Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council
The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council (BYNC) is a Chicago civic association . It was the first community organizing organization based on the concept of Saul Alinsky .
history
The council was formed on July 14, 1939 at a founding congress. Almost all important local organizations, trade unions ( AFL and CIO ), business people, representatives of sports and social associations, teachers and priests (the Catholic priests occupied 1/3 of the committee seats) were represented in it.
The Back of the Yards district was originally part of the Town of Lake until it fell to Chicago in 1889. From the mid-19th century, the population increased sharply due to the construction of large slaughterhouses in the Union Stockyards .
As one of the first acts, the BYNC declared its solidarity with the local trade union group PWOC, which had been initiated by the CIO. This alliance was a novelty in American society, because before there had been no alliance between the Catholic Church and a left-wing trade union organization. The initiator Saul Alinsky had managed to unite both parties in the struggle for better living conditions in this local district. Thanks to this alliance, medical care was improved, rubbish collection reorganized, recreational facilities created, a lunch table for children with 1,200 hot meals a day, a summer camp program for the children and a community fund, which ensured further improvements.
The work of the BYNC was clearly separated from social work by Alinsky. He accused social organizations of practicing welfare colonialism and being paternalistic. The aim of this first attempt at community organizing was to rely on local democracy, not an outside authority.
Motivated by the success of the BYNC, Alinsky founded together with the Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Bernhard J. Sheil , and Marshall Field III. , Millionaire and owner of a successful department store chain, Kathryn Lewis, the daughter of union leader John L. Lewis, and Joseph Meegan, who had previously helped set up the BYNC, founded the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) in 1939 . Today (2013) the IAF is the largest network for community organizing in the USA with 56 associated local organizations in 21 states of the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.