And yet, through the experiences and ambitions of tracy and other young characters, drain reveals a vibrant community that creates its own ecosystem. Enter for a chance to win one of 25 advance copies of stateway s garden, by jason drai. Stateway gardens was a chicago housing authority cha public housing project located in. But for some, like tracy, the shy, intelligent young boy at the center of this enthralling collection of linked stories, they are simply home. Built in 1958, the 33acre site between 35th and 39th streets along state street in the douglas community area replaced the federal street slum area with allblack public highrise housing. Join facebook to connect with stateway gardens and others you may know. The stories in this chicago housing project could fill a book. Robert taylor homes, dearborn homes, harold ickes homes and hillard homes.
Completed in 1958, this thirtythreeacre public housing development with eight highrise buildings and 1,644 apartments was one of the largest of the chicago housing authoritys cha projects. The text is twice as long as the bible and is fully searchable using the free adobe reader found on most computers. But for some, like tracy, the shy, intelligent young boy at the center of this collection of linked stories, they are simply home. Stateways garden is a comingofage story told in short stories, through the lens of a childhood made rough by the crush of poverty and. In a city with a sordid history of segregation, there are beacons of light and reasons to be thankful. A place with fantastic views of lake michigan and comiskey park that segregates its residents from the city around them. For full details of the contents please see ghre page on.
Before being torn down in 2007, the stateway gardens public housing projects on chicagos south side were ridden with deprivation and crime. How a story about the horrors of housing projects became. This is a collection of tightly linked short stories about a curious, intelligent boy named tracy, growing up in a chicago housing project with his older brother and his mother. Stateways garden by jasmon drain penguin random house. On august 19, 1955 the new stateway gardens housing project was going to start being built around 35th street and state street was given its new name by the. Stateway gardens was a part of the state street corridor which included other cha properties. Over the years, gang violence and neglect created terrible conditions for the residents in.
Stateway gardens was a chicago housing authority cha public housing project located in the bronzeville neighborhood of the south side of chicago, illinois, united states. As the 1970s progressed these projects would became worse and by the late 1970s drugs, gangs and addiction ran rampant in. This bold outing vividly encapsulates a chapter of chicagos complex history. Instead of searching one site after another to piece chicago street gang history together, you can come to chicago gang history to see the research zook has done to compile everything into one source. Because so many of the book s elements come together in stateway condo gentrification, the stories that follow have a richer energy. Crime neighborhoods poverty segregation film news how a story about the horrors of housing projects became part of a. Jasmon drain stateways garden ben austen uchicago arts. Stateways garden book san francisco public library. It was located alongside the dan ryan expressway, adjacent to the former robert taylor homes. In both fiction and real life, stateway gardens, like many of chicagos most storied housing projects, no longer stands. He writes about a housing project so grim that those who move in dream of leaving. Linking these stories, set in the era of reaganomics, is tracy, a smart kid with a mother as emotional as the pages of a science textbook. Jan 21, 2020 before they were torn down in 2007, the stateway gardens public housing projects on chicagos south side were known as a hotbed of poverty, drugs, gangs, and crime. A collection of linked short stories takes readers inside life in chicagos stateway gardens projects.
Revising the history of chicago in a sweeping debut novel. Built in 1955 and offering shelter for over 3000 people, this project soon became a nest for criminal activity and fell under the control of several gangs. As the 1970s progressed these projects would became worse and by the late 1970s drugs, gangs and addiction ran rampant in these buildings as they severely decayed. Stateway gardens, now park boulevard, is a neighborhood located in the douglas community area on the south side of chicago, illinois the neighborhood was named after the chicago housing development, stateway gardens, that once took up most of the area. Stateway gardens is currently being torn down and redeveloped as mixedincome, lowrise housing. This debut book is set mostly in the 1980s in one of the south sides largest, most segregated housing projects. Mar 14, 2014 crime neighborhoods poverty segregation film news how a story about the horrors of housing projects became part of a. Through jasmon drains sensitive and often playful prose, we see another side of what we have come to know as the projects. Stateway gardens, 1959 built in 1958, the 33acre site between 35th and 39th streets along state street in the douglas community area replaced the federal street slum area with allblack public highrise housing.
Feb 12, 2020 author jasmon drain near the intersection of state and 37th streets, near the site of the former stateway gardens public housing projects in chicago. This debut book is set mostly in the 1980s in one of the. Author jasmon drain near the intersection of state and 37th streets, near the site of the former stateway gardens public housing projects in chicago. Because so many of the books elements come together in stateway condo gentrification, the stories that follow have a richer energy. Stateway gardens was home to people living in mid and highrise apartment buildings. Stateways garden is a comingofage story told in short stories, through the lens of a childhood made rough by the crush of poverty and violence, with the crack epidemic a looming specter ahead. Stateways garden book chicago public library bibliocommons. Stateway s garden is a comingofage story told in short stories, through the lens of a childhood made rough by the crush of poverty and violence, with the crack epidemic a looming specter ahead. Drains resonant debut tracks a communitys hardscrabble struggle in the stateway gardens housing project on chicagos south side from the 1980s through the projects closure in the early 2000s. Stateway gardens eight highrise apartment blocks built in the 1950s and demolished by 2007 formed a neighborhood notorious for grinding poverty, violence, drug use, and crime. Stateway gardens housing stateway gardens is currently being torn down and redeveloped as mixedincome, lowrise housing. Enter for a chance to win one of 25 advance copies of stateways garden, by jason drai. The stateway gardens were one of the first projects to start going bad in the second half of the 1960s as graffiti and deterioration set in early on. Dearborn street looking north to stateway gardens, 1959, showing the kind of buildings razed to make way for highrise housing.
And in jasmon drains debut collection, stateways garden, they do. From organized crime to folk and people street gangs. And yet, through the experiences and ambitions of tracy and other young characters, drain reveals a vibrant community. The history of gardens should be the first book read by anyone who wants to learn about the history of garden styles. Linking these stories, set in the era of reaganomics, is tracy, a smart kid with a mother as emotional as the pages of a science textbook, who lives in the stateway gardens housing project. Jan 21, 2020 capturing an intricate portrait of stateway gardens a real place that was razed in 2007, drain mines the idea that life in the projects could be both a thing to escape and something to nurture, a matter made more critical by the ticking clock of gentrification. Before being torn down in 2007, the stateway gardens public housi. Welcome to, a website dedicated to the printed history of gardens, landscape architecture, early horticulture and all related subjects. The garden history reference encyclopedia is in pdf format with over 10,000 hyperlinks both internal and external, to sites of garden history interest. Stateways garden book charlotte mecklenburg library.
I have read only four chapters, but appreciate thackers style of writing and, especially, i appreciate that thacker carefully explains horticultural and architectural terms. Before they were torn down in 2007, the stateway gardens public housing projects on chicagos south side were known as a hotbed of poverty, drugs, gangs, and crime. Sandra cisnerosbefore being torn down in 2007, the stateway gardens public housing projects on chicagos south side were ridden with deprivation and crime. Capturing an intricate portrait of stateway gardens a real place that was razed in 2007, drain mines the idea that life in the projects could be both a thing to escape and something to nurture, a matter made more critical by the ticking clock of gentrification.
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