August 2011

Dr. Mary Emma Thompson, a noted authority on Post Office murals in the state of Illinois, will present a slide show and discussion on this important legacy of the Federal government at the Park Ridge Non Profit Center (720 Garden Street) on Sunday, August 21, at 2:00 p.m. This timely presentation is an opportunity for residents to learn more about the broad history of Federal government programs which provided work opportunities during the Great Depression years of the 1930s to the early 1940s. Dr. Thompson’s program will specifically focus on the artwork commissioned by the U.S. Treasury for Post Office buildings. Murals for approximately seventy Illinois Post Office buildings were commissioned during this period.

Dr. Thompson is an authority on New Deal Treasury Department artwork in Illinois. For nearly twenty years, she has studied and researched the murals which still grace many of the Post Offices or communities to which they were assigned. She has published a number of guides and books intended to illuminate historic themes as depicted through mural art. Many of these books are available at the Park Ridge Public Library.

Park Ridge has a special connection to this 

Those who were in attendance at the Summit on Thursday, May 26, enjoyed a real treat as Those Were the Days Radio Players presented a night of classic radio. Live organ music and authentic sound effects, along with the radio-quality voices of these spectacular actors, brought to life many of the popular radio shows of the 1930’s and 1940’s. For those of us fortunate enough to be there that night, it was as if we had all stepped back in time and were actually sitting in the studio of a radio station, watching and listening as the radio show was broadcast live over the air.

“The Shadow,” “Little Orphan Annie,” and “The Aldrich Family” were just a few of the familiar radio shows that were profiled in the 70-minute performance. As part of a special Memorial Day tribute, the group also presented Norman Corwin’s iconic 1944 wartime documentary focusing on one specific soldier as seen through the eyes of those who knew him, and a 1942 Jack Benny program entitled “Going After Rommel.” These programs, though broadcast 70 years ago, still honor our troops and their sacrifices today. The group then closed with a performance of the classic Abbott and Costelloskit, “Who’s on First.” The Radio Players Northwest Ensemble has performed continuously in Park Ridge and the surrounding suburbs for the past twenty years. Doing about 25 shows a year for community groups and retirement homes, they bring laughter, tears,and enjoyable old time radio entertainment to their “listeners.” All in all, this was an evening of sheer nostalgic delight.

“I can remember visiting Eugene’s studio, located in a three-car garage with about a thirty-foot extension to the north where he kept just about every issue of National Geographic. The walls of this large room were lined with bookcases filled with the magazines. It was so full of stuff that there was no room for a car in the garage.

Romeo was a prolific sculptor in various mediums—bronze, marble, stone, iron, and plaster. He was especially skilled at bas-relief and high relief (a sculpture technique in which figures or other design elements protrude from a flat background.) Romeo was also a skilled painter and designer.He joined the McNulty Brothers Company in Chicago, experts in architectural detailing, including wall ornamentation and decorative façade castings. McNulty projects touched the walls of Chicago’s finest buildings, including the Board of Trade, Chicago Daily News Building, Soldier Field, Merchandise Mart, Wrigley Building, Union Station and the Field Museum.