© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2012 University of Chicago Library
The collection is open for research. Series V, Audio-Visual, does not include an access copy for the audiotape reel. Researchers will need to consult with staff before requesting this item. Series VI contains restricted financial material and is closed until 2042.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
The Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference (HPKCC) was formed in 1949 to stem growing physical decay of neighborhoods and to promote better race relations in the community. Following World War II, the South-Side Chicago neighborhood was one of many American communities affected by the nation's housing shortage. The housing problem was aggravated in Hyde Park and Kenwood by illegal conversions of single-family residences into smaller units, and by a general decline in the maintenance of properties. The rapid immigration of African Americans from the southern United States to Chicago complicated matters, fueling tensions between neighbors and precipitating "panic pedaling" and "white flight" in previously white, middle-class neighborhoods.
On November 8, 1949 concerned white and African-American citizens met at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago to discuss these pressing issues. The meeting was presided over by Rev. Leslie T. Pennington, and included forty participants representing local faith-based organizations, various human relations commissions, business leaders, and University of Chicago faculty members and students. Confident that white and African-American people could live peacefully together, and convinced that urban decay was a mutual problem, attendees called for a new community organization whose goal was "to build and maintain a stable interracial community of high standards."
A steering committee was formed with Rev. Pennington as chairman, and on December 12, 1949 three-hundred citizens from fifty community organizations assembled to adopt a statement of policy for the fledgling organization. The name Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference was officially adopted on January 18, 1950, and an Executive Committee was formed in March 1950. The HPKCC was initially a volunteer-run organization. It soon became apparent, however, that paid staff and a central office were imperative for sustainable progress. As a result, the Conference's first director, Julia Abrahamson, was hired on a half-time basis in July 1950. In November 1950, the Conference moved into its first headquarters at 5506 S. Harper Avenue. By-Laws were adopted on August 7, 1950, and the first meeting of the Board of Directors took place on January 15, 1952.
The early structure of the Conference included a thirty-six member Board of Directors, with twelve members elected each year for three-year terms. The Board set policies and hired the Executive Director, who in turn hired and supervised staff. The Executive Committee, made up of the officers of the Conference, handled administrative decisions. Administrative committees fluctuated throughout the years to include: Finance, Membership, Nominating, Publicity and Public Relations, Advisory, and Personnel. Today, Conference leadership consists of a Board of Directors and five standing committees: Communications, Executive, Finance, Membership, and Nominating.
Program committees and goals have also changed throughout the HPKCC's history as the Conference works to meet the changing needs of the community. The Conference's first efforts concentrated on stabilizing, conserving, and renewing Hyde Park and Kenwood in the face of deteriorating neighborhoods and social unrest. The HPKCC focused on arresting rampant building and zoning violations, improving housing conditions through rehabilitation and tenant unions, and actively engaging with city-wide urban renewal planning through its Planning Committee. Through the formation of Block Groups, the Conference provided the means for neighbors to interact, discuss common interests and concerns, and cooperatively solve problems at a grass roots level. The Block Groups worked to find concrete solutions for physical problems in neighborhoods, while simultaneously fostering effective interracial communication and changing attitudes. Individual participation in Block Groups and other Conference activities was not contingent upon paid membership. Over the years, HPKCC programs grew to encompass other issues, including parks and recreation, youth and schools, safety, transportation, and environmental concerns such as air pollution.
Membership in the Conference reached its peak in 1956 with approximately four-thousand members and over sixty affiliated Block Groups. The HPKCC included many notable members of the Hyde Park community, including Laura Fermi, author, co-founder of the HPKCC Clean Air Committee, and wife of Nobel Prize recipient Enrico Fermi; Muriel Beadle, chair of the Committee for a Cleaner Community and wife of University of Chicago President, G. W. Beadle; and Jean Alinsky, wife of community organizer, Saul Alinsky.
Today, the HPKCC works for "an attractive, secure, diverse, and caring community," and promotes "participation of residents, businesses, institutions, and organizations in programs and activities that advance the interests and concerns of the community."
The Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Records are organized into six series: Series I: Administration; Series II: Programs; Series III: Audio-Visual; Series IV: Digital Media; Series V: Oversize; and Series VI: Restricted. Series I and II are broken down into subseries based upon administrative body or program area. The collection contains correspondence, memoranda, meeting agendas and minutes, budgets and fundraising material, by-laws, directories, reports; press releases, surveys, newsletters, brochures, clippings, photographs, an audio reel, maps, posters, flyers, pamphlets, booklets, and other documents representing the activities of the Conference. Materials date between 1895 and 2011, with the bulk of the material dating from 1949 to 2000. The records primarily document the administrative functions of the Conference and its program activities related to urban renewal. Detailed series descriptions are found at the beginning of each series in the inventory section of the guide.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
Series I contains material related to the administrative functions of the Conference. The series is broken down into eight subseries: 1) Board of Directors, 2) Executive Committee, 3) Administrative Committees, 4) By-Laws, Mission and Policy Statements, and Procedures, 5) Official Communication, 6) Publicity and Public Relations, 7) Events, and 8) Office Management.
Subseries 1, Board of Directors, includes correspondence, memoranda, meeting agendas and minutes, reports, resolutions, directories, and other records pertaining to the business of the Conference's chief governing body. Also included in this subseries are records of the Executive Director. Materials date from 1949 to 2005, and are arranged alphabetically by type of material, then chronologically. The majority of records from the Office of the Executive Director were received without clear organizational distinctions between the records of individual directors. The archivist has therefore arranged these records chronologically and has noted the names of specific directors where possible in folder headings.
Subseries 2, Executive Committee, includes correspondence, memoranda, meeting agendas and minutes, reports, and other records pertaining to the business of the Conference's officers. Materials date from 1956 to 2003, and are arranged alphabetically by type of material, then chronologically.
Subseries 3, Administrative Committees, includes correspondence, memoranda, meeting agendas and minutes, reports, budgets, photographs, lists, applications, and other records related to the business of the Conference's administrative committees. Materials date from 1950 to 2005, and are arranged alphabetically by committee name or administrative function, then chronologically: Finance Committee and Fundraising, Membership Committee, Nominating Committee, and Personnel Committee.
Subseries 4, By-Laws, Mission and Policy Statements, and Procedures, includes drafts and revisions of the Conference's by-laws, mission and policy statements, and procedural manuals. Materials date from 1954 to 2007, and are arranged alphabetically by type of material, then chronologically.
Subseries 5, Official Communication, includes annual reports, newsletters, press releases, statements, surveys, testimony, and general Conference-wide correspondence. Materials date from 1952 to 2011, and are arranged alphabetically by type of material, then chronologically.
Subseries 6, Publicity and Public Relations, includes records of the Public Relations Committee; histories, brochures, and other publications about the Conference; clippings; flyers; photographs; and film and slide show scripts publicizing the activities of the Conference. Materials date from 1950 to 2008, and are arranged chronologically.
Subseries 7, Events, includes documents related to annual meetings, anniversary celebrations, town meetings, and political forums hosted by the Conference. Materials date from 1952 to 2000, and are arranged alphabetically by event, then chronologically.
Subseries 8, Office Management, includes records pertaining to the daily functions of the Conference's staffed headquarters, such as forms, personnel policies, and office procedures. Materials date from 1956 to 1976, and are arranged alphabetically by type of material, then chronologically.
Series II contains material related to the programmatic activities of the Conference. The series is broken down into two subseries: 1) Program Committees and 2) Related Organizations and Affiliations. The first subseries is further subdivided by program area: 1) General, 2) Urban Renewal, 3) Building and Zoning, 4) Transportation, Streets, and Traffic, 5) Housing, 6) Maintaining an Interracial Community, 7) Environment, 8) Parks, 9) Recreation, 10) Community Participation and Community Services, 11) Safety, and 12) Youth and Schools. Researchers interested in the Conference's programmatic activities are encouraged to review all sub-subseries, as these activities are often interrelated.
Subseries 1, Program Committees, begins with records pertaining generally to the Conference's programmatic goals, planning, and leadership (Sub-subseries 1). These records are arranged chronologically. This material is followed by eleven sub-subseries devoted to each program area of the conference:
Sub-subseries 2, Urban Renewal, includes literature collected by the Conference about urban renewal, clippings, plans, maps, reports, correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, studies, surveys, and other documents related to urban renewal efforts in Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Chicago city planning. Materials in this sub-subseries date from 1947 to 2002. The sub-subseries begins with documents related generally to urban renewal, arranged chronologically. This is followed by records pertaining to the Conference's Block Group program, records of the Committee on Community Appearance, and finally records of the Planning Committee.
Sub-subseries 3, Building and Zoning, includes correspondence, building complaints and inspections, reports, photographs, and other records related to the Conference's efforts to enforce building and zoning codes in Hyde Park and Kenwood. Materials date from 1941 to 2003. The sub-subseries begins with records pertaining generally to building and zoning, arranged chronologically. This is followed by files of building and zoning cases, maintained in their rough original order by address.
Sub-subseries 4, Transportation, Streets, and Traffic, includes correspondence, reports, maps, photographs, questionnaires, and other documents pertaining to the Conference's involvement in issues related to public transportation, traffic patterns and safety, and street maintenance. Materials date from 1943 to 2005, and are arranged chronologically.
Sub-subseries 5, Housing, includes literature collected by the Conference related to housing issues, surveys, correspondence, reports, housing complaints, photographs, press releases, clippings, pamphlets, and other records pertaining to the Conference's work for housing rehabilitation, fair housing practices, affordable housing, and tenant union support. Materials date from 1949 to 2003. The sub-subseries begins with records pertaining generally to the Conference's housing activities, arranged chronologically. This is followed by files of housing complaints maintained in their original order by address. Finally, records related to tenant unions are arranged chronologically.
Sub-subseries 6, Maintaining an Interracial Community, includes correspondence, reports, publications, and other documents pertaining to the Conference's efforts to maintain a stable, diverse community. Materials date from 1954 to 1976 and are arranged chronologically.
Sub-subseries 7, Environment, includes correspondence, reports, meeting agendas and minutes, clippings, brochures, publications, and other records pertaining to the Conference's involvement in local environmental issues, particularly air pollution. Materials date from 1959 to 2001, and are arranged alphabetically by committee or issue, then chronologically: Air Pollution, Cleaner Air Committee, Committee for a Cleaner Community, and Environment Committee.
Sub-subseries 8, Parks, includes correspondence, reports, meeting agendas and minutes, clippings, photographs, publications, studies, and other documents pertaining to the Conference's work to build, preserve, and maintain open parkland in Hyde Park and Kenwood. Many of these records relate to the protection of Jackson Park and to the Conference's development or maintenance of clean, safe playgrounds in the neighborhood. Materials date from 1953 to 2008, and are arranged chronologically.
Sub-subseries 9, Recreation, includes correspondence, directories, surveys, plans, publicity, and other documents pertaining to local recreational facilities and programs, and to special community events organized by the Conference such as the Garden Fair, Wooded Island Festival, and Summer at the Lakefront. Materials date from 1952 to 2002, and are arranged chronologically.
Sub-subseries 10, Community Participation and Community Services, includes directories, correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, and other documents pertaining to the activities of the Committee on Community Participation, the Community Services Committee, the Conference's publication of a community directory, and other civil services. Materials date from 1953 to 1996, and are arranged alphabetically by topic.
Sub-subseries 11, Safety, includes correspondence, reports, publicity, publications, and other documents pertaining to the Conference's neighborhood safety initiatives such as the WhistleStop program. Materials date from 1956 to 1997, and are arranged chronologically.
Sub-subseries 12, Youth and Schools, includes correspondence, reports, meeting agendas and minutes, memoranda, statements, petitions, studies, proposals, newsletters, publicity, publications, and other material pertinent to the Conference's Schools Committee and involvement in youth services and programs. Materials date from 1939 to 1999. Records related to schools fall at the beginning of the sub-subseries, and are arranged chronologically. These are followed by records pertaining to youth programs, also arranged chronologically.
Subseries 2, Related Organizations and Affiliations, includes publications, clippings, correspondence, reports, and other material pertaining to organizations other than the HPKCC that either had similar missions, or were affiliated directly with the Conference. Materials date from 1895 to 2009, and are arranged alphabetically by organization.
Series III, Audio-Visual, contains photographs, photographic negatives, and one reel-to-reel tape, dating from 1948 to 2008. The audio-tape reel falls at the beginning of the series, followed by the photographs and negatives arranged chronologically.
Series IV, Digital Media, includes a compact disc containing information about zoning.
Series V, Oversize, contains scrapbooks, maps, floor plans, blueprints, awards, and oversize ephemera. The scrapbook in Box 242 contains newspaper clippings related to Conference activities, and the scrapbook in Box 243 relates to the Conference's model rehabilitated home. Materials date from 1946 to 1979.
Series VI contains restricted financial material. Records in this series are restricted until 2042.