I was born in Alton, Ill., and when I was 4 years old, we moved to Chicago and settled where Cabrini-Green now is. So I’ve lived in the same neighborhood virtually all my life. My office right now is exactly four blocks from where I was raised. I graduated from and taught for 25 years at Schiller Elementary School, which is just a couple of blocks from here. Where I live now is four blocks from Schiller School. And, incidentally, Ernie Banks and Billy Williams lived right here, too, while they were playing for the Cubs.
This area was referred to as Little Italy at that time because there was a large number of Italians living here. There were also some blacks, some Irish, some Germans. We got along well. We never had problems with gangs, drugs or alcohol. There were a few bad individuals, but gangs were non-existent. No one knew anything about drugs.
I was a public-aid recipient for about 10 years growing up on the North Side of Chicago. I’ve never looked down on anyone who uses the system, but I believe that that’s a temporary station in life and that we should all work toward getting off it. And once we get off it, we should pay back to that system. So what I’m doing right now, particularly through the Tumblers, where I have never taken a salary, is giving back to Chicago all that it gave to me when I was growing up.
Some of my fondest memories revolve around sports in Chicago. As a kid, I found a number of places where I could play. There were the Eli Bates Center, Seward Park and Stanton Park. I’d go over to Seward Park a lot because they had a good gymnastics coach over there and they’d put on gym shows. At Stanton Park, we used to swim at a facility called The Tank, which is still there and is now an enclosed, Olympic-size swimming pool.
I played a lot of softball and baseball in both of those parks, and that turned out to be important for me, since I was eventually signed to play for the Cubs. At Eli Bates, we had a fellow by the name of Fred Ross, who was a retired physical education teacher from the Chicago Board of Education. He worked hard to get me to realize that there was this big, wide, wonderful world out there and that I should not ever get involved with being concerned about the color of a person’s skin.
He was a hard-driving individual, and it seems like every person I became involved with as a kid in Chicago was always on the mark in terms of how you should treat your fellow man and woman. And I’ve used what I learned from the people who represented Chicago’s institutions in my everyday dealings with people during all of my adult life. They taught me high morals and good character, and I’ve always tried to emulate that. It has paid off tremendously for me, so now I try to share all the things that I’ve been the beneficiary of with the kids I work with.
As a result of going to the Eli Bates Center and the park district facilities, I became a pretty good basketball player at Waller High School, which is now Lincoln Park Academy. One of the most memorable moments of my life was the time I scored 69 points in one game, which was unprecedented. My name appeared on the back of the Chicago Tribune in a headline that said, “White Scores 69 Points.” I averaged 28 or 29 points in a game and was All-City in baseball and basketball. Because of this, I went to Alabama State College on a basketball and baseball scholarship. Again, Chicago and its institutions provided me with the support I needed to get more from the larger world.
Another of my favorite Chicago memories was the time I signed the contract to play for the Cubs. I was highly elated that day because when I went to Wrigley Field, there were about 600 individuals out there trying out for the Cubs and I was one of only six that they selected. I was 18 when they said they wanted to offer me a contract, and I thought that was big time. The fact that the kids in the neighborhood knew the Cubs had offered me a contract and that I got to play at Wrigley Field when I was trying out-those are great memories.
Chicago has the world’s largest park system. When you give kids a chance to use their idle time wisely, they’ll always benefit from that. So I applaud the park system in this city, for what it did for me and for what it is still doing for our kids.
And the school system, which provided sports as part of the curriculum, was a good one too. I was not a good student; I was an average student. But I wanted to play basketball and baseball, and they had the carrot dangling over the door. In order to play basketball and baseball, I had to go to school every day. And so I was pretty good in terms of attending school. And I went on to college for the same reason.
After being away at college and in the Army, I never considered living anywhere else. I loved Chicago then, and I love Chicago now. I think it’s probably the greatest city on the face of the Earth, and I would not call any place home other than Chicago.
I like Chicago even more now than when I was younger because I can appreciate it more now. When you have traveled and you compare other cities to Chicago, you quickly see that Chicago is miles ahead in terms of its beauty and its diverse communities. It’s nice that so many varied ethnic groups have settled in Chicago. And when the kids (in the Tumblers) travel with me, they see these things and they, too, appreciate Chicago. They’re happy to come back home to Chicago. They compare our parks and the skyline with those of other cities. They look in vain for the beautiful lake and the rivers in other cities. When that plane flies over Chicago, they have their eyes against those windows looking at the city. What an impressive sight. They appreciate it.
I love this city. I would not trade it for any of the cities I’ve visited, and I have visited almost every major city in the United States. This is No. 1, as far as I’m concerned. I am not going to live or retire anyplace but Chicago.
