The legacy of Daniel Burnham inspired the Big Shoulders Fund in 2009 to galvanize 76 Catholic elementary schools in Chicago to participate in a project to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Plan of Chicago. The Big Shoulders Fund — founded in 1986 by a group of business leaders — provides support to 76 elementary and 17 secondary Catholic schools representing every inner-city neighborhood in Chicago. Eighty percent of school students are minorities and 54 percent live in families that are at or below the poverty level and qualify for the federally funded free and reduced lunch rate.

The Burnham Plan Centennial year-long observance offered the Big Shoulders Fund an opportunity to showcase the success of their network of schools as well as provide students and their families a project to learn about their city and the surrounding area.

The centennial's theme was "Bold Plans. Big Dreams." The goal for the Big Shoulders Fund was to challenge 5th grade students to learn about the city's history, apply the Burnham vision of Chicago, think beyond the boundaries of the neighborhood to the region scale, and to envision the future. At the same time, students would develop a sense of pride and celebrate the special family of inner city Catholic schools and the schools' contributions to their lives.

Each school was assigned to research another neighborhood and to report on the history, current situation, and vision for the future — or the Big Dreams — of the neighborhood. Students were asked to consider ideas such as mixed land uses, creating public spaces that nurture community, walkable neighborhoods, preservation of open space, and transportation and housing choices. As part of their research, schools were encouraged to collaborate with other 5th grade classes in a pen-pal arrangement and to get to know each other via letters, blogs, or to make contact in person.

In the culminating activity, two student representatives from each school gathered to construct a large 30'x35' foot map. The map included sections detailing each neighborhood researched and formed a tapestry of the whole city and the changes envisioned by the students. The map also included a photo of the elementary school located in each neighborhood and an accompanying research portfolio.

To accomplish the project, Big Shoulders Fund received support from DePaul University, which developed a curriculum to help build the capacity of the teachers, and from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which produced the map sections for each school to use in the final vision map of the future Chicago.

The final project was displayed publicly at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) as well as at the Harold Washington Library as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. Participants were inspired to dream bold visions and experience ownership of the city, learning a valuable lesson in civic participation and democracy. As the students of St. Bede, located in the Ashburn neighborhood, wrote:

We are making no little plans for the future of our Chicago, the Chicago of Daniel Burnham, the Chicago of early settlers of Lakeview, the Chicago of our present White Sox and Cub fans, and the Chicago of our future children, grandchildren and even great-grand children.

For more information, contact:

Rebecca Lindsay-Ryan, Director, External Affairs, Big Shoulders Fund
309 W. Washington, Suite 550
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312-751-3851
Fax: 312-751-5235
rlindsayryan@bigshouldersfund.org