Excavating Chicago from the Armours to Mies: Notes from the Field

Abstract

Abstract Chicago's preoccupation with its architectural heritage has created an architourism industry around extant works by famous architects like Daniel H. Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Mies van der Rohe. The social histories of these buildings can be illuminated through archaeological research such as the 2023 summer field project at the former sites of the Armour Mission and the Armour Flats. Excavation there produced materials related to the processes of urban renewal that made manifest the Mies-designed site plan for the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) campus. Amid building demolition, we recovered evidence of food consumption patterns as well as several children's toys from the turn of the twentieth century. The results presented here are preliminary—full analysis will be shared with our community partners in the Black Metropolis National Heritage Area to see what responses, correctives, or new questions for future research emerge.