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On Lincoln Park History Tour, Dogs, People Find Common Interest in Statues

By Mina Bloom | October 19, 2014 8:54am
  At the History Museum's puppy crawl, tourgoers bring their pups along to learn about Lincoln Park's rich history.
History Puppy Crawl
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LINCOLN PARK — Chicago History Museum volunteer Henry Wykowski says there's no better way to learn about Lincoln Park's history than with your four-legged friend by your side.

"Instead of a pub crawl, we should have a puppy crawl," said Wykowski, adding that he pitched the idea to a "very receptive museum audience" last winter.

"We should combine the history, and I know the watering spots," he said while leading tourgoers through a winding park trail Saturday morning. "I also make a joke that they can bring their dogs because the dogs find the statues just as interesting as the people do."

Around 15 years ago, dog owners weren't able to walk their pups as freely in the park areas surrounding the museum, said Wykowski, who has been volunteering for the museum since 2008. The dog-friendly tours have been held about five times this year.

"When I first moved here, police would come up and chase us away with our dogs," he said.

On Saturday, seven people took the tour despite the rain and low temperatures, and had to carry their dogs to each historical landmark.

Wykowski led the group to one of Lincoln Park's historic watering holes — explaining that it was designed for horses but now dogs can use it. 

He said it was a great "running spot" for dogs, as well.

"Unless you want to bathe your dogs, you don't want to do it until at least May," he said.

In addition to a few dog-related stops, the tour mainly focused on the area's history. 

When the Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Abraham Lincoln statue, situated on the east lawn of the Chicago History Museum, was unveiled in 1883, the crowd gasped because they thought the statue was so lifelike and "captured the essence of Lincoln," Wykowski said.

It's been said that the sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, asked Lincoln to hold a broomstick, but Lincoln's hands were so swollen from shaking hands at the presidential inauguration that he couldn't properly grasp the stick, he said.

"The funny thing is I've lived here 12 years, and I've never even seen that Lincoln statue," said Evanston resident Chuck Mallory who brought along his dog Maybe, an Italian greyhound who has its own Twitter account, with 96 followers.

Tek Chung, a 33-year-old from Lakeview, held his dog Wrigley, a Chihuahua and Maltese mix named after the historic ballpark, while Wykowski led the tour everywhere from the Lincoln Park Zoo to an old Confederate graveyard where the park's softball fields are located.

Chung said he's never taken Wrigley to a tour like this one before, adding that it was the dog's first time in the rain. 

Wrigley spent the majority of the tour shivering and whimpering in the wet, cold weather.

"People want to be with their buddies," Wykowski said at the end of the tour. "Dogs have a universal, unconditional love for people, and you can't separate them."

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