Pitches on the Prairie Ep 3 - Kuppenheimer Stadium

Description

Kuppenheimer Stadium

The third installment of Soccer History Lives Here’s #pitchesontheprairie project is now available!

LOCATION: Chicago’s North Lawndale Community, between 18th Street and 19th Street (North/South) on Keeler Ave, just north of K-Town Historic District

Shirt:  “Trans People Belong” in Soccer/Sports

Kuppenheimer Stadium was one of three primarily soccer focused grounds (not quite earning the moniker, Soccer Specific Stadium) on the West Side of Chicago, near the border with Cicero, in the first half of the 20th century. 

Located on the property of the Kuppenheimer & Company clothing factory, this ground hosted many important matches in the 1930’s, including a game in the 1934 US Open Cup semi-finals (referred to as “the US Challenge Cup Western Finals” at the time). 

During its heyday, Peel Cup winning side Maccabees A.C. and Hakoah Center hosted teams from throughout the midwest there. Jewish sporting events such as the 1932 Jewish Youth Field Day demonstrate that 19th and Keeler was an important site for Chicagoland's Jewish sporting community.

Soccer History Lives Here Logo element, Raised Fist: Community Solidarity

Historic Details 1

Historic Details 2

Historic Details 3

Credits

CITATIONS:

Kuppenheimer Clothing Store Image, Wikipedia, public use

SHLH concept image of Kuppenheimer Stadium by Drew Wasserman

Narration video filmed in North Lawndale on 3 August 2026

Kuppenheimer Softball team from Chicago Jewish History Newsletter Vol. 43 No. 3 Summer 2019

Chicago Maccabees AC photo 1930, Hap Meyer Collection, Southern Illinois Edwardsville

1950 Sanborn Map, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Sanborn Map Company

1938 Aerial Photo of North Lawndale

Chicago Bricklayers with Anton Cermak, Hap Meyer Collection, Southern Illinois Edwardsville

Chicago Hebrews: 9 Sep 1917 Chicago Tribune

Youth photo: Crane Tech HS, Eli, the Story of a Patriarch by Eli Field

Hakoah Vienna Team photos, Vienna Hakoah collection

Bela Guttman photo,  James Brown Collection

1926 White Sox Park, 10 May 1926 Chicago Tribune

1926 White Sox Park Chicago win, 17 May 1926 Chicago Tribune

Hakoah Centers Photo, National Soccer League 50th Anniversary program

Sparta team with Peel Cup, 1932 final post game photo, Hap Meyer Collection, Southern Illinois Edwardsville

Program, 1937 Peel Cup Final, Carbon Hill Museum, Dick Vidano Collection

Clippings with Julius Hjulian: Herb Choice Collection, 1933

1932 Jewish Youth Field Day (15 May 1932 Chicago Tribune)