Taking care of Huppert

Jerome Huppert was elected 50th Ward Alderman in a special election in 1945, filling a vacancy left by James Quinn, who had been appointed a Commissioner of the newly formed Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

He had beaten Republican Jens Jensen in a ward that voted Republican in most elections but he lost his re-election bid in 1947 to Alban Weber, the GOP candidate.

Huppert resided near the eastern boundary of the ward in an area referred to locally as “East Rogers Park." (Most of the ward was in “West Rogers Park,” which city officials called “West Ridge.”)

So, in the following redistricting, the 50th ward boundaries were extended eastward - all the way to Howard and Clark - to provide him with more of his “home” territory. He was later elected Democratic Ward Committeeman, and once secure in that position, the new area was returned to the neighboring 49th ward.

Toward the end of his life, when he was no longer Committeeman, a large chunk of his home turf was redrawn into the 49th ward. But his block was retained in the 50th, so he could continue being a resident of the ward he had represented for parts of five decades.

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