Pitches on the Prairie Ep 3 - Kuppenheimer Stadium

Part 1 - Historic Details

Kuppenheimer Stadium

LOCATION: Chicago’s North Lawndale Community, between 18th Street and 19th Street (North/South) on Keeler Ave, just north of K-Town Historic District (1-3, Sanborn Map, Aerials)

Shirt:  “Trans People Belong” in Soccer/Sports

Soccer had been played in the Kuppenheimer Stadium area from at least 1904 when the White Star Rangers played matches at 18th and Keeler in the Chicago Football Association league. Included on the Rangers roster in that 1904 season was Albert Shallcross, an immigrant from England and a mainstay of the Chicago soccer scene for more than 4 decades. We’ll be talking a lot more about Albert Shallcross when we cover Pullman’s extensive soccer history (4).

The primarily British immigrant White Star team did not last long, and soccer seemed to take a hiatus at the field until 1914 when Slavia played games at 18th and Keeler. Slavia, previously known as the Bohemian Sporting Club were a Czech aggregation and the fact that they called the area their local ground, highlights the makeup of the immigrant community on the west side of North Lawndale in the early 1900’s.

In 1920, B. Kuppenheimer & Co. purchased the land where they would build their clothing factory and sports stadium, but it would take more than a decade to complete the project. As construction on the factory at 4101 W.  18th St was taking place, sport was happening in the area as well. The Roosevelt Athletic Club started playing there in 1925 and their rebranded Hakoah (which means “strength” in Hebrew) team in 1927, highlighting the importance of Jewish sport in the space.

As professional soccer in Chicago was finding its footing, numerous clubs began paying their players, including the Maccabees Athletic Club team (5). While initially a Jewish club, Maccabees did not limit their players to the Jewish community. The 1936 Peel Cup winners recruited heavily from the Scottish diaspora to help win games and had long-time Chicago Bricklayers player, Clem Cuthbert (6) on the field and on the sidelines as head coach. 

CREDITS:

1-Vienna Hakoah Collection

2-1950 Sanborn Map, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Sanborn Map Company

3-1938 Aerial Photo of North Lawndale

4-Shallcross, Chicago Tribune 20 Dec 1908 p. 16

5-Maccabees Team Photo 29-30, Hap Meyer Collection Southern Illinois Edwardsville

6-Game Program Maccabees, Carbon Hill Museum, Dick Vidano Collection

Part 2 - Historic Details: Kuppenheimer Stadium

In the early 20th century Chicago’s Lawndale was growing rapidly on the Illinois Prairie. The makeup of soccer teams in the area reflect that growth, initially British teams were looking for flat ground in 1904, then Czech teams in the early 10’s followed by Jewish teams in the 20’s.

By 1930, North Lawndale, as the community where Kuppenheimer is located was re-classified in 1922, was considered “an epicenter of Jewish culture in Chicago.” Primarily Jewish clubs like Roosevelt AC (who became Hakoah after the 1926 Vienna Hakoah tour-2) played at 19th and Keeler. Maccabees, who called Kuppenheimer home for most of their existence(3), committed to fielding a professional side.

The stadium was gone by 1940, though the open space was used for softball and ice hockey. Kuppenheimer & Co. sold off the land where the stadium sat, and an innovative housing project was initiated in 1959. The Lawndale Redevelopment Corporation purchased the property and endeavored to build "non-discriminatory housing.”(4)

Completed in 1969, Kedvale Square was a public/private partnership in which the housing was built by a private builder and the federal government would help “middle income” families pay for their units (5). The project won a distinguished design award from the American Institute of Architects, but actual construction was poor, and residents had to spend excessively to maintain the property. By 1972, Kedvale Square was the subject of a New York Times story about “urban blight.”(6)

The Kedvale Square project was not the first time housing had been a national story in the community. Martin Luther King Jr. moved into North Lawndale in 1966 in order to highlight housing discrimination in Chicago. His apartment at 1550 N Hamlin(7) is now a historic site and is about 4 miles from Kuppenheimer, though less than a block from 16th and Ayers, a field we’ll highlight in a future #pitchesontheprairie episode. 

Though the ground of Kuppenheimer Stadium is now empty, there has been a concerted effort to celebrate the history and vibrancy of the area with @BlockClubChicago and @MahogonyTours offering community walking tours. 

“Epicenter of Jewish community” from 

 (https://www.wttw.com/chicago-by-l/neighborhoods/north-lawndale)

1-North Lawndale Narration Video

2-Vienna Hakoah Team photo, Hap Meyer Collection Southern Illinois Edwardsville

3-Game Program Maccabees, Carbon Hill Museum, Dick Vidano Collection

4-21 July 1962 Chicago Defender 

5-Clipping with Daley 2 Dec 1967 Chicago Tribune

6-NYT article 13 Jan 1972

7-King Photo Chicago Architecture Center

8-Mahagony Tours

Part 3 - Historic Details: Kuppenheimer Soccer Matches, Players and Teams

By 1939, top level soccer at 19th and Keeler was gone and, in many ways, the rise and fall of Kuppenheimer Stadium mirrored Chicago’s professional soccer scene in the 1930’s. 

“Professional” teams came and went, and though some local clubs like Sparta could still pull in sizable crowds, as the US moved toward WW II, a lot of teams and grounds disappeared, and that included Kuppenheimer.

Despite its short history, Kuppenheimer Stadium had a lot of high-quality games and players. #USMNT stars Billy Gonsalves (2) and Julius Hjulian (3-Sparta, circled) played home games there, and in 1934 a match in the best of 3 #USOpenCup Western final between Chicago’s Wieboldt Wonderbolts and St. Louis Stix, Baer & Fuller took place there (4-a 1-0 win for the Chicago side).

The Maccabees team was the longest serving tenant. Originally an amateur side mainly made up of players from the local Jewish community, Maccabees became a fully professional side, which recruited international players such as Jimmy Ramsay, (who may have been a @Cowdenbeath player, 5), James McGee (reportedly a former @PrestonNorthEnd player)  and the creatively named German player, “Twenty Grand” Hubert (6). 

After winning the Illinois championship Peel Cup in 1936, Maccabees had designs on winning the National Championship as well. In 1938 they became Manhattan Beer, a team that will feature in a number of future Soccer Lives Here stories (7). 

The “Brewers” recruited heavily and in addition to the aforementioned Gonsalves included World Cup veteran Warner “Scotty” Nilsen, as well as Spanish player, Fabri Salcedo in their lineups. Billy Alexander, a successful manager and another enigmatic Chicago soccer figure was their manager as they almost succeeded in winning the 1939 US Open Cup title, finishing runners-up to Brooklyn Celtic St. Mary (8).

While Kuppenheimer Stadium in North Lawndale had only a decade or so of history, it packed in a lot of very high quality soccer and its location at 19th and Keeler is definitely a spot where Soccer History Lives.

Citations

1) Maccabees Team Photo 29-30, Hap Meyer Collection, Southern Illinois Edwardsville

2) Billy Gonsalves Photo, Hap Meyer Collection, Southern Illinois Edwardsville

3) 1927-Sparta Team Photo-11 Apr 1927 Chicago Tribune-Hjulian Circled

4) Wonderbolts Article-18 Mar 1934 Chicago Tribune

5) Ramsay Cowedebeath-18 Mar 1934 Chicago Tribune

6) Clippings with “Twenty Grand”: Herb Choice Collection, 1933 

7) Manhattan Beer team photo-9 Apr 1939 Chicago Tribune

8) Brooklyn St. Mary Celtic-1935 Brooklyn Football Foundation