Thursday, November 04, 2004
Petrified Tree Stumps
Again last weekend, I walked through the old neighborhood with a friend. As I was recalling the changes that the neighborhood hs gone through, it occured to me that neighborhood history cannot possibly interest someone who has no ties to that neighborhood. And my friend being just 21, history is so relative. But she put on a brave 'showing of interest' and I tried to curbtail the longer winded stories that only a few of us would chuckle at. Yet, it did spark return stories of when she had visited her old haunts in a visit to New Mexico a few years back, so apparently the experience is sharable, if not the details.
Regardless, of interest to her was found along the front of Swift school sidewalk. I wanted to show her what remains of a childhood mystery for me. You may recall, as I have mentioned this elsewhere, that along the front of the school on Winthrop, were several petrified tree stumps, painted a bright yellow. Along with these stumps were deep metal plaques, cemented into the sidewalk, commemorating fallen soldiers from Chicago. As I pointed this out, there remains only two plaques and no stumps. Mostly replaced by larger grates around new young trees. I must remember to photograph these plaques for this site and posterity. I previously thought these soldiers were credited with being from Great Lakes, but it turns out that Fort Sheridan is the base etched in iron. And oddly, on one of the remaining plaques, there is a square deep carving, that may have always been there, that removes the last digits of the year in question. The other plaque is dated 1921. So perhaps this was a memorial to WWI soldiers?
And along with these painted stumps, with their plaques, were the words that "these trees were planted and dedicated by the children of George B. Swift School." Back in the day when Military was honored, education revered and the quest for Peace instead of more bloodshed ... celebrated.
kac
Again last weekend, I walked through the old neighborhood with a friend. As I was recalling the changes that the neighborhood hs gone through, it occured to me that neighborhood history cannot possibly interest someone who has no ties to that neighborhood. And my friend being just 21, history is so relative. But she put on a brave 'showing of interest' and I tried to curbtail the longer winded stories that only a few of us would chuckle at. Yet, it did spark return stories of when she had visited her old haunts in a visit to New Mexico a few years back, so apparently the experience is sharable, if not the details.
Regardless, of interest to her was found along the front of Swift school sidewalk. I wanted to show her what remains of a childhood mystery for me. You may recall, as I have mentioned this elsewhere, that along the front of the school on Winthrop, were several petrified tree stumps, painted a bright yellow. Along with these stumps were deep metal plaques, cemented into the sidewalk, commemorating fallen soldiers from Chicago. As I pointed this out, there remains only two plaques and no stumps. Mostly replaced by larger grates around new young trees. I must remember to photograph these plaques for this site and posterity. I previously thought these soldiers were credited with being from Great Lakes, but it turns out that Fort Sheridan is the base etched in iron. And oddly, on one of the remaining plaques, there is a square deep carving, that may have always been there, that removes the last digits of the year in question. The other plaque is dated 1921. So perhaps this was a memorial to WWI soldiers?
And along with these painted stumps, with their plaques, were the words that "these trees were planted and dedicated by the children of George B. Swift School." Back in the day when Military was honored, education revered and the quest for Peace instead of more bloodshed ... celebrated.
kac
