Introduction - by Michael Glasser
For over a year, now, Eve Brownstone has conducted most of the interviews for this website. At first she conducted short interviews, keeping them cute and light hearted, and only recently did I suggest to her that we start doing longer, more in depth interviews drawing from the plethora of fascinating people who are part of the Rogers Park community.
Last month, when she announced that she had scheduled an interview with long term Rogers Park resident (and former Illinois Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and appellate judge) Neil Hartigan, I told her that I wanted to conduct this interview with her, and take advantage of the opportunity to meet one of this community's more prominent long term residents.
A week later, Eve and I found ourselves sitting in the waiting room of Mr. Hartigan's downtown offices discussing how we were going to conduct the interview. I told Eve that we have to be succinct; that given Mr. Hartigan's great stature and busy schedule, I doubted we would have much time.
"I'll ask him for a half hour of his time" I told her.
Minutes later, Mr. Hartigan's assistant ushered Eve and me into his office. Donning a festive Christmas tie and a warm and welcoming smile, Mr. Hartigan offered us each a chair and, at his request, we introduced ourselves and we each described who we are, our involvement in the Rogers Park area, and I then explained to him that we want to place an interview of him on our website.
"Mr. Hartigan; we would like to speak with you as long as we can, but we want to respect any time constraints that you may have. Could you spare us twenty minutes of your time?"
"Oh. I'd prefer two to three hours."
In time, we learned that he wasn't kidding. Eve turned on her tape recorder and we began listening to Mr. Hartigan describe what it was like growing up in the southern edge of Rogers Park, near Albion and Newgard. And, as though fate or wild coincidence decided to make it's presence, in time we were honored to have Mr. Hartigan's cousin and life long friend (and former Rogers Park resident) Frank Hogan join us. One of the city's premiere educators, who, only a year ago, had served as headmaster of my kids' school, Mr. Hogan grew up next to Mr. Hartigan, and his memories of what it was like to grow up in Rogers Park were as succinct, lively and as fascinating as were Mr. Hartigan's.
In short, Eve and I were blessed to serve as observers as we watched two life long friends and relatives share memories and offer their observations of Rogers Park, past and present.
The two cousins and best friends spoke glowingly about growing up in Rogers Park. Hartigan said, "We lived next door to each other. Frank's front door was always open and our back door wasn't locked. Everybody knew each other in the neighborhood. Instead of having one set of parents we had fifty."
As was common in nearly all communities at the time, sports were an essential part of these young men's upbringing. "We would play baseball, football, basketball all pickup games, and we all became pretty decent athletes. We football played on the gravel. I remember Frank and I would hide in the balcony of Loyola's gym and watch all the big basketball games as kids."
Diversity
Hartigan turned to the subject of diversity. Diversity is something many Rogers Park residents appreciate about our community.
"Rogers Park was a very tolerant community. Our community was half Irish and Italian mostly Catholic; and the other half was Jewish. But our parents taught us never to look at others as different, and our parents never distinguished anybody in an unfavorable light because of their ethnicity or wealth… In Rogers Park there were (professors, bankers and janitors) living side by side on the same street. For example, during the Civil Rights era, when other communities were burning, Rogers Park conducted a unity parade."
Community and Education
An interesting contrast to how people perceive city living today, Hartigan described that while he was growing up, community leaders knew that promise of an excellent education whether through private (usually religious) or public schools is what it took to retain apartment dwellers to the neighborhood, and slow down the migration of families to new upstart suburban communities like Skokie.
Hartigan offered insight into how the entire Rogers Park community had a role in educating children.
"The entire community was behind the learning process. Though our parents placed great attention on education, they made sure that the neighborhood offered more. We in Rogers Park developed one of the first community theater programs, where, several times a month, great theater was presented in the auditorium of St. Ignatius. More important, our parents organized a teen club, available to all teens who resided in Rogers Park. Frank's father wrote, directed and produced incredible teen productions with local teens performing in front of large audiences. Everyone was involved in these productions: mothers, fathers, teachers as well as the kids, and they were immense successes…"
‘By offering these kinds of experiences for the kids, we knew that people would want to live here, and they did. We provided opportunities that families simply could not get if they moved to single family residences in the newly formed outlying suburbs. They did not want to miss out on being part of an established community."
Politics and Show Business
Mr. Hartigan described his father's involvement in politics, including how, in 1955, he (David Hartigan) managed to prevail in a race for Alderman of the 49th ward the same year that Mayor Richard J. Daley gained office. Mr. Hogan then described how his father (a man who Mr. Hartigan viewed as being his second Dad after David Hartigan died) succeeded running a talent agency, with one of his key clients being comedian Bob Newhart. They both also spoke glowingly about their association with Detroit native, comedian Danny Thomas, and how Mr. Thomas' success in Chicago (aided by Mr. Hogan) helped drive his success.
Both Mr. Hartigan and Mr. Hogan took pride in the fact that heir respective fathers were men of integrity. "There aren't two more difficult professions in America than entertainment and politics. In both professions where unethical behavior often prevails, I am proud to say that each of our fathers conducted themselves with the greatest integrity. Our fathers taught us the value of working long hours and working hard."
David Hartigan's Legacy
One of David Hartigan's greatest challenges in his five years as Alderman from 1955 - 59 was preserving Rogers Park's greatest assets: its parks, beaches and lake front. Mr. Hartigan explained how his father, with the assistance of the newly formed Rogers Park Community Council, had to stand up to powerful interests and resist overwhelming pressures brought on by these powers to build: " My father worked hard to preserve the beaches after so many high rises went up south of Devon.
"An expression is often used to describe politicians: ‘Nothing is deader than a dead politician.' But not true with my Dad. The Rogers Park community showed their appreciation for my father's contribution well past his untimely and tragic death. Not only was a beach named after him, but one local Jewish congregation named its shul (place of Jewish worship and study) after him.
Important local players recognized that they had to see that David Hartigan's legacy would pass on to his offspring. Shortly after David Hartigan passed away, Loyola University Chicago offered to Neil, then a recent graduate of Georgetown University, a full ride scholarship. "It's as though Loyola felt an obligation to honor its own. This scholarship offered me a full-scholarship. In short, it was this phenomenal Rogers Park institution, Loyola University Chicago that stepped up and helped offered to furnish me with the tools that I would later need to be a success."
Serving his Constituents
In 1972, Mr. Hartigan chose to run for the office as Lieutenant Governor, as the running mate of Paul Simon, who pursued the office of Governor. However, in a difficult primary, a young up start politician named Dan Walker knocked Simon out of the race, yet with Hartigan winning the primary, Walker and Hartigan were forced to run together as a team. When they won the election, Walker assured Hartigan that they would "run together and govern together." Yet it didn't take long for Hartigan to see that there would be problems. "Within a day, Walker asked me to resign as Committee man for the 49th ward. I couldn't believe it, and I asked him why? He simply said ‘Because that's the way it will be.' I countered: "What am I supposed to say to the people of the 49th ward who specifically voted me in as Committeeman, especially the couple of thousand who turned out at a Walker Hartigan rally that helped get you elected."
The reality had settled in that "Walker Hartigan" would be a strained partnership. Yet, Hartigan soon realized that he had tremendous support among Illinois Democrats, including support from Richard J. Daley, and with this support in place, Hartigan became an extraordinarily successful Lieutenant Governor, sponsoring progressive legislation, resulting in such successes as the creation of the Department of Aging, issuing mental health reform that properly distinguished between developmentally disabled and mental illness. "Thirteen times we built bipartisan support to make changes in Springfield," noted Mr. Hartigan.
Mr. Hartigan drew from his experiences in Rogers Park to set his legislative priorities. "When I was Lieutenant Governor I remember knocking on the door of a woman who lived down the street. She was alone living in an apartment with a hotplate for a companion. This senior citizen was someone who my friends and I held in awe as we were growing up. When she was younger, and she walked down the sidewalk, we would get off the sidewalk to let her go by. She was so active in the community. It hurt me to see her, a proud woman, struggle as a senior citizen, I knew that she deserved better than that. This inspired me to make significant changes at the Illinois Department of Aging to help the state's seniors. Everything I've ever done, come from my experiences in Rogers Park."
An Eye on the Future: Building Trade Opportunities
Mr. Hartigan's passion for his present occupation seemed evident when he described his mission as CEO of the World Trade Center Illinois (WTCI): to help Illinois entrepreneurs overcome international trade barriers. As part of this larger mission, his current project is to network the various Chambers of Commerce throughout the state with the World Trade Center Illinois, creating a collaborative relationship which has never been seen before in this country, and integrate this with the WTCI's existing international network of World Trade Centers, trade partners, commercial officers and Chambers of Commerce around the world. This network will use state-of-the-art technology including video conferencing capabilities to provide instant access to trade partners as well as to the WTCI's trade specialists who are available to assist smaller businesses in the area of international trade. He believes that opportunities in international trade need not be reserved exclusively to large multinationals, and that his organization can help break down barriers that small companies that want to compete internationally now face.
"This kind of advance can ultimately provide opportunities for today's youth, even in areas such as Rogers Park. Kids today don't understand the importance of trade. We hope that our success through the World Trade Center [Illinois] can result in opportunities for youth through mentoring … Kids need to learn the importance of trade, because that is where tomorrow's jobs will exist. Seven out of ten jobs are trade related. In Europe trading is like drinking milk. We just got to move past the fear of trading." In keeping with this vision, Mr. Hartigan and the WTCI host groups from several local high schools and universities for educational sessions on international trade. Mr. Hartigan also instituted the WTCI's internship program which invites university students (many of whom are from Loyola) to learn about international trade first hand.
Rogers Park Today
Mr. Hartigan continues his love affair with Rogers Park. He acknowledges that despite problems that have lingered over the years, that there does seem to be a tide of change. He recognizes the important contribution that Loyola University Chicago offers to both the Rogers Park and Edgewater communities, and he takes great pride in knowing that both he and his father played an instrumental role in assuring that the lake front is accessible to all. He is excited to continue to be a Rogers Park resident and to play a role as the neighborhood continues to develop in its unique way. Rogers Park should be proud that it can still claim this important public servant as one of its own.
|