Losing Felicitas

Losing Felicitas tells a personal story of growing up in a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago and then moving away from it in 1969. St. Felicitas is the name of the Catholic parish that was the center of that neighborhood, and “felicitas” reflects what those who moved away feel they lost - it means blessed, happy. To the children of St. Felicitas, moving felt like losing the sense of blessed happiness they had growing up there. This is also a story of blockbusters, neighborhood associations, the Catholic Church, and street gangs in Chicago during the 1960s.  

In Part One, the author shares her memories of this time, along with stories that her classmates shared with her. Born in 1954, they remember an idyllic early childhood, as well as the fear and violence they gradually came to accept as a normal part of their lives. Part Two provides a brief history of the issues impacting St. Felicitas and the South Side during this era.