PILSENBy Taylor Neubeck, Alyssa

Ochwat, Zindy Marquez, and

Cesar Mireles

DEMOGRAPHICS Population: 44,337 (Males-24,423; Females-20,471)

-82.43% Latino (predominately Mexican heritage)

-12.43% White

-3.10% Black

-1.04% Asian

-1.00% Other

Median Age: Males-32.8 years Females-32.4 years

Average Household Size- 2.9 people

Percentage of Family Households- 50.7%

Percentage of married-couple families (among all households)-34.6%

Percentage of married-couple families with children (among all households)-21.1%

Percentage of single-mother households (among all households)-10.5%

Percentage of adults that have not completed ninth grade-70%

MEDIAN INCOME

$40,553

HISTORY Pilsen is located on the lower west community area of Chicago. In

the 1840’s, a major trading route was being built which attracted

many Irish and German immigrants to the area. After the 1871 fire,

thousands of unskilled jobs were created in companies such as

lumber mills, sweatshops, and railroad yards. These jobs attracted

Bohemian immigrants. One of the bohemian immigrants opened a

restaurant by the name of “At the City of Plzen” and since then the

city has been referred to as “Pilsen”. During WWI, many different

immigrant groups started to settle in Pilsen due to labor shortage.

This included a large number of Mexicans. There was a drastic

change in culture and ethnicity. Colorful murals and mosaics made

by Mexican artists became extremely popular in Pilsen along with

other cultural things such as the Mexican cuisine. The

neighborhood now remains working class and the people of the

neighborhood use the community as a gateway for Hispanic

immigrants.

ATTRACTIONS National Museum of Mexican Art—Open daily from 10-5, the museum is

totally free and features Mexican, Latino, and Chicano art and culture. It is is the only Latino museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

18th Street Station—This Pink Line CTA stop is covered in some of the most amazing murals you will find in Chicago.

St. Adalbert Church—A church that was built in 1914 for the Polish resident of the community but now features a mural of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos that is enjoyed my many Mexican Catholics living in the community.

St. Procopius Church—This huge, stone church was built for the Czech Catholics in the area in 1883. Masses today are held in English, Spanish, and Croatian.

Biblioteca Popular del Barrio--Biblioteca Popular is an autonomous community operated library and art space. As well as providing access to underground, radical, and self-published literature, it is meant to be a safe space for the young and elderly, families, people of color, womyn, queer and trans folk, undocumented immigrants, and working class peoples.

TRANSPORTATION

Take the Red Line from Loyola toward 95th Street and get

off at Jackson.

Transfer to the Pink Line toward 54/Cermak at Harold

Washington Library and get off at 18th Street.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART

TAQUERIA TAYAHUA

REFLECTION: TAYLOR

When we received Pilsen as our neighborhood for this project I was honestly really excited. I have been to Pilsen quite a few times and I always look forward to going back. I am from a primarily Hispanic south Chicago suburb, and have always been very interested in Latino culture. I love to try different Mexican foods, see Mexican art, and really just experience new things. Pilsen is definitely a great place to take someone who wants to receive and authentic Chicago experience; it completely defines the idea of Chicago being a “Second City”. When you arrive in Pilsen, Hispanic culture immediately comes to life. There is street art, museums, and taqueriaseverywhere. Many of my friends have told me that calling Pilsen “Little Mexico” is actually very accurate, as it reminds them a lot of their hometowns in Mexico. In my opinion, one of the best things about Chicago is that we have places like Pilsen, Greek Town, and Little Italy in which you can experience a totally different county without even leaving the city.

REFLECTION: ALYSSA

On receiving Pilsen as our neighborhood for our group project, I had no idea on what to expect. Everyone else in my group seemed to know a lot about the location, even some of them visiting on multiple occasions, but to be perfectly honest, I had never heard of Pilsen beforehand. Coming from DuPage County, I have also not had much experience with the Latino culture. I was excited to see all that Pilsen had to offer. After a long train ride followed by what seemed to be a million blocks of walking, we arrived. We went to National Museum of Mexican Art and it was absolutely incredible. I was able to immerse myself within the richness of the Mexican art and culture. There were so many interesting and colorful paintings and sculptures to catch my eye around every turn. I had no idea how beautiful Mexican art was. Not to my surprise, skulls and skeletons were a central theme, but that did not take away from how breath taking everything was. After the National Museum of Mexican Art, we went to a local Taqueria where I had the best tacos of my life. The Taqueria had an extraordinary atmosphere that clearly screamed “Latino”. A Spanish soap opera was playing on the television and Hispanic music was in the background. This without a doubt, gave me a new perspective on the “Second City”. I saw that different cultures, specifically the Latino culture with my experience, enriches the city as a whole. The “Second City” would not be the same without all these various cultures. This was in fact an authentic Chicago experience and I can’t wait to have the opportunity to share this neighborhood with someone else and hopefully open their eyes to the Latino culture.

REFLECTION: ZINDY Growing up in the Hispanic culture, I

had visited Pilsen on various occasions prior to the group project. My sister and I used to go street art hunting and Pilsen was one of our favorite locations. There couldn’t have been a more perfect choice. Arriving in Pilsen and instantly smelling the delicious Mexican food and seeing all of the art reminded me much of my childhood. My group members and I got to look at some beautiful art and dine at a delicious taqueria. This experience has really shaped my opinion about the “Second City” because it really brings to one’s attention that Chicago truly is a melting pot. There are so many different towns located in one large city full of different cultures and different people. I do believe that this was an authentic Chicago experience because there was so much rich variety in the people, cuisine, lifestyles, and art.

REFLECTION: CESAR I very much enjoyed the trip to Pilsen. It was a different experience for me since I have never taken the subway to get to any other part of Chicago. I have visited Pilsen before on random occasions with my family. I am used to visiting the neighborhood and recognized some old restaurants and buildings with Latino art on their sides. The residents of the neighborhood are majorly Mexican. In the neighborhood they have the museum of Mexican art and many popular Mexican restaurants such as Nuevo Leon. I personally love going to Pilsen to hear and see the people and to enjoy the food. It is a neighborhood where you can truly indulge yourself into the Mexican/Latino American culture. While walking through the streets of Pilsen I noticed that many residents did not just have Mexican flags on their flagpoles but they also had the flag Chicago with their native flag. I realized that the many Latino Americans in the city do not just identify as Mexicans or some other Latino, but also as Chicagoans. They express their pride for their city whenever given the opportunity. Many of the people in Pilsen live in lower scale style homes but they don’t seem to mind because they are part of the great city of Chicago.

WORKS CITED

Gellman, Erik. Encyclopedia of Chicago. N.p., 2005. Web. 9 Oct.

2014.

<http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2477.html>.

http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Lower-West-Side-

Chicago-IL.html