“JEANETTE FIELDS: A COMMUNITY LIFE” 

BOOK ILLUSTRATES HISTORY OF NON-PROFITS AND MODEL CIVIC LEADERSHIP

Jeanette Shames Fields (1920 - 2014) started the first-ever tours of Chicago’s world famous architecture in 1970 when she was Executive Director of the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF).  Today the organization sponsors 85 different tours with 500 trained guides who give tours by foot, bus, boat, elevated train and bicycle.  In addition, Jeanette has instigated the formation of a score of noted organizations including the Frank Lloyd Wright Homes and Studio Foundation (now, Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust); the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park; The South Shore Commission; Unity Temple Restoration Foundation and Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.

Her oral history, “Jeanette Fields: A Community Life”, edited by Keith Bringe, was published on September 21, 2012.  The 115 page hardcover book is fully illustrated.  Jeanette’s story serves as an inspiration for those involved with the leadership of volunteer-driven organizations.  Through a series of interviews over two years, Bringe helps illuminate Fields' long life in public service, her many accomplishments and in so doing, documents the development of historic preservation.

Without exception, the organizations that are documented were founded on a shoestring and struggled for years.  Their founders fought to keep the lights on and the doors open.  Collectively, these institutions have contributed enormously to Chicago’s reputation as a cultural powerhouse and they continue to contribute enormous value as catalysts for community development and tourism.  Prior to her death at the age of 94, Jeanette continued her community activism as editor of her assisted living community’s newsletter among other volunteer projects and programs.