Immediately west of Chicago, where the Eisenhower Expressway narrows, sits Oak Park, a village proud of its rich tradition of cultural and social diversity. This birthplace of Ernest Hemingway and Doris Humphrey, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Percy Julian, is a cultural Mecca in the Midwest, with an internationally recognized reputation for its impressive array of architecture. From Victorian mansions and Neo-classical structures to Prairie School buildings and exciting contemporary architecture, Oak Park is more than just a successful residential suburb of Chicago. While the faces of its most famous citizens are recognizable, it is the creativity of its people and the beauty of its built environment that make this community so unique. In Oak Park, Illinois: Continuity and Change, the author explores the way the Village has continuously adapted to a changing world while maintaining the principles and drive that have always made Oak Park an exciting place to live and visit. As Oak Park awaits its Centennial in 2002, its citizens are facing and welcoming the challenges ahead. Long time Villagers and newer residents alike embrace the opportunities for growth and evolution, within the framework of continuity and change.

Oak Park and River Forest are a mecca for Wright scholars and enthusiasts. Nowhere else can one visit so many Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and experience the architect's Prairie-style philosophy so fully. Hometown Architect is a thorough chronicle of that experience. Even if you have not had the good fortune to see these houses firsthand, the textual and photographic tours comprising this book will make you feel as though you have. Hometown Architect presents twenty-seven Wright homes, and Unity Temple, documenting one of the architect's most influential periods of his career. The last chapter surveys eight lost, altered, and possibly Wright homes. More than ninety photographs of the buildings' exteriors and interiors are accompanied by descriptive captions, while introductory text to each chapter details the story behind each commission, addressing Wright's relationships with his clients, the importance of each building in Wright's oeuvre, and the characteristics that make each house unique. The endpapers of this book feature a map locating all the sites discussed. By Patrick F. Cannon, introduction by Paul Kruty, photography by James Caulfield. Published in cooperation with the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.

Journey to the past with historian David M. Sokol as he reveals the city that nurtured and inspired the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Ray Kroc and Frank Lloyd Wright. Though it is a handsome village, with stately trees and often-generous lawns, Oak Park has neither major waterways nor dramatic vistas. But it is rich in figures of historical importance such as Ernest Hemingway, Doris Humphrey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Percy Julian, Ray Kroc, and William Barton. It is also blessed with the world's largest concentration of Prairie School buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his followers. The Oak Park community has nurtured such innovation with one hand while fiercely holding on to its own identity with the other, negotiating its relationship with Chicago and facing down a century and a half of constantly-shifting challenges.

A comprehensive historical reference on metropolitan Chicago encompasses more than 1,400 entries on such topics as neighborhoods, ethnic groups, cultural institutions, and business history, and furnishes interpretive essays on the literary images of Chicago, the built environment, and the city's sports culture.

Between 1898 and 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright’s residential studio in the idyllic Chicago suburb of Oak Park served as a nontraditional work setting as he matured into a leader in his field and formulized his iconic design ideology. Here, architectural historian Lisa D. Schrenk breaks the myth of Wright as the lone genius and reveals new insights into his early career. With a rich narrative voice and meticulous detail, Schrenk tracks the practice’s evolution: addressing how the studio fit into the Chicago-area design scene; identifying other architects working there and their contributions; and exploring how the suburban setting and the nearby presence of Wright’s family influenced office life. Built as an addition to his 1889 shingle-style home, Wright’s studio was a core site for the ideological development of the prairie house, one of the first truly American forms of residential architecture. Schrenk documents the educational atmosphere of Wright’s office in the context of his developing design ideology, revealing three phases as he transitioned from colleague to leader. This heavily illustrated book includes a detailed discussion of the physical changes Wright made to the building and how they informed his architectural thinking and educational practices. Schrenk also addresses the later transformations of the building, including into an art center in the 1930s, its restoration in the 1970s and 80s, and its current use as a historic house museum. Based on significant original and archival research, including interviews with Wright’s family and others involved in the studio and 180 images, The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright offers the first comprehensive look at the early independent office of one of the world’s most influential architects.

Founded in the 1830s by Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings, an intrepid young couple from Yorkshire, England, the small settlement of Oak Park grew slowly until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Before the ashes had cooled, Oak Park's population boomed as displaced families relocated into the community on the west edge of Chicago. By the turn of the 20th century, this thriving village became a magnet attracting ever-larger numbers of prosperous, progressive people to settle in what many referred to as "the finest of the streetcar suburbs." In the 1960s and 1970s, Oak Park became widely recognized for encouraging racial and ethnic diversity. Though best known for such residents as architect Frank Lloyd Wright and novelist Ernest Hemingway, Oak Park also lays claim to scores of others who have shone brightly in the national spotlight, as well as current folks who are passionate, daring, and dynamic. More than 100 noteworthy Oak Parkers-- past and present--are featured in this volume, from writers and restaurateurs to mobsters and movie stars.