Dr. Lester Fisher

December 27, 2021Linda Zabors

Dr. Lester Fisher was the first veterinarian and director of the Lincoln Park Zoo from 1962 to 1992. He led the zoo to become a leading institution in Chicago and among zoos around the world. Under his leadership the zoo developed habitats, not just cages, for animals. He also led conservation efforts and plans for species survival - he specialized in primates.

Dr Fisher appeared regularly on televisions shows including: Zoo Parade, Bozo’s Circus, and the Ray Rayner Show “Ark in the Park” segment.

Lester Fisher was born in Chicago and served in WWII as a veterinarian; among his duties were treating General Patton’s bull terrier, Willie.

Veteran: WWII. Army

Alumni:
University of Iowa

Autobiography: Dr. Fisher’s Life on the Ark

Honorary Dr. Lester Fisher Way

Stockton Drive at the Ridge Connecting Drive bridge. Outside the Lincoln Park Zoo

Approved:

Ward:
Alderman:
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park

b. February 24, 1921
d. December 22, 2021. Age 100

Source

categories street
tags 2021, 100+, Veterans, WWII, Chicago Born, Army, Famous

Timuel Black

October 25, 2021Linda Zabors

Timuel Black was a black historian, professor, Civil Rights activist who lived on the South Side of Chicago and lived to be 102 years old.

His family moved to Chicago from Birmingham, Alabama when he was a year old; they were fleeing racial segregation and seeking better education for their children.

Timuel Black helped organize more than 2,500 Chicagoans to attend the Martin Luther King March on Washington. He also worked on the campaign that elected Chicago’s first black Mayor, Harold Washington.

As a soldier in WWII, he was moved by the atrocities he saw in Europe as a result of the Nazi regime; he dedicated his life to civil rights.

He was on the faculty at City Colleges of Chicago

Timuel Black is the author of several books, including: Bridges of Memory (two volumes) and Sacred Ground

Education:

University of Chicago

Roosevelt University

DuSable High School

Wendell Phillips High School

Englewood High School

Burke Elementary

Veteran: WWII, Army. Europe - Invasion of Normandy and Battle of the Bulge

Honorary Timuel Black Way

4800 to 5000 South State Street

Approved: November 2012

Ward: 3
Alderman: Dowell
Neighborhood: Bronzeville

b. December 7, 1918. Birmingham, Alabama
d. October 13, 2021. Age 102. Chicago

Source

TheHistoryMakers.org: Biography - Timuel Black

categories street
tags blm, Activist, Education, Author, Veterans, WWII, Army, Ward 3, 2021

Leon Lederman

November 26, 2020Linda Zabors

Leon Lederman was a Nobel Prize winning Physicist, for his team discovery of the Muon Neutrino. In 1979 he became the Director of the Fermi National Accelerator Lab and built the Tevatron, the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator. He was a professor at the University of Chicago and at the Illinois Institute of Technology, a board member of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and the Illinois Math and Science Academy

Alumni
Columbia University, PhD Physics
City College of New York, Chemistry

Nobel Prize 1988

Veteran: U.S. Army, WWII, 2nd Lieutenant, Signal Corp

Honorary Leon Lederman Way

33rd Street from State Street to LaSalle Street

Approved: October 2020

Ward: 3
Alderman: Dowell
Neighborhood: IIT

b. July 15, 1922. New York City
d. October 3, 2018. Age 96. Idaho

Near
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)

Chicago Tribune

categories street
tags 2020, October, Nobel, Fermilab, IMSA, UChicago, IIT, WWII, Army, ColumbiaU, Ward 3

Self Help Home Way

November 07, 2020Linda Zabors

Self Help was founded as a mutual aid society in 1938 to support immigrants fleeing Nazi Germany. It became a center and then a home for Holocaust survivors to rebuild their lives. It was the subject of the documentary film Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home. It became a senior living center in 1951.

Honorary The Selfhelp Home Way

800 & 900 West Argyle Street between Sheridan Drive and Marine Drive

Approved: 2017, 2018 (revised), 2019 (revised)

Ward: 48
Alderman: Osterman
Neighborhood: Uptown

Near
The Selfhelp Home
908 W. Argyle

Source

categories street
tags 2017, 2018, 2019, WWII, Immigrant, Victim, Social Services, Ward 48

Harold A. Bezazian Way

November 03, 2020Linda Zabors

Harold Arsene Bezazian was born and raised in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood to Armenian immigrant parents. He was a journalist for the Chicago Times and publicity manager for the Chicago Auto Club. Following the attach on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the military to fight in WWII. He died, while leading a rescue mission in the Philippines.

The Harold Bezazian Branch of the Chicago Public Library was dedicated in 1957 as a memorial from his father.

Alumni
Senn High School
Oberlin College
Columbia University, Journalism

Veteran: Army, WWII, europe, Philippines. Purple Heart, Bronze Star

Honorary Lt. Harold A. Bezazian Way

1226 West Ainslie

Approved: 2018

Ward: 46
Alderman: Cappleman
Neighborhood: Uptown

b. Chicago
d: March 11, 1945. Age 33. WWII Philippines

Near
Harold Bezazian Branch, Chicago Public Library
1226 West Ainsley

categories street
tags 2018, Veterans, WWII, Army, Ward 46

Roslyn and Seymour Simon Circle

October 19, 2020Linda Zabors

Seymour F. Simon was the Chief Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court, former Cook County Board President, and former Alderman of the 40th Ward. He became known for his dissenting opinions in court, and against Mayor and the party line. Roslyn started her own corporate gifts business after the death of her first husband. She is also a was a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette and competed in the Miss America Pagent as Miss Philadelphia.

Alumni (Seymour):
Roosevelt High School
Northwestern University
Northwestern Law

Veteran: Navy, WWII

Honorary Roslyn and Seymour Simon Circle