East Garfield Park, along with all of Chicago, lies on the ancestral lands of indigenous tribes, including the Council of Three Fires—comprising the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations—and the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo and Illinois Nations.

[2] On May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which forced the area's indigenous tribes to relocate west of the Mississippi River.

In addition, industrial areas developed along the northern, eastern and southern borders where railroad tracks of many of the major rail lines of the time were located.

[4] By 1900, East Garfield Park was a growing residential community, with first and second generation Irish and some Germans living in brick cottages, two-flats and older frame structures.

[4] The housing built throughout the community represented a lesson well-learned from the 1871 Chicago Fire as brick and stone structures predominated.

Located on the northeast corner of Homan Avenue and Washington Boulevard, across from Garfield Park, the building was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager.

Vice, crime, juvenile delinquency and gangs increased, challenging social service agencies such as Marillac House and the Sears YMCA.

Older housing stock deteriorated and neighborhood residents were displaced due to the construction of the Congress Street (now Eisenhower) Expressway.

[5] Industrial activities within East Garfield Park declined despite the presence of a large working class population, reflecting business choices to relocate where lower costs made operations more profitable.

[5] African Americans had been leaving their homes in the south since the turn of the century and by mid-century, their numbers had dramatically changed Chicago's demographic data; East Garfield Park was no exception to that transformation.

[8] By 1960, East Garfield Park demographics had changed considerably from earlier years, with black residents constituting 62 percent of the population.

[6] In 1968, rioting in the aftermath of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination destroyed almost all of the businesses along Madison as well as the area's commercial vitality.

[6] The city's main answer to the neighborhood's decline was to demolish scores of blighted buildings in a bid to improve public safety.

A demand for improved city services accompanied more citizen involvement, led by community groups and block clubs.

The stagnation of yesteryear is apparent despite a strong working class core which has remained in place and active in churches and a confederation of block clubs.

The East Garfield Park community area has supported the Democratic Party in the past two presidential elections by overwhelming margins.