Office of the City Clerk - Record #: O2016-7294

• Record #: O2016-7294
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Passed
• Intro date: 10/5/2016
• Current Controlling Legislative Body: Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards
• Final action: 11/16/2016
• Title: Historical landmark designation for Graeme Stewart Public School Building at 4524 N Kenmore Ave
• Sponsors: Dept./Agency

Date	Journal Page Number	Action By	Action	Result
11/16/2016	38583	City Council	Passed	Pass
11/15/2016		Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards	Recommended to Pass
10/5/2016	32556	City Council	Referred

Department of Planning and Development
city of chicago


September 26, 2016


The Honorable Susana Mendoza City Clerk City of Chicago Room 107, City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60602

RE: Recommendation for the designation of the Graeme Stewart Public School Building as a Chicago Landmark, 4524 North Kenmore Ave.

Dear Clerk Mendoza:

We are filing with your office for introduction at the October 5, 2016, City Council meeting as a transmittal to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago the recommendation ofthe Commission on Chicago Landmarks that the Graeme Stewart Public School Building be designated as a Chicago Landmark.
The material being submitted to you for this proposal includes the:
Recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks; and
Proposed Ordinance. ^
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA Deputy Commissioner
Planning, Design and Historic Preservation Division Department of Planning and Development

ends.

Alderman James Cappleman, 46 Ward (via email without enclosure)



121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS G0602
if"
ORDINANCE

Graeme Stewart Public School Building 4505-4545 N. Kenmore Ave. (odds) 1016-1028 W. Sunnyside Ave. (evens)

WHEREAS, pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), Sections 2-120-630 through -690, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that the Graeme Stewart Public School Building (the "Building"), located at 4505-4545 N. Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, legally described in Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein, satisfies three (3) criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (5) ofthe Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the Building exemplifies the importance of Chicago's public schools to the City's social and cultural history; and

WHEREAS, Public education has historically been one of the most important responsibilities of Chicago government, and public school buildings are visual and social anchors in the City's neighborhoods - opened in 1907, the Building housed one such institution in the Uptown community area for more than a century; and

WHEREAS, as the Building is an example of an early transitional Prairie Style building that echoes nineteenth century Revival styles; and
WHEREAS, The Prairie style is a historically-important and innovative style derived from the Midwest plains and developed by circle of Chicago Architects; and
WHEREAS, the Building offers glimpses of what the Prairie style would become, but reveals a movement that was in infancy; and

WHEREAS, the Building's exterior is well executed with deeply-colored red-brick walls, contrasting stone trim, and a grandly-scaled hip roof that shields the building with deep bracketed eaves; and
WHEREAS, as the Building is exemplary for its significant innovations in school design with a modern exterior and an improved interior layout designed for the benefit of students; and

WHEREAS, the Building's exterior, with its finely-detailed brick walls, contrasting stone trim, and large-scale copper brackets, displays fine craftsmanship in brick, stone and copper, and exemplifies the importance of craftsmanship to the history of Chicago architecture; and

WHEREAS, the original part of the Building was designed by Dwight Heald Perkins, a significant architect in the context of Chicago architecture; and

WHEREAS, as Architect for the Chicago Board of Education, Perkins designed more
l

than 40 school buildings and additions to existing buildings, many of which are innovative in overall design and spatial planning; and

WHEREAS, the Building, through its handsomely-designed and detailed Classical Revival-style exterior and well-planned interior layout, is a fine and significant example of Perkins' efforts in school architecture; and

WHEREAS, as a private architect, Perkins designed many significant buildings in Chicago and elsewhere, including the South Pond Refectory (now Cafe Brauer) and the Lincoln Park Lion House, both Chicago Landmarks; and

WHEREAS, Perkins is significant in Chicago planning history as a strong advocate for Chicago parks and playgrounds and for the creation of the Forest Preserves of Cook County District; and
WHEREAS, John C. Christensen, the architect for the addition to the Building, was Board of Education architect during much of the mid-twentieth century, with his tenure starting in 1921 and extending, with a gap in the late 1920s, into the 1950s; and
WHEREAS, during this time of great growth in Chicago, Christensen designed dozens of schools and school additions and profoundly influenced the physical presence that Chicago public school buildings had in many ofthe City's neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 ofthe Municipal Code, the Building has a significant historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value, the integrity of which is preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and ability to express such historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value; and
WHEREAS, on September 1, 2016, the Commission adopted a resolution recommending to the City Council of the City of Chicago (the "City Council") that the Building be designated a Chicago Landmark; now, therefore,


BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:

SECTION 1. The above recitals are hereby adopted as the findings ofthe City Council.

SECTION 2. The Building is hereby designated a Chicago Landmark in accordance with Section 2-120-700 of the Municipal Code.
SECTION 3. For purposes of Sections 2-120-740 and 2-120-770 of the Municipal Code governing permit review, the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are identified as:
a) All exterior elevations, including rooflines, ofthe building.

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SECTION 4. The Commission is hereby directed to create a suitable plaque appropriately identifying the Building as a Chicago Landmark.

SECTION 5. If any provision of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the invalidity or unenforceability of such provision shall not affect any of the other provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 6. All ordinances, resolutions, motions or orders in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.

SECTION 7. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage and approval.






































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EXHIBIT A


Building Address
4505-4545 N. Kenmore Ave. (odds) /1016-1028 W. Sunnyside Ave. (evens), Chicago, Illinois

Permanent Index Number
14-17-219-002-0000 14-17-219-003-0000 14-17-219-015-0000

Legal Description

LOTS 65 TO 73, BOTH INCLUSIVE, AND THE SOUTH 65 FEET OF LOTS 74, 75 AND 76 AND THE VACATED ALLEY LYING NORTH OF SAID LOT 73 AND SOUTH OF LOTS 74, 75, AND 76 VACATED BY ORDINANCE RECORDED AUGUST 2, 1957 AS DOCUMENT NO. 16974644 TAKEN AS A TRACT IN WILLIAM DEERING SURRENDEN SUBDIVISION OF THE WEST HALF OF THE NORTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 17, TOWNSHIP 40 NORTH, RANGE 14, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, EXCEPT THE NORTH 16 FEET OF SAID TRACT OF LAND DEDICATED AS AN ALLEY BY PLAT RECORDED ON DECEMBER 10, 2007 AS DOCUMENT NO. 0734415012.





























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CITY OF CHICAGO COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS

September 1, 2016

RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO THAT CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATION BE ADOPTED FOR
GRAEME STEWART ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Including the Following Address Ranges (even/odd addresses):
4505 - 4545 North Kenmore Ave. (odds)
Docket No. 2016-09


To the Mayor and Members ofthe City Council of the City of Chicago:

Pursuant to Section 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that the Graeme Stewart Elementary School (the "Building") is worthy of designation as a Chicago Landmark. On the basis of careful consideration of the history and architecture of the Building, the Commission has found that it satisfies the following three (3) criteria set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code:

/. Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the heritage of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or the United States.
Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.
Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.

I. BACKGROUND

The formal landmark designation process for the Building began on July 7,2016, when the Commission approved a preliminary landmark recommendation (the "Preliminary Recommendation") for the Building as a Chicago Landmark. The Commission found that the Building meets three (3) ofthe seven (7) criteria for designation, as well as the integrity criterion, identified in the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance (Municipal Code, Section 2-120-580 et seq.). The Preliminary Recommendation, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit A, initiated the process for further study and analysis of the proposed designation of

the Building as a Chicago Landmark. As part ofthe Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission identified the "significant historical and architectural features" of the Building as:
• All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building.


Also, as part ofthe Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission adopted a Designation Report, dated July 7, 2016, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit B.

At its regular meeting.of August 4,.201.6, the Commission received a.statement from David Reifman, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, supporting the proposed landmark designation of the Building.

In a letter dated August 8, 2016, the Commission officially requested the consent to the proposed landmark designation from the owner of the Building. On August 19, 2016, the Commission received a consent form, dated August 19, 2016, and signed by Mary Ellen Martin, the owner of the Building, consenting to the proposed landmark designation of the Building.


II. FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2-120-650 ofthe Municipal Code, the Commission shall notify the owner of its determination with respect to the proposed Chicago Landmark designation within 45 days after receipt of the owner's consent; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code, the Commission has reviewed the entire record of proceedings on the proposed Chicago Landmark designation, including the Designation Report and all of the information on the proposed landmark designation of the Building; and

WHEREAS, the Building meets the three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Sections 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (5) of the Municipal Code; and

WHEREAS, the Building exemplifies the importance of Chicago's public schools to the City's social and cultural history; and

WHEREAS, Public education has historically been one of the most important responsibilities of Chicago government, and public school buildings often are visual and social anchors in the City's neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, opened in 1907, the Building housed one such institution in the Uptown community area for more than a century; and

WHEREAS, the Building is an example of an early transitional Prairie Style building that echoes nineteenth century Revival styles; and

WHEREAS, the Prairie style is a historically-important and innovative style derived from the Midwest plains and developed by circle of Chicago Architects; and

WHEREAS, the Building offers glimpses of what the Prairie style would become, but reveals a movement that was in infancy; and

WHEREAS, the Building's exterior is well executed with deeply-colored red-brick walls, contrasting stone trim, and a grandly-scaled hip roof that shields the building with deep bracketed eaves; and

WHEREAS, the Building is exemplary for its significant innovations in school design with a modern exterior and an improved interior layout designed for the benefit of students; and

WHEREAS, the Building's exterior, with its finely-detailed brick walls, contrasting stone trim, and large-scale copper brackets, displays fine craftsmanship in brick, stone and copper, and it exemplifies the importance of such craftsmanship to the history of Chicago architecture; and

WHEREAS, the original part of the Graeme Stewart Public School Building was designed by Dwight Heald Perkins, a significant architect in the context of Chicago architecture; and

WHEREAS, as Architect for the Chicago Board of Education, Perkins designed more than 40 school buildings and additions to existing buildings, many of which are innovative in overall design and spatial planning; and

WHEREAS, the Building, through its handsomely-designed and detailed Classical Revival-style exterior and well-planned interior layout, is a fine and significant example of Perkins' efforts in school architecture; and

WHEREAS, as a private architect, Perkins designed many significant buildings in Chicago and elsewhere, including the South Pond Refectory (now Cafe Brauer) and the Lincoln Park Lion House, both Chicago Landmarks; and

WHEREAS, Perkins is significant in Chicago planning history as a strong advocate for Chicago parks and playgrounds and for the creation of the Forest Preserves of Cook County District; and
WHEREAS, John C. Christensen, the architect for the addition to the Building, was Board of Education architect during much of the mid-twentieth century, with his tenure starting in 1921 and extending, with a gap in the late 1920s, into the 1950s - during this time of great growth in Chicago, Christensen designed dozens of schools and school additions and profoundly influenced the physical presence that Chicago public school buildings had in many of the City's neighborhoods; and


|1010|WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 ofthe Municipal Code, the Building has a significant historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value, the integrity of which is preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and ability to express such historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value; now, therefore,

THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS HEREBY:
Adopts the recitals, findings and statements of fact set forth in the preamble and Sections I and II hereof as the findings of the Commission; and
Adopts the Designation Report, as revised, and dated this 1st day of September 2016; and
Finds, based on the Designation Report and the entire record before the Commission, that the Building meets the three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (5) ofthe Municipal Code; and
Finds that the Building satisfies the "integrity" requirement set forth in Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code; and
Finds that the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are identified as follows:
a) All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building.

Recommends the designation of the Building a Chicago Landmark.
Rafael M. Leorf-fclSrman Commission on Chicago Landmarks














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EXHIBI T A




Resolution by the
Commission on Chicago Landmarks on the
Preliminary Landmark Recommendation for
GRAEME STEWART ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Including the Following Address Ranges 4505 to 4545 North Kenmore Avenue (odds)
July 7,2016
Whereas, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") preliminarily finds that:
the Graeme Stewart Elementary School (the "Building"), located at the addresses noted above, meets the three criteria for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4), and (5) of the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), as specifically described in the Preliminary Summary of Information submitted to the Commission on this 7lh day of July, 2016, by the Department of Planning and Development (the "Preliminary Summary"); and
the Building satisfies the historic integrity requirement set forth in Section 2-120-630 ofthe Municipal Code as described in the Preliminary Summary; now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks:
Section 1. The above recitals are expressly incorporated in and made part of this resolution as though fully set forth herein.
Section 2. The Commission hereby adopts the Preliminary Summary and makes a preliminary landmark recommendation concerning the Building in accordance with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code.

Section 3. For purposes of Section 2-120-740 of the Municipal Code governing permit review, the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are preliminarily identified as:
• All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building.

Section 4. The Commission hereby requests a report from the Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development which evaluates the relationship of the proposed designation to the City's governing plans and policies and the effect ofthe proposed designation on the surrounding neighborhood in accordance with Section 2-120-640 of the Municipal Code.
This resolution was adopted July 7, 2016. "^Si^- / -
Date of Signature: 7 2. O I <* ^ * ^ ^ 1 Rafael M. Leon, Chairman
Commission on Chicago Landmarks
EXHIBIT B

Preliminary Summary of Information

Submitted to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in July 2016



Graeme Stewart Public School Building
4524 North Kenmore Avenue



CITY OF CHICAGO Rahm Emanuel, Mayor


Department of Planning and Development David Reifman, Commissioner

Table of Contents
Introduction|910|Map|910|Chicago Public School Architecture up to 1905|910|Building Description and Construction History 10
Construction and Naming 10
Businessman and Civic Leader Graeme Stewart 13
Design of the Stewart School 15
Later History 23
Architect Dwight Perkins 25
Architect John C. Christensen 29
Criteria for Designation 30
Significant Historical and Architectural Features 34
Selected Bibliography 36
Acknowledgements 38















|1010|Graeme Stewart Public School Building
4525 North Kenmore Avenue

Built : 1906-1907 (Original Building)
1940 (Addition)

Architect: Dwight H. Perkins (Original Building) John C. Christensen (Addition) (Board of Education Architect)


The Graeme Stewart Public School Building is an important early school building designed by ar­chitect and urban visionary Dwight H. Perkins. His influence is readily seen in Chicago's turn-of-the-last-century transition from an over-crowded nineteenth-century industrial center to a modern, clean, and more open city of the twentieth century. His career bridged two architectural periods significant in Chicago history, the steel frame era of the Chicago School, and the Midwest-inspired Prairie School. Perkins became Architect to the Board of Education while developing strong per­sonal civic and design ideals, which shaped and guided his work during his brief tenure. The Stew­art School is one of his earliest designs, created only a year after his appointment in 1905.

The building's wide roof appears to press the school firmly into its verdant block ofthe Uptown neighborhood. Pairs of substantial copper brackets deftly left the great eaves to reveal an airy brick edifice that stands resolutely without pretense over Kenmore Avenue. Its design represents an early interpretation of the Arts and Crafts style, and presents elements that would become popular in the uniquely American Prairie School.

Perkins served as Architect for the Chicago Board of Education from 1905 to 1910, and designed over forty new schools and additions to existing buildings. In this position he applied his vision for what cities could be and how they should function to design school buildings that could benefit the social health of a community. To Perkins, schools had the potential to accomplish far more than just scholastic goals; though he did create innovative designs to better serve children. Schools could also provide social space, amenities, and programming to aid families and residents.

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Windsor Avenue
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The Graeme Stewart Public School Building is a four-story brick-and-limestone school building built in 1906-1907. It was designed by noted architect Dwight H. Perkins early in his tenure as Chicago Board of Education Architect. It is located in the Uptown community area in close proximity to the Wilson-Broadway commercial corridor historically known as "Uptown Square."

|1010|Public School Architecture in Chicago up to 1905

Chicago's first public schools were created following Chicago's incorporation in 1837 with the founding of a managing board appointed by the City Council. Several rudimentary frame school-houses were constructed in the 1840s, during which time the Illinois State Legislature granted addi­tional power to Chicago to purchase and manage school land, and to fund the construction of new schools though taxation. Tax funds allowed for the construction of Chicago's first brick school, lat­er known as the Dearborn School, which was completed in 1845 in the Greek Revival style (and demolished in 1871).

Dozens cf new^^o^bjuldjngs were completed through the 1860s as Chicago's student population rose from fewer than 2,000 in 1849 to nearly 4 f,000 in The 1860s. School buildings, such listhe Chicago-High School, built in 1856 in the Gothic Revival Style (arid demolished in 1950),'and the Haven School completed in the Italianate style in 1862 (and demolished after it closed'in 1974), followed conventional rectilinear floor plans with classrooms arranged around central hallways.

Across the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, the design of school houses followed a few standard formulas for size and layout. The intended purpose of a school building was primarily to contain classrooms where long-established methods of recitation and memorization could be per­formed. School buildings of this period were simple, either single room structures in rural areas or small towns, or larger multiple room buildings in cities. All schoolhouse designs featured a stand­ard square or rectangular footprint. A few schoolhouses offered more than just classrooms, with some allowing for office space for teachers and principals.

While most school houses shared similar basic design principals, concerns about the healthfulness of enclosed indoor air and the benefits of improving the illumination of classrooms led to the publi­cation of guides for the design of school buildings, including one published in 1848 by Henry Bar­nard, the commissioner of the public schools of Providence, Rhode Island. In his book School Ar­chitecture; or Contributions to the Improvement of School-houses in the United States, Barnard proposed a series of standards for the location of schools, the size and layout of classrooms, the size and position of windows for light, arid most importantly the ventilation of buildings. Having toured schools of every type across country during his career, he asserted that existing buildings were largely unhealthful and uninspiring. School children, he felt, "should spend a large part of the most impressible period of their lives," in school, in buildings that could positively shape their lives. Overall, "the style of the exterior should exhib'itTgoqd,architectural proportion, and be calculated to inspire children and the community generally with respect for the object for which it is devoted." Barnard's moral-driven enthusiasm for the purpose/arid design of public school buildings helped slowly propel changes in American school house design.

In Chicago, the Great Fire of 1871 destroyed much of the city, including ten public school build­ings. The loss of these buildings offered the opportunity to rebuild following new methods popular­ized by education thinkers such as Henry Barnard. While student enrolment initially dropped, by 1874 nearly 48,000 students were enrolled in the city's 39 school buildings. One ofthe new post-fire buildings was the King School, completed in 1874 by architects Johnston & Edelriiann in the Italianate style (Harrison Street and Western Avenue, demolished). Its form followed a standard template with a symmetrical square footprint with rooms set around a central hallway. While simi­lar to previous schools in form, the King School featured many of the improvements to design, lay­out, ventilation, and lighting which had been advocated by educators for over a half century. The

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three-story, twelve-room King School featured tall windows and special ducted ventilation systems and other new features. In addition, as a precaution against fire, brick interior partitions were used instead of the previous standard of frame. The King School's modern design and low construction budget made it the school board's favored design, and became a "prototype" for school designs by successive architects through the 1890s.

During the 1880s the job of designing public school buildings in Chicago was assigned to a com­missioned private architect to the Board of Education. The role of school board architect had devel­oped unofficially during the late 1870s with early Chicago architect Augustus Bauer, who designed over twenty new school buildings following the prototype set by the King School. The Chicago Board of Education officially created the position of architect to the Board in 1882 and appointed Bauer as the Board's architect.

During the 1880s and 1890s Chicago's school board entered a perpetual race to provide enough desks for all ofthe city's students. Several factors combined to direct new populations of children to Chicago's public schools. During the 1880s, Progressive causes calling for an end to child labor and for the recognition of childhood as an important period of human development led to new laws enforcing school attendance. In 1883, the State of Illinois passed the Compulsory Education Act, which required all children ages 8 to 14 to attend school for at least 12 weeks per year. The law was very unpopular among those who saw children as part of the household structure and relied on them to contribute financially. At the same time, the law was criticized for being unenforceable given that the school board could grant "good cause" exceptions to keep children at home or at work. The law was strengthened in 1889 with the appointment of 3 truant officers, 7 year olds were in­cluded, and the number of weeks of attendance was increased from 12 to 16.

An additional source of students in 1889 was the City of Chicago's annexation of five surrounding townships, which covered nearly 170 square miles, and placed over 100 schools and 35,000 stu­dents under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education. In addition, between the 1880s and World War I, thousands of immigrant families settled in Chicago annually. The combination of attendance requirements, child labor laws, new populations, and a much larger city area led to extensive school construction campaigns to accommodate the thousands of new students.

In 1894, the Board of Education organized an architecture department and elected an architect to design new schools in-house instead of on commission. Board members felt that the architect could work more efficiently in direct connection with the Board than working separately, to complete the dozens of new schools that were needed to address overcrowding. Architect William August Fiedler, commonly known as August Fiedler, was the first in-house architect. He designed 58 new school buildings and dozens of additions during his three years as architect. Each of his school de­signs was largely original not based on the King School or on other prototypes. Many designs, such as the William Penn Nixon School (4150 W. Dickens Avenue, 1893) and the Carl Von Linne School (3221 N. Sacramento Avenue, 1893) retained popular Renaissance Revival themes includ­ing: substantial stone bases, brick upper walls, Victorian foliate terra cotta, and galvanized cornices. The cost of staffing a full architectural office within the Board of Education, and the cost of design­ing and building unique site-specific schools inflated his department's budget by 61%. Board mem­bers wanted to remove Fiedler on the charge of incompetence, but after a thorough audit of his de­partment he was exonerated. Fiedler resigned in 1896.

Before the turn ofthe century, three more architects occupied the Board of Education's architectur­al department, designing over one hundred new schools across the city. Throughout these years,

|1010|Public school buildings have long been an important building type in Chicago neighborhoods. They have expressed, through their designs, changing tastes in architectural style and advances.in spa­tial planning and function.
Top left: The King School, designed by Johnston & Edelmann in 1874, was designed in the Italianate style, which was popular in the 1870s. This school building was favored by the school board, and it influenced the design of Chicago school buildings through the early 1880s (from 1874 Board of Edu­cation annual report). Top right: Also designed by Johnston & Edelmann, the James Ward Public School Building is one of Chicago's oldest. Located at 2703-2729 S. Shields Ave., it was designated as a Chicago Landmark in 2005 (from Chicago Historic Schools website, courtesy Bill Latoza). Bot­tom: The Ruben Salazar Elementary School (originally the North Division High School) at 160 W. Wendell St. was one of the last Chicago school buildings completed following the form and style of the King School model. Designed by school board architect Julius S. Ender and completed in 1883, it was designated as a Chicago landmark in 1978 (from Ruben Salazar Bilingual Center website).
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John J. Flanders developed a new design for Chicago's public school buildings following his appointment as Architect to the Board of Education in early 1884. His prototype design was applied to schools erected between 1884 and 1885, including the John Lothrop Motley Public School Building (right), located at 739 N. Ada St. and built in 1884. A preliminary landmark recommendation was approved by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks for the building in May 2016.





In the mid-1890s, August Fiedler was Board of Education architect. The Augustus H. Burley Public School (right), located at 1630 W. Barry St. and built in 1895-1896, is one of his many school buildings, built during a time of great growth for the school system due to the city's annexation of neighboring townships and the influx of immi­grants (from the Chicago Historic Schools website, courtesy of Bill Latoza).



In 1899, William Bryce Mundie be­came Board of Education architect. The Wendell Phillips High School (right), located at 244 E. Pershing Rd. and completed in 1904, replaced the old South Division High School. It became Chicago's first predominant­ly African American high school, a point of pride for the community (from the Chicago Historic Schools website, courtesy of Bill Latoza).



|10 10|board architects continued to follow general formulas when designing new schools. Tripartite de­signs with a stone base and brick upper walls capped by a metal cornice continued to be popular in whatever the latest Revival style happened to be.

Normond Smith Patton succeeded Fiedler in 1896. His most notable work is the central portion of the Lake View High School (4015 North Ashland Avenue, 1898, matching south addition in 1916 and north addition 1938). It was ornamented with Tudor Revival crenellated towers, ornate arched stone entrances, and decorative copper cornices. Patton was dismissed in 1898 by the board after suggesting that city's Building and Grounds Committee Chairman Joseph Downey benefitted from the sale of brick for school buildings. Downey later led the charge to terminate Perkins.

William "Bryce Mundie became the next board"architect in T899randTemained-in-the position untih " 1904. During his tenure he designed many Classical Revival style schools, which continued the well-established forms and tripartite designs that had visually defined Chicago school buildings since the seminal King School prototype of 1874. In 1905, Dwight Perkins changed the course of Chicago school design and started a trend toward lower and wider buildings set within a verdant landscape.


Building Description and Construction History

The Graeme Stewart Public School Building is located on North Kenmore Avenue; between Sunnyside and Wilson avenues, in Chicago's Uptown community area located on the City's north lakefront: Stewart is just south and east of the Uptown Wilson Avenue elevated-train station and the commercial districts that run along Broadway^arid Wilson avenues; Neighborhood'streets, includ­ing KenmOre, Sunnyside, and Sheridan Road, are primarily residentiahin character and are lined by a mix of low- and mid-rise apartment buildings and converted former, mansions. Much of the area's housing stock was developed in the early 1900s' as the Uptown area4ey,elop.ed iiitp- one of the .larg­est neighborhood commercial districts in the city. The Stewart School's pitched roof arid wide, bracketed, and copper-clad eaves make it a visual landmark for the neighborhood;

The school building occupies a site on the east side of Kenmore Avenue and faces west toward Broadway Avenue. In 2008, part of Kenmore was closed for the creation of the triangular land­scaped Stewart School Campus Park. The Stewart School's main entrance is on Kenmore, with sec­ondary entrances that allow access to a large parking lot to the north and a playground on the south end.

Construction and Naming
Early in 1905, before Dwight Perkins was appointed architect to the Board of Education, the Build­ings and Grounds Committee approved the purchase of several school sites across the city. In Feb­ruary, the journal Engineering Record reported that the board; had approved the construction ofa then unnamed 26-room school on Kenmore for the cost of $ 175,000. The new school was one of several new schools intended to alleviate overcrowding in rapidly growing neighborhoods. Uptown at the time was just beginning to experience a burst of construction activity following the extension and opening of the Northwestern Elevated train line in 1900. Scores of new brick apartment build­ings were built to the north and south, increasingly encroaching on older established blocks of frame houses west of Broadway.



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The Graeme Stewart Public School Building was built early in Perkins' time as Chicago Board of Education Architect. Top: A drawing ofthe proposed building (from the 1907 Board of Education annual report). Bottom: A view ofthe original building published in 1908, the year after its completion (from Inland Architect, July 1908).

ll

. • BUREAU Of LDUCA1ION . ;. . , .. .. .'. ' DULU.'No. l)'. 1910 PL.-.161.
Top: This postcard view ofthe Graeme Stewart Public School Building provides a sense of its vivid
red-brick walls and gray limestone trim (from "Chicago History in Postcards" website).
Bottom: The first-floor plan ofthe original 1906-1907 Stewart School Building (from American School
Houses).



12

Architect Dwight Perkins was appointed in early June and quickly began to draft plans for seven­teen proposed schools and additions. By the end of the month the condemnation of Kenmore prop­erties was nearly complete, leaving an open and ready site to begin construction. The Board of Ed­ucation published in its Annual Report ending June 1905 its recommendation that the Board presi­dent and secretary seek City Council approval for the construction of a school on Kenmore Ave­nue. Within a few days, merchant, civic leader, and school board member Graeme Stewart died after a short but sudden illness. Board of Education members immediately recommended that a proposed north side manual training school be named in his honor. The Chicago Tribune quoted school board trustee Charles A. Plamondon in July 1905 as saying:

A public school should be named after Graeme Stewart by all means... He was a man of all men whom Chicago should be glad of the opportunity to pay respects to. I shall suggest that his name be carved over the door of one of the new manual training high schools which the i board is planning to build next year. The one to be erected on the north side should bear Mr. Stewart's name. Ifeel confident that the board will be unanimous in this action.

Since the late 1890s, the board had planned to build two new manual training schools, one on the north side and another on the south side, to complement the success of the West Side Chicago High and Manual Training School. The north side school did not open until 1908 at the corner of Sedg­wick and Division streets and was designed by Dwight Perkins (demolished). By then Stewart's named was given to the school on Kenmore, and the manual training school was instead named for Albert G. Lane. Because the board was eager to promptly honor Stewart in 1905, the Kenmore site was selected because it was closer to construction than the manual training school, which was only in its early planning stages.

Contracts for the Stewart School on Kenmore Avenue at Sunnyside were awarded in January 1906 and construction commenced soon after. Construction lasted for little over a year with the new school opening in early 1907. The school's location on Kenmore placed it just behind a row of commercial buildings along Broadway, making the school part of the surrounding residential neighborhood and shielding it from the traffic and noise of the busy commercial street.

Businessman and Civic Leader Graeme Stewart
Graeme Stewart (1853-1905), for whom the school was named, was noted during his life for his unyielding pursuit of civic improvement. Stewart was born in Chicago and, attended the Skinner Public School, the University of Chicago, and Julius Dyrenfurth's Business College. As a young salesman for the Aldrich & Company's Chicago office, he helped save the company's books from the Chicago Fire of 1871 by piling them in a carriage and escaping across the Rush Street Bridge before it was consumed in flames. Later in his career, he headed the prominent wholesale grocer, W. W. Hoyt.

In a city known for corruption, Stewart was seen as a trustworthy figure in the city's political cul­ture. He was one of the early advocates of the Illinois National Guard. Starting in 1882, he served six years on the Board of Education and was Board president from 1889 to 1890. As a Board member, he advocated for the establishment of manual training schools.

Late in life, Stewart was quite politically active. In 1903 he ran for mayor against winner Carter Harrison. His reform campaign was unsuccessful but by losing by only 7,000 votes, he raised his political profile greatly. He was an important advocate for acquiring what would become the Great



13

BIG CROWD HEARS GRAEME STEWART

Candidate Says Business Men, Not Politicians, Urged Him to Enter the Race.


CALLS FOE HONEST YOTE.


Appeals to Friends for Fair Pri­maries That Nono May Have Cause to Complain.

GIIAEJIE STEWAHT. Chli'tKfii.
Horn In (;Iiro. Mem. or the linn of JV. Iloyt & Cfl. Jan. 1, 1870; riiom;' N'attmiuI-'Itll<.-uii' Com.' lftjO.

" I wish to answer a statement that the re­publican nomination for mayor was offered to a friend of mine and refused, and then, offered to me and accepted," said Graeme Stewart In Belmont;hall, North Clurkstreet and Belmont avenue-, last night.
": Ai. tiio 'lima ± uiuuu my uiiiiuuiictruiciii i
had not conferred with any one outside tho ward In which' I live, and nt ho time whlla conferring witlvmy friends In my own ward wis a nomination offered to any one and de­clined, nor wag any nomination offered to mc.


Graeme Stewart, for whom Graeme Stewart Pub­lic School was named, was a prominent Chicago businessman and civic leader in the late nine­teenth and early twentieth century. He headed the W. W. Hoyt wholesale grocery firm for many years. He ran for mayor of Chicago in 1903 on a reform platform and represented Illinois on the Republican Party's national committee. A mem­ber of the Chicago Board of Education during the 1880s, he served briefly as its chairman.
(Portrait from Men of Illinois; Chicago Tribune articles from (top left) March 3; 1903, and (bottom right) June 27, 1905)

DEATH COMES TO ; GBAEME STEWART

He Expires Early This Morn­ing in His Residence, Sur­rounded by His Family.

STRICKEN' at a banquet.

Scomlng-ly in perfect Health Till tlio Bankers' Cluh Dinner at tho Auditorium Last Month.

.Oraemo Stowart, one of Chicago's leading merchants nnd foremost citizens, died tit 2:30 o'clock this morning at Ms residence, 181 Lincoln Park boulevard.
Mr. Stewart's Illness, which lasted slightly
Lakes Naval Training Center on Chicago's North Shore. He was strongly involved in the Republi­can Party, serving on its national committee in the years immediately before his death.

Building Description
The Graeme Stewart Public School Building is a four-story red-brick and gray-limestone trim building with a wide cross-gabled roof. The footprint is a truncated "I" that is oriented north lo south, with the main entrance centrally located on the west elevation. A four-story wing is centered on the east elevation and contains a ground-floor auditorium with a gymnasium above. Ample win­dows provide maximum light to classrooms and visually lighten the building's massive brick form. Bays of windows are regularly arranged on each elevation with banks of three windows per floor in each bay. Bays of single windows are arranged along the rear east-facing elevation. The brick is spotted with iron to provide visual texture.

The building maintains the tripartite base, shaft, and capital elevation division that was popular in earlier school designs, but it favors a base of brick instead of stone and accentuates the size and scale of stone string courses and the depth of the metal cornice in order to emphasize the building's horizontal form. The brick base is above a heavy stone water table and is capped by a thick stone string course. Building corners and pairs of double-hung windows along the base feature stone quoining. Window bays spanning the second and third floors have triple sets of double hung win­dows, and are separated by plain square panels. Openings on the third floor have limestone arches with scroll keystones. Plain rectangular plaques with a raised diamond pattern are set on either side of third floor windows. The fourth floor is separated by a heavy yet plain smooth stone string course, and features bays with triple sets of double-hung windows. The floor is capped by a thick smooth band of limestone and crowned by the deep projecting eaves of the roof. Large pairs of cop­per-clad brackets extend from the brick walls, between window bays, and visually tie the substan­tial copper cornice and shallow roof to the building. Pavilions on the north and south are similar to the central west elevation, except that second and third floor brick walls have evenly spaced, single rows of brick. These project enough from the brick field to create a strong horizontal articulation that is heightened by the play of light and shadow across the elevations of the pavilions.

The west elevation is symmetrical with a long central portion that appears recessed between two narrow pavilions. There are seven bays of windows along the central portion and single bays cen­tered on each pavilion. The main entrance stands at the top of a flight of steps and is set in a vesti­bule that projects slightly from the main elevation. The entrance is flanked by two-story limestone piers that are topped by spherical stone finials. Twin pairs of copper-clad brackets echo the design of the main roof and support the eaves of the vestibule roof, which slopes down between the piers.

Design of the Stewart School
During his five year tenure with the Board of Education, Perkins developed several sets of innova­tive school designs, each of which developed and improved on the last. His designs came during a period of heightened interest in social and political reform and in community improvement. Perkins entered the Board of Education with a background that reflected his interest in social causes and in mediating the ills caused by crowded urban life. He had already designed settlement houses, park field houses, and other structures that promoted social and civic causes. The design of schools not only as places of human learning and development but also as a neighborhood anchor with wider programming and facilities for the community was a natural extension to Perkins's pursuits.

Perkins's tenure began in the same year that famed social reformer Jane Jacobs was appointed di­rector ofthe Board of Education. Addams initiated discussions on the potential for public schools

is

The Graeme Stewart Public School Building is a handsomely-designed and detailed building, exhibiting fine craftsmanship in red brick, gray limestone, and copper. Top: A view of the building's west facade. Bottom left: The main entrance on the west facade. Bottom right: An oblique view of the west facade, looking from the southwest.























Left: A view ofthe building's north­west corner, showing the building's classical ornament, brick rustica­tion, and grandly-scaled copper brackets. Bottom: The building's north entrance, with its abstract pediment and "BOYS ENTRANCE" inscription.



17
The 1940 south addition, although flat-roofed, is compatible in scale and design with the original school building, with rusti-cated-brick walls and contrasting gray limestone details. Top: A view of the addi­tion from the southeast. Bottom left; The entrance to the addition. Bottom right:: A photograph comparing the original build­ing's hip roof and the flat roof and parapet ofthe addition.




Top: A view ofthe addition (left) and original building (right) from the southeast. Bottom: A view of the building's alley elevations from the northeast.


19

as neighborhood social centers with after-school hours programming aimed at the wider population. Schools could be used to hold meetings, programs, iectures, and classes - especially for introducing and familiarizing recent immigrants to their new home. Perkins introduced auditoriums to the ground floor of his school designs, where earlier schools had placed them out of the way or had none. Perkins made gymnasiums larger than before and frequently placed them above auditoriums, thus forming a separate school wing to encompass all large potential community spaces. His new public schools were treated with expanded grounds that included space for outdoor playgrounds and landscaped recreation areas. This idea stemmed from a report he published with landscape de­signer Jens Jensen in 1906 on the need for a system of practical neighborhood parks. These ameni­ties had never been included in grade schools before, but board members saw them as unimportant and extravagant.

For much ofthe nineteenth-century, the design of elementary and grade schools was not given as much consideration as scholastic buildings of higher learning The buildings were simply designed to contain classrooms, with at most a little space set aside for administration purposes or for indoor play. Their design was not meant to accomplish more than to facilitate the basic purpose of educat­ing children; a purpose that itself was not significant until.school reformers during the late-nineteenth century guided the passage of ahti child-labor laws and compulsory school requirements. Children and the importance pf childhood were overshadowed by the, significant role that children played as contributors to the. family unit. The development of schools aroundxhildren began gradu­ally with the introduction of kindergartens in Chicago schools in ;l 894, while the whole design of schools for children was not introduced in Chicago until Perkins's appointment as architect. Writ­ing for the United States Bureau of Education in 1910, University of Alabama professor Fletcher B. Dresslar identified Perkins's public schools, highlighting Stewart, as examples of appropriate mod­ern designs. He complained:

// seems strange, on first thought, that our schoolhouses have been the last of public build-
ings through which public taste has sought to express itself. But when one recalls that this
tardy recognition of children's,fights lias exhibited itself in all lines of endeavors wherein
the education and care of children is concerned, dfundameniqUpKase'of human nature is
brought to light. . ' . . ¦.

To Dresslar and other school reformers, schools needed tb'reflect the same attention to detail that
was paid to other public buildings, even to buildings designed for higher levels of education. This
notion was just as fundamental to Perkins:as was the idea that people of all ages could benefit, and
consequently the community and city could benefit, from well-designed and programmed buildings
and spaces. ' .

The importance of improved school design for children was again-made a secondary•priority in the face of Chicago's chronically overcrowded schools. As during the 1880s and 1890s, the effects of child labor laws, required school attendance; and a growing city population were all contributing to the rapid growth of the city's schooi-aged;popuIation; more schools were needed. To facilitate this urgent need, newly appointed architect Perkins agreed to defer.his more innovative design changes to the following year. The 1905 52nd Annual Report to the Board of Education explained that:

...there were in Chicago a large number of school children not properly housed or not housed at all... An emergency, therefore, existed and the first duty ofthe department was to erect buildings without delay, and structures in general features similar to those of the pre­ceding year were placed under contract, the principal difference being in their exterior de­sign. Also for the sake of expediting work a number of exterior designs were repeated sever­al times.

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The need for more school space surpassed the growing objectives of social reform. Thus, Perkins's first prototype of 1905 was relatively simple and echoed the form of schools that had come before. It was not until 1906 that Perkins had the freedom to "revise the typical school house plan" and to introduce the elements of social reform that he and others newly appointed to the school board de­sired.

The Stewart School is similar to a series of schools designed by Perkins in 1905. His plan for Stew­art was designed as part of his second set of school prototypes for the Board of Education. The Stewart design made significant advances both over earlier school buildings and built on his first prototype series. The first set included five "Key" school buildings that were visually similar to the Stewart school, except that they did not feature the tiled cross-hipped roof that dominates the Stew­art school's profile. These early flat-roofed schools were clad primarily in brick with stone trim, and had tall, arched bays of windows that spanned the upper floors. Rooflines on the first set of these schools were crenellated, such as the Nathan S. Davis Elementary at 3014 West 39th Place and the Horatio May Elementary School at 512 South Lavergne Avenue (both schools remain). The rooflines of other schools were treated minimally with simple smooth stone copping. Extant exam­ples include the Francis Scott Key School at 517 North Parkside, the Stephen K. Hayt Elementary School at 1518 West Granville Avenue, and the Henry Demarest Lloyd School at 2103 North Lamon Avenue (all schools remain). These schools were designed as 12 and 24 classroom build­ings with plain side walls of common brick. They could easily be expanded with side additions of 6 or more classrooms. The basic plan was one that could easily and economically be repeated across the city where required.

A second prototype school design was also drawn in 1905, but schools in this second set of were not built until 1906, and were consequently given greater freedom of design. Perkins also experi­mented with overhanging, tiled, hipped roofs; the only school board architect to do so. Architect Peter Bonnett Wright (1838 - 1925) wrote favorably of Perkins's school designs in a 1910 issue of Architectural Record. Wright praised Perkins's deft treatment of ornamentation for the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn School (3149 North Wolcott Avenue), which is a buttressed version of the Stewart School design. Small lightly carved panels below the eaves caught Wright's eye, to which he noted that such a school design can be fully appreciated, "without missing that ornament which so many regard as a necessary concomitant of beauty, and be quite unaware of it until we come across a . slight suggestion of ornament." Unlike his predecessors, Perkins provided very little applied orna­ment, leaving the form of his buildings to express themselves through, as he noted in the 52nd An­nual Report, "the simplicity and strength of construction."

The Stewart School is a "fraternal twin" to the William Penn Elementary School at 1616 South Avers Avenue. Penn originally benefitted from a large school site that featured a vast open play space in front; however, this land was improved with twO substantial matching additions that more than doubled the school's size. Other similar schools that followed the same general plan include the Jahn School and Washington School at 1000 West Grand Avenue (demolished for the Ohio Street Interchange). Both schools were designed with buttressed elevations and plain eaves without brackets.

Inside, Perkins's second prototype significantly revised and improved on his previous plans, while also making space for technological innovations, equipment and rooms for manual trades, and a larger auditorium wing. Building systems were also improved with regard to heating, lighting, and ventilation. But no other achievement factored as significantly as the improvement in the sanitary



21


As with many school buildings constructed overtime by the Chicago Board of Education, the Graeme Stewart Public School Building is a "fraternal twin" to a handful of other school buildings, including (top) the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Public School at 3149 N. Wolcott Ave., and (bottom) the William Penn Public School at 1616 S. Avers Ave. (from Chuckman's Collection and Forgotten Chicago websites, respectively).




22

conditions of bathrooms. In 1905, the City of Chicago passed a plumbing ordinance requiring all new public schools to have individual toilets instead of single trough-style latrines. Previously, grade schools were given hard to clean basement latrines, while high schools and other more im­portant public buildings were offered individual toilets. As Dresslar quipped in 1910, children were the last to benefit from the cares of architectural design. The school buildings designed in 1906, including Stewart, were the first to benefit from the new plumbing code. A 1906 issue of Domestic Engineering highlights the design of the Graeme School's improved basement bathroom design. Rows of unclosed toilet stalls were built in the basement of each school. While this innovation was prompted by new codes, Perkins also had his own ideas for how bathrooms should be designed, and proposed locating bathrooms on each floor instead of just in the basement; later design prototypes incorporated this revolutionary idea.

Perkins helped transition Chicago's public schools from the red brick and stone schools of the late-nineteenth century to the modern streamlined schools of the twentieth century. Over his tenure, Perkins's designs gradually eliminated extraneous ornamentation, resulting in some of his most striking designs in 1908, including the severe yet elegantly designed and thoroughly Prairie School style George W. Tilton School at 223 North Keeler Avenue and the Lyman Trumbull School at 5200 North Ashland (both are extant). The schools are monumental in form and are detailed with polychrome bands of brick that accentuate the schools' projecting features. While Perkins contin­ued to refine his designs, the objective was creation of both a substantial and an economical design. One of his final designs before being dismissed from the board was for Carl Schurz High School, located at 3601 North Milwaukee Avenue near Addison Street and opened in 1910. The building covers a large landscaped lot and is composed of vibrant orange and deep brown brick walls with terra cotta trim and steep, overhanging clay tile roofs. Its design is entirely derived from the inter­play of contrasting tones and the verticality of its narrow window bays set beneath a wide and mas­sive roof.

Later History
The Stewart School was initially built to address the increasing demand for school enrolment in the rapidly developing Uptown area. In 1907 the elevated train live was extended north to Evanston from Wilson Avenue, which attracted more development to the area. Within ten years Stewart was at capacity and, like many schools at the time, a branch location was chosen for a series of portable classrooms. Eight portable units made up the Stewart branch location at the northeast corner of Beacon Street and Montrose Avenue, according to the 1921 Directory to the Chicago Public Schools. An additional two portable classrooms were located next to the school.

A series of three murals were painted in 1936 by an unknown artist for the Stewart School's audito­rium. Each mural is oil on canvass and measures 5 feet tall by 6 feet wide. The pieces were com­pleted under the Works Progress Administration and as part of the Federal Art Project. The first scene depicts a group of covered wagons with additional wagons in the distance, suggesting a west­ward pioneer theme. The second mural depicts a group of children at play outside of a brick school-house during the nineteenth century. One boy in the scene throws a ball while others run and play. The final mural depicts Jacques Marquette holding a bible and a rosary in one hand, while appear­ing to preach to a group of first peoples. To Marquette's left is a trader that may depict Jean Bap-tiste Point du Sable. The murals were conserved in 2000.

During the Great Depression, only limited funding was made available for school building cam­paigns. Aside from general improvement projects such as the murals, very little significant work was performed on Chicago schools. But, by the late 1930s, new sources of funding plus mounting


23

In 1940, a four-story addition was built at the south end of the Stewart Public School Building. It was designed by Board of Education architect John C. Christensen to mimic the original building in overall scale, building materials and detailing. Top: A postcard view ofthe addition in 1940 (source unknown). Bottom: A photograph of the addition in June 2016.

24
pressure to enlarge existing schools led to the construction of several additions. Then architect John C. Christensen served under Perkins and likely worked on the original Stewart School plans. In 1939 he developed plans for a 7-classroom addition for the south end of the existing school. The unimproved parcel at the corner of Kenmore and Sunnyside was purchased in February of 1940 for $5,700 and the new $80,000 addition was built. While Christensen was known for his Modern and streamlined designs, he chose to accurately apply Perkins's design of the original building in both form and materials to the addition. Unlike the identical William Penn School, which was given a pair of front additions that perfectly matched the original school complete with overhanging hipped roofs, Christensen's addition for the Stewart School was completed without a tiled roof. Instead, the addition was given a flat roof. A simple string course runs above the fourth floor windows and a brick parapet terminates with a line of thin stone coping.

The seven-room addition barely equaled the space provided by the school's nine portable class­rooms. Stewart continued to suffer from overcrowding and maintained use ofthe portable units. During the 1950s, the post-war baby boom introduced an even larger student enrollment, which led to the construction of additional neighborhood schools. Following decades of growth, the Stewart School started to lose student enrolment in the 1970s; the school closed in 2013.


Architect Dwight H. Perkins

Dwight Heald Perkins (1867 - 1941) is significant to Chicago's architectural, social, and planning history for his dedication to the city's welfare and for his architectural work during the rise of the Prairie School. Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1867, Perkins moved with his family to Chicago at age twelve. Before completing high school the death of his father forced him to find employment to help support his family. He took a position at the Chicago Stockyards before entering the office of architect Frederick R. Schock. With the help of family friend Mrs. Charles Hitchcock, Perkins en­rolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's architecture program. Afterward he remained in Boston as a university instructor and as an assistant in office of Henry Hobson Richardson (1838 - 1886).

Perkins returned to Chicago in 1888 and worked briefly with Wheelock & Clay before becoming John Wellborn Root's personal assistant at Burnham & Root. Following Root's death in 1891, and while Daniel Burnham was involved in organizing and designing the fair grounds for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, Perkins became the manager of the firm's tremendous project schedule. Before leaving.the firm, Perkins completed several of Root's last commissions, and some of Chicago's most recognized Chicago School style buildings including the Monadnock Block (a designated Chicago landmark).

Perkins started his own firm in early 1894, following a commission from the Steinway Piano Com­pany for a new 11-story office tower and recital hall (completed 1896, demolished). The completed Steinway Building catered to the Beaux Arts Classicism made popular by Burnham and his plan for the 1893 fair. However, inside Perkins helped progress a new architectural movement that em­braced the natural forms inspired by the Midwest prairie. He invited several of his friends to join him in a collaborative studio space in the attic of the Steinway Building. There, some of the archi­tects that would later become synonymous with the Prairie School worked and developed new natu­ralistic themes that defined an original form of American architecture. Irving and Allen Pond, Rob­ert Spencer, Perkin's cousin Marion Mahony, and Walter Burley Griffin all collaborated in Perkins's new studio space; Frank Lloyd Wright opened his first office in the building.

25

The civic and social responsibilities of architecture to the city were the focus of Perkins's practice. Perkins's progressive attitude and sense for how architecture could serve as the framework for so­cial improvement developed from an early age. His mother, Marion Perkins, was involved in social reform and was an associate of Jane Addams, founder of the Hull House Settlement. The need for new supportive centers for poorer immigrant and working-class communities led Perkins to collab­orate with and design settlement houses for both the University of Chicago and Northwestern Uni­versity; only the University of Chicago settlement house was completed (demolished).

During the 1890s, a new type of study that mapped abstract social problems in the city identified geographic disparities experienced between poor and more affluent neighborhoods as potential sources for certain social and health issues in poorer neighborhoods. In 1903, Perkins and land­scape architect Jens Jensen published a report for the Special Parks Commission that detailed the needs for open space in the city. The report called for the consolidation of Chicago's many park commissions, and outlined a proposal for the addition of dozens of small, but accessible, neighbor­hood parks and playgrounds as breathing spaces across the city. These parks would open congested neighborhoods and improve the health and wellbeing of residents - especially children. By 1907, the creation of dozens of new parks brought green space, recreation facilities, baths, and social ser­vices to many Chicago neighborhoods. Perkins continued to promote an even greater series of parks by advocating for the creation of the forest preserves that today ring Chicago's western boundaries; a section of preserve in Evanston was named in his honor.

Perkins joined, with architect John Leonard Hamilton in 1905, forming the firm of Perkins & Ham­ilton. The firm moved into a new four-story studio and office designed by Perkins in 1907, directly across from the old Water Tower, in what was then an artist enclave known as "Towertown" (the studio is a designated Chicago landmark). Hamilton graduated from the Chicago Manual Training School in 1895 and, like Perkins, entered, the offices of D. H. Burnham & Co. He later joined the architectural department of the Board of Education under the direction of board architect Normond Smith Patton, and then entered the offices of Frost & Granger, before joining Perkins. That same year Perkins was appointed architect to the Board of Education, a position which allowed him to apply and develop his social and aesthetic ideas toward the improvement of education. Perkins's school board team included a young John C. Christianson, who later became the school board ar­chitect.

Perkins led the design of many of the firm's works between 1905 and 1910, while also serving as school board architect. Several commissions involved the design of field houses and other practical structures for the very parks that he had helped create; the Hamlin and Seward Park fieldhouses were completed during this time. These new park structures allowed Perkins to apply his ideas for improving the city. The buildings emphasize Perkins's particular Prairie School style of architec­ture in form, and promoted social services and enhancements that reflected the rising progressive movement.

Some of the firm's more familiar park projects can be seen in Lincoln Park, which was improved substantially and extended during the 1910s. At the time, Bryan Lathrop, businessman and presi­dent of the Graceland Cemetery Association was part of the Lincoln Park Commission. He support­ed having parks be free of buildings, but recognized some structures were "necessary evils." Per­kins & Hamilton designed the South Pond Refectory, now known as Cafe Brauer, in 1908 (a desig­nated Chicago landmark). It occupies a prominent location on the South Pond and represents some of the firm's best work. Its brickwork, Rookwood tiles, and overall seamless unity with the sur­rounding landscape make it immediately recognizable as a refined creation ofthe Prairie School


26

DWIGHT HEALD PERKINS


CHICAGO

* ¦ • * • ' * 1 i I—r

Top left: Photographic portrait of Dwight H. Perkins (from Brickbuilder, June 1915). Top right: Steinway Hall, one of Perkins' earliest designs and the nexus for many progressive Chicago architects in the 1890s and 1900s, including Frank Lloyd Wright (from archival collections, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago. Bottom: A map showing a future expansion of Chicago parks and boulevards, proposed in the Special Parks Commission report of 1903 prepared by Perkins and landscape architect Jens Jensen (from Davis and Indeck, "Dwight Heald Perkins" exhibition catalog).


27
Besides his designs for school buildings, Perkins1 is best known for his open-space advocacy and buildings for parks and zoos. Top: The South Pond Refectory (now known as Cafe Brauer) in Lin­coln Park, built in 1908 (from archival collections, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago). Bottom: The Lion House at the Lincoln Park Zoo, built in 1912. Both buildings are designated Chicago Landmarks.

28
movement. Perkins & Hamilton, and after 1911 as Perkins, Fellows, and Hamilton with the addi­tion of William Kinnie Fellows, the firm designed the boat house (1908), the American Institute of Architects gold-medal winning Lion House in Lincoln Park Zoo (1912, a designated Chicago land­mark), the Fresh Air Sanitarium (1913, now the Theater on the Lake), North Pond Refectory (1913, occupied by North Pond Cafe), and even the familiar cast concrete lampposts that line the Lincoln Park's roadways (1911).

In 1910, Perkins's position as architect to the Board of Education came to an abrupt end as board members rallied to remove him on charges of incompetence, insubordination, and extravagance. Following a public hearing insisted upon by Perkins, the board found him guilty only on the charge of insubordination. Perkins's interest in the design of schools did not end with his dismissal from the Chicago Schools, instead, his firm continued to design dozens of schools, each with their own design advances, across Chicago's suburban communities and even across the Midwest. In, 1925, Perkins, who had become completely deaf, left his practice, but continued to serve on park and for­est preserve boards.


Architect John C. Christensen

John Charles Christensen (1879 - 1967) was born in Copenhagen and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1889. His long career with the Chicago Board of Education encompassed the design and construction of both the Stewart School in 1906 and its south addition in 1940. Throughout his career, which covered nearly fifty years, Christensen served frequently as assistant architect or as the lead board architect.

Christensen started in 1906 as Clerk of the Works in the Architect's Department under the direction of architect Dwight Perkins. During Perkins's tenure, Christensen contributed to and oversaw the construction of several of Perkins's Arts and Crafts and early Prairie School influenced schools, including the Stewart School, Lyman Trumbull School (1600 W. Foster, 1908), and the monumen­tal Carl Schurz High School (3601 N. Milwaukee, 1910).

In 1908, Christensen was appointed as Assistant Deputy in Chicago's Building Department under Commissioner Joseph Downey, who was a member of the Board of Education and head of the buildings and grounds committee; Downey was one of several board members who fought to oust Perkins from his position as board architect. Christensen returned to the Board of Education in 1910 as assistant architect to Perkins's successor Arthur Hussander, who had served as superinten­dent of construction under Perkins. Hussander led the design of Chicago's public school buildings away from the innovative and socially progressive school designs that Perkins had developed to­wards more Classical Revival styles. He designed over fifty schools, many of which were clad in buff brick with cream-colored terra cotta or Bedford Limestone, and featured colonnades of Ionic columns and other Classical elements. Examples of his work are found across Chicago, and in­clude: Nicholas Senn High School (5900 N. Glenwood Avenue, 1913), Robert Lindblom Technical High School (6130 S. Wolcott, 1919, a designated Chicago Landmark), and several smaller schools like the Le Moyne Elementary School (Fremont Street and Waveland Avenue, 1915).

Christensen became Board architect in 1921. He held this position until 1924 when newly elected Mayor William E. Dever appointed a new Superintendent of the Schools in response to a lengthy Board of Education corruption scandal. The entire board was restructured with new board members


29

and department heads to replace those that had been jailed for benefiting from clandestine deals. Christensen remained as architect, but served under new supervising architect Edgar D. Martin of the firm Schmidt, Garden & Martin. Martin designed over thirty school buildings, primarily drawn from Gothic and English Tudor Revival styles that were popular at the time. The schools employed an innovative use of concrete that sped up construction. However, following Martin's resignation in 1926, a new scandal emerged when it was discovered that concrete work in the nearly all of the new schools had been improperly reinforced, resulting in cracks and deformation. No one was ulti­mately held responsible for the work or the costly reinforcements needed to make the schools safe.

Christensen resumed as board architect in 1926 until a new architect, Paul Gerhardt, Sr. was ap­pointed to the position in 1928. Gerhardt supervised the repair and stabilization of schools, and con­tinued _on to design.dozens.of new schools including: Von.Steuben High School (5039 N. Kimball Avenue, 1929) and Albert G. Lane Technical High School (2501 W. Addison Street at Western Av­enue, 1931, Lane Technical School originally occupied a building at Sedgwick and Division Streets designed by Dwight Perkins in 1908, but moved to the larger current Addison Street campus in 1931). Both schools are designated Chicago Landmarks.

Once again, in 1931 Christensen became architect ofthe schools. Yet, with limited financial re­sources during the Great Depression, the Board of Education was unable to begin any substantial new school buildings or additions until the late 1930s. Christensen designed many new schools in the Art Deco and Modern styles and in streamlined historical styles including: the Modern style buff brick and limestone Chicago Vocational School (2100 E. 87th Street, 1938) and the Walter L. Newberry School (700 W. Wiliow St, 1937). In 1940, he looked back to the beginning of his career to design a new seven-classroom addition to the Stewart School. His familiarity with the design and construction of schools for much ofthe century gave him a great understanding for how addi­tions should be treated. Christensen completed dozens of additions, like the one for Stewart, which carefully capture the design ofthe original school and create a seamless extension.

Christensen remained as architect to the Board of Education through the 1950s. Board Superinten­dent, Gerard C. Hunt initiated a school construction campaign to accommodate Chicago's Post-War Baby Boom, which contributed to a 40% increase in the city's elementary school population during the 1950s. Hunt raised $50 million to build additional schools, but his successor Benjamin C. Willis led the charge Of funding and buildirig over 200 new elerhentary schools arid 13 high schools dur­ing the late 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, the Board of Education cut is its architecture department and returned to hiring private architects, like Perkins & Will, to design schools; a pro­cess that had ended in 1894'.


Criteria for Designation

According to the Municipal Code of Chicago (Sections 2-120-620 and -630), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has the authority to.make a preliminary recommendation of landmark designa­tion for an area, district,, place, building, structure, work of art or other object with the City of Chi­cago ifthe Commission determines it meets two or more of the stated "criteria for designation," as well as possesses a significant degree of historic integrity to convey its significance.

The following should be considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in determining whether to recommend that the Graeme Stewart Public School Building be designated as a Chicago Landmark.


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Criterion 1: Example of City, State, or National Heritage
Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the heritage ofthe City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
The Graeme Stewart Public School Building exemplifies the importance of Chicago's public schools to the City's social and cultural history.
Public education has historically been one of the most important responsibilities of Chicago government, and public school buildings are visual and social anchors in the City's neighbor­hoods. Opened in 1907, the Graeme Stewart Public School Building housed one such institu­tion in the Uptown community area for more than a century.


Criterion 4: Exemplary Architecture
Its exemplification of an architectural type Or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.
The Graeme Stewart Public School Building is a example of an early transitional Prairie Style building that echoes nineteenth century Revival styles.
The Prairie style is a historically-important and innovative style derived from the Midwest plains and developed by circle of Chicago Architects. The Stewart Public School Building of­fers glimpses of what the Prairie style would become, but reveals a movement that was in infan­cy.
The building's exterior is well executed with deeply-colored red-brick walls, contrasting stone trim, and a grandly-scaled hip roof that shields the building with deep bracketed eaves.
The building is exemplary for its significant innovations in school design with a modern exteri­or and an improved interior layout designed for the benefit of students.
The building's exterior, with its finely-detailed brick walls, contrasting stone trim, and large-scale copper brackets, displays fine craftsmanship in brick, stone and copper, and it exemplifies the importance of such craftsmanship to the history of Chicago architecture.


Criterion 5: Important Architect
Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the Unit­ed States.
The original part ofthe Graeme Stewart Public School Building was designed by Dwight Heald Perkins, a significant architect in the context of Chicago architecture.
As Architect for the Chicago Board of Education, Perkins designed more than 40 school build­ings and additions to existing buildings, many of which are innovative in overall design and spatial planning.



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The walls ofthe Graeme Stewart Public School Building, both the original build­ing and its addition, are finely detailed with brick rustication and geometric limestone plaques.
Stewart Public School, through its handsomely-designed and detailed Classical Revival-style exterior and well-planned interior layout, is a fine and significant example of Perkins' efforts in school architecture.

o As a private architect, Perkins designed many significant buildings in Chicago and elsewhere, including the South Pond Refectory (now Cafe Brauer) and the Lincoln Park Lion House, both Chicago Landmarks.
Perkins is significant in Chicago planning history as a strong advocate for Chicago parks and playgrounds and for the creation of the Forest Preserves of Cook County District.
John C. Christeriseh, the architect for theTdditioh tcHtKFStewart Public School, was Bpafd'bf" Education architect during much of the mid-twentieth century, with his tenure starting in 1921 and extending, with a gap in the late 1920s, into the 1950s. During this time of great growth in Chicago, Christensen designed dozens of schools and school additions and profoundly influ­enced the physical presence that Chicago public school buildings had in many of the City's neighborhoods.


Integrity Criteria
The integrity ofthe proposed landmark must he preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and ability Jo express'its'historic community, architecture or: aesthetic in­terest or value. -

The Graeme Stewart Public School Building reveals a high level of historic integrity, retaining its historic location, setting, and overall design. The school's exterior retains its brick walls, limestone trim, and copper brackets and cornice. An addition built in 1940 extended the school building .to the south along Kenmore Avenue. Ifwas anticipated by architect Dwight H. Perkins and completed by architect JoHh;C.;Ghristensen, who originally worked tinder Perkins. The addition largely reflects Perkins' design aesthetic arid matches the original building in both design and materials.

Exterior changes to the building are relatively minor. They include the.replacement of first-floor exterior doors;- new windows;' arid an asphalt shingle roof in place Of the original clay tile roof. -

On the interior, theschool retains its historical- layout and organization. The first-floor auditorium is
well preserved arid has th'cee>Depression;r«ra'murals, which were conserved in 2000 by the Chicago
Conservation Center., ,- ¦ ; . ¦ ; '•.-


Significant Historical and Architectural Features

Whenever an area, district, >place, building, structure, work of art or other object is under considera­tion for landmark designation, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is required to identify the "significant histpneaj-airid architectural features" ofthe property. This is done to enable the owriers and the public to understand which elements are considered most important to preserve the histori­cal and architectural character of the proposed landrnark.




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The Graeme Stewart Public School Building retains excellent historic integrity. Three views ofthe building overtime, including (top) just after the completion ofthe original building in 1907; in 1940, just before the south addition was built; and in June 2016.

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Based upon its preliminary evaluation ofthe Graeme Stewart Public School Building, the Commis­sion staff recommends that the significant features be identified as:

• All exterior elevations, including rooflines, ofthe building.



Selected Bibliography

1921 - 1922, Board of Education, City of Chicago - Directory of the Chicago Public Schools. Chi­cago: Board of Education, 1921.
Allen, Jno K. "Latest School Plumbing Installations in Chicago." Domestic Engineering. V6\. 37 (12) (December 22, 1906), pp. 279-290.
Annual Report to the Board of Education, City of Chicago, July 6, 1904 to June 21, 1905. Chicago: Bernard & Miller, 1905.
Barnard, Henry. School Architecture; or Contributions to the Improvement of School-houses in the
United States. NY: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1848. Becker, Heather. Art for the People. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2002. "Break ground for New School, 24 Classrooms to Be Built." The Chicago Daily Tribune, June 25,
1961. N8.
Bruce, William C. comp. Grade School Buildings. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company,
1914. ;m •
"Building Projects - Chicago, \L:\The Engineering Record. Vol. 51(5). (February 4, 1905), 52.
"Building Projects - Chicago, The.Engineering Record. Vol. 51 (25). (June 24, 1905), 52.
"City's Growth and Birth Rate Jam Schools-" The Chicago Daily Tribune, August 16, 19531 39.
Davis, Eric Emmitt and Karen Indeck. "Dv^ight Heald'Perkins: SocialConscibushess arid Prairie School Architecture." Exhibition Catalog, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, April, 1989. Ryerson Library, Art Institute ofChicago.
"Death Comes to Graeme Stewart.". C/j/cago Daily Tribune, June 27, 1905. 1.
Dresslar, Fletcher B. "American Schoolhouses;" United States Bureau of Education Bulletin. Num-
ber 444. Washington D. C: Government Printing ©ffice~l 91 Or - - - -
"Dwight Heald Perkins." The Brickbuilder (June 1, 1915)/ '
Fifty-Second Annual Report of the Board of Education for the Year Ending June 30, 1906. Chica­go: The Board of Education of the City of Chicago, March 1907.
Fifty-Third Annual Report of the Board of Education for the Year Ending June 30, 1907. Chicago: The Board of Education of the City of Chicago, 1908.
Flanagan, M. "Charter Reform .in Chicago: political culture and urban progressive reform." Journal of Urban History, Vol. 12(2),' 1986, 11-6. "
"Graeme Stewart." Obituary. Chicago'Daily Tribune, June 28, 1905. 8.
Grey, Jennifer. "Social Practice and the Laissez-faire Metropolis: Dwight Perkins in Chicago, 1895 - 1915." Architecture Media Politics Society. Vol. 5(\y(May 20\4). :
Gyure, Dale Allen. The Chicago Schoolhoiise: Chicago: Center for American Places at Columbia
College Chicago, 2011. ' ': . '
Howatt, John. Notes on the First One Hundred Years of Chicago School History. Chicago: John Howatt, 1946.
Kelly, Florence and Alzine P. Stevens. "Wage-Earning Children," in Hull-House Maps and Papers.
New York: Thomas Y. Crowcll & Co., 1895. Kingsley, Sherman C. and F. B. Dresslar. "Department of the Interior: Bureau of Education, Bulle-


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tin 1916, No 23. Open-Air Schools." Washington: Government Printing Office, 1917. Pacyga, Dominic A., and Ellen Skerrett. Chicago: City of Neighborhoods. Chicago: Loyola Uni­versity Press, 1986.
"Pageant to Open New School," Chicago Daily Tribune, October 27, 1940. N5.
Perkins, Dwight H., William K. Fellows, and John L. Hamilton. Educational Buildings. Chicago:
The Blakely Printing Company, 1925. "Plan to Honor Stewart." Chicago Daily Tribune, July 4, 1905. 9.
Report ofthe Schoolhouse Commission. 60th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document 338. Wash­ington, D. C: Government Printing Office, February 27, 1908. 47.
Republicans of Illinois: A Portrait and Chronological Record of Members of the Republican Party. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905.
"Stewart School Bears Name of Civic Leader." Chicago Daily Tribune, April 13, 1967. El.
The Forest Preserves of Cook County, Owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County in the State of Illinois. Chicago: Clohesey Printers, 1921.
"The Graeme Stewart School." School Board Journal, Vol. 34, No. 6 (June 1907). 12.
Wight, Peter B, "Public School Architecture at Chicago: The Work of Dwight H. Perkins," The Ar­chitectural Record, Vol. 27 (June 1910), pp. 495-512.
Witherspoon, Halliday. Men of Illinois. Chicago: Halliday Witherspoon, 1902.

In this 1907 Chicago Daily News photograph, the newly-completed Graeme Stewart Public School Building can be seen in the distance (see arrow), past the then-Wilson Avenue rapid transit station and other buildings along North Broadway.


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Acknowledgments

CITY OF CHICAGO
Rahm Emanuel, Mayor

Department of Planning and Development
David Reifman, Commissioner
Patricia A. Scudiero, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Zoning and Land Use Eleanor Esser Gorski, Deputy Commissioner; Planning, Design & Historic Preservation Divi­sion

Project Staff
MacRostie Historic Advisors (consultant), research, writing, photography, and layout Matt Crawford (project manager)











The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, whose nine members are appointed by the Mayor and City Council, was established in 1968 by city ordinance. The Commission is responsible for recommend­ing to the City Council that individual building, sites, objects, or entire districts be.designated as Chica­go Landmarks, which protects them by law. The Commission is staffed by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Planning, Design & Historic Preservation Division, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, RoomllOl; Chicago, IL 60602; (312-744-3200) phone; (312-744-9140) fax, web site: www. cityofchicago. org/landmarks *

This Preliminary Summary of Information is subject to possible revision and amendment during the designation process. .Only language contained within the final landmark designation ordinance as approved by City Council should be regarded as final.

















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