Ike Sewell Way

Ike Sewell was the restauranteur who developed the legendary Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.  In 1943 he opened Pizzeria Uno in a victorian house on Wabash Avenue, not far from the Magnificent Mile.  Pizzeria Uno's second location, Pizzeria Due, opened in 1955 down the street from the original, also in a house.  Both restaurants are still open at these locations.

Chicago-style deep dish pizza

Ike Sewell's restaurant career began at the bar. He worked for a distillery when he met his business partner and they decided to open a restaurant. When Ric Riccardo, the owner of Riccardo's on Rush, suggested their new restaurant serve pizza, Ike insisted that the pizza should be a meal itself, not just an appetizer.  He also wanted something different from what he could find in Chicago's Little Italy.  Ike was from Texas, so he liked big, and his pizza had so much more of everything it needed its own pan. And so, Chicago Deep Dish Pizza was born.  Pizzeria Uno also spawned the Italian-style American classics: chicken vesuvio and italian beef sandwiches. Ike was also fond of Mexican food so he established the nearby Su Casa restaurant.

Pizzeria Uno inspired other pizza restaurants around the country and in Chicago.  The father and son team, Rudy and Lou Malnati, were managers during the early years of Pizzeria Uno and Due.  In 1971 Lou Malnati opened his own eponymous pizza place.  Several former Uno's employees started their own restaurants in Chicago including: Gino's East, Delisi's Pizza, Louisa's Pizza, and Pizano's Pizza and Pasta. Uno's became famous outside Chicago when it licensed "Original Chicago Pizzeria Uno" restaurants which opened many locations across the country. 

Ike kept his day job for the first 22 years of Pizzeria Uno; he retired as a vice president of a liquor company in 1965.  Ike started even further from both Chicago and the restaurant business.  He was born in Texas and played college football at the University of Texas, Austin, where he was an All-American in 1924.  Ike received the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award in 1987.

 

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Neighborhood: River North

Ike Sewell 1903 - 1990, age 87.

Pizzeria Uno
29 E. Ohio

Pizzeria Due
619 N. Wabash Avenue

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Chicago Tribune, "A History of Deep Dish Pizza"
Chicago Tribune, "Pizzeria Uno Opens"
Chicago Tribune, "Ike Sewell"

Kazimiera 'Kasia' Bober Way

Kasia's Deli is famous for Pierogis in Chicago's Polish Community and throughout the City.  Kazimiera Bober opened the deli in 1982 and started making pieogis a few years after she emigrated from Poland to the United States.  Pierogi machines were nowhere to be found so she adapted a ravioli maker to fill the dough; she finished individual pierogis by hand.  The deli flourished and had a hearty following. After 20 years in business she expanded production and started to sell Kasia's Pierogis in grocery stores.  Kasia's Pierogis won the coveted "Best Pierogi in Chicago" award at the "Taste of Chicago" summer food festival.  Soon she was featured in Newsweek Magazine and her pierogis were served on United Airline flights. 

She was very poor when she arrived in Chicago in 1975 and struggled to get by.  She started the deli in an old sausage shop to make enough money to bring her children to the United States.  

Kasia's Deli 
2101 W. Chicago Avenue

 

Kasia lived to 80 years of age and realized the dream of the deli and succeeded in bringing her family from Poland.  Her children and grandchildren worked by her side up to her last days.  Kasia was a grandmother to the entire Polish community of Chicago. The Bober family continues to run the deli and pierogi factory.

Listen to the WBEZ interview

Sign Approved: 2016
Ward: 1
Alderman: Moreno
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village

Pierogis

An Eastern European dish often associated with Poland. Pierogis are dough dumplings and are typically filled with potato, sauerkraut, plum, or meat.

Photo: CC-BY-SA 2.5 User:Piotrus

Chicago has one of the largest Polish communities outside Poland

The Taste of Chicago is the world's largest food festival, it showcases Chicago food and restaurants.

Aleko Konstantinov Way

Alekos Kostantinov was a Bulgarian writer who came to Chicago during the 1893 Columbian Exhibition World Fair.  His 1894 book "To Chicago and Back" was influential in attracting Bulgarian immigrants to Chicago and the resulting sizable Bulgarian community in Chicago.

 

His sign is located outside the First Bulgarian Center; where the Union of Bulgarian Writers hold it's meetings and is the common meeting place for Bulgarian writers living all over the world.  Bulgarian Culture Center Chicago

The honorary sign was dedicated to mark the 120th anniversary of his death.

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Approved: 2017
Ward: 45
Alderman: John Arena
Neighborhood: Avondale / Old Irving Park

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Javier 'Javy' Baez Way

Javier Baez played for the Chicago Cubs baseball team (2014-2021) and was a crucial part of the team's historic World Series win in 2016. His nickname is “El Mago,” the magician. He was co-MVP for the National League and an All-Star.

Honorary Javier "Javy" Baez Way was dedicated on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 and drew a huge crowd of adults and children from the proud Puerto Rican community and beyond, most were wearing Chicago Cubs hats, shirts, jackets, and Javy's jersey number 9.  

"Congratulations Javier Baez" cake from a local bakery

Fan wearing Javier Baez Cubs jersey number 9 and flying the flag of Puerto Rico

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Honorary Javier “Javy” Baez Way

At Little Cubs Field in Humboldt Park

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Approved: 2017

Ward: 26
Alderman: Roberto Maldonado
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park

Sign Dedication Ceremony: April 11, 2017

 

The sign stands in Humboldt Park in front of "Little Cubs Field" and also at the Division Street entrance to the park on Luis Munoz Marin Drive.

The sign dedication was hosted by Alderman Roberto Maldonado and attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

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Source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_B%C3%A1ez

Esther Golar Way

Esther Golar served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2006 until her death in 2015. Esther believed in strong communities and fiercely supported the rights of the elderly, families, and the struggling. She served on committees on a wide range of issues including; education, healthcare, and crime. She was the voice of the 6th District on the Southwest side of Chicago, and sometime she delivered her message on the House floor in song. Before her career in politics she was a community organizer and worked for the Community Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS). She moved to Chicago from Mississippi as a child.

Alumni
Crane Technical High School
Malcolm X College

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Honorary Esther Golar Way

South Racine Avenue from West 51st Street to West Garfield Boulevard

Approved: January 2017

Ward: 20
Alderman: Cochran
Neighborhood: Englewood

b. 1944. Merigold, Mississippi
d. 2015. Age 71.

 

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Source

https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-state-rep-esther-golar-dies-met-0922-20150921-story.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-state-rep-esther-golar-dies-met-0922-20150921-story.html

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150921/englewood/esther-golar-dead-state-representative-had-served-6th-district-for-9-years

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Golar

Dr. Edward & Mildred Cruzat

This doctor and dancer couple was very involved in the community. Mildred in Rainbow Coalition/PUSH

Edward “Ted” Pedro Cruzat was a surgeon and lecturer at Northwestern University Medical School

Mildred “Millie” Cruzat danced on Broadway and at Carnegie Hall. She teaches dance.

Alumni - Edward
University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Meharry Medical College. Nashville, Tennessee

Alumni - Mildred
American School of Ballet at Carnegie Hall

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Honorary Dr Edward and Mildred Cruzat Way

South Ellis Avenue from East 32nd St. to East 32nd PLace

 

Approved: January 2017

Ward: 4
Alderman: King
Neighborhood: Douglas

Edward
b. Alton, Illinois
d. February, 16 2000. Age 73. Chicago

Mildred
b. February 17, 1927. Detroit, Michigan

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Source
Facebook

Source

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. 

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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