Death of a Mansion, 1952. Chicago, Illinois. Party invitation to "A Black Masque and Ball Macabre at the DOOMED McCORMICK MANSION" designed in March, 1952, by Ron Slowinski and Dan Zuback.

In 1879, the McCormick family of Chicago, Illinois, moved into their new mansion on 675 Rush Street. The mansion took up the entire city block between Erie Street and Huron Street and was richly decorated in the Victorian era style. Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr., hired the prominent architecture firm, Cudell and Blumenthal, to design the mansion and started construction in 1874, shortly after the Great Chicago Fire. Three generations of the McCormick family lived in the mansion until 1945, when it was sold by the Cyrus Hall McCormick estate.

Cyrus McCormick revolutionized wheat farming in 1831 when he invented the reaper. He then built the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. By the late 19th century the McCormick family was one of the richest in America. The mansion reflected their great wealth.

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McCormick Rush Street Home, 1879

Chicago, Illinois. Built shortly after the Chicago fire, this photo shows the McCormick family mansion in its heyday on Rush Street. View the original source document: WHI 3639

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McCormick Family Library, 1900

Chicago, Illinois. Library in the McCormick family mansion on Rush Street. View the original source document: WHI 89217

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Hallway at 675 Rush Street

Chicago, Illinois. Hallway in the McCormick family mansion on Rush Street. View the original source document: WHI 46533

Recently, I was selecting blue prints of McCormick properties to undergo conservation treatment. I discovered an invitation to "A Black Masque and Ball Macabre at the DOOMED McCORMICK MANSION." The party was hosted by "The Art Students League and Zeta Chapter of Delta Phi Delta" on April 19, 1952, at 8 pm, shortly before the McCormick mansion was demolished.

This invitation is an absolute delight. How the McCormick family came to have this invitation is unclear, but it certainly is an interesting commentary on 1950s views of the McCormick family empire. The clever and slightly politically charged wording of the invitation reads:

It started with a Reaper, Cyrus built that.

Cyrus also built, on the Rubble of the Great Fire, This Brownstone Pile, Proud and Regal Monument to Private Wealth, Personal Power, and the Individual Exalted.

In these splendid chambers Kind Cyrus lived five years and died.

Remember the year: 1884. Half a Century his House reigned over Chicago. It was a Citadel in the Age of Taste, Imported Culture & Gilt.

But the Era died. The Glory faded away. The Reaper Clan deserted its Costly Monument.

The Mansion, the shell, alone remains. It stands molding; the City's acrid breath erodes it Noble, Stones; its Magnificent Chambers crumble into Decay. It awaits Death.

April is the Month of Death and Demolition, For the 73-year old Mansion.

But hold! Let the Lovers of Life, the Idolizers of the Past, Fete this Doomed Relic first.

Let them bring Riotous Life into these deserted and haunted rooms.

Let the strange music of the New Era reverberate through, halls of fading tapestries and peeling frescoes.

Let the Masqueraders explore these dim and forgotten recessed just once.

Let there be Joy and Reveling before Death and Destruction descend on the obsolete Victorian walls.

The ornately carved doors of the McCormick Mansion will, swing open to the Public for the Last Time at 8 P.M., April 19th.

There will be music in the Third Floor Ballroom, (Cavanaugh & Sextet) and a First Floor Salon (Afro-Cuban Combo) until 2 A.M.

Prizes will be awarded for best costumes after a procession on the Grand Stairway.

King and, Queen of the Ball will be coronated at Midnight.

Mail money orders to Art Students League, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tickets limited. Admission $3 per Person. Costumes Required.

The illustrations depict a band in the third floor ballroom and in the first floor salon. Partygoers are also illustrated, dressed as nobility, ghosts, witches, Roman emperors, gladiators, flappers, villains, monsters, knights, and more. The artists signed the illustration on the invitation as:

Ron Slowinski and Dan Zuback, 3-'52

Another intriguing detail appears on the back of the invitation. A handwritten pencil note:

Do not give out.

Learn More

• Read About the McCormick - International Harvester Collection

  See original documents, publications, photographs and films related to Cyrus Hall McCormick and the International Harvester Company.

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