Chicago’s Secret Jewish Statue (And Other Things To See This Week)
The Heald Square Monument in Chicago depicts Robert Morris, Haym Salomon and George Washington. Image by Wikimedia Commons
Here’s a Chicago fun fact: You know that statue on East Wacker Drive at Lake Street, right in front of the river, of George Washington with two random colonial guys? Well, the one on the right is Haym Salomon, a Polish-born Jew who funded Washington’s army by negotiating foreign loans at rock-bottom interest rates and then later financed Congress with his own money. (The other guy is Robert Morris, who also helped pay for the revolution and new republic.)
The point of this story? We are Jews, but we are also Americans, and so on Tuesday we should all be watching fireworks or shooting off illegal firecrackers in our alleys (or cringing at the noise of our neighbors shooting off illegal firecrackers in our alleys). If you can stand it, head out to Navy Pier, but you might have a more interesting experience up at Northwestern University in Evanston. That’s where the Iraqi Mutual Aid Society will be gathering for a community picnic at 4:00 PM to raise awareness of the plight of Iraqi refugees and ways Chicagoans can help them. And yes, there will be fireworks.
For a different kind of picnic, go to Jackson Park on Saturday and Sunday for the 27th annual Chosen Few Picnic, the city’s finest celebration of house music and also the most laid back of its many summer music festivals. Bring your own lawn chair, beer cooler, and charcoal grill and relax or dance as you will.
Aimee Levitt reports regularly on Chicagoland for the Forward. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter, @aimeelevitt.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
