Welsh history in Chicago


Over the years Chicago has been called home by many immigrant groups and cultures, the Welsh included.

The Welsh in the early history of Chicago

Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, whose grandparents were from Wales, is considered "The True Founder of Chicago". He became the first president of the town of Chicago in 1833, and is responsible for sub-dividing the city into sections and towns. In fact, in early Chicago history, some of the city's mayors were of close Welsh heritage, including:
Chicago has a few street names which owe their heritage to Wales. They include Berwyn Avenue and Bryn Mawr Avenue. These streets in the city's Edgewater neighborhood were named for stations on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line, located in towns named for Welsh places.

Welsh town and city names in Illinois

Some Illinois towns are named directly after towns in Wales, for their Welsh founders or prominent Welsh Americans, including: Berwyn, Cambria, Cardiff, Edwardsville, Evanston, St. David & Swansea.

The Chicago Eisteddfod of 1893

Aiming to match the grand scale of the World's Fair, the Welsh mounted an International Eisteddfod, a competitive literary and music festival, on the Fair grounds. Choral performances reportedly drew crowds of 6,000 to the Festival Hall. Clara Novello Davies took her Welsh Ladies Choir to Chicago and won the heat for ladies' choirs against competition from Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Salt Lake City and Ohio.

Prominent Welsh expatriates in Chicago – past and present

Chicagoans of Welsh descent have made their presence known in many arenas of entertainment and public service. To name a few: Secretary of State Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, comedian and actor Robin Williams, Chicago news reporter and host of 190 North Janet Davies, actress Denise Richards and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Chicago’s most infamous son of Wales is probably Murray the Hump, Al Capone’s chief lieutenant. Once America’s Public Enemy Number One, he was born in Chicago to Welsh parents from Llanidloes, Mid-Wales.

Present Welsh ties

Expatriated Welshmen continue to contribute to Chicago’s culture. Chicago is also home to three vibrant Welsh societies: The Chicago Tafia Welsh Society, The Welsh Women’s Club of Illinois and The Cambrian Benevolent Society of Chicago, catering to every facet of Welsh culture past and present. Welsh musicians often visit Chicago to perform; most recently: The Manic Street Preachers, The Joy Formidable, Marina and the Diamonds, Duffy, The Stereophonics, Jem, Cerys Matthews, Jon Langford, Bryn Terfel, Tom Jones, People in Planes, Future of the Left, Katherine Jenkins, Super Furry Animals, Funeral for a Friend, Goldie Lookin Chain, Here Be Dragons, David Llewellyn, Julian Jones & The Brit Bus Tour, numerous Welsh male voice choirs and authors Niall Griffiths, Fflur Dafydd, Aeronwy Thomas & Janet Quin-Harkin aka Rhys Bowen.
In 2007 the Illinois General Assembly signing into law Bill HR0149 that proclaimed March 1, 2007, and each year thereafter, as St. David's Day in the State of Illinois and recognizing the Welsh contribution to the state.
In 2008 Chicago was chosen as the host city for the North American Festival of Wales, the largest Welsh festival in North America.
On Saturday June 6, 2009 the United States national rugby union team played Wales in an international friendly at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.
Since 2009, Chicago's iconic Wrigley Building has been illuminated on March 1 in the Welsh national colours to honour St. David's Day.
On Sunday June 6, 2010 the cult independent Welsh film A Bit of Tom Jones? received its North American premiere in Chicago.
On March 1, 2018 four Chicago area buildings illuminated red, white & green to celebrate St. David's Day.
St. David's Episcopal Church in suburban Aurora contains a cornerstone of gray Cambrian limestone, shipped from Saint David’s Cathedral in Wales, which was laid and sealed on the eve of Saint David’s Day, February 28, 1959. A box inside the cornerstone holds, among other items, a note from the stonedresser in Pembrokeshire, Wales.