New Honorary Sign Counts by Ward

70% of wards (35 out of 50) designated between 0 to 2 honorary signs
15 wards had 3 or more new honorary signs in 2016

scroll over segments for the number of wards that granted from 0 to 7 new honorary signs in 2016

Sources: City of Chicago data, Honorary Chicago analysis

7 signs   -  1 Ward
5 signs   -  2 Wards
4 signs   -   6 Wards
3 signs   -   6 Wards
2 signs   -   7 Wards
1 Sign    -   12 Wards

16 wards issued zero new honorary signs

However, the 15 wards (30%) which issued 3 or more signs, accounted for 70% of the new honorary signs in 2016. (59 of 85 new signs)

Where as the number of wards that designate zero signs from year to year is very consistent, the quantities of signs issued by the top 30% has been increasing.  A few wards issue a lot more signs.

These numbers do not account for ward geographic size nor the population of the ward.

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Honorary Signs by Month - current stacked graph

How will the new honorary signs of 2017 stack up against 2016?

2017 is off to a strong start...

2016 had 85 new honorary signs.

Scroll over the months of this interactive chart for honorary sign approvals by month.  

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<iframe width="634" height="581" seamless frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BI0peSKKFiip52oGys3Xam-MZFAtWccKmWbXGCGm9No/pubchart?oid=1322803389&amp;format=interactive"></iframe>

Link to this graph
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BI0peSKKFiip52oGys3Xam-MZFAtWccKmWbXGCGm9No/pubchart?oid=1322803389&format=interactive

Follow the monthly updates and analysis at www.honorarychicago.com/new-signs

2107   -   2016   -   2015

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Happy 100th birthday in Chicago

It is commonplace for heads of state and legislatures at all levels of government to send birthday wishes to elderly citizens who reach various age thresholds. The Chicago City is no exception.  The Chicago City Council sent congratulations to the following fourteen Chicagoans who in 2016 celebrated their 100th birthday.

Petronella Bertha Blumer

Harry Alvin Cecil

Hazel Amelia Cook

Ruth L. Lamar

Otea Esterds

Virginia Crawford White

Jim Konieczny

Rutha Lee Weir Hodo

Bill Coors

JoAnn Turner

Eleanore Wideikis

Eleanor Wayman

John W. Anderson

Elizabeth Mitchell

Source: Chicago City Council records

World Events in 1916:

• World War I
  • England and France battle the Ottoman Empire and are defeated in the attempt to capture Istanbul
  • Paris was bombed by German Zeppelins
  • Portugal joins the allied forces in WWI, Peru declares neutrality
  • The 1916 Summer Olympics to be held in Berlin, are cancelled
     
• The Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weegham Park (later named Wrigley Field) and defeat the Cincinnati Reds
   
• The Mexican Revolution - President Woodrow Wilson sends troops into Mexico to pursue Pancho Villa, a General in the Mexican Revolution who attacked border towns.
   
• Woodrow Wilson signs legislation creating the National Parks Service; later in 1916 he narrowly wins re-election
   
• Russian mystic, Rasputin is murdered in St. Petersburg
   
• The toggle light switch is in vented by William J. Newton and Morris Goldberg

Source: Wikipedia

Famous people born in 1916:

Walter Cronkite - American newscaster

Jackie Gleason - American comic actor and musician

Herb Caen - American journalist

Beverly Cleary - American author

Gregory Peck - American actor

Ferruccio Lamborghini - Italian auto manufacturer

Roald Dahl - Welsh born author

Kirk Douglas - American actor

Betty Grable - American actress

Source: Wikipedia

If you have a Chicago relative who will be celebrating 100 years soon, contact the local ward office or City Hall for an official congratulations. 

Ukrainian American Veterans Way

Veterans Day

Honorary Ukrainian American Veterans Way dedicated in 2016

What a better way to celebrate veterans than to feature the honorary sign dedicated this year to Ukrainian American Veterans.  The Chicago organization of the UAV Post 32 hosted the 69th UAV National Convention in Chicago this year.  

RT @UkChicago Ukrainian American Veterans at the #MemorialDay Parade #Chicago

video:   pic.twitter.com/mYuQtfvTDy http://t.co/f5rr5LxnFV

— Vasyl Pawlowsky (@uamuzik) May 25, 2015

The national Ukrainian American Veterans organization began in 1948 by veterans of WWI and WWII. It's membership includes honorably discharged American veterans of Ukrainian descent.  In 1998 it launched the UAV Registration Project, which aims to collect the names of Ukrainian Americans who served in the US Armed Forces. Volume one contains more than 3,000 names and stories.

The many Ukrainian immigrants from the 1880s settled in the Chicago neighborhood which came to be known as Ukrainian Village. 

* * * * 

Honorary Chicago has made a similar goal.  Since 2014 we have mapped the Chicago honorary street signs which are dedicated to veterans.  This Veterans Day marks the 3rd anniversary of the Honorary Chicago Veterans Map, which is an ongoing effort.

Dr. Sokoni T. Karanja Way

Sokoni Karanja means “A person from across the sea with knowledge” in Swahili. He founded the Centers for New Horizons in Chicago, a social service in the Bronzeville neighborhood to restore it as self-sufficient community with pride in its African and Black American history. He was inspired by Malcolm X, Julius Nyere, and the Black Metropolis of the 1920s. In the early 1970s he lived in and traveled around Tanzania building communities and schools. He was the Assistant Dean of Students at Brandeis University. He has been recognized as an expert in childhood and community development.

MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant
University of Chicago, Adlai Stevenson Fellow
Goldin Institute, Chicago Peace Fellow, Washington Park

Alumni:
Brandeis University, Urban Policy, PhD
University of Cincinnati, Master of Community Planning
Atlanta University, Master of Social Work
University of Denver, Master of Psychology
Washburn University
Ft. Scott Junior College
Topeka High School

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Honorary Dr. Sokoni T. Karanja Way

 

East 42nd Street from South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to South Prairie Avenue

Approved: October 2016

Ward: 3
Alderman: Dowell
Neighborhood: Bronzeville

b. 1940 Lathan Johnson. Topeka, Kansas

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Honorary street sign for Dr. Sokoni T. Karanja founder-Centers for New Horizons social service agency in Bronzeville pic.twitter.com/G5ZT5kV04A

— Alderman Pat Dowell (@AldPatDowell3rd) October 31, 2016

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Source

HistoryMakers

Honorary Big Chicks Way

Michelle Fire is the owner of Big Chicks lounge and gallery in the Uptown neighborhood, and Tweet, the breakfast place next door. When she started, the space was an old-man’s bar frequented by the residents of nearby subsidized housing. When the artwork, entirely of women, went up the LGBTQ clientele started showing up to drink, eat, and dance. Big Chicks earned the reputation of being a very welcoming and accepting place for everyone. In recent years it has made the list of best neighborhood bars, best gay, and best lesbian bars. In 2018 it was featured in Bon Appetite.

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Honorary Big Chicks Way

5000 block of North Sheridan Road

 

Approved: October 2016

Ward: 48
Alderman: Osterman
Neighborhood: Uptown

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Source

YouTube playlist: Big Chicks. Honorary Chicago

Felix "Mr. Van Buren" Willis Way

Honorary Felix “Mr. Van Buren” Willis Way

East Van Buren Street between South Michigan Avenue and South Wabash Avenue

 

Approved: 2005

Ward: 2
Alderman: Haithcock
Neighborhood: Cultural Mile

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