The dominant political figure among Chicago Italians for the past
thirty years has been Democratic Congressman Frank Annunzio. Annunizio began his career
in the mid 1930s as an industrial arts and history teacher at Schurz High School,
became legislative and educational director of the United Steel Workers of America, chair
of the War Rations in Illinois, and in 1949 director of the Illinois Department of Labor
in the administration of Adlai Stevenson.
In 1992 old age and redistricting prompted Annunzio's retirement and
loss of his district for Italian Americans.
1 ETHNIC CHICAGO: A Multicultural Portrait, Melvin G. Holli and Peter d'A. Jones, EDS., William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Michigan, p.256.
"On December 26th 1972 after returning from a
United Five Organization meeting, two Gaylords were jumped by a stationwagon full of K-Town Lords.
'Harpo,' a 14 year old member was found cowardly executed with multiple stab wounds to
the back."
R.I.P
1958-HARPO-1972
Harpo will always live in our hearts and in our minds!
Almighty Manor Bowl
1967 - 1969
Reinberg Gaylords At The Sugar Bowl Restaurant
The restaurant was called the "Beef Hut", but no one called it that. We called it what it was called back in the old greaser days, "The sugar bowl!"
That was our hang out during the week. Picture was taken in the early 1970's.
Reinberg Gaylords Baseball Team Early 1970s
Senator Annunzzio1973
Reinberg School Boys, was from a softball team we had made up of Gaylords. It didn't say Gaylords anywhere on the shirt because we were sponsored by the Northwest Youth Outreach Center who's goal was to
steer us in the right direction in life, and gang activity was looked down on. The pinnacle of this endevor was a game played at Thillens Stadium on the far North Side. It pitted us against the youth, and
drug counselors from the Outreach Center. The first pitch was thrown out by state Senator Annunzzio, who later went on to become a congressman, and later a judge. The picture was in the local newspapers,
I believe the Times, and said what a great job the Outreach Center was doing with the troubled youth of the Northwest Side. We didn't get to put Gaylords on the shirt, but the colors were correct, a fact
that went over the sponsors heads.
We also participated in a neighborhood clean up at Six Corners, Irving, Milwaukee, and Cicero. This was sponsored by the Northwest National Bank. We would go to the bank get brooms and garbage bags and clean
and sweep the streets starting from the inter-section and cleaning two blocks in all directions. After that we were taken into the bank and fed lunch in their employee cafeteria, and paid five dollars.
A picture was taken at this time and was also in the neighborhood newspapers.This cleanup continued for the summer that year, but got less and less people to show up each week.
We got paid every week that we worked after that, but the free lunch was only supposed to be for the first week. No one at the bank bothered to tell the women who ran the cafeteria,
so she kept giving us free lunch every Saturday, for about six weeks, until bank officials caught on. Who said there is no such thing as a free lunch?
ReinbergGaylords
Members of the Reinberg School Gaylords help out the community with a cleanup
around the 6 Corners area ( Cicero -Irving-Milwaukee). left to right; Lil Mike, Shaft, Nick and Wino from the St. Gens. Gaylords. Early 1970s.
1973
Gaylords
