenue, Whealan, stuff like that, (inaudible) and stuff. But, as you said -- 43 �JJ: At a playground. LS: Yeah. JJ: We were in different sections. LS: Yeah, but, as you said, the only way to get gasoline -- that’s where we had to go. JJ: That’s where you go to get gasoline, you get your but whupped. LS: Yeah, that was the only place. That was the place we had to go for gas, yeah. JJ: Right, go up there. LS: About there. Yeah. JJ: But, by the same token, when they came and got [Polish sausages?] -- LS: Yeah, but, see, that time, though -- I guess, you know, I better say they was a gang, or should I say that? Because that was revenge, because it wasn’t so much they were identified Drum and Bugle. It was just, once again, reverse racialism. They were there, and that was where [00:44:00] they turn out, and we did the jumping. Yeah, I do remember those days also. JJ: So, we did some jumping there. LS: Yeah. Yeah. I do remember. JJ: And you said that was revenge? LS: Sure. JJ: Why would it be revenge? LS: It had been done to us on the other side. JJ: So, it had been done to us first, or no? LS: As far as I can remember, yeah. I would say yes to that. JJ: ’Cause revenge, that sounds -- is that what you mean by revenge? 44 �LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That, I can actually say yes to. JJ: Are you sure it was done to us first? LS: Sure. I had been dumped over there. JJ: Okay, you got dumped over there. LS: I got dumped over there. And, before that, I don’t ever recall anything, like, it was a thing where somebody white or Anglo came through there, and we just jumped on ’em prior to us bein’ dumped in that neighborhood. People used to come to the hot dog stand (inaudible) used to be long, people of multicolors. Korean, Japanese. JJ: So, it used to be multicolor. LS: People standing there and buyin’ that Polish -- JJ: [00:45:00] But, then, it became -- LS: Then, it got to the point anyone was white there, you had to get jumped for a while. JJ: So, then, if whites came, then they get jumped. LS: Yeah. Yeah. I have seen that also. JJ: So, we did a racial thing. LS: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. JJ: ’Cause you said it was for revenge. LS: Yeah. I’ve seen that also, yeah. JJ: Okay. LS: And that was not while I was in school. That was afterwards, so, I mean, once again, that was the older group. 45 �JJ: Oh, that was later. LS: Yeah, that was the older group. JJ: So, in the beginning -- but you weren’t there in ’59. LS: No. I was there from ’63, ’64 and up, though. JJ: ’63, ’64. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, you were there when it was really all Puerto Rican, mostly Puerto Rican. LS: So-so. Yeah, pretty much. JJ: Well, ’63, ’64, that was changing a little bit, no? LS: Well, yeah. That was, pretty much, but even -- JJ: Were there a lot of Puerto Ricans? But, I mean, what was the boundary? Where were the Puerto Ricans? Where were the Drum and Bugle Corps? LS: Well, they were the other side of Larrabee. JJ: They were the other side? LS: Other side of Larrabee, yeah. We’re in between Halsted and Racine. JJ: [00:46:00] Okay. Okay, so, we were between Halsted and Racine, and they were on the other side of Larrabee. LS: Yeah. They were Larrabee back to the lake. JJ: In between Halsted and Larrabee, what was there? LS: In between Halsted and Larrabee? That was pretty much us because you had -- JJ: That was us too. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, we were the other side of Larrabee. 46 �LS: Yeah. JJ: Larrabee was (inaudible). LS: Yeah, we were west of Larrabee. They were east of Larrabee. Yeah. That way, you know. JJ: And you went straight up, from North Avenue up. LS: Yeah. And then, once again, go back to -- this is where BUILD gave us the opportunity to teach kids sports, basketball, baseball, education, and I found also -- even with the court system. You know, goin’ to represent the youth in court, providing programs for them after school. We had a program ran by the (inaudible), where we were the last chance for some kids before they became incarcerated, and that was a very successful program because, when I was an advocate there, I used to make a curfew call [00:47:00] at nighttime, go to court with them in the morning, and provide programs for the youth throughout the day, male and female. (inaudible) also. And, in working in the Near North and Cabrini-Green area, you know, it was a challenging job because you’re dealing with kids who maybe, perhaps, no one really loves, and we were the last chance before they become incarcerated. In most cases, we were the ones, especially in our program -- I ran the street program. We were the ones who (inaudible) the racial (inaudible) in the Latin community or a mixture and were going, “Oh, man, I don’t wanna go over there.” And, finally, even some of ’em got married. BUILD got new friends, especially (inaudible) and stuff like that at the time. So, they grew (inaudible) blood can’t mix, and that’s another thing, you know? BUILD provided lots of things for kids, and I’m glad to say I was a part of that, building 47 �the structure in the [00:48:00] community and helped me in my own life, meeting people and stuff like that, and helped me also -- even more so broadened my education, broadened education and stuff like that. You put people in situations where they ordinarily would not have become, and they grew from that, and that’s what happened with me as BUILD, you know? And, as you go through the BUILD program, you find out -- you know when your time is up to spin off. It’s time for new blood to move in, and that was one thing that BUILD was very, very good at doin’ and they’re still doing today, and, if you don’t mind me sayin’ so, they’re located at 5100 West on Harrison, and they’re still working with children with gang background. JJ: They’re on Harrison? LS: Yeah. Moved as of July 1. JJ: As of July 1? LS: Yeah, of this year. Yeah. JJ: And you’re still working with BUILD? LS: I go occasionally. They’re a little farther than they were before. Before, (inaudible) go there pretty much every day up until now. But BUILD [00:49:00] program was one healthy program for our community, Lakeview, Near North, Uptown, Cabrini-Green, West Town. They were a healthy program. JJ: ’Cause didn’t they have, like, a thing where they -- you can go in, and they have every neighborhood? LS: We were selected by -- JJ: Like, they had a field office, right? 48 �LS: I mean, office was always Ashland and Milwaukee. JJ: No, but I’m saying they had field workers. LS: Oh, yeah. I started out -- yeah -- JJ: How did that work? LS: Yeah, I started out with BUILD, makin’ 10 dollars a month as a field assistant. You gradually grew. JJ: How does that work? LS: Well, that’s the person who has a contact with the group, and you would get your peers and stuff involved, and -- JJ: So, that means you were assigned to a corner. LS: I was assigned to a group. JJ: To a group, okay. LS: All right? I’m a member of that group at the time, though, you know? All right? Or you could have been assigned depending on how neutral was the group because there, at that time, [00:50:00] and I guess the ’80s and stuff like that, there were conflicts with the Vice Lords and stuff of that nature, the Gents, these Deuces, and so on and so forth. So, either you found someone of that group that infiltrated the group and helped them out with education -- JJ: Infiltrated the group, or you’re a member of the group? LS: You can be a Young Blood there and still help (inaudible). JJ: And it was 10 dollars a month. LS: Ten dollars a month. There was a stipend. JJ: What kind of work do you do? 49 �LS: That was just more or less an incentive if you come to that one meeting a month and get the money, and, in the same token, you still hung with the group. You’re a member. JJ: What’s the meeting? You come at the meeting? LS: You come to that meeting there, and you can talk about things that happened within your group or people you’d like to see helped, you know, education, or someone may need a job. Someone may need a GED. You know, and you grew pretty rapid?. JJ: So, it’s like a counseling session. You say, “Okay, this is what we can do for these people?” LS: “This is what I’d like to see [00:51:00] happen within my group.” JJ: Okay, within my group. Okay. LS: Yeah. JJ: “This is what I would like to see happen within my group.” LS: Yeah. This person, this person, you know. JJ: You shared that with everybody. LS: You shared that. Then, you had your -- JJ: And then, they might help you. They might -- LS: Well, no “might” about it. We made an effort to always do it. Always made an effort to do it, you know? (inaudible) to the field worker, and then supervisor, and then coordinators and things of that nature. All right? And we made the effort. Get those groups (inaudible) in sports. Help one group (inaudible) job in the same location. It was makin’ people meet one another, (inaudible) one another. 50 �JJ: Building -- LS: BUILD. BUILD. JJ: (inaudible) -- LS: BUILD -- JJ: -- everybody trying to -- LS: Yeah, that’s what BUILD’s about. JJ: Like building unity. LS: Yeah. And, that way, you know, you can erase some of those lines and those boundaries. JJ: Building networks, yeah. LS: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. That’s what BUILD program’s about, and it is now, and they’re [00:52:00] still doin’ the same thing. The emphasis is now on gangs more because foundations and funding is not that much available for gangs, but there are other ways that they have found to get money to work with the youth. JJ: So, what kind of -- how did they get money? I mean, what -- LS: The United Way was a supporter. You’ve got private corporations and personal and private donors who would donate. JJ: They had a lot of personal donors, or --? LS: Oh, yeah. We’ve had over the years, yes. Some of them. JJ: From where? From factories? From --? LS: Corporations. JJ: Corporations? 51 �LS: Yeah. Corporations. And we have very, very few government dollars because you don’t know -- in election year, you can be cut 100, 200,000 thousand dollars, and that was our budget, and we never, that time, invested into brick and mortar. [00:53:00] And so, therefore, we were sure the dollars we had would be there another year, five years, ten years from now down the line, so they -- JJ: You were sure? How were you sure? LS: Well, if you are not -- JJ: Connected. You got to get connected. LS: Well, you’re not into, say, city dollars. Say, next year, (inaudible) loses the election, there goes, possibly, your funding. You know? JJ: Okay, so you got city dollars too. LS: Well, we didn’t have a great deal. We weren’t depending upon them a great deal, no. JJ: You got some. So, I mean -- LS: Yeah. Well, private donations and corporate -- JJ: Private donations. LS: Yeah, and corporations. Yeah. That was the backbone of everything. JJ: Okay. So, private donations and stuff like that? LS: Yeah. JJ: What else? LS: You spoiled it already. JJ: I spoiled it? Oh. I’m sorry about that. LS: No. Doesn’t he always say that? 52 �JJ: Hold on one sec. Hold on. (break in audio) LS: You know how hard those stairs were comin’ up? Watch how easy they be goin’ down. JJ: [00:54:00] Okay, so, what are you doing now? What kind of work are you doing now? LS: I work for the circuit court for county. JJ: Circuit court of Cook County? LS: Yeah, presently, and I -- JJ: How did you get in there? What was that? LS: How did I come about it? JJ: If it’s not personal. If it’s not personal. LS: I applied for the job. It took me a great number of years to get the job, and the requirements of getting the job was you have a college degree, and I have several of those, and I work with -- JJ: You have several college degrees? LS: I have several. JJ: I didn’t know. Where did you go to college? Tell me which school. LS: School? I went to U of I, University Without Walls, and that was gettin’ your education from protecting the job we did, once again through BUILD. JJ: Through BUILD. LS: So, yeah. JJ: So, you got BUILD to pay for it?. 53 �LS: Yeah. You know, so, you project what you can accomplish. That was how you-- JJ: (inaudible) school, yeah. LS: And the only other thing was my love for law enforcement. [00:55:00] JJ: Okay, you went for law enforcement? LS: Well, my love for, pretty much. You know, there are a lot of things that you can get credit for. JJ: Oh, that’s right. You know what? There was -- LS: University Without Walls. JJ: -- corrections. Oh, you went to University Without Walls. LS: Well, University Without Walls -- JJ: You used University Without Walls (inaudible) law enforcement degree? LS: Yeah. They have that, and so does -- JJ: ’Cause I know there were some correctional classes ’cause I took a couple with BUILD when I was there. LS: And all the years and experience I had on the street, that was -- JJ: ’Cause that’s what BUILD did. BUILD wanted to build relations with the police and with the youth, I mean, to bring people together. LS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. JJ: They were trying to bring people together. LS: That’s what the all-star games were about (inaudible). JJ: So, how did that work? How did that work? LS: Well, that’s always had a positive aspect. JJ: What was that? What was the all-star game (inaudible)? 54 �LS: That was with the police department, the same as at Clemente. Basketball at Clemente and baseball at (inaudible), and that’s still an annual thing that goes on. JJ: So, what were the teams? LS: The teams were a mixture of all [00:56:00] the street gangs versus the police department. JJ: Versus the police department. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, all the street gangs against the police department. LS: Well, you know, you would use the senior -- JJ: Seniors. LS: -- yeah, representing us. You have two or three guys each group like this to form one senior team, and the police department, they would recruit from either the district or several districts, and they would play against the street gang. JJ: So, one of the good things about that was that all the street gangs would have a way to get together and that they would not fight. LS: Sure. Well, you know -- JJ: (inaudible), I mean, which is good. LS: Yeah, well, actually -- JJ: (inaudible) that’s good. LS: -- that’s giving -- with street cops, that very good rapport. That doesn’t mean all cops are bad because they aren’t, you know? And they aren’t all cops that drop you in the wrong neighborhood. Okay? And, for the most part, most of the 55 �police officers who the groups participated against, they knew them on the street already ’cause they’re already (inaudible) cop, and these same kids are the groups, you know. So, that just gave us a stronger hand, more rapport, and good PR. JJ: Okay, that was good PR for [00:57:00] BUILD, and, at the same time -- LS: For the street gang and the police department. JJ: Building rapport with some of the -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- street members. LS: Yeah. Right. So -- JJ: And the street members are doing something together for a change. LS: They were doing something together because, in addition to that, their groups were there also, and that -- you got eight, nine, ten, twelve different groups there. No conflicts. JJ: Right. So, in the audience, there’s also members of the different groups. LS: That’s right, yeah. JJ: Street groups and all that. LS: Yeah. JJ: And police. LS: Yeah, and there’s no conflict. JJ: And there’s no conflict. LS: That’s right. JJ: So, it was a way for them to come together without conflict. 56 �LS: Yeah. JJ: ’Cause I remember the YMCA Detached Program did that with camp. Did you ever go to any of those camps? LS: Well, we also had -- with BUILD, we had the training things up in Saginaw, Michigan. JJ: Oh, Saginaw, Michigan. LS: Yeah, Whitehall. Whitehall, Michigan (inaudible). Yeah, yeah, yeah. JJ: (inaudible). So, Saginaw Michigan is where it was? LS: Yeah. Whitehall, Michigan, then we were in Saginaw another time for seminars. JJ: No, but wasn’t there one in Kalamazoo or something? LS: Kalamazoo? JJ: [00:58:00] Or was Saginaw? Was that the part up there? LS: I remember Whitehall, Michigan. We drove right past it one time [in ’73?]. JJ: Whitehall, Michigan? LS: Whitehall, Michigan, it was. Yeah. And that was an annual thing. It was for staff also. (inaudible). JJ: This was at Whitehall? LS: If I remember correctly, it was in Whitehall, Michigan. And we’d go up there once, twice a year. It was a staff thing there, (inaudible) staff, and perhaps your field assistant, your field worker. JJ: Was it Flint, then? Maybe it was Flint. I remember we took over a town. We went there for camp. LS: No, that wasn’t BUILD. We didn’t took over no town. 57 �JJ: No, not with BUILD. That was with the YMCA Detached Program. LS: Okay. Yeah. JJ: And we went there, and, you know, it was a camp. It was a nice camp, but then, at nighttime, we had nothing else to do, so we went to the town. LS: (inaudible). JJ: And we just took over. LS: No. JJ: I don’t mean we took over a town. I mean we -- LS: Well, you know -- JJ: We hung out at the town. LS: You know, the Y has several different Y -- JJ: It was a small town. LS: There’s Camp Bierk, Camp [Chen?]. There’s another camp also. So, we always went to -- I think it was [00:59:00] Camp Sears. JJ: These were all owned by the Y. LS: Yeah. But, also, at BUILD, we went to Camp Chen and Camp Sears also for these seminars, so they may have all been in a different town or something, but we never were taking over a town. JJ: No, I don’t mean take -- I mean we were hanging out downtown. LS: Okay. JJ: It was like we’re the only ones downtown. LS: Yeah. JJ: Not like that. I don’t mean like that. 58 �LS: Okay. JJ: So, right now, you’re working in the -- LS: Circuit court for Cook County. JJ: -- circuit court of Cook County, and what type of work do you do there? LS: Documents. JJ: Okay. What do you mean, documents? LS: Divorce. Civil. (inaudible). Eviction. (inaudible). You name it. We handle all the court documents. Criminal. Juvenile. You name it. It’s a document, it goes through the court system, we have it. We have records we keep on file. Juvenile records -- for over 20 years, we keep. All right? And I work for one of the -- my chief’s name, Dr. Bloomberg, and she’s in charge of the [01:00:00] civil division, and I work underneath her. JJ: Okay. And so, any record, whether it’s a criminal offense or (inaudible) -- LS: Anything you do. JJ: Anything we do is in there? LS: Yeah. JJ: So, my record is in there. Don’t look at my record. LS: Already saw it. We keep records on everything. Divorce, the whole shebang. Any type of violence and stuff, we have it. We have records on Al Capone. Everything. JJ: (inaudible)? LS: Yeah. (inaudible). Everything. We have every single thing. JJ: I got a couple traffic tickets. Can I get ’em cleared? 59 �LS: Sure, soon as you pay ’em. JJ: Okay. So, how long have you been there? LS: Ten years. JJ: Ten years? LS: Yeah. JJ: Okay. So, you’re planning to kinda retire from there, or --? LS: Well, I think I’m old enough. I should do something. That’s a thing that -- JJ: So, I mean, what are your plans? I mean, what are --? LS: Oh, yeah. Well, in the near future, [01:01:00] I hopefully maybe put another couple more years in and try retiring again, as I have in the past, but this time with different goals in mind. You know, maybe I can spend more time fishing, campin’ with my grandkids, my son and his kids, and stuff like that. We’ll see what happens. But I’ll like to also -- possible -- start my own business again, and I’m not sure just what I wanna do at this point, but I go into communications or (inaudible). JJ: You had a business before? LS: I founded several companies over there. JJ: What kind of business? LS: Janitorial. JJ: Janitorial (inaudible)? LS: Yeah,[and all that stuff, you know. Entertainment and stuff like that. Bars and stuff like that. JJ: That’s right. Didn’t you do -- not janitorial. It was termite -- not termite. 60 �LS: Pesticide. JJ: What is it? LS: Pesticide. I own [a serving?] company. JJ: (inaudible) pesticide for a while. You had-- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- your own company when we were at BUILD. LS: Mm-hmm. And I’m about to go do it again, perhaps. We’ll see what happens. (inaudible) I got a whole bunch of stuff there. JJ: Okay, so you’re (inaudible). LS: [01:02:00] Yeah. I paid for the test twice last year and didn’t go. JJ: But what about customers? Where do you get customers? LS: No problem. JJ: Word of mouth? LS: That won’t be a problem. JJ: Word of mouth, or --? LS: Bids on certain things and word of mouth about the rest of ’em. JJ: Oh, so you bid to companies. LS: Yeah. Sure. You bid for stuff at bakeries, hospitals, and stuff like that. JJ: How do you bid? Do you just go to them, or --? LS: Well, you go, and find out what the requirements are, and you see what the needs are, and you put a competitive bid in, and you have to be licensed also, and bonded. JJ: Okay. Licensed and bond. So, you have to (inaudible) do that. 61 �LS: Yeah. JJ: That’s pretty expensive. LS: Money makes money. JJ: Okay. So, that’s part of the thing. LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: Part of the procedure. Okay. I think, last time, we talked about -- I just wanna -we talked about how you felt about Lincoln Park changing. We talked about that, so I don’t wanna ask you that again, but I’m just trying to [01:03:00] continue to describe Lincoln Park that you remember, what you remember of Lincoln Park, so I’m trying to -- LS: As to where it is today, I think it’s changed a whole lot. It, once again, is a rich area of the city of Chicago, and, if you’re not in that bracket of dollars, you can’t afford to live there still. Even if you look to the south of the Lincoln Park area, Cabrini-Green really doesn’t exist anymore. The project houses are not there, and you got to be in the upper-middle class or over in order to live in the Near North area, period. JJ: Who do you think did that? I mean, it’s a beautiful thing, right? For some people. LS: Sure, it’s beautiful, but it also pushes people out of the areas they’ve put blood and sweat into, and their last penny. And then, once again, once you start driving them out, you drive them into an area where you can put projects up again. JJ: Okay. Well, let me ask you this other question, okay? You work at [01:04:00] Cook County. 62 �LS: For Cook County. JJ: For Cook County. There’s a lot of other people that came from our neighborhood that work for the city and Cook County and that, right? LS: Yes. JJ: They were able to get some jobs, which is fine. There’s nothing -- you know, we need jobs (inaudible). LS: We have good Latino representation and Black representation in both governments. JJ: So, (inaudible) -- LS: City, state, and government. JJ: -- we were able to get some jobs. LS: Well, we have a whole lot more than some. We just don’t have a heck of a lot. We could use a lot more. JJ: We could use a lot more. LS: But education, once again, is the key to the door. JJ: But it wasn’t only education. I mean, it was also that -- LS: Political. JJ: It was political. I mean, would you agree to that, or no? LS: Sure. JJ: Okay. So, it was political. I mean, some of it had to do with knocking on doors and stuff like that. LS: Well, knocking on doors is political. 63 �JJ: Right. That’s what I mean. That’s political. So, some of that. Some of the people from our neighborhood did that on [01:05:00] different sides. LS: Mm-hmm. JJ: Some worked for Washington. Some worked for Daley. Some -- whatever they did on different sides. Because it’s part of the democratic system in Chicago, right? LS: It’s part of the political system everywhere. JJ: Everywhere. It’s part of the political system everywhere. Okay. So, as an insider, how do other people, insiders, look at the whole question of -- LS: Patronism? JJ: -- being kicked out of Lincoln Park, and Wicker Park, and Humboldt Park? How do they look at it? LS: Well, I guess it’s go with the flow for some, for most parts. Either you’re part of or you’re not gonna be there at all, and we have enough homeless people as there is, for one thing, homeless and starving people, right here in Humboldt Park, right here in Ukrainian Village. We are having a very, very large epidemic of homeless people, and they’re Black, white, yellow, you name it. [01:06:00] But, nevertheless, we still got these high-rises going up, you know, and people losin’ their homes. Can’t afford -- and also homes bein’ foreclosed upon. I don’t have a solution for that, but, again, all the new houses and townhouses that are being built are -- JJ: No, but I’m -- LS: -- empty. 64 �JJ: I’m not asking you for a solution. I’m just saying, how do people in there look at it? You know, the Young Lords at one point were disagreeing with the mayor, Mayor Daley and that, because we thought his plan was not helping us. I mean, how did you look at it from the inside? ’Cause you were -- people had to support Mayor Daley, right? At that time. I mean, and, like you said, you have to go with the flow. LS: You should, yes. JJ: You should go with the flow. (inaudible). LS: Not necessarily meaning that you have to. JJ: No, no, but you’re saying that, sometimes, you got to go with -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- the flow. LS: Well, when it comes to the housing situation, I believe -- you know, I think that we should start [01:07:00] providing alternative housing for those people who are evicted. Okay? And, whether it be senior citizen homes, or (inaudible) housing, or whatever it may be, we, sooner or later, are going to start putting up a whole lot of alternative housing, and that -- ’cause they all have to be CHA houses because, instead of putting people on top of one another sixteen stories high, now, they’re doing three or four stories high. Okay? And that isn’t any better than doing -- JJ: But do they talk about that in there? That’s what I’m saying, the insiders. LS: I couldn’t say. I don’t have any ins and outs of the city council, and our present alderman, you know, I don’t see enough of or have any bond with him, but I do 65 �know we do have a whole lot of scattered housing in our community, and a good thing about that is people do have a place to live. A bad thing about that -JJ: Scattered housing? LS: Yes. JJ: That’s what they’re trying -- LS: Yeah. JJ: So, that serves -- LS: And the bad thing about that, though, is people who were in those tall [01:08:00] high-rises who were trouble-makers, so on and so forth, thieves and whatever it may be, they’re spread all over the place. A little bit of ’em in every community, you know? JJ: So, that’s the bad part. LS: That’s the bad part because, once again, I think that they have to -- you can’t just keep piling us on top of one another ’cause, the more you do of that -- you take the problem, and you spread it more and more out. You can’t just have scattered housing every place either because that’s not a solution. JJ: So, you can’t pile people on top of each other. LS: And you just can’t take that pile down and start spreading it from here to there because I don’t think that’s really a solution. And then, those people who are not a part of those scattered housing are homeless, and, once again, with homeless people goes crime also, and we are not workin’ enough on our crime situation, you know? Penitentiaries and institution, they’re going in, coming out. They go in criminal. They come out bigger criminals. They all don’t have jobs. [01:09:00] 66 �Our young girls are coming out still. They go on the street, and they’ll be hookers. They’re babies havin’ babies. The counseling is not being very effective. We have very, very few things that are effective to the middle class, you know? (inaudible). That’s not saving anybody. That’s not giving any additional education to mothers on pre-parent of that nature. All right? We don’t have enough schooling for our young men who can’t sing and can’t become rockstars. You know, everyone can’t be Mr. Z and the rest of these guys. We have to have alternative things for these people, and that’s a serious problem right now -- I see as being serious. I see it all -JJ: Do other people see it like that? There at the job or other jobs? LS: At that job, [01:10:00] people go to work, do their job, and come home. JJ: Okay. So -- LS: Yeah. JJ: That’s what I mean. LS: Yeah. JJ: They’re not even talking about it. LS: No. No. I mean, that’s not their job. And, therefore, they don’t see how far they have to go to do what they’re doing. They (inaudible), get the check, go home. There aren’t people out there who care any more about their community more than getting (inaudible) back out. JJ: So, do they pay any attention to -- for example, if I got a job there, I got to work for this alderman that got me in there? LS: You don’t got to. 67 �JJ: You don’t have to? Okay, but, I mean, you think -- you feel you -- they did you a favor. They got you a job. You want to help ’em out. But do they pay attention to what that alderman is saying? LS: You know, patronism is against the law. JJ: Oh, no. It is against the law now. LS: Okay? JJ: It is against the law. LS: Okay? (inaudible). JJ: But I mean at that time. I should have said “at that time.” LS: That time. Any time. It’s against the law. JJ: Okay. That time, it was against the law too? LS: It is now. JJ: But they were doin’ it then. LS: You can always have -- [01:11:00] rules are made to be broken. JJ: Okay, so, against the law, but rules are being broken. I got you. I got you. So, it’s against the law, but it still exists. LS: Rules are made to be broken. JJ: Okay. So, okay. So, those people that are in there, whatever way they got in there -- I don’t care. That’s not important. What I’m saying is I just wanna know, does it affect them? Because they know people that got kicked out of Lincoln Park, and Wicker Park, and all these other people. Do they care? LS: I think your average person cares about he and his family, she and her family. If you are a person who care about other people and can lend a helping hand, I’m 68 �quite sure 90 percent of them would, and, for the other 10 percent, they wouldn’t care one way or the other. But, then again, you also find people who are comfortable in just what they are, and where they are, and what they’re doing. [01:12:00] If they don’t make that first step to help themselves, why should the next person? You know, (inaudible). If you don’t make that effort to go on that paper route so you can get a shirt for next week, so, why should I go with the paper route for you and give you the money? That’s welfare and all the rest of that stuff, you know? And then, the system also spend that money (inaudible) for me. JJ: But are you saying that all those people that got moved out of Lincoln Park, it was their fault? LS: No. Once again, as I told you earlier, that was all about money. Real estate. Real estate, you know? You see it right now, real estate. I mean, it’s a prime thing. Real estate doesn’t depreciate. Time is -- it doesn’t depreciate, but, you know, a lot of people’s hearts, and souls, and things they put their blood and sweat into, sure does -- it hurts to lose what you’ve established. Foreclosures, [01:13:00] banking. People commit suicide. I know many people who lost their houses and stuff. I seen people in our community at home. Taxes just killed them. They pay for a house for 10, 15, 20, 30 years. Their kids have grown up, graduated, and got married. They got the house to themselves, and, all of a sudden, they lose their house because they cannot afford taxes, to pay the taxes. That’s another thing that’s killing us, and that really, really hurts, you know? I pay for a house -- 69 �JJ: The taxes? LS: The house I paid for for 30 years, and the city’s moved me out, or the bank is pulling a foreclosure, and I got my heart, and soul, and sweat into that property. All of a sudden, now, I got to sell and move. JJ: Now, you have to sell or move? LS: Sell and move. I mean, they’re takin’ my property away from me. My blood and sweat for 30 years. People kill themselves. They don’t know where to go. JJ: So, you’re losing your property right now. LS: No, not me. This is my property. All right? This is -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: [01:14:00] Yeah, this is [the equation?] I’m talking about, yeah. JJ: (inaudible) you’re talking about it as an example. LS: Yeah. JJ: You know people that that has happened to? LS: Oh, yes. As a matter of fact, (inaudible) we got hundreds of thousands of people that comes through every day like that. JJ: Oh, ’cause you deal with it evictions. LS: Paperwork. JJ: The paperwork eviction. LS: Yeah. JJ: Are there a lot of --? LS: Sure. JJ: Are there a lot of evictions? 70 �LS: Sure. Hundred thousands. JJ: Hundred thousand. LS: Hundreds of thousands. JJ: Evictions. LS: Evictions, foreclosures. They’re not one and the same. One, you be evicted by your landlord ’cause you didn’t pay. Other one, the mortgage company’s takin’ back your property. But once again, you’re in the street. JJ: So, what do you think about that? LS: I think it’s a shame. I think because the bank system knew prior to you losing your property that you bought today, in four, five years, (inaudible). It’s a shame. It is. JJ: But on the other side of the coin is that people [01:15:00] have to work. They got to survive, right? LS: People should work if you’re able to. I think you should. Everything cannot be given to you on a silver platter. JJ: What I’m saying is there’s a system set up already that’s creating that mess with the 100,000 -- LS: Yes. JJ: -- people losing their -- LS: Yes. Yes. JJ: -- houses, but -- LS: They didn’t care that -- JJ: -- the people that work within that system -- 71 �LS: Didn’t care about the people on the outside. They cared about themselves. JJ: They only care about themselves. LS: Right. JJ: Okay. And they have families, so it’s understandable. Would you say, then, that they justify it? They’re saying that it’s these people’s fault. LS: To justify a thing within our political system -- JJ: (inaudible). LS: -- there has to be a very, very strong adjustment. JJ: You have to do what? LS: Within our political system, there has to be a very, very strong adjustment made. JJ: Meaning what? What do you mean? LS: That means, in Congress, people who go out and they [01:16:00] make the laws, the banks, you know, they have to look at other alternative ways of not takin’ people’s property, and their homes, and stuff, man. There has to be somethin’ -you can’t just go and take a person’s life away from them like that. You really shouldn’t. I know people who committed suicide ’cause they lost their property. It’s a shameful thing to be done. It really is. JJ: You know personally people that have done that? LS: Yeah. Commit suicide. JJ: You’re not commit suicide, right? LS: You can’t foreclose on this. JJ: (inaudible). 72 �LS: But it’s really a shame, you know? But it’s got to get better before it gets worse off. Fingers crossed and pray [01:17:00] it’ll get better for people. JJ: It’s getting better? LS: It should get better. JJ: It should get better. LS: No, ’cause homeless is not a pretty thing. I see it around all the time. Imagine seein’ or imagine bein’ the person who hasn’t had a bath in two or three weeks, or people you see walking down the street, eating out of trash cans, or people who are so depressed, they just don’t give (inaudible). JJ: Have you seen anybody that we grew up with that is homeless? LS: I’ve seen it personally, so yeah. I live down little far from (inaudible) neighborhood there, so I don’t get around there as much as I used to or anything. Yeah, but I’ve seen people, and it’s because they do not want to do. JJ: That grew up when we grew up? LS: Mm-hmm. It’s ’cause they’re in a valley of bein’ content. They aren’t trying. I guess they are burnt out. They gave up, and they just don’t want to be. JJ: They want to stay homeless? LS: Well, that’s their choice. That’s their [01:18:00] choice. You know -- JJ: So, someone that wants to stay homeless -- do you think they have a problem, or no? I mean, maybe -- LS: I’ve been homeless. Okay? And I didn’t stop goin’ back and forth, knocking on doors, ’til I got another job, and I’ve seen people. If you’re determined to succeed or not be homeless, sky’s the limit. There is a way. All right? If you are 73 �in that valley of comfortability and you want to stay there, your choice. If you want to do better for yourself, you can. Once again, this is America. Education is a thing that one needs, and I think we’ve all been educated to the point we know that we can do better each and every day of our lives if we want to. JJ: Okay. So, you said you’ve been homeless. [01:19:00] What made you homeless? LS: System. JJ: The system? LS: And I used the system to fight back. Fight back at the system. JJ: What do you mean, the system made you homeless? LS: I have bad health, and, with that time period, I became homeless. JJ: Because of the health? LS: Because my health made me, at the time, not be able to work, and I was evicted. JJ: So, you lost your job, and then you got evicted. LS: Yeah. I lost my job with 9/11 also. JJ: What is it? LS: 9/11. JJ: During 9/11? LS: Yeah. JJ: You lost your job. LS: Yeah. I’m an electrician at the time, and God blessed me once again. You want to do better? You can. (inaudible). JJ: [01:20:00] How long were you homeless? 74 �LS: For quite some time. JJ: A few months? Years? LS: No, no. Not years. About maybe four, six months, perhaps. JJ: So, I mean, what does that mean, you were homeless? LS: That means I didn’t have a place to go and lay my head at nighttime. I had to go to someone’s house every day to shower. I had to stand in soup lines to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That means, at nighttime, I slept on blankets and air bags on the floor. I slept in Lincoln Park. I had no income. JJ: With air bags and stuff on the floor in Lincoln Park? LS: I had slept on air bags in churches, floors. JJ: In church, okay. LS: Yeah. I slept on the ground in Lincoln Park. Smelly ground. Piss. Yes. JJ: With a blanket or without a blanket? LS: Whatever I had. (inaudible). JJ: But you ate at soup kitchens? LS: Yeah. If I can get up, come back, next person can too. JJ: [01:21:00] How’d you get out of that? LS: I never wanted to be in to start with, so, therefore, from the time it happened to me, the next day, I started pushin’ to get back on my feet. JJ: So, the very next day, you said, “I’m gonna get out of this.” LS: Never felt I really should have been there, bro, got to say. You can’t -- JJ: So, you said, “This is not me. I’m gonna (inaudible).” 75 �LS: No. It’s not. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. All right? And I wasn’t about to stay that way. That was not my zone of comfortability. JJ: So, the very next day, what’d you do? LS: Knock on doors. Knock on doors of those politicians, people that I felt -- knocked on doors, factories, passed out resumes, goin’ different places, lookin’ for jobs. JJ: So, you’re sleeping in Lincoln Park or in the homeless shelters. LS: Mm-hmm. JJ: But then, you’re going out to knock on doors of the politicians -- LS: The politicians, the factories, submitting resumes, and, once again, still, volunteered a little bit of time -- I felt, still, you know, I had something to offer other people. JJ: Well, that’s good. I mean, you [01:22:00] kept going. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, that definitely -- LS: Yeah. Wasn’t about to kill myself, man. (inaudible). JJ: Somebody else has to (inaudible). LS: Yeah. Yeah. JJ: Okay. That’s good. That’s good. LS: Yeah. JJ: So, it’s rough times. So, then, you feel you understand what other people go through, then? LS: Oh, yeah. ’Cause you have to be a fightin’ man to survive. You got to survive. You give up, man? You’re a loser, and I never thought of seeing myself as being 76 �a loser. All right? You can lose the (inaudible) battle, but you’re gonna win the war. JJ: But you’re the winner, so you (inaudible). LS: I’m gonna win the war, bro. JJ: You believe in the war. LS: The war. You got the battle here, but the war is here. So, I lost this little bit here, but I’m gonna win (inaudible). I’m back on my feet. I have education. Education opens doors for you. JJ: But what kind of issues would get somebody to even think, homeless? I mean, were you going through a divorce or something, or --? LS: [01:23:00] No, I told you. I have a -- JJ: You were going through the health -- LS: The system that we pay into all the time deceived me, among other things. It wasn’t -- JJ: You lost your job. Your health -- LS: Well, look at it like this. 9/11 came. (inaudible) lost my job, amongst other things. JJ: I don’t understand what the connections were with 9/11. LS: Here. 9/11 came. Being electrician, a whole bunch of us got laid off, and there was not job. There was no place to go for a job. There were -- JJ: Oh, you were a electrician then. LS: Yes. JJ: And there was no jobs because of 9/11. 77 �LS: Yeah. Hundreds thousands lost their jobs. JJ: Okay. So, that’s when you lost your job. LS: That was a time of being homeless. Other than that, happened to me once-- JJ: But, being an electrician, couldn’t you get jobs at the neighborhood? LS: No. It’s not that easy. I’m a union electrician. Okay? Side jobs just don’t do it. You got to have skills for that stuff also, [01:24:00] and I have a card in my pocket still to this very day. Okay? But that’s a skilled profession. So, therefore, if you use your skills to your advantages, yeah, you’re gonna survive somewhat. You’re not back making 30, 40, 50 dollars an hour, but, you know, 10 dollars is just as good as that. We got nothing. There’s always ways to survive. JJ: Okay. So, now, you understand the homeless issue. LS: Been there. Yes. JJ: Okay. You’ve been there. So, you know, people were getting kicked out of Lincoln Park, and Wicker Park, and all these places. That created -- LS: Some homeless -- JJ: And the houses were real expensive, and, you know, somebody gets sick, they can’t pay for that. LS: Well, you know, I think, in the days that we’re speaking of, back in the ’60s, it wasn’t as horrifying then because welfare wasn’t all that bad like it is now. You can always go to a hospital, Cook County or whatever it may have been, and you would [01:25:00] survive somewhat. Homelessness today -- man, there’s about hundreds of thousands, I would say, bro. They got little groups now. They got nicknames, and they hang together and stuff. I don’t ever remember anyone -- 78 �JJ: What do you mean, they got nicknames? LS: The LB, the Latin Bombs. JJ: What, the homeless have nicknames? LS: Oh, yeah. Little groups, yeah. JJ: They, themselves, put the names, or --? LS: I wouldn’t know. JJ: So, they call themselves the Latin Bombs? LS: The Latin Bombs, you know. You got -- JJ: So, they got clubs of homeless people. LS: Yes. JJ: That’s what you’re saying. They got -- LS: Yeah. JJ: -- gang members -- LS: Groups. Yeah. Yeah. JJ: -- that are -- LS: And they will fight in the soup line. They’ll push you. I mean, I’ve seen this. I’ve been in that line. JJ: Oh, I see what you’re saying. The gangs -- LS: They have a little gang within themselves. They protect themselves, and they go to the churches, and then the churches -- those people (inaudible). They go there every other day or every day. They’re living there. They get their showers, or they help them -- they [01:26:00] got breakfast in the morning, 6:30, seven o’clock, and they have to be thrown on the streets. They look for a job or 79 �whatever they’re gonna do. They come into the Salvation Army, other places, and they get lunch, and they’re in there 6:30, seven o’clock at nighttime to get a shower and a warm meal. Been there. And those who have substance abuse problems, they have programs for them also if you want to be a part of those things. If you do not want to be a part of those things, well, then, you’re on the outskirt again (inaudible). JJ: Okay. You said you’ve been there. So, I mean, you saw that. LS: I was part of it. JJ: You were part of it. LS: Yeah. JJ: But you were able to use it to the advantage of getting the heck out of there. LS: Sure. I took advantage of everything there was that I felt that helped me, benefit me, and -- JJ: What were some of the things that you did to your advantage? LS: Use my [01:27:00] skills. JJ: Use your skills. Okay. What are your skills LS: People skills. Help other people. JJ: (inaudible). LS: People skills. JJ: People skills. LS: Help other people do things. All right? Knock on doors, you know? There was a time I used to go to the daily workers things, and you get your daily pay, and you 80 �saved up every day. DHS gave me 120 days to have a job and apartment. Did that. I stayed also YMCA, the Central Park YMCA there. JJ: Okay, so, they got you -- LS: I went and asked for help. I wasn’t too ashamed to ask for help. JJ: Okay. You weren’t ashamed to help -- LS: No, not ashamed to ask for help. JJ: So, you’re saying some people were ashamed to ask for help? LS: There are agencies who will provide help for you if you seek. It’s not like saying - JJ: But some people are ashamed to? LS: I don’t know if they’re ashamed or not, but I’m not used to sleepin’ in the street either. JJ: Okay, so, it’s either -- LS: I [01:28:00] still -- JJ: -- sleep on the street or ask for help. LS: I feel, with the skills I have, I can find a job, and I went and asked for help, and they sent me to a place that would give me help, and, through my time, from seven in the morning ’til (inaudible) at nighttime, I knocked on doors. I went places. I took resumes, seeking jobs. All right? I did little side things that I had to that were my skills. If there was a carpenter that needed help that day, I go out, whatever it may have been, and I saved my little money, and, within that 120 days they gave me to get myself settled, I was out of that place in 90 days. 81 �JJ: Okay. So, you got out of there in 90 days. By the fourth month, you were doing better. LS: I asked for the extra month to save money so I can get a car. JJ: Okay, so -- LS: And they tell me (inaudible), and they allowed me that month. JJ: Okay, so that was good. LS: (inaudible). JJ: So, you had some skills. LS: Everyone has skills. It’s a matter of using them to your advantage. JJ: Everyone has skills? LS: Everybody has skills. JJ: Some people -- I mean, everyone [01:29:00] has skills? Okay. That’s what you’re saying? I’m not arguing. LS: Everybody has skills. JJ: Okay. So, what do you mean? So, why are some people still there? LS: They don’t want to utilize them. You know, by having skills, we all can listen. We talk. Use the hammer. (inaudible) skills. (inaudible). Skills. JJ: Everybody has skills, but some people can see them, and some people can’t? LS: Some people don’t want to use their skills, and some people -- JJ: Oh, some people don’t want to use them. LS: Don’t want to use them, and others who are content with freeloading the system. JJ: Okay. So, that’s good. So, I think that’s -- but, I mean, I still see some -- you know, for example, there’s some people -- in Michigan, they cut welfare, right? 82 �And then, I knew some people that didn’t -- they had [01:30:00] skills, good skills, but they didn’t -- their English wasn’t that well. I mean, so, that hampered them. That got them in -- and I felt very sorry for them because they were on welfare, and, now, they got cut off overnight. LS: You know -- JJ: Which means that they were gonna be homeless. LS: It didn’t just happen overnight, though. JJ: No, no, (inaudible) -- LS: They knew it was comin’. They knew it was comin’. JJ: Well, no. They talked about it, said it was coming, but what could they do? Did that happen here, or no? LS: Well, no. Welfare still exists here, but it’s a matter of time. I know people who say, “Oh, yeah, go ahead and (inaudible). Welfare’ll take care of you.” And I’m like, that’s my tax money. Person freeloads, you know? I’m very conscious of stuff like that. I support anybody who work. We support lots and lots of thousands of peoples on social security and on welfare. Now, I was sick. (inaudible) give me nothin’ while I’m out from my surgery. [01:31:00] When I have a problem, I’m over-educated or I make too much money. That’s my own money, you know? But, for a person who doesn’t really need or don’t -- they get it just like that. I think that’s unfair also. JJ: So, you’re saying everybody’s the same. Everybody has skills. LS: Everyone has some type of a skill. JJ: Everybody can make it if they want to. 83 �LS: Everyone has some type of -- [not?] everyone can make it, but -- JJ: You don’t see that, sometimes, they just cut people off? LS: Sure. JJ: Okay. Like, when they -- LS: Sure. There are people who get cut off ’cause you didn’t dot the i or cross the t. Yeah, I think I’ve seen that too. JJ: Okay. So, they got cut off, but it’s their fault? LS: Not always, no. JJ: Okay. I’m just -- LS: Not always. No, no, no, no, no. And, you know, the system’s made to help you, and the system’s also made to put a cork in your screw. That’s what you -[01:32:00] the guidelines. Check ’em good, you know? Cross those i’s and dot those t’s. That person -- “I got my job. (inaudible).” Seen that happen lots of times. Go to church. Get educated. Help somebody else out. (inaudible). This is America, man. This is America. There’s no other country in the world like this one. I think we all know that. And still, yet, education is the key, and, for those of us or them who can’t get a good education and who have problems speaking our language (inaudible), don’t sit down on the corner and say, “Yeah, I got to make something here.” Use it. Grow. Be hungry for knowledge. You can’t lose. And, if you slip, get back up and go again. That’s my belief. JJ: Okay. [01:33:00] Any final thoughts? LS: Yeah. God bless us all, man. JJ: What is it? 84 �LS: May God bless us all. JJ: May God bless us all? LS: Yeah. JJ: That’s it? LS: You ain’t gonna change. I ain’t gonna change. (laughter) JJ: Okay. All right. Thanks. END OF AUDIO FILE 85 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5d42b8ef7025ca77c6d3d8df30d4cc5a.mp4 1dfb4f3e4ce481f0b2188182d1d411f6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Lacey Smith vídeo entrevista y biografía, entrevista 2 Descripción Spanish language Description entry La historia oral de Lacey Smith, entrevistado por Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez el 12/14/2012 acerca de los Young Lords en Lincoln Park. Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexicano-Americanos--Relatos personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Mexico-Americanos--Illinois--Chicago--Condiciones sociales Relaciones raciales Conflicto social Identitad cultural Partido Pantera Negra. Illinois Capí­tulo Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65_Smith_Lacey_2 Title A name given to the resource Lacey Smith video interview and transcript, interview 2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Smith, Lacey Description An account of the resource Oral history of Lacey Smith, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 12/14/2012 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jimenez, Jose, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexican Americans--Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Mexican Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Social conditions Race relations Social conflict Cultural identity Black Panther Party. Illinois Chapter Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-12-14 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4e0530dbf8da11dbcf934b7eca46979c.jpg 3b4da08154bdba9451c5f28acd6348c0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3221bda005bb54b9e9341313441f026f.jpg c707686d5d9b3178d2a752420834aba1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Insel-Bücherei Series Description An account of the resource The German publishing company Insel Verlag was founded in 1899 by Anton Kippenberg in Leipzig. In its early years the firm only printed expensive, beautifully-produced volumes, until demand led to the publication of the more modest Insel-Bücherei series in 1912. Relatively inexpensive but with the same careful sense of design and typography, these smaller-format books reprinted shorter works from a variety of German, European, and world authors. The series numbers considerably more than a thousand titles and is still being issued. The Digital Collection contains the scanned covers of 140 titles held by Grand Valley State University Libraries. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1904-1987 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-05 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource ger Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-09-29 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-05_IB0676 Title A name given to the resource Lachen um nicht zu weinen Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</A> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1958 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-09-29 Description An account of the resource Cover of Lachen um nicht zu weinen, by Langston Hughes, published by Insel-Verlag, 1958. Insel-Bücherei Nr. 676 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books. Insel-Bücherei. Z315.I5 B83 no.676 Language A language of the resource de Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/18025afd3098de9aecae9a0c5e36f752.jpg e23e9789b92756d11ad92367cb4160f1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_ProcessFilm_P_278 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940-09-04 Title A name given to the resource Ladder & grids at Grand Rapids Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a ladder with two adjustable legs over a measuring grid square on grass. Part of a camera ladder rig system developed by Merrill for taking overhead photographs of archaeological excavations. Flowers and trees are visible behind the ladder. Subject The topic of the resource Grand Rapids (Mich.) Michigan Archaeology Photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5db89a74335e088a58b2ef1040f95a98.jpg 90da8b1fce2a83dacc9a5b0cc1f3dc74 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_ProcessFilm_P_271 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940-07-10 Title A name given to the resource Ladder & metric grid on rug, shade Macatawa Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of two metric measuring grid squares next to a measuring stick on a rug. Part of a camera ladder rig system developed by Merrill for taking overhead photographs of archaeological excavations. Subject The topic of the resource Macatawa, Lake (Mich.) Michigan Archaeology Photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2c4df99cd72ce24b1f22a44c7ef4af1a.jpg 45dee8db01967c121f013b4e7d63d0a1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_ProcessFilm_P_272 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940-07-10 Title A name given to the resource Ladder & metric grid on sand, shade Macatawa Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of two metric measuring grid squares next to a measuring stick on sand. Part of a camera ladder rig system developed by Merrill for taking overhead photographs of archaeological excavations. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d199db8ed335f6ae7a587803be4ea0ea.jpg 9940cf98e97cfb6833e8a2e4f2ddb666 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Walsh-J_0095 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Walsh, Jerri Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-07-04 Title A name given to the resource Ladies and gentlemen at Oval Beach Description An account of the resource Photograph of two young woman sitting on the beach and surrounded by sunbathers at Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Outdoor recreation Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file contributed by Jerri Walsh as part of the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5db99589ccd0edd83d23d78c86140292.jpg 02ab80f0ecaf57315f2072d72ae08195 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2009W_Lady-from-the-Sea_001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Title A name given to the resource Lady from the Sea (theater production), 2009 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2009 production of "Lady from the Sea." Full cast promotional image. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2009s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a8f3775f662f2cc4034fba7b71fe6583.jpg 89f97fce6e2037ffc0ee8655400938b8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2009W_Lady-from-the-Sea_007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Title A name given to the resource Lady from the Sea (theater production), 2009 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2009 production of "Lady from the Sea." In this image a woman in white robes speaks with a man. Just behind her another man looks out to the audience and sings with an expressive sweep of his hand. The backdrop of the set is a blue gradient, mimicking the ocean. A park bench sits under an arbor covered in roses and ivy. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2009s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0df12b93dc3e3b40fe1992d52d238ef5.jpg 8b2e4d72727c00f4b29ec2f5b51bae28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2009W_Lady-from-the-Sea_009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Title A name given to the resource Lady from the Sea (theater production), 2009 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2009 production of "Lady from the Sea." In this image a man hiking with a walking stick stops to greet three other people who are standing on a raised deck. One of the three, a young girl, peers into a telescope, while the other two talk with the hiker. All are wearing Victorian style costumes. The backdrop of the set is a blue gradient, mimicking the ocean. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2009s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3f12673d301e64f62739b3aa9c88e39d.jpg 3327aa8cb1d9f3c56d7fa6ebc86121d8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2009W_Lady-from-the-Sea_011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Title A name given to the resource Lady from the Sea (theater production), 2009 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2009 production of "Lady from the Sea." In this image a couple stands and holds hands. The woman looks into the distance and smiles, while the man has turned to the side and speaks with a another woman standing next to him and holding a small bouquet. All are dressed in Victorian style costumes. The backdrop of the set is a blue gradient, mimicking the ocean. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2009s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/32d8ad4456c2c04c03cab1513efe2393.jpg cef9ee9dc38ed9ff735fc3411293c14b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2009W_Lady-from-the-Sea_017 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Title A name given to the resource Lady from the Sea (theater production), 2009 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2009 production of "Lady from the Sea." In this image a young man sits on a wooden stool with an open notebook on his lap. He is speaking with two women, one seated and the other standing just behind her. All wear Victorian style costumes, and the women carry parasols. The backdrop of the set is a blue gradient, mimicking the ocean. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2009s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a48c8d6ec9e65309566b6e34034edf13.jpg 34e3107b61d34c94f5eba62c4027d2c7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2009W_Lady-from-the-Sea_020 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Title A name given to the resource Lady from the Sea (theater production), 2009 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2009 production of "Lady from the Sea." In this image a woman in white looks longingly into the distance. To her right a man in a band uniform holds a French horn. He looks back at another man standing in the background and laughs. The backdrop of the set is a blue gradient, mimicking the ocean, and tufts of beach grass line the back wall. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2009s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b1b3ed12d4ada181afbc42a3a6f2296d.jpg fa7f83cf4daea4422d012ed9f58c47cb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2009W_Lady-from-the-Sea_022 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009 Title A name given to the resource Lady from the Sea (theater production), 2009 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2009 production of "Lady from the Sea." In this image a woman holds out her hands and sings. Beside her a man clutches his cap to his chest and looks on with a loving smile. Both are wearing Victorian style costumes. The backdrop of the set is a blue gradient, mimicking the ocean, and tufts of beach grass line the back wall. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2009s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2b1fee7bda0c6b35b21e8566586571c5.jpg 4b6cf0da7780d50eb1a3bd51de7bf1bb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS1536.D55 L34 1902 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0254 Title A name given to the resource Lafitte of Louisiana Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sacker, Amy M. (Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of Lafitte of Louisiana, by Mary Devereux, published by Little, Brown, and Company, 1902. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1902 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives