Architecture as didactic teacher: The credence of historical primacy as trope for Chicago's raison d'être.

The locally-famous Widow Clarke home provides this research with unique insights into an early settlement residence whose multiple owners pursued a myriad of decades-long preservation options which ultimately came to fruition upon establishment of the home's alpha-status. Architectural fabric thus was found to provide necessary credence to proclaim past ephemeral history once again tangible. Direct politicallymotivated initiatives provided providence for the celebration of the birth and establishment of this Midwestern American municipality on the sand dunes of Lake Michigan, known today as the city of Chicago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]