In the early-1970s, Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood was embroiled over what to do with a neighborhood called the Wilson Yards just west of the El. One group proposed creating “Hank Williams Village,” (after the great country singer) to preserve low income housing. The City, however, decided to build Truman College on the site. Campuses like this were a favorite tool of neighborhood redevelopment during the Daley administration. the reasoning was that they would help educate people in the neighborhood. They would, in turn, supposedly create higher incomes and neighborhood improvements. When I started photographing in Uptown, they were just clearing the land and pouring the foundations for the college. These two curious, young ladies were probably dreaming about what it would be like to go to college. Perhaps they became future valedictorians of Truman College. Despite the college’s controversial beginning, many Uptown residents have written me to say that the college was one of the most positive forces in their lives.
