Students Involved in Free enterprise.
By Vincent Romano
April 3, 2012

University of Illinois

Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of what you do here today.

The mission statement of your organization, Students Involved in Free Enterprise, suggests that your successes will be measured by your ability, as entrepreneurs, to apply business and economic concepts that will impact upon those, who by accident of nature or nurture, are less fortunate than you.  Your food drive breathes life into the very meaning for our existence.

There are various themes that spin off of the purpose for this organizations existence.  Let me attempt, in the brief time that we have here, to touch upon those themes I believe to have the greater relevance.

Milton Friedman, in his book Free to Choose asserts that the story of the United States is a story of two interdependent miracles:–an economic miracle and a political miracle.  Each miracle resulted from a separate set of revolutionary ideas.  Both sets of ideas, by a curious coincidence, were formulated in the same year, 1776.

One set of ideas was embodied in Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, which established that an economic system could succeed only in an environment which allowed the freedom of individuals to pursue their own objectives.  The second set of ideas, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was embodied in the Declaration of Independence.  It proclaimed our entitlement of some self-evident truths…among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

John F. Kennedy, in his book A Nation of Immigrants wrote: That great doctrine “All men are created equal” was paraphrased from the writings of Filipo Mazzei, an Italian born patriot.   One could surmise that the Italians—who first discovered, then explored and later named this great country–were also responsible for the symbiotic relationship of those two interdependent miracles.  In merging, they produced the economic, social and political revolution that spawned, in less than two hundred years, space missions that have taken us beyond our blue planet…beyond our known universe…and even beyond our own galaxy.  Transcending the combined imaginations of Jules Verne and Carl Sagan, we have peered across the cosmic ocean and glimpsed the beginnings of creation.  We indeed have gone where no man has gone before.

Before you get too big-headed about the accomplishments of your species, I remind you that, we have gone all the way to the moon and back again…and still we cannot guarantee the development of a single human being.

The economic and political miracles, which had their genesis in that chance collision in 1776, are best exemplified in the following story:

A minister, taking a stroll down a country road, came across this really impressive looking farm.  The farmer working the field came over to ask if he could be of any service. The minister, who had stopped to admire the view, told the farmer, “The lord has surely blessed you with a magnificent farm.”  The farmer, pulling out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his brow, replied, “I don’t want to disappoint you, minister, but you should have seen this place when the lord had it all by himself.”   

I shared this story with you as a reminder that your successes, as a free enterprise advocate, will be measured, not by how many mouths you feed…your successes will ultimately be measured by how many farmers you create.  If a society is to produce enough food to support its scientists, its artists, its philosophers–including dreamers who can dream of things that never were and inspire us to ask, “Why not?”—it must be something more than a society of hunters, which requires 100% effort from each of its members in their daily quest for food.

To be fair, I should remind you that there are other measures of success–other than farming–that you can employ to benefit underdeveloped communities.

 One recent example is that of a trader who came into a village and offered to purchase monkeys for $5 each.  This created a financial bonanza for the villagers.  After a few hectic weeks the monkey population was significantly reduced. It became more difficult to catch the monkeys and the villagers began losing interest.  The entrepreneur, a sophisticated trader and business man, raised the ante to $10 per monkey.  This encouraged the villagers.  Eventually the price for the monkeys got up to $20 each.  

Before preparing to return home on a business trip, the trader confided to his assistant that, when he returns, he will begin paying $50 per monkey.  The assistant leaked that information to the villagers.  In doing so, he encouraged them to buy the monkeys he had in stock for $30 each and then sell them back to the trader for the $50 price when he returns.  The villagers took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself.  They purchased the entire stock of monkeys from the assistant for $30 each. 

The trader never did return.  Neither he nor his assistant were heard from again.

So you see: you don’t have to create productive farmers to have an impact upon the lives of those living in less developed countries.  You can introduce them to the complex world of finance by modeling Goldman Sach’s strategy of taking the opposite side of their trades.

Your generation has a greater and graver responsibility.  A responsibility that, while transcending your food drive…is dependent upon the success of that food drive. The difference between mankind and our counterparts in the animal kingdom is that humans have the capacity to record and pass on what they have learned.  Other members of the animal kingdom must learn everything anew from birth.   No Library of Alexandria ever existed in the animal kingdom.

Your generation will be charged with the responsibility of passing on the cumulative knowledge of all preceding human generations.  Knowledge that goes as far back as Prometheus, who gave mankind the gift of fire.  Knowledge as distant as the monolith, in Stanley Kramer’s epic film, Space Odyssey 2001.  Leo Melamed, architect of the successes of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, in his 2005 Loyola Commencement address, called it Knowledge Tag.

In the game of knowledge tag, your generation is next up to be IT.  You will be responsible for tagging the next generation with the cumulative knowledge of mankind.  There’s one more thing that you should be aware of:  Your generation cannot simply pass on the knowledge you received.  If that were the case, we would still be using stone tools. We would still be hunting and gathering for our existence.  Therefore, before you can tag the next generation and make them it, you are required to give them more than what you had received.

The commissioner of U.S. Patents, Charles H. Duell, declared in 1899 that “everything that can be invented has been invented.”  I believe it was shortly afterwards that the zipper was invented.  I mention that fact because the movie There’s Something About Mary would never have been made if the zipper had not been invented.

You have committed to donating 5,000 pounds of food to those less fortunate than you.  Whether you know it or not, the impact of that food, upon less fortunate communities, will be greater than it appears at first blush.  The Freudian paradigm, Ericson’s stages of development and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are all intertwined with that food.

For the moment let’s hang with Maslow.  In your pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for those who are too weak, too poor, too unsophisticated, or too unconnected– geographically and otherwise–don’t lose sight of Maslow’s theory.  His Hierarchy of Needs gives credence to your food drive.  If you recall from your 100 level psych courses, we cannot achieve any of our higher level needs without first satisfying, in turn, our lower level needs.

Maslow places self-actualization at the top of his pyramid.  To achieve that peak experience, to become self-actualized, that journey, by definition, must begin at the bottom rung of the pyramid.  Beyond food, beyond safety, beyond love and belongingness, and beyond self-esteem lies the ultimate purpose for our being: — to become all that we are capable of becoming…to achieve self-actualization.

Self-actualization has been defined in a variety of ways by our gurus.  I am told that pre-requisite to becoming self-actualized is an awareness of all that ever was and all that will ever be.  An awareness of the immenseness of the cosmos with a billion stars in each of a billion galaxies…and your place in that infinity of time and space.   An awareness that every element that make us what we are today was formed in the core of stars that existed billions of years ago. You and those for whom you have compassion are all made of the stuff of stars. We are all star stuff.

Richard Bach brought that higher calling to the attention of the masses with his 1976 best seller, Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  His book did for self-discovery what Thomas Paine’s Common Sense did for the American Revolution.

Just as a young immigrant from Corleone Italy once proclaimed: “I refuse to live the life of a fool dancing on the strings held by all those big shots”…so did a young seagull named Jonathan Livingston Seagull proclaim that he too refused to live the life of a fool dancing on those strings held by all those big shots.  In Jonathan’s case those big shots were the elders of his flock.  Jonathan, like all of our immigrant forefathers before us, wanted to become more than what had been ordained for him.

Coincidentally, Raymond Franz, who wrote Crisis of Conscience in 1983, was also ostracized by the elders of his flock.  His book is required reading if you, as a business, economics or finance major, want to avoid another Jonesboro or distance yourself from the Goldman Sachs fiasco.

A dreamer, Jonathan challenged the belief that seagulls cannot and should not fly faster than 35 miles per hour.  Each morning, rather than joining the other members of the flock competing for the Garbage thrown overboard by fishing boats, Jonathan took off on his own to improve his flying skills.  Eventually, 12 other seagulls joined him.   Jonathan’s life ended when he veered into a cliff flying at a speed of 200 miles per hour.

Herman Melville defined determinism with Captain Ahab’s explanation of his obsession to pursue and destroy Moby Dick:  It was written a billion years before these oceans ever rolled.   Jean-Paul Sarte, almost a century later, defined existentialism for our 20^th century intellectuals with his Being and Nothingness.  Richard Bach used the life of Jonathan to define Sarte’s existentialist theory that existence precedes essence.   Jane Addams, social theorist, preceded both Sarte and Bach in breaking from the deterministic philosophy of the 19^th century.  Jane Addams used the Hull House neighborhood, this neighborhood, as her laboratory to apply her theory of symbolic interactionism.  It is unfortunate that your university has chosen to disenfranchise the immigrants and migrants who lived the experience of the Hull House neighborhood.  By executive decision, their stories are not considered to be relevant in preserving and reporting the legacy of Jane Addams or Hull House.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull was made into a movie.  Neal Diamond wrote the title song “Be.” The opening line “Be like a page in search of a word that speaks on a theme that is timeless” reflects upon your generation’s transition to becoming it in the game of knowledge tag.  When you become it, you will no longer be pages in search of a word.  When you become it, you will, in turn, become the words in search of a page.

In your pursuit to empower less fortunate communities and underdeveloped countries, do not forget the lessons brought to us by Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs and Steel: We did not transcend simultaneously across the planet.  Geography determined the pace at which various societies transitioned from hunters to farmers.  It was geography that caused the parcel of land that lies between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, the Fertile Crescent, to become the cradle of civilization. Geography, more than anything else, determines the fates of human societies and the course of history.

In India, they have a saying:  “You are my Gemma.”  It is a saying reserved for those rare individuals who cause us to become something more than we would have been had we not met them.  The Gemma is a tributary that flows into the Ganghes River.  It is believed that at the point at which the Gemma flows into the Ganghes, the Ganghes is no longer the same river.  It has forever been influenced by the Gemma as it journeys down to the sea and beyond.  Its ripples, cascading across the vast oceans, shape the landscape of foreign shores.

Your food drive can enable others to seek out their Gemmas; it can free others to become pages in search of a word; it may even produce a future Jonathan Livingston Seagull to dream of things that never were.

Whether you yourself become a Gemma to at least one other person; or you become that word searching for a page; or your efforts make it possible for at least one other human being to reach the zenith of Maslow’s hierarchy…be reminded that what you pass on, individually and collectively, will echo through eternity.

Good luck to you as you pick up the gauntlet in this eternal game of tag.  Whether it’s knowledge tag or Gemma tag, it is a never ending story.

March 7, 2012

The historic lobotomy being practiced by the director of the Hull House Museum was called to task during the February 12, 2012 Panel discussion: Historic Preservation and the People’s History.

Can TV: Sunday March 4, 10:30am on Comcast (or RCN) channel 21.

The policies of the University of Illinois and the Hull House Museum’s director, as it concerns Taylor Street and the Hull House neighborhood, were refuted by nationally recognized experts during a heated debate at the Hull House Museum.

Taylor Street’s Little Italy, the port-of-call for Chicago’s Italian American immigrants, became the focal point in an intense discussion by a group of prominent panelists – plus an audience comprised of historians, researchers, educators, students, representatives of the Taylor Street community, and Lisa Lee, the director of the Hull House Museum. The panel remained steadfast in their definition of historic preservation – concurring with the Italian American community’s long held position that the preservation of the stories of the people who lived the experience of growing up in the Hull House neighborhood was as equally, if not more, important than the preservation of the buildings that housed their activities. Taylor Street’s contingent won the day when the renowned group of panelists dismissed the arguments of the Hull House director that one must be a vetted historian to include their stories in the Museum’s website. One panel member suggested “job security” as a remedy to the resistance to include “the people’s history” in their historic preservation.

Further, exposing the hypocrisy on display that day was the printed handout distributed by the Museum’s director. Buildings are much more than… They tell us a lot about our society – who, how and why they lived the way they lived. Here’s our recipe for conscientious observation: Multiple voices and stories; Nurture public memory; Challenge dominant narratives; Bring invisible histories to light.

Amazingly that printed handout, while supporting the panel and the community, completely contradicts the position the Museum’s director has publicly taken in her refusal to include a website link that would contain the stories of immigrants and migrants that had lived the experience of Jane Addams’ “Hull House Neighborhood.” Once again, the Museum’s director, arrogantly and with impunity, “talks the talk” but refuses to “walk the walk.”

Further discrediting and refuting the position of the UIC’s Hull House Museum was the quote attributed to the sponsor of the event, the National Public Housing Museum: “We are more than objects. We are more than artifacts. Our legacy is the sum of our stories.”
www.TaylorStreetArchives.com

Epilogue

Unfortunately, the edited version of that TV program left out the hotly contested discourse that occurred between Lisa Lee, director of the Hull House Museum, and community residents challenging her right to arbitrarily direct the Museum to dispense, by both omission and commission, flawed history concerning Jane Addams, sociologist, and the “Hull House Neighborhood.”

Reminded that she had boycotted a meeting with the community representatives on this issue–as was requested by both the UIC Chancellor and the President of the UIC Board of Trustees–to discuss the recommendation that the Hull House Museum’s website contain a link titled: Stories From the Hull House Neighborhood, the director, abruptly left the premises without a response.

July 12, 2011

Mr. Romano,

I enjoy your Taylor Street Archive site and the stories on it. I’ve lived in Chicago for a pretty long time and am always interested in trying new things, particularly in old neighborhoods. I like the restaurants over on West Grand, Heart of Italy on 26 Street and of course Taylor Street. I enjoyed your story on the old club culture of Little Italy, “The Club,” and was considering taking your suggestion of going to the Blue Boys Club on a Friday to check it out with my girlfriend. However, I couldn’t find any other reference of it online and I didn’t see it last time I was over in the area, so I was wondering if it was still around? If not, is there a club still operating where one could have a similar experience? My girlfriend and I are always looking for interesting things to do–involving delicious food is a plus!–and that certainly sounded like it would fit the bill.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer, and thanks for maintaining your fascinating site on Taylor Street.

Sincerely,

Matt Lee

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July 13, 2011

Hi Matt,

“Blue Boys’ Club” is on Polk and Aberdeen. They may or may not cook up something to eat for its members on Fridays. Often they do. Johnnie Parise is unofficial Pres. 312-326-6240.

Vincent J. Romano

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July 13, 2011

Mr. Romano,

Thanks so much for your help. We will definitely head out to one of the clubs!

Matt

May 03, 2011

Hello Mr. Romano. I am conducting genealogical research on my family and my search has lead me to your site. I am excited to find information regarding Dante school on your site. It seems that my great uncles attended the school back in 1926. I am wondering if you have any year books for the years 1920-1926 and if so if I could have a look at them or if I could have them searched for a picture of my great uncle.

This is what I know:

Francis Lewis 1-25-1916

John Lewis 5-3-1913

They lived at 609 Farquer Street

Any information would be helpful.

Thank you for your time and have a great Day!

Jacquelynn Q. Puckett

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May 03, 2011

Hi Jackie,

We get many inquiries such as this. I have been accumulating them pending the revamped website, which will include a “Lost and Found” section, being completed. Probably by summer’s end. Meanwhile, many of the members of the Blue boys’ Club, on Polk and Aberdeen, just one block south of the Vernon Park Tap, Tufano’s or Pipisico’s–(depending upon your age, you will call the restaurant one of those 3 names)–were born and raised on Forquer Street(later called Arthington Street). For the time being, I will post your email there. I’ll notify you of any responses.

Vincent J. Romano

March 16, 2011

Hi Vince. My husband and I have a condo in Acapulco as does another couple from Chicago, Don Cowen and his wife. Don was a police detective from the Belmont area. The other day, we were talking about a Chicago newspaper article that was written not too long ago regarding the old Taylor and Halsted area and the clubs that still exist. Don Cowen remembered a policeman we worked with by the name of JR Valente (not too sure of the spelling) who still belonged to one of the clubs in the old neighborhood. In the newspaper article they mentioned a JR who used to be a policeman. We were both wondering if that was the same JR Valente who worked with Don0-if so, please give him a big hello for us. If it is the same JR, I was friends with him when we were both very young. We won’t return to Chicago until May. My husband and I stay in Acapulco 6 months and Chicago 6 months. All of the men in my husband’s family were policemen except for my husband. He played pro basketball for years until he owned his own busines – vending machines……Thanks you…..wishing you good health and happiness and a good St. Joseph’s Day……..Angie Lahey

March 05, 2011

Hi,

I am looking for information/pictures of Salvino Liquor store that was on the SW corner of Taylor and Halsted. If you can be of help I would appreciate it.

Ron Russo

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March 05, 2011

Salvino’s was on the NE corner.

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March 5, 2011

Thanks. Any other information you can provide. I am interested in pictures. The store was owned by dad’s uncle.

Editor’s Note: Bob Salvino’s story will be posted shortly.

If you have any information for Ron regarding the Salvino Liquor Store,  please leave a comment below, or contact Taylor Street Archives.

June 17, 2009

Hi Vince,

Came across the Taylor Street Archives and your writings about life in the old neighborhood. My grandmother grew up there in the 1890′s. Her name was Anna D’Amore. She married a fellow called Salvatore Palmisano who I believe was also from the neighborhood, then moved to the parish of Santa Maria Incoronata on the South Side. That’s where my mother was born in 1920. I was born there in 1946. My Dad was another Sicilian-American from the Near-North Side.

If you happen to have any information about the D’Amore family or their descendants, I’d love to have the reference or links. After my father and mother both passed away in April 2009, I began a book of short stories (30 stories so far) on our life in the Chicago neighborhoods. I quite enjoyed the pieces you wrote of your experiences in the neighborhood in the Archives.

Kind Regards,

Frank Rizzuto

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June 20, 2009

Email me the stories. Also send a TSA applicaton for your family members who are eligible.

Editor’s Note:

If you have any information for Frank regarding the D’Amore family,  please leave a comment below, or contact Taylor Street Archives.

June 24, 2011

Hello Mr. Romano,

I am a family researcher looking for information about my husband’s great grandfather, Michele (Michael) Marino.

Michele (Michael) Marino originated from Brindisi, Italy and was born about 1857 to Nicola Marino and Moddalena LaRocco.

Michael Marino lived in Chicago from about 1890 to 1927.

He resided at:

In 1900 – 122 Austin Ave., Chicago and was a laborer working on the streets.

In 1910 – 946 Grand Ave., Chicago and worked as a teamster (wagon).

Are these locations part of the Little Italy neighborhood?

He also had an Italian import store. I do not know the year or the location.

I am attaching a photograph with the hope that you might be able to give me some ideas about the store.

Michele (Michael) died in June of 1927.

Thank you in advance for any insight you might proved.

Regards,

Linda Dooley

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June 25, 2011

Your husband’s name is?

Many IA who settled into the Grand Ave neighborhood, (just north of Taylor Street’s Little Italy) originally came to Taylor Street’s Little Italy first. I will put your email in our “Lost and Found” section which will be in operatoin shortly.

Editor’s Note:

If you have any information for Linda regarding Michele (Michael) Marino,  please leave a comment below, or contact Taylor Street Archives.

March 27, 2011

Vince,

I sent a request for help finding my great grandparent Anthony August Campagna’s brothers & sister, I hope that you can help. We all lived on Taylor St. at one time or another.

I’m also looking for our best friend’s father’s info.

He was shot & killed outside a candy & newspaper store at 1064 Taylor on Jan 8 1937. There’s a large article written in the Police Gazette at the time.

Ben J. Greco married to Mary Greco both from Colabria, Italy.

Sons:

Jimmy 1928-1930

Ben 1931,

Fred 1932

Thanks for any help you can give, send info to me please

Midge Mader

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March 27, 2011

Midge,

Thank you for sending your family history to the Taylor Street Archives. It will be an asset to the history of the neighborhood.

We will also begin to check out the Campagna Family. We did know a Ralph Campagna who was a teacher. Could he be a relative?

We are developing a part of the Archives titled Lost and Found so people can ask about relatives and others can repond. Hope to hear from you soon.

Tommie Romano

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March 28, 2011

I don’t know about a Ralph Campagna at all, but who knows.

The other info I was asking about was on a shooting on Taylor St. 1064, it was Jan 8 1937.

Ben J. Greco was shot outside the candy & newspaper store, he lived next door to it. Ben & Mary Greco had 3 sons.

Jimmy 1928-1930

Ben 1931

Fred 1932 who is my close friend & he asked me to see what you could find out about the murder of his father. Ben was 4 at the time & knows that there was a big article in the Police Gazette at the time. So I tried to find something on the internet but couldn’t find a thing.

Thanks for you help.

Midge Mader

Editor’s Note:

If you have any information for Midge regarding the Campagna family,  or the murder of Ben J. Greco, please leave a comment below, or contact Taylor Street Archives.