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October 28, 2008
Autumn is here
Hidden Truths, Marker 3, originally uploaded by secretagentmartens.
I love the autumn season, but some days it's frustrating. Like today. Today I decided to go to the Adler Planetarium, and in a fit of stupidity I elected to ride my bike there. The ride down was uneventful, and the planetarium was most interesting. It's free Mondays and Tuesdays in October and November, as well. The trip was a little marred by waves of school field trips, but I dealt with it.
The ride back was awful, because I was riding straight into the wind, my legs were tired, and I was cold. I got myself to North and State, right on the edge of Lincoln Park. These "Hidden Truths" signs have been there all year, and they make me snicker.
Basically, before Lincoln Park became the gorgeous lakeside park that it is, it was a cemetery. A massive cemetery. These hidden truth markers are meant to talk about it, but I think the terming of it "Hidden Truths" is a misnomer. I don't see anybody trying to hide the fact that Lincoln Park used to be a cemetery.
So why Hidden Truths? The creator of these signs, Northwestern professor Pamela Bannos, suggests the official story of the conversion of the cemetery to a park is not complete. She has a pretty comprehensive web site about it. I'd say check it out for an interesting look into Chicago history. I particularly liked the story of David Kennison, who has a commemorative stone in the park:
When he died, Chicagoans believed David Kennison to be the last surviving member of the Boston Tea Party. In addition to the honor of having such an important historical figure in their midst, early Chicagoans were also proud to claim Kennison as a Revolutionary soldier. To add to the fascination of this man, everyone knew he was old. Really old.
The plaque on the boulder in Lincoln Park that commemorates the grave of David Kennison states he died at the age of 115, 3 months and 17 days.
Unsurprisingly, this wasn't true, but is still a fascinating story.
entry no. 1234
Posted at October 28, 2008 10:19 PM
Comments
According to an old family story, I have ancestors who are still buried under the Lincoln statue. They were interred in the old cemetary but supposedly when the city converted it to a park the family wasn't willing to have those graves moved. But like a lot of my family's stories, this might very much be a myth.
Posted by: Pete at October 29, 2008 08:38 AM