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Washington Square Park (Chicago)

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This article is about Chicago's Washington Square Park known as Bughouse Square. For New York's Washington Square Park, see Washington Square Park.

The Washington Square Park, a registered historic landmark that is better known by its nickname Bughouse Square (derived from the slang of bughouse referring to mental health facilities), was the most celebrated open air free-speech center in the country as well as a popular Chicago tourist attraction. It is sometimes referred to as simply Washington Square. It was located across Walton Street from Newberry Library at 901 N. Clark St. in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, USA.[1] It is Chicago, Illinois's oldest exting small park.[2] It is one of 4 Chicago Park District parks named after persons surnamed Washington (Washington Park, Harold Washington Park, Dinah Washington Park).

Origin

In 1842 the city received a three-acre parcel that was donated by the members of the American Land Company for use as a public park. The donors named contributed the name Washington Square. Between 1869 and the 1890s, the city improved Washington Square with lawn, trees, bisecting diagonal walks, limestone coping, picket fencing and an attractive Victorian fountain. By the time Alderman McCormick became President of Drainage Board in 1906, the fountain had been razed and the park had deteriorated. Alderman McCormick devoted his aldermanic salary to improving the park. He donated a $600 fountain, and the city allocated an additional $10,000 to rehabilitate the park. By the 1910s, the neighborhood surrounding Washington Square had become more diverse.[3]

History

The original purpose of the neighborhood park was as a place of assembly to discuss community issues.[2] Chicago has a long storied histoy of public speeches both for entertainment and educational purposes. The Haymarket Riot first started as an anarchist workers rally. Daniel Burnham’s March 27, 1897 lecture for the Commercial Club of Chicago inspired the club to provide $80,000 to publish the Burnham Plan.[4]

Washington Square Park has been the geographic center of Chicago public speeches. By the 1890s the park acquired its Bughouse Square moniker. Soapbox orators waxed on topics ranging from gender relations to Communism[4] It served as a home for soapbox orators on warm-weather evenings from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. Like Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park, Washington Square became a popular spot for soap box orators. Artists, writers, political radicals, and hobos pontificated, lectured, recited poetry, ranted and raved. A group of regulars formed "The Dill Pickle Club," devoted to free expression. For years Washington Square orators appointed their own honorary "king."[3] In its heydays in the 1920s and 1930s, revolutionary left soapboxers were occasionally joined by poets, religionists and cranks.[1] In 1959, the city transferred Washington Square to the Chicago Park District.[3]

Today

Every July, the Bughouse Square Committee continues to oversee the annual Bughouse Square Debates free speech gathering in conjunction with the Newberry Library’s annual book sale.[1]

Although Alderman McCormick's fountain was removed in the 1970s, in the late 1990s, the park district, the city, and neighborhood organizations agreed on a restoration plan for Washington Square. Improvements include a reconstructed historic fountain, period lighting, fencing, and new plantings.[3]

  • Jack Jones’s Dill Pickle Club, also known as the indoor Bughouse Square.[5]
  • Washington Park forum, also known as the Bug Club.[5]

Google Maps

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Rosemont, Franklin Bughouse Square, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 99. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
  2. ^ a b Pacyga, Dominic A., Playgrounds and Small Parks, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 622. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
  3. ^ a b c d Duo Consulting (2006). "Washington Square Park". Chicago Park District. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
  4. ^ a b Boehm, Lisa Krissoff, Lectures and Public Speaking, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 466. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
  5. ^ a b Rosemont, Franklin Free Speech, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. 316. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
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