Saint Patrick's Day River Dyeing in Chicago, IL
The Chicago River dyeing tradition started on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1962. The green dye was originally used functionally to find where pipes were leaking near the river and letting sewage in. Then, in 1962, the Plumbers Local Union used the dye for the holiday.
There are around 200,000 people who are Irish and live in Chicago, and this is one of the most fun holidays to see happening in the city. People are drunk on the train at 7am, climbing on the bridges and freezing in cold winter weather downtown while we all watch the Plumbers union dump gallons of vegetable dye into the river!
These photos are from March 10th, 2017 when I was inspired by my photojournalism professor to wake up early, commute downtown on a Friday and document the river dyeing! Even though I had lived in Illinois my entire life, I had never seen the river dyeing until 2017. When I lived in Illinois, I took the gems of the city for granted. During my college career at Columbia, I began to realize that MY thoughts were shaping my world. And that my supposed hatred of urban places, busy streets and loud people was coming from a place of lack. It took me a few years to recognize this and to shift my mindset from, “I hate commuting to the city and going to school here” to, “I love being a tourist in the state I’ve lived my whole life!” I changed my views from stubborn to curious. And my world has truly changed completely since I had that shift.
When I went on photojournalism missions given to me by John White, I was more fearless than ever, and that’s how I was able to take photos of drunk teenagers on the street at 7am while they stared at me LOL.
I live in Colorado now, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see the Chicago River Dyeing again. I‘m so grateful for my college professor, John White, and for my photojournalism experience that pulled me out of anger and brought me into curiosity. I aim to live curiously now, and my camera helps me to do that every day.
