And by “mass,” that’s in the ballpark (or should that be “memorial” park?) of 38,000 bodies interred on the grounds between 1855 and 1912, according to Curbed. To quote young Carol Anne from the movie, “They’re here!” But developers don’t know exactly where within the site’s 320 acres.

Bodies were uncovered by developers as recently as 1989 when workers found remains when laying pipe for a condominium complex. Now, the prospect of unearthing additional deceased is a grim reality facing the proposed $70 million high school project for the Dunning community on Chicago’s Northwest Side.

The proposed three-story brick building would accommodate about 1,100 students and alleviate overcrowding at nearby Taft High School. As for when a student body will replace the dead bodies on the property, milestones are still being discussed. At a presentation in October 2017, Chicago Public Schools demographics director Jim Dispensa alluded to the “archeological concerns” that plague the project and how the city might manage them.

The city’s Public Building Commission dug trenches through the site of the school, studied archeologists’ maps and used radar technology to search for human remains, according to spokesman Bryant Payne. They also drew up a five-page list of “archaeological protocols,” instructing workers remove and relocate any remains they find. — Curbed

Fortunately, the Northwest Chicago Historical Society unearthed a map drawn in the 1990s by a Chicago-Read Mental Hospital administrator that marks where human remains are located, which should prove a boon to workers tasked with removing the bodies. Whether or not the dead can be identified is another story.

Historian Mounted Massive Dunning Identification Project

Barry Fleig, a former cemetery chairman of the Chicago Genealogical Society, spearheaded efforts to identify Dunning’s buried and released a database in 2014, reported DNAInfo, a Chicago news service. As gallant as the attempt was painstaking, Fleig’s efforts only yielded a database of 8,000 names at the time of that report, though the project has continued. Records show that by 1890, Cook County was burying about a thousand bodies on the site every year, but matching death certificates to the deceased is an onerous prospect.

“These are the people who fell through the cracks,” Fleig told the Chicago Tribune when the database was first made available. “These poor people were forgotten, but they don’t have to be forgotten anymore.”

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The bill creates a new model for education funding that is required as part of a budget deal approved by legislators earlier this summer, reported the Associated Press. Governor Rauner removed the part in the bill that he described as giving “an unfair diversion” of money to help CPS teacher pensions and removed funding that the district previously received in the form of a block grant, according to Reuters.

A compromise over the new model for education funding has required decades of back and forth between both Republican and Democratic legislators. Both sides agree that the current, 20-year-old calculation to fund public schools across the state is unfair because it requires them to rely heavily on property taxes. In turn, this creates an unequal balance in per-student funding, but lawmakers continue to disagree on how to fix the problem, according to the Associated Press.

The bill currently under debate includes a formula that gives money to the neediest districts first after making sure that no district receives less money than the previous school year. This includes pension help for CPS since it is the only state district that pays the employer portion of teacher pension costs, reported the Associated Press.

Now that Governor Rauner made changes to the bill, it will return to the legislature where three-fifths of lawmakers in both chambers need to approve or override Rauner’s changes. If neither side can raise the required votes, then the legislation will die.

Without the new bill, schools will not be funded, including the first round of payments due to schools on Aug. 10. As of now, all schools are expected to open on time, but some will be forced to make cuts or even close if an agreement isn’t made this fall.

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As the first public high school for African American students in the nation, Dunbar began its incredible history in a church basement in 1870. It has since grown to produce scores of notable African American leaders and, with its new construction, now stands as a monument to generations past while looking into the future.

“We wanted our building in many ways to build upon the past and show the students you’re not just in any school — you’re in Dunbar High School,” said Perkin Eastman’s Sean O’Donnell, principal-in-charge. “There are eight people associated with Dunbar High School that are on U.S. postage stamps. You’re part of this legacy and lineage of remarkable accomplishment.”

The site of Dunbar High School has now seen the construction of a new school three separate times. The classic architecture of the 1917 Dunbar building was demolished in the 1970s to build the most recent Dunbar High School. The building, which closed a street once utilized by the community, was virtually windowless, lightless and airless, O’Donnell said. The structure and design of the 1976 building ultimately created a divide between the iconic school from the surrounding community.

“We wanted to celebrate that because in some ways the 1976 in many ways tried to erase the history by demolishing its predecessor,” O’Donnell said.

In contrast, the new building is open and visually connected to the neighboring environment, O’Donnell said, inciting reinvigorated pride in school and its commitment to high-quality education. Additionally, the once-closed street is now reopened as a green street for the community to enjoy.

“By building on tradition but doing it in a modern way, this helps reassert the prominence of its academic programs,” O’Donnell said.

The new building is essentially on the footprints of the 1917 building, described by O’Donnell as a gorgeous piece of classic architecture, and utilized such classic elements as bay windows and towers reminiscent of the first building.

The interior also showcases notes of the past, for example, with the recreation of the armory. The armory of the 1917 building served as a training space for ROTC students, but was also a beloved social hub for the community. Now, the armory will continue where it left off as a central gathering place for both students and the community. The two-story armory, which has an abundance of natural light and views, will also serve as an extended informal learning space equipped with a food court and areas for small group learning.

“We’re honoring tradition while looking forward into the 21st century,” O’Donnell said.

With such honored alumni ranging from celebrated musicians to prominent government officials, the architects wanted to visibly showcase the former students who grew to greatness.

“We came up with a plan to integrate and celebrate those people within the very fabric of the building,” O’Donnell said.

There are 200 plaques in Dunbar High School, half of which are filled with portraits and photographs of distinguished alumni and half remain empty as inspiration to students.

“The idea is that you’ll see yourself on that plaque one day,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell hopes the new Dunbar High School becomes a strengthened resource to the community while standing as a visual entity of the outstanding tradition it holds.

“It will also be a catalyst because this is a community that’s in transition from kind of a tough neighborhood,” O’Donnell said. “We’re hoping that this building, by not being a fortress, by being open and engaged with the community, will inspire a larger renewal of the community around it.”
 

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