Cermak, Anton, House - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 50.904 W 087° 42.986
16T E 440525 N 4633192
A new addition to the National Register in 2011, the former Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak’s house that he inhabited for 10 years until his assassination in 1933.
Waymark Code: WMD2D1
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/09/2011
Views: 10
Excerpted from (
visit link)
"The house is located in South Lawndale, now a heavily Mexican neighborhood (but formerly the center of a large Bohemian Czech population.) The two-story brick building looks very ordinary, nothing particular to be distinguished from its neighbors.
Born in Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic) in 1873, Cermak emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1874. Cermak was prominent in establishing the Democratic Machine in Chicago, which has been Democratic ever since. On February 15, 1933 while in Miami with FDR on a presidential campaign, Cermak was shot by a bullet that some claimed was intended for FDR. The mayor struggled for 20 days until he met his final fate. The story goes that while in hospital, Cermak told FDR, “I’m glad it was me instead of you.” A few months after Cermak's death, nearby 22nd Street was renamed after him, now Cermak Road.
Cermak’s body was carried back to Chicago on March 8, 1933. It stayed at his last residence for one full day before the city funeral on March 10. The final destination for Mayor Cermak was the Bohemian National Cemetery."
South Lawndale is a fascinating study of a neighborhood that underwent a complete ethnic transition beginning in the years following WW2.