Renaming Chicago’s oldest house was a needed tribute to city’s Black history

Thank you for your editorial regarding the name change of Chicago’s oldest house to include my parents Bishop Louis Henry Ford and Margaret Little Ford.

The new name will prompt those interested in history to discover this African American family actually lived in and retained ownership of the house longer than any of its previous owners.

We, the Ford family, moved into the house at 4526 South Wabash Avenue in 1941 when I was 3 years old. I am the oldest living Ford former resident. Oh, the stories I have.

My parents sacrificed to fulfill the vision of my father and to keep the promises they made to the Walters sisters, from whom they purchased the house, to maintain it and to use it to help others. For 36 years, dogged determination and faith in God enabled them to see it through.

We are grateful the city of Chicago has acknowledged this Black history by approving the renaming of Chicago’s oldest house to include its preservationist, Bishop Louis Henry Ford and my mother Margaret Little Ford.

Janet Grace Ford Hill, Oak Park

More Jan. 6 rioters wrongly get probation

I am so tired of reading that someone who participated in the Jan. 6th insurrection — and it was an insurrection, despite what Republicans who drank Trump’s Kool-Aid want to call it — was given a slap on the wrist.

Yet more participants have been given probation. I don’t care if any of these people were model citizens until that day or spent two minutes in the Capital building; once you were there you were part of the insurrection, once you stepped one foot in that building, seeing clearly what was going on around you and not turning around and saying to yourself, “I’m not going to be a part of this, this is wrong,” you are guilty.

I remember seeing horrible things, police being injured, even killed, by a crazed mob and some ignorant idiots defiling the offices of people working for our democracy. These idiots shamed our country forever in the the eyes of the world. We will no longer be respected for our democracy.

I remember thinking, “Great, now they will all be thrown into prison,” as they would in any other country. But no, many got little wrist slaps. What lesson does this teach others?

Judges have yet again let us down. This should have been taken seriously and the sentences harsh, so no one will think they can get away with doing this type of thing ever again.

Connie Orland, Plainfield