As autumn gets underway in the Oak Park and River Forest area, organizations are offering chances to get better acquainted with some of the region’s historical figures and places, including some graveside visits.
The opportunities to soak up local lore are offered by bus, bike and strolling on foot to explore the legacy of Oak Park native Ernest Hemingway, learn about The Outfit’s historic presence in the area or tour a “living outdoor museum.”
In Ernie’s Footsteps: A Walking Tour of Young Hemingway’s Oak Park offers a look at the time this literary giant spent in his hometown via a 90-minute outdoor walking tour that steps off at 10 a.m. Sept. 20.
Stops along the way include the Hemingway Birthplace Museum, his boyhood home, Oak Park-River Forest High School, Oak Park Public Library and the World War I Memorial in Scoville Park.
The tour is led by Nancy Sindelar, a board member of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, who wrote “Influencing Hemingway: The People and Places That Shaped His Life and Work.”
Sindelar formerly taught English at Oak Park River Forest High School, where Hemingway graduated in 1917. A day in the classroom led to a valuable lesson for her students.
“I was teaching ‘A Farewell to Arms’ and my students said, ‘oh, Hemingway led such a fabulous life’ and they were moaning and groaning about their own lives. I said, ‘Let’s take a look at what he did in this school’.”
She showed students the 1917 school yearbook. They learned Hemingway was much like them, other than his having three short stories published in a literary magazine.
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He played on the football team, was on the swim team, played cello in the orchestra and was editor of the school newspaper. In other words, he was just another high school kid.
“The message to my students was that you don’t suddenly flip a page and have an interesting life,” Sindelar said.
She credits Hemingway’s strong work ethic with coming from his “very strict parents” who insisted “the children always had to be doing something worthwhile.”
“His grandfathers were both veterans of the Civil War, so he was very interested in how men show honor and courage,” she said. “He was an ambulance driver in World War I, and that became the basis of the plot of ‘A Farewell to Arms’.”
Each $40 ticket for the tour includes a copy of Sindelar’s book, while additional party members can purchase a $20 ticket without the book. The Birthplace Museum public tour is an additional $10. Information and tickets are at www.hemingwaybirthplace.com.
In the There Goes the Neighbor Hood Tour, scheduled for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sept. 22 and 29, John Binder, mob historian and author of “The Chicago Outfit,” showcases local gangster history through Oak Park and River Forest with visits to 13 houses that were once occupied by major mobsters such as Tony Accardo, Sam Giancana and “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn.
Binder sprinkles in facts about the criminal careers of the former owners, unique features of each home and other information.
Oak Park and River Forest were popular with mobsters because “there’s a lot of nice housing,” Binder said.
“They like something nice and quiet. After a busy day of racketeering, they want to come home, kick off their shoes and relax,” he said.
The tour departs from and returns to FitzGerald’s, 6615 W. Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn, lasts approximately two hours and travels by tour bus with no walking required, he said. Tickets are $40 with discounts available for those over age 65 and active military members. Information is at 708-287-9118 or www.chitowngangstertours.com.
A sidewalk tour titled West Side Stories: People and Architecture That Shaped River Forest offers a deep dive into what organizers call “a living outdoor museum of architecture and village history.”
The walk along Edgewood Place and Thatcher Avenue in River Forest steps off at 10 a.m. Sept. 28 at the northeast corner of Edgewood Place and Lake Street. It offers “fascinating and surprising stories about people who lived here” along with insight into the “renowned architects who created these remarkable homes,” according to a news release from the Oak Park River Forest Museum, which is hosting the tour. Tickets are $10. Information is at https://oprfmuseum.org.
Local tourists can trade hiking boots for pedals as they unearth lore during the Forest Home Cemetery Bike Tour. Led by Amy Binns-Calvey, the tour explores intriguing locations such as a Potawatami burial mound, the Ancient Order of Druids plot, a Civil War mortar, Billy Sunday’s memorial and more, according to a news release.
The tour is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 29 at the cemetery office, 963 Des Plaines Avenue in Forest Park. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.ForestParkHistory.org.
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
