Obama to declare Pullman area a national monument

Photo courtesy of barackphotos.com

President Barack Obama will travel to Chicago on Feb. 19 to designate the Pullman area on the Far South Side a national monument, a White House official said.

Obama’s visit will come just five days before the mayoral election and the designation for Pullman figures to offer a boost to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the president’s former chief of staff, among South Side voters he has been wooing throughout his campaign.

Emanuel and members of Congress from Illinois will be on hand for Obama’s visit, the White House official said…Please click here to read Katherine Skiba’s story in the Tribune. Related stories are in the Sun-Times, Washington Post, CBS Local, Times and NBC Chicago.  Follow-up stories include the Tribune’s “Pullman’s Wait Almost Over” / “President Barack Obama to make Chicago’s Pullman area a national monument” and “George Pullman’s town at center of labor, African-American history,” the Associated Press’s “Senators, congresswoman celebrate Pullman designation” and the Millennium Reserve’s blog post “It’s History: National Monument Status for Pullman“