A Perilous Journey to America

This week we got to travel without getting on a plane or even going to the airport by attending a play of the first Chicago Latino Theater Festival. From September 29 until October 28^th, eleven plays are being presented in Chicago at various venues. While those of you in Chicago may have missed many, you still have time to see a couple that are running through this weekend.

We saw Amarillo performed at the new Shakespeare Theater, the Yard. The Mexican theater company Teatro Linea De Sombra performed this play directed by Jorge A. Vargas. Using actors, videos, and poems, the plight of those trying to cross the border from Mexico and Central America into the United States as well as the plight of those left behind was depicted. The play was done in Spanish while a screen above the actors provided subtitles in English. While this play feels more like a long and beautiful poem than a play with characters interacting, it was a very creative use of the stage.

Not only did we hear from those who tried unsuccessfully to complete the journey to the United States, we also heard from those left behind. They told us how they felt to be left alone and how they were coping moving forward. It is the unknown part of many of our stories. Many of us have grandparents or great-grandparents who came to America, some who never spoke again of the countries they left or of the family members that they never saw again once they made the perilous voyage. Thus, the story line of Amarillo is universal and easy for many of us to relate to.

I read a similar one by Luis Alberto Urrea, a Tex/Mex American writer who has written several novels and memoirs, among them Into the Beautiful North. In this book, the town of Tres Camarones, Mexico (a fictional town) is left with only women, children, and old men. All the men of working age have left to find work in the United States. Nineteen year old Nayeli and her friends decide to sneak into the United States with the purpose of bringing their men home. While this story was written satirically and allegorically, it depicted the plight of those left behind very well. The book was adapted to the stage and performed at The Sixteenth Street Theater in Berwyn last summer. We were lucky to see it performed there.

Amarillo is a creative piece of theater and an unusual opportunity to get a glimpse into another culture. It’s playing at the Yard, the new Shakespeare Theater venue at Navy Pier, through this coming weekend, until October 29^th. If you live in the Chicago area, go see it. We’re lucky to have a chance to have the world come to us. 

Women's History See in Evanston During Open House Chicago

Every year the Chicago Architecture Foundation www.architecture.org has been hosting Open House Chicago www.openhousechicago.org the second weekend in October. During the weekend, hundreds of volunteers guide the public through over 200 sites throughout the city. It’s an exciting event that we always look forward to.

This year we stayed in Evanston and had the opportunity to view three wonderful women’s history sites. Our first stop was The Woman’s Club of Evanston. I had probably walked past this building hundreds of times, but I had no idea what was inside. Open House Chicago was my opportunity to find out. The Woman’s Club of Evanston was founded by a group of philanthropic, civic minded women in the 1880’s. The group organized around helping in the typhoid epidemic. They were active in founding the Visiting Nurses’ Association. Before meals on wheels existed, the Woman’s Club brought healthy meals to shut-ins. They’ve helped promote many civic causes and charities throughout the years including women’s suffrage, child labor laws, and public health.

While the building looks like a house, it is not. The group utilizes it for their events, activities, and meetings. I had always thought of this group as frivolous but their volunteers guiding us through the building proved me very wrong.

The Woman's Club of Evanston

 Just up the block from The Woman’s Club of Evanston is the home of Frances Willard. How appropriate. Frances Willard worked closely with Elizabeth Boynton Harbert on the issue of women’s suffrage. While Frances Willard has been mostly known – and in many cases reviled – for being a founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, she was also a leader of many causes for women including promoting women’s opportunity in higher education and in getting the vote. Her home was built in 1865 and had been closed because of restoration activities for about one and a half years. It was reopened to the public a few months ago. The restoration efforts have been remarkable, painstakingly adhering to the style in which it was built and decorated. For fans of that early architecture as well as of the ERA, visiting this house is worth a stop.

Last but not least we visited The Margarita European Inn – another building that I had passed hundreds of times wondering what it was. It’s almost impossible to imagine a time when young women were not able to rent apartments on their own or live independently. Nevertheless, that used to be the case. The Margarita Club opened in 1927 to house young ladies who had jobs in the area. The building has been beautifully maintained and restored. During Open House Chicago, the grand parlor, the library, room 209, the roof deck, and the manually-controlled elevator were open to the public. The building is now a boutique hotel and is gorgeously appointed. If you have any out of town guests, it would be perfect.

In the parlor of the Margarita European Inn

Next year at Open House Chicago we’ll visit a different neighborhood. I’m looking forward to it already.

Reliving the Immigration Experience in Stoughton, Wisconsin

When we arrived in Stoughton, Wisconsin, we knew we were back. We had been to Norway in 2016 and loved the beauty of that country and so we were happy to see it again - a lot closer to home.

Stoughton, a town of 12,611 people, is about 15 miles South of Madison, Wisconsin. Because of its large Norwegian population, they have built a museum to remember the immigrant story of this group. The structure of the museum Livsreise www.livsreise.org is impressive in its replication of the architecture of Bergen, Norway.

Sons of Norway Mandt Lodge, Stoughton

 

Norwegian Museum, Stoughton, Wisconsin

Buildings near harbor, Bergen, Norway

in Norway

The interior of Livsreise, however, is even more impressive. They have utilized technology to provide displays and exhibits showing the lives of people in Norway who had journeyed to America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. A genealogical library housed in the museum provides resources to assist Norwegian-Americans to trace their roots. A 68-seat auditorium shows videos that focus on the Norwegian heritage. Photography is not allowed in this museum so you'll have to visualize this museum. I was unable to take any pictures of it.

The thought of getting on a rough sailing ship with all one’s possessions to make the journey to the other end of the world must have been daunting. Nevertheless, the poverty in Norway at that time and the promise of a better life in America spurred many to make the risky voyage. Many who survived the trip found their way to Stoughton and other towns in Wisconsin as well as to Minnesota and the Dakotas. Many of them availed themselves of the Homestead Act and became farmers in these areas. Others gravitated to the towns and cities where they rebuilt their lives.

Besides the Livsreise Museum, we had a good time walking through the commercial part of Stoughton enjoying their shops and restaurants. In addition, the town boasts the Stoughton Historical Museum as well as the Sons of Norway Mandt Lodge. Stoughton's major claim to fame is that the Coffee Break originated there. Started by workers in the tobacco factories, it has become a standard in most places of work.  

Newspaper article announcing the first coffee break

In a sense, the Norwegian immigrant experience is the American immigrant experience. The Swedish-American Museum in Chicago has a similar motif. It was enjoyable to see and be able to compare these two museums. We can think about their perilous journeys to America as we witness the journeys made by modern day immigrants leaving their homes and families in pursuit of what all immigrants seek – a better life than the ones they are leaving.

It is only a two and a half hour ride from Chicago to Stoughton. This quiet, charming town is worth the trip.