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The neighborhood began with settlers organizing into ethnic enclaves. Each group had their own church and school, usually housed in the same building with a head priest imported from the motherland as a way to stay connected to their heritage. In most cases, these enclaves also had men’s social clubs, women’s leagues, and sports associations. Prior to the Great Depression, these enclaves handled their population’s problems internally.

Unfortunately, when the Great Depression hit, poverty and need were so widespread that the enclaves simply could not cope within their individual ethnic communities. It was this environment that created a need for an organization like the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council. The BYNC was formed in 1939 to coordinate a collaboration of all the individual ethnic schools, churches, and various social clubs. The Board of Directors was elected by an annual “Community Congress”, where all these groups were represented. The BYNC motto, “We the people will work out our own destiny”, reflects what it was created to accomplish.

The BYNC continues to advocate for the neighborhood and New Eclipse Community Alliance will look to partner with BYNC as well as the neighborhood schools and other community resources to move the neighborhood forward in its development. The neighborhood extends from 39th to 55th Streets between Halsted and the railroad tracks along Leavitt Street, just south and west of the former Union Stock Yard and adjacent packing plants, a giant sprawl that has begun to be reinvented through community and economic development.