Exclusive: Chicago alderman uses unattributed neighborhood histories on his campaign website

West Englewood, Chicago's
15th Ward

In 2010--in an attempt to stake ownership in their storied past--British rock band Squeeze re-recorded some of its most popular songs, such as "Tempted" and "Cool for Cats," for a new album, Spot the Difference.

Listeners are encouraged to, well, spot the difference between the 2010 tracks and the originals.

While researching a couple of my recent urban exploration posts I had my own spot-the-difference moment.

From the Back of the Yards page of the campaign web site of Raymond Lopez, alderman of Chicago's gerrymandered 15th Ward:

Situated in a heavily industrialized location, populated by successive generations of immigrant people, and animated by some of the most dramatic social conflicts of modern times, Back of the Yards focused the attention of novelists, activists, and social scientists alike for most of the twentieth century. Located in the community area of New City, the neighborhood extends from 39th to 55th Streets between Halsted and the railroad tracks along Leavitt Street, just south and west of the former Union Stock Yard and adjacent packing plants, a giant sprawl that was until the 1950s the largest livestock yards and meatpacking center in the country.

From Encyclopedia of Chicago:

Situated in a heavily industrialized location, populated by successive generations of immigrant people, and animated by some of the most dramatic social conflicts of modern times, Back of the Yards focused the attention of novelists, activists, and social scientists alike for most of the twentieth century. Located in the community area of New City, the neighborhood extends from 39th to 55th Streets between Halsted and the railroad tracks along Leavitt Street, just south and west of the former Union Stock Yard and adjacent packing plants, a giant sprawl that was until the 1950s the largest livestock yards and meatpacking center in the country.

Can you spot the difference?

Other than the lack of hyperlinks on the Lopez page, I can't.

No credit is given to Encyclopedia of Chicago by Lopez, a Democrat and a City Council freshman, anywhere on his site.

Do you want to keep playing spot-the-difference?

The Lopez entry on West Englewood is here. Encyclopedia of Chicago's is here.

More? Gage Park according to Lopez can be found here, Encyclopedia of Chicago's take is here.

The Brighton Park of Lopez is here, E of C's is here.

Encyclopedia of Chicago is a project of the Chicago History Museum, the Newberry Library, and the University of Chicago. Yes, their articles are protected by various copyrights.

I reached out to Lopez through Facebook Messenger Thursday afternoon--he did not respond through Facebook, nor did he email me or call me on my cell phone.

UPDATE May 18: The pilfered pages have been deleted from the Lopez site.