Willis Rudd and his wife Julia Massey – the Blue Island dog license owners – had two dogs according to their family photo album. In one photo, Willis is bent over, petting both dogs as they look up at him admiringly. I imagine, though I cannot be sure, that Willis took his two dogs on long walks. I also envision he walked his dogs at the Mount Greenwood Cemetery where Willis was the superintendent and president.ⁱ Willis was fond of these green spaces. Starting around 1900, Willis was the president of the Horticultural Society of Chicago which famously put on grandiose flower displays around Chicago, including at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.ⁱⁱ He was especially fond of the bold and vibrant chrysanthemum; he organized an annual chrysanthemum show and was president of the American Chrysanthemum Society.ⁱⁱⁱ Willis’ flower displays were so beloved that in 1896 he worked with the railroad baron George Pullman’s wife – Hattie – to set up a flower display.^iv

Willis’ love for horticulture influenced his civic duties. The Horticultural Society of Chicago was a part of the “City in a Garden” movement which is the city’s motto: Urbs en Horto.^v This movement pushed to build more parks and green spaces throughout the city – culminating in the Chicago Parks District and the Cook County Forest Preserves that circle the center of the city. Believing in the importance of public green spaces, Willis wanted to make Chicago beautiful – in opposition to the paternalistic forms of spatial control inherent to Chicago’s grid. This logic followed him to the Mount Greenwood Cemetery, where he was the superintendent and president. At the time, cemeteries were designed to be places to escape from the bustle and chaos of the city.^vi While the cemetery serves as the final resting place for many of the famous, powerful, and rich figures of Chicago’s past, its gates remain open for all.

When I traveled to the cemetery, Rudd’s mark on the rest of Chicago was clear. The grid of brick and concrete that defines Chicago’s geography was interrupted by winding roads and open green spaces. A cobblestone chapel built in 1892 – when Rudd was superintendent of the cemetery – is nestled into a hillside and was rebuilt in 1937 in honor of Willis. Beyond the chapel lay acres of rolling hills, winding roads, and magnificent trees – the legacy of Willis Rudd is suspended beneath it all. On an unassuming plot, a stone emerges from the ground engraved with “Rudd”. The family stone is framed by well-manicured shrubs and a tall oak tree. A headstone reading “WN” is in front of the family stone, along with three others belonging to his father, mother, and wife. On the back of the family stone read the story of his father, Oscar Rudd; he was the first in Blue Island to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War and died in 1863 – three years after Willis’ birth. Willis Rudd’s legacy are scattered around Chicago, but it is not clear how the broken pieces fit together – all that remains is a dog license, a grave, a few old articles, a photo album, and a cemetery. Still, his effects remain present.