This Newsletter is published by

the Hyde Park Historical Society, a

not-for-profit organization founded

in 1975 to record, preserve, and

promote public interest in the history

of Hyde Park. Its headquarters,

located in an 1893 restored cable car

station at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue,

houses local exhibits. It is open to

the public on Saturdays and Sundays

from 2 until 4pm.

Web site: hydeparkhistory.org

Telephone: HY3-1893

President: Ruth Knack

Vice-President: Janice A. Knox

Secretary: Gary Ossewaarde

Treasurer: Jay Wilcoxen

Editor: Frances S. Vandervoort

Membership Coordinator:

Claude Weil

Designer: Nickie Sage

VoL. 36 N0. 2 SPrINg 2014Published by the Hyde Park Historical Society

Hyde Park History

Almost 160 guests ate cherry pie and admired red and white floral arrangements

at the annual dinner of the Hyde Park Historical Society at the Quadrangle Club on February 22, 2014. The event was a success, celebrating winners of Cornell and Despres Awards, the Block Book

Award, and the newly established President’s Award. It was a time for nostalgia; missed but not forgotten was long-time volunteer and beloved Society member Bert Benade, who passed away in August. The Society looks forward to a productive and positive 2014.Volunteers who helped make the

dinner a success were Estrella Alamar, Carol Bradford, Robert Dalby, Stephanie Franklin, Cleveland Holden, and Claude Weil. Melissa Cook contributed time and talent to provide guests with handsome table favors reflecting the art and philosophy of noted sculptor Lorado Taft.

Richardson and Janice Spofford receive the 2014 President’s Award from Ruth Knack (right) for the careful restoration of their Howard Van Doren Shaw house and for many years of service to the Society and community.

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Seth and Kristin Flanders received a Cornell Award from Michal Safar (left) for the donation of an extensive collection of artifacts and memorabilia from Seth’s family.

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAIDChicago, IL

Permit No. 85

HP HS

Hyde Park Historical Society 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue Chicago, IL 60637

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Hyde Park Historical Society CoLLECTINg AND PrESErVINg HyDE PArk’S HISTory

Time for you to join up or renew? Fill out the form below and return it to:

The Hyde Park Historical Society 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue • Chicago, IL 60637

Enclosed is my new renewal membership in the Hyde Park Historical Society.

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Address

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Student $15 Individual $30 Family $40

✁

Washington’s birthday at the Quadrangle Club

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Sunday, April 27, 3 PM Susan O’Connor Davis will make a special presentation to Society members and other interested individuals about her book, Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park, from 2-4 pm at a location to be determined. The event will be a fundraiser to benefit the Bert Benade Memorial Fund. Call Kathy Huff for more information, (773) 241-7141, or email: kathy@rogerhuff.com

June 1 A tour of the South Shore area to be arranged by Robert Despres. Time and location forthcoming.

Late June The annual Chicago Metro History Fair program will take place. Details forthcoming.

Additional programs by Susan O’Connor Davis:

Monday, May 12, 7 PM (tentative date) Despres Memorial Lecture, Blackstone Library, 4904 S. Blackstone Avenue. Contact Brenda Sawyer for more information: litjoy.voices@gmail.com.

In addition, HPHS members can contribute their own stories to the Hyde Park Herald: http://hpherald.com/chicagos-historic-hyde-park/#comment-77808

UPCOMING EVENTS

Answer to Mystery Quiz:The South Campus Chiller Plant of the University of Chicago was designed by Helmut Jahn, who also designed the State of Illinois Building, 100 West Randolph Street, in downtown Chicago.

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David Quinn of MAC Properties receives a Despres Award from Jack Spicer for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic and landmarked Shoreland Hotel building.

Susan O’Connor Davis received the 2014 Jean Block Award for her book Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park. As the after dinner speaker, Susan amused the audience with three tales of early residents who left their mark on our community. She is shown here with renowned architect and preservationist John Vinci, who worked with her on the book.

James Hennessey of the University of Chicago receives a Despres Award for the rehabilitation of the Harper Theater Buildings.

Thomas Staszak, Karen Feeney, and Dr. Sarah Bond of St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Parish receive a Cornell Award from Frances Vandervoort (left) for many years of dedication to Hyde Park’s aesthetic, educational, and spiritual life.

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New MembersThe Society welcomes the following new members: Susan O’Connor Davis, Melchior Dikkers, Kenneth Freund, Ciro Gaimari, Dr. Bonnie Harrison-Janecek, Michael Janecek, Mahala I. Harrison-Janecek, Louise McCurry and Karin Droegmueller.

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Frances McNamara

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Bob Kass

Recent Programs at HPHS Headquarters Entertained and Edified Society Members

On November 10, David Keller, managing director of the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation, described the history of this Civil War camp for Confederatep. He also described current archeological excavations now being conducted at the site. About 40 people were in attendance.

On Sunday, January 26, Nina Helstein and other founders of the University of Chicago Folk Festival stirred fond memories in audience members with tales of folk music productions from the early 1960s. Bob Kass told of driving to Arkansas to look up Jimmy Driftwood for one of the first festivals. This program preceded the 2014 folk festival by two weeks, certainly inspiring people to attend the latest of more than 50 of these happy events.

On Sunday, March 2, author Frances McNamara engaged an audience of about 30 devotees of mystery novels by describing her tales of experiences of a fictitious student at the University of Chicago in the 1890s, Emily Cabot. Emily finds herself challenged by dead bodies that turn up in improbable places in the 1893 Columbian Exposition, at Woods Hole in Massachusetts, and the south side community of Pullman, to name a few. Emily, of course, always solves the murders, meeting fascinating people and goes through harrowing experiences along the way. Who can resist a mystery novel about people and places in Hyde Park’s own special neighborhood!

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A Tribute to bertWho is Bert? Jack of all trades, I can see him now, lovin’ coffee and smoking.’ Hats off to Bert, We all remember him and love him. Miss you, Bert. Nice knowing you.

Mr. and Mrs. Leon Howard, Rockford, Illinois.

HPHS

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Bert Benade Memorial Building Fund, 2013

Steven Fox & Rita McCarthyAndrew Holzman

Kathy & Roger HuffRobert H. Krupp

Gary OssewaardeMarcia & Stephen Treffman

Claude WeilHelen & Kale Williams

Oral History Fund, 2013Betty Black

Steven Fox & Rita McCarthyCleveland Holden, Jr.Kathy & Roger Huff

2013-2014 Annual FundLeon and Marian Despres Level

($25-$49)

Jacqueline R. OutlawLisa Rademacher

Linda & Gustavus Swift Marlene R.Vellinga

Linda Grant Williams

Frederick Law Olmsted Level ($50-$99)

Marie AsburyJohn Evans CornellHon. Leslie Hairston

Kathy MorsbachIngrid & David Myles

Gary OssewaardeFrances & Peter Vandervoort

Claude WeilJay & Pat Wilcoxen

Daniel Burnham Level ($100-$249)

Elizabeth BrackettMarilyn Coopersmith

Hon. Barbara Flynn CurrieMarcia & Kenneth DamJuergen Droegemueller

Karen & Robert FeeneySteven Fox & Rita McCarthy

Madelon & Roger FrossKathy & Roger HuffNicole & Paul Janas

David MosenaVreni Naess

Nikki and Frederic SteinJohn Vinci

Paul Cornell Level ($250+)

Elizabeth Block & Bruce KuklickDebbie & John Cornell

Ramona and Edward FoulkePolk Brothers Foundation

Michal & Mazin Safar

OtherAnonymous

Devereux BowlyJane Comiskey

Judith Stein

The Hyde Park Historical Society is grateful to the following individuals for their generous support,

all of which will help assure the Society’s success.

bert benade and the role of the VolunteerExcerpted from welcoming remarks by President Ruth Knack at the Society’s annual dinner, February 22, 2014

Tonight when I came in the front door, I was reminded of a sad note—the death last August of Bert Benade. In other years, Bert would have been our “greeter,”

welcoming all of us with his infectious smile. That role was one of many that Bert played over the years as a board member of the Hyde Park Historical Society.Bert was, in fact, the quintessential volunteer, not

just for the Historical Society but for other groups, particularly the Hyde Park Garden Fair and the Museum of Science and Industry. He never said no. It was Bert who watched over the Society’s cable car

headquarters. He was the one who checked in hours early to turn up the heat and shovel the snow before our meetings and programs. He was also the organizer of the historical society’s contingent at the Fourth of July Parade. We could easily spot his top hat and red suspenders. When he didn’t show up last summer with the Society’s banner, we knew something was wrong. And there was.

Remembering Bert made me think about the qualities of a good volunteer that he exemplified. First on the list is interest in the community. Bert loved to talk about his own history in Hyde Park, especially his experience as an undergraduate at the U of C. In an article he wrote about life in student housing in Woodlawn, he described how he and his roommates (one of whom was African American) were threatened with eviction because they had violated the restrictive covenant then in effect in Chicago. He knew every street in Hyde Park and the

surrounding neighborhoods and who lived where. And he had stories about all of them.A second quality of a good volunteer is a reluctance

to seek the limelight. Bert certainly did not. He never wanted to take credit even when credit was due.Finally, for a volunteer in a local institution like ours,

it’s a must to make visitors feel welcome. Bert did that at the Historical Society, and I am sure he did the same at the Museum and at the Garden Fair. His smile was truly infectious.I think of those qualities whenever I walk into the

headquarters and remember how Bert made sure that the chairs were set up and everything was in place before every event. No job too small or too large for him. When I told our friend—Sam Guard—that I was

going to talk about Bert, he had one comment. “By volunteering,” he said, “Bert enlarged not only his own life but everyone else’s as well.”Bert is a hard act to follow. Luckily, the Historical

Society has plenty of other volunteers—foremost among them the members of the board of directors. But I also want to make a pitch to all of you. Like

all small organizations this one always needs help. We would welcome you as a member of the board or of a committee. There is bound to be a job that fits your talents and your time—helping plan programs, for instance, or writing for the newsletter, or staffing the headquarters on the weekends. Think about it.

An Electronic Newsletter?

Several Society members have suggested that electronic newsletters would be an attractive and economical way to subscribe to Hyde Park History.

Electronic newsletters would always be in color, could be stored permanently, and could be sent to relatives and friends who just might decide to become Society members on their own!

Send suggestions and comments to the editor, Frances Vandervoort at vandersand@sbcglobal.net or call the Hyde Park historical Society, (773) 493-1893.

Mystery Quiz:

What well-known architect designed this building, located near the corner of 61st Street and South Dorchester Avenue?

bert’s WordsLate HPHS Board member Bert Benade was a wordsmith. In his apartment were found lists of phrases Bert had collected over the years. A few of the phrases will be published in each edition of the Newsletter. Here is a start.

I am going your way, so let us go hand in hand – William Morris

Culture is like water—It nourishes everything. – Chinese Minister of Culture

I came to your shore a stranger; I lived in your house a guest, I leave your door a friend, my earth – Rabindranath Tagore

Anyone who talks too much will speak much nonsense. – Babur

If you are lonely while you're alone, you are in bad company. – Jean-Paul Sartre

I have had such an incredible life. I wish I had realized it earlier. – Colette

It is very difficult to get stupid people to change their opinions, for they find it so hard to get an idea that they don't like to lose one. – Lord Dalling, British Diplomat.

If one is full up with vanity, there is no room for learning.

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A Newsboy Prodigy in Hyde ParkBy Robert Michaelson

In recent years there have been popular books, plays, and movies about mathematicians—real, such as A Beautiful Mind about John Nash, and fictional, such as Proof, set in Hyde Park. But few Hyde Parkers know that during the Great Depression Hyde Park had an amazing self-taught newsboy prodigy, or are aware of his stranger-than-fiction life.Walter Pitts was born on April 25, 1923 in Detroit

to a blue-collar, completely uncultured family. By some fluke, as a child Pitts was captivated by the life of the mind. His family and neighbors thought him a freak for his intellectual interests, and likely because they considered him an ugly-looking kid. Years later he told of how at twelve he had fled neighborhood bullies—and perhaps, one wonders, some of his

siblings—to sanctuary in the Detroit Public Library. By chance he hid among the stacks where the library’s copy of Bertrand Russell’s and Alfred North Whitehead’s Principia Mathematica was shelved. Remarkably, within a very few weeks he read those dry and technical tomes cover-to-cover. He taught himself Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, German, philosophy, history, music, chemistry, and much else. His great passions, however, were mathematics and logic.At fifteen Walter ran away from home to Chicago,

where he sold newspapers to support himself. Never again was he in contact with his family except to send them presents at Christmas. Walter may have chosen Chicago because in 1938 Bertrand Russell was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, and perhaps because the University had a reputation as a haven for oddballs. There is a story that while reading in Jackson Park, he met an old man he knew only as “Bert.” When “Bert” found that Walter was interested in logic, he suggested that he sit in on a course at Chicago taught by philosophy professor Rudolf Carnap. “Bert” was in fact Bertrand Russell and Walter eventually did attend Carnap’s course.Later, Carnap recounted how Walter came into

his office in Harper Memorial Library without introducing himself. “This young boy came in to see me and said he had read my book and that a certain paragraph on a certain page was not clear to him. Now when I say that something is not clear to me, I mean that that thing is nonsense. So we took down my copy of the book, opened it to the page in question and carefully read the paragraph... and it was not clear to me either!” Carnap spent months hunting for that “newsboy who knew logic.” After Walter turned up Carnap persuaded the University to give him a menial job. Walter, desperately poor and lacking even a high-school degree, never registered for a course, but in the University’s informal atmosphere sat in on many classes.Walter never fit in with academic formalities.

Presented with an exam he criticized the questions rather than answer them. Once for fun he sat in on a true-false exam in an introductory science course at Chicago, ostentatiously flipping a coin before answering each question—of course he got a perfect score. Years later while a researcher at MIT, when the faculty became frustrated by his unwillingness to pursue a formal degree, they decided that his published research was more than worthy of a doctorate and arranged with Institute officials to grant him a Ph.D. All Walter would have needed to do was to sign a single document. He refused.A very important encounter for Walter was his

meeting, at a lecture by Russell in 1938, with Jerome

Lettvin, a pre-medical student at the University of Chicago. Jerry Lettvin became Walter’s closest friend and later became the source for much of what is known about Walter’s life. He was three years older than Walter and wanted to be a poet. Another close friend was Josephine Semmes (A.B. 1943), a divorcee five years older than Walter who would go on to become a prominent neuropsychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health. Lettvin writes that “she was warm, witty, and knowledgeable, and visiting her was like attending a salon of the sort we had only read about in accounts of past centuries. It goes without saying that Walter and I fell in love with her, yet always from a respectful and admiring distance.” In fact in 1945 Walter seriously considered proposing marriage to Semmes.Walter, a brilliant one-on-one teacher, tutored

Lettvin in logic and mathematics. He could answer questions on any topic at all, with fully-developed extemporaneous expositions tailored to the level of the questioner. Only someone with plenty of time dared ask him a question since his response covered so much detail. Although he could lecture he could not converse. It was said that he was so shy that he stole books rather than interact with staff at the library circulation desk.Lettvin entered medical school at the University

of Illinois at Chicago in 1939. He remained in close touch with Walter, who would sit in on some medical classes. In 1943 Lettvin and a fellow intern visited the intern’s uncle, Norbert Wiener, a brilliant MIT mathematician then looking for a high-caliber research assistant. When Lettvin described Walter to him, Wiener responded that no such person existed. Lettvin helped buy Walter a train ticket to Cambridge. When Walter entered Wiener’s office, Wiener described his current work. Walter understood Weiner’s current abstruse theories instantly. Weiner said that, “without question (Pitts was) the strongest young scientist I have ever met… I should be extremely astonished if he does not prove to be one of the two or three most important scientists of his generation…” To Walter, Wiener became the father he had never had.In 1947, through no fault of his own Walter became

collateral damage after an academic spat between Wiener and some of Wiener’s colleagues. Mistakenly sensing that he had been rejected by his father figure, he went into severe decline. He broke off contact with friends and work and gradually sank into alcoholism and drug use. He was still doing important work in the 1950s, and was even featured in an article in Fortune in June, 1954, “The young scientists.” Others included in the story were future Nobel laureates

James D. Watson and Richard Feynman. In fact, five of the ten scientists in the article later would receive Nobel Prizes.By then Pitts was in a downward spiral. For a

time he moved in with Jerry Lettvin and his family, but his drinking caused seizures and episodes of unconsciousness that terrified Lettvin’s children. He left Lettvin’s home, and by the late 1960s was avoiding all contact with friends and colleagues. He died May 14, 1969, at age 46 from cirrhosis of the liver.Toward the end of his life he destroyed his papers,

making it difficult to understand him or know which stories about him are true. It may be well to keep in mind a remark in a published interview, by Jack D. Cowan, Professor of Mathematics and of Neurology at the University of Chicago, who knew Pitts at MIT. Cowan said of those stories: “The wildest ones—the ones I can confirm—were true, and the plausible ones were false.” (See Talking nets, cited below).Years after Pitts’s death, his long-time friend Jerry

Lettvin, who died at age 91 in 2011, wrote. “Pitts was married to abstract thought… We never knew anything about his family or his feelings about us. He died mysterious, sad and remote, and not once did I find out, or even want to find out more about how he felt or what he hoped. To be interested in him as a person was to lose him as a friend… He was the very embodiment of mind, and could out-think and out-analyze all the rest of us.”

Suggested reading:

Smalheiser, Walter, in Perspectives in biology and Medicine, vol. 43, number 2, Winter 2000, pp. 217-226.

James A. Anderson and Edward Rosenfeld, Talking Nets: An Oral History of Neural Networks (MIT Press, 1998).

Squire, Larry R. The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography, (Academic Press, 1998), pp. 224-243.

Conway Flo, and Jim Siegelman. Dark Hero of the Information Age: In Search of Norbert Weiner, the Father of Cybernetics (Basic Books, 2005).

Heims, Steve J. The Cybernetics Group (MIT Press, 1991); and Tara H. Abraham, “(Physio)Logical Circuits: The Intellectual Origins of the McCulloch-Pitts Neural Networks”, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, vol. 36 (2002), pp. 3-25.

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Walter Pitts, circa 1954

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