Benito Juarez Statue
Heriberto Galindo, the consul general of Mexico in Chicago, presented this statue of Mexican president Benito Juarez to the city of Chicago in February 1999. President Juarez, who served several terms from 1861 to 1872, was the first Native American president of Mexico and a friend to United States President Abraham Lincoln.
The statue stands in the Plaza de las Americas, which was dedicated in honor of the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1996. The flags surrounding the plaza represent the member countries of the OAS, which includes among its number Mexico and the United States.
The Mexican government dedicated the sculpture in part to honor Chicago's large Mexican and Mexican-American communities. Immigrants from Mexico began arriving in significant numbers in Chicago in the first two decades of the twentieth century. They worked as laborers with the railroad, on construction sites, and in the steel and packinghouse industries. Mexican immigrants established enclaves near their worksites, most notably in the Back of the Yards neighborhood and the Near West Side. In more recent years, Mexican populations have flourished in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods.
Chicago's Mexican immigrants have been subject to racism, especially after the Great Depression and during and immediately after World War II. Despite these challenges, Mexican communities have flourished in Chicago and make up a significant portion of the population. At the time of the 2000 census, more than 1.1 million Mexican and Mexican-American people lived in Chicago's metropolitan area, 530,000 of whom reside within Chicago's city limits.
Credits and Sources:
Arredondo, Gabriela F. and Derek Vaillant. "Mexicans." Encyclopedia of Chicago Online. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/824.html. Accessed July 2016.
"Statue Of Mexican Hero Juarez Is Unveiled." Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-02-23/news/9902230150_1_statue-unveiled-mexican-government. Accessed July 2016.
Zangs, Mary. The Chicago 77. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014.
Text and photographs by Hope Shannon, Loyola University Chicago
