Name Of Frank Lloyd Wright's Racist Lawyer Stripped From Glencoe House

GLENCOE, IL — The Glencoe Historical Society announced it has renamed a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed cottage after discovering that the original owner, Sherman Booth, played a central role in a scheme that used racially restrictive covenants and eminent domain to displace Black, Italian and Greek residents from the village nearly a century ago.

The result: the Black population of Glencoe went from about 10 percent in 1920 to 5 percent in 1930 to below 1 percent, where it remains today.

The cottage, previously known as the Booth Cottage, has now been officially named the Ravine Bluffs Cottage, according to the society. It was commissioned in 1913 as a temporary home for his family during the construction of a larger home.

The structure is recognized for its architectural significance as one of the early examples of Wright's Prairie-style design, which later influenced his 'Usonian' style aimed at creating affordable housing.

In 2020, the Glencoe Historical Society, or GHS, arranged to save it from demolition by taking ownership of the cottage and relocating it to Ravine Bluffs Park. But new research conducted by the society has brought to light Booth's leading role in an organized effort to restrict minority communities from owning property in Glencoe.

This discovery came to light during an ongoing exhibit on Glencoe’s Black history, which opened in 2022 at the GHS museum on Park Avenue.

“We cannot change our history, but we are committed to truthfully reporting it and learning from the mistakes of those who came before us," the society's board declared.

Booth was instrumental in establishing the Glencoe Homes Association, also known as "the Syndicate," which was involved in purchasing properties in southern Glencoe from minority residents and implementing racially restrictive covenants.

These covenants prohibited the sale, lease, or occupancy of properties to anyone who was not Caucasian. The restrictions were later expanded to specifically exclude “Negroes, or Italians, or Greeks, or descendants thereof.”

Records revealed that Booth served as Secretary and General Counsel of the association, frequently notarizing property sales, issuing deeds from his law office and making sure all homes the syndicate sold were bound by these racially restrictive covenants.

When purchasing property from Black residents faced resistance, Booth worked through the Glencoe Park District — he was a co-founder, officer and commissioner of the district from 1912 to 1929.

He pushed the district to use the power of eminent domain to create parks along Green Bay Road, South School, and what is now Watts Park, effectively forcing out many Black and Italian homeowners who refused to sell to the syndicate.

Even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled racially restrictive covenants unenforceable in 1948, Booth's racist legacy remained.

As late as 1960, a mortgage lender required a Black purchaser to obtain a release of the syndicate’s reverter signed by Booth, even though he had died four years earlier.

A museum is planned for the cottage to help visitors “learn from this history so that it will never happen again," according to GHS representatives.

Earlier:

• Saved From Wrecking Ball, Frank Lloyd Wright House Moved To Park
• Threatened Frank Lloyd Wright House In Glencoe Could Be Preserved
• Glencoe Accepts Application To Demolish Frank Lloyd Wright House'
• Endangered' Frank Lloyd Wright Home In Glencoe Sold For $550,000
• 2 Historic Glencoe Homes Among 'Most Endangered' Places In State