CHICAGO November 8. 2017
To the President and Members of the City Council:
Your Joint Committee on Finance and Zoning, Landmarks & Building Standards having had under consideration
A substitute resolution requesting that the Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development and representatives from the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation appear before the Joint Committee on Finance and Committee on Zoning, Landmarks & Building Standards to support the listing of Camp Douglas on the National Register of Historic Places.
R2017-124
Having had the same under advisement, begs leave to report and recommend that your Honorable Body pass the proposed Substitute Ordinance Transmitted Herewith
SUBSTITUTE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago was one of the largest producers of manpower, material, transportation, and food for the Union war effort during the Civil War; and
WHEREAS, Camp Douglas, named after Illinois Governor Stephen A. Douglas whose estate provided property for the site, opened in 1861 as a training camp for the Union Army during the Civil War; and
WHEREAS, Camp Douglas was the largest military installation in Illinois during the Civil War and the main presence of the Civil War in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Chicago's role as a transportation hub made Camp Douglas the ideal location to train and move young men to the front lines of battles by way of the Illinois Central Railroad, the longest railroad in the world at the time; and
WHEREAS, the former site of Camp Douglas was located within the City's Bronzeville neighborhood and extended from Cottage Grove west to Giles Avenue and from 31st Street south to 33rd Place; and
WHEREAS, over 40,000 Union troops were trained at Camp Douglas during the Civil War, including some of the first African American Union soldiers; and
WHEREAS, after the Union victory at Fort Donelson, Tennessee in March, 1862, Camp Douglas was used to house Confederate prisoners and held over 30,000 total prisoners there during the remainder of the war; and
WHEREAS, the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation provides active leadership in the development, delivery, and preservation of educational and historic information regarding Illinois and Chicago during the Civil War; and
WHEREAS, the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation has conducted seven archaeological investigations on the area of Camp Douglas over the past five years and has uncovered significant Civil War artifacts; and
WHEREAS, the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation has actively sought formal recognition of Camp Douglas as a listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and
WHEREAS, by being listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Camp Douglas would receive local, state, and national recognition, become part of the National Register Archives, and have the opportunity to economically showcase the history of the community; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Joint Committee on Finance and the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards does hereby request the Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development and representatives from the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation to appear before this Joint Committee to testify to the significance of having Camp Douglas listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, the members of the Chicago City Council, do hereby support the listing of Camp Douglas on the National Register of Historic Places and urge the State of Illinois National Register Review Board to recommend the listing of Camp Douglas on the National Register of Historic Places; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council urges the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. to list Camp Douglas to National Register of Historic Places for its significant role in helping preserve the Union and ending slavery within the United States during the Civil War.
