Research materials related to Lily Venson’s journalism on the crusade to preserve the private Edgewater Golf Club land for the public in the creation of Laurence C. Warren Park in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. She wrote approximately 100 feature stories on the crusade for Lerner Newspapers, for which she received a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize and was awarded a plaque from Illinois Governor Richard Ogilvie.

Edgewater Golf Club’s land had been sought after for development as early as 1953, when a firm offered to purchase it for $900,000, but the membership voted against the offer to sell. In 1965, the membership voted to sell the land to Kenroy, Inc. realtors and developer Jupiter Corporation, for $7.6 million. Kenroy and Jupiter had until November 1, 1967 to come up with the money for their plan of high rise buildings and a shopping center. The community stood in strong opposition to the development, and a coalition of local organizations formed known as the Allied North Side Community Organization (ANSCO). 50th ward alderman Jack Sperling, sided with the community opposition and introduced a resolution which called for the city to purchase that land for use as a park.

Kenroy and Jupiter failed to deliver on the purchase price when the deadline rolled around on November 1, 1967. Meanwhile, Sperling and Paul Wigoda, the 49th ward alderman, introduced a resolution which passed on November 1, 1967 to re-zone the park which would disrupt the developers’ plan for high rise buildings and make the purchase price un-economical for single family homes. The resolution lead to a condition in the developers’ contract with Edgewater Golf Club giving them one more year to come up the money to purchase the land. Additionally, Jupiter Corporation pulled out as a developer, which left Kenroy, Inc. as the primary developer and buyer.

The sale between the Edgewater Golf Club and Kenroy, Inc. was successfully completed in 1968. The Chicago Plan Commission and the Planning and Development Commission approved of the developer’s plan for “Edgewater Village” which contained various residences and retail areas. Thus, Sperling’s initial resolution was repealed. When the city of Chicago failed to support the creation of a park with the land, community groups approached the Illinois state government, and in 1969 Governor Richard Ogilvie signed House Bill 2058 to turn the private Edgewater Golf Club land into a state park. State officials acquired two-thirds of the land the following year for $8 million, which was financed through federal grants. In 1971, the park was named Laurence C. Warren Park in honor of community leader Laurence C. Warren who died in 1970 and was a past president of the North Town Community Council (NTCC) and chairman of ANSCO.

Plans to develop the remaining one-third of land continued and so did the community opposition. To save the remaining land from development and secure it as a park land, the Chicago Public Building Commission bought the remainder of the land through condemnation proceedings on behalf of the Chicago Park District in 1974 for $10.3 million.

In April 1974, Paul Wigoda, the 49th ward alderman, was indicted for accepting a $50,000 bribe from Kenroy, Inc. for the re-zoning of the Edgewater Golf Club land. The re-zoning was used to activate a clause in the developer’s contract with the Edgewater Golf Club so they would have another year to come up with the purchase, but it also increased the value of the land. So, Kenroy, Inc. defrauded the state government and the Public Building Commission. The Public Building Commission purchased the land two months before Wigoda’s indictment and the park district subsequently sued Kenroy, Inc. for $15 million in damages. The case between the park district and Kenroy, Inc. continued until 1982 and it still remains unclear if any monies were recovered.

Venson's research materials on the various aspects of the Edgewater Golf Club land crusade include clippings, court reports, correspondence, feature stories written not only by her but other journalists in the area, meeting minutes, ordinances, petition signatures, photographs, publicity materials, resolutions, schematic plans, songs, and statements by various community members.