Chicago monuments under assault, Part 12: Kinzie Mansion Plaque

Among the first European-Americans to live in Chicago was Canadian-born John Kinzie. The first recorded non-Native American to live in the city was Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, who is believed to have been born in Haiti. Kinzie purchased DuSable's land and home that sat at the mouth of the Chicago River at Lake Michigan in 1805.

Kinzie's son, John H, was a Cook County sheriff and the second village president of Chicago. In 1837 Chicago was incorporated as a city, John H. twice ran for mayor but was defeated both times. 

There used to be a plaque at the site of the elder Kinzie's mansion. It is now in storage and it is one of the 41 monuments that "warrant attention" according to Mayor Lori Lightfoot's Chicago Monuments Project, a group formed after the summer riot in Grant Park at the Christopher Columbus statue. That moment, along with two other Columbus statues, are also in storage. 

The Kinzie plaque reads:

Kinzie Mansion. Near this site stood Kinzie Mansion, 1784-1832, Home of Pointe Du Saible [sic], Le Mai, and John Kinzie. Chicago's "First Civilian" here was born, in 1805, the city's first white child, Ellen Marion Kinzie.- Erected by Chicago's Charter Jubilee - Authenticated by Chicago Historical Society - 1937.

This is what the Chicago Monuments Project says about the mothballed plaque:

The establishment of "whiteness" as a key component in the founding history of Chicago is expressed explicitly in the inscription of this plaque, commemorating one of the city's early non-native settlers, John Kinzie: The establishment of "whiteness" as a key component in the founding history of Chicago is expressed explicitly in the inscription of this plaque, commemorating one of the city's early non-native settlers, John Kinzie.

Let's play what journalist Sheryl Attkison in her book Slanted calls "the substitution game." Usually that means replacing the name "Trump" with Obama or Clinton in a news story she sees as evidence of media bias. If there was a plaque that memorialized the first Asian, Hispanic, or African-American child there likely wouldn't be a problem with it for the secretive Chicago Monuments Project. That's not to say racism among was not widespread for much of Chicago's history. It certainly was. There is still racism in Chicago today--but thankfully much less of it. 

DuSable was wrongly overlooked for decades in Chicago. But in 1934 a South Side high school was named for him. Downtown the DuSable Bridge, formerly known as the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which has several reliefs that are targeted by the Chicago Monuments Project. Near the bridge you'll find the DuSable bust. And also on the South Side you'll find the DuSable Museum of African American History in Washington Park.

To comment on the monuments "under review" please visit the Chicago Monuments Project "Feedback page." Please be friendly but firm in your comments. 

Please Tweet this post. When you do so use the #ChicagoMonuments hashtag.

Earlier posts: 

• Chicago monuments under assault, Part One, William McKinley
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Two, Young Lincoln 
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Three, Melville Fuller 
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Four, Leif Erikson
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Five, John A. Logan
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Six, The Alarm 
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Seven, Phil Sheridan
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Eight: Bull and Indian Maiden 
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Nine: George Washington
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part Ten: Illinois Centennial Monument
• Chicago monuments under assault, Part 11: Robert Cavelier de La Salle

Related posts of mine at Da Tech Guy

• Lincoln statues under attack in the largest city in the Land of Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln: The Man)
• Well-deserved pushback against Chicago Monuments Project underway