By Brent Hoffmann, 2005
“It was just amazing to learn about what Ida B. Wells, who’s buried here, did and how very dangerous it was,” said Erica Myles when leading a Civil War to Civil Rights tour on Chicago’s southside. Although historical dates and places are important, Myles said that she really hopes visitors can sense the context of the times. “And how significant, in terms of raising the awareness of what was happening to African-Americans. We tend to mythologize the people who rest here; we tend to make them larger than life and say ‘They were able to accomplish this because they were super-human people’. But that’s often not the case. It’s just regular people who are rising to the challenge.” *
“I love learning about Chicago history, its people and the development of the city,” Erica said. “I’ve been a fan of Chicago architecture since I was at Morgan Park High School. In 2018, I took a CAF tour led by Judith Kaufman and shared with her how much I enjoyed it. So, she invited me to consider applying. And I became a docent in 2019.” As well as the Oak Woods Cemetery tour, Erica now leads the Historic Treasures of Chicago’s Golden Age; Chicago Architecture: A Walk Through Time; and the Lights, Camera, Architecture! Tours.
1st Selfie
“When I lead a tour,” she continued, “I tell my guests that I consider myself less a ‘tour guide’ and more of a tour ‘enthusiast.’ Meaning that I welcome people to share questions and observations of architectural details that remind them of buildings where they live.
One of my most memorable tour experiences was when I had a married couple in my group who were both architects from Italy. I was nervous about having professionals on my tour, and they observed me with serious expressions throughout. At the end, they shared that, even though they were familiar with the concepts I talked about, they liked how I explained them in laymen’s terms. And were the first guests to ask to take a selfie with me.”
In addition to her tour duties, Erica’s been a member of the docent council since 2022. She co-chaired the Defining the Docent Experience Task Force in 2023 -2024. And received the docent service award in 2022 for her work, in part, with the book club. “I enjoyed planning and hosting Zoom discussions about a book that was really interesting to me, Who Is The City For? by Blair Kamin with photos by Lee Bey.”
Erica, who grew up in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, lives in Hyde Park. “My family’s been in Chicago since the 1950s,” she continued. Her father was originally from Natchez, Miss., and her mother from Cotton Plant, Ark.
Landlord
“I work on Riverside Plaza near the Old Post office,” she continued. “I love my job as the training and technical assistance manager for Community Investment Corp. We make loans to people who provide affordable housing throughout the region. As well as training property managers, we train small, independent borrowers to be successful owners.” She knows the subject personally, having once been, for 19 years, the owner and landlord of two 2-flat apartments in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.
She earned her BA in English Writing at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and enjoys reading. “I recommend my latest favorite book by Isabel Wilkerson: The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.” She’s also a traveler: “I went to visit family in Colorado last month, and it’s always interesting to see how the mountains and the saffron hues of The Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs inspire architecture.”
* Erica’s tour of Oak Woods Cemetery was recorded by WTTW-TV (PBS) on June 20, 2021, for its program “Black Voices Cemetery Tour Traces 155 Years of History Since the First Juneteenth.” The video can be viewed at https://news.wttw.com/2021/06/20/cemetery-tour-traces-155-years-history-first-juneteenth
CLICK HERE for more stories on The Bridge.
