Every so often, someone sends the editor a screenshot of the Lincoln Park Chad Society and asks whether it was ours. It was not, although we recognized several of the men it appeared to have in mind.
The site was a separate project by Brantley Ashworth Pemberton III. He produced it while studying at Northwestern and submitted a version as his senior thesis. This explains the bibliography, which none of the Members remembered seeing on a social website before.
A note from the editor
Mr. Pemberton called his field Media, Identity, and Performative Masculinity. He described himself as an ethnographer of North Side life. Jill would have called him a contributor and asked when his copy was due.
Ashley wanted to know whether he had attended any Society events. He said his research had involved observation. She asked which events. The correspondence became quite detailed.
The familiar wardrobe
The polo shirt was right. So were the popped collar, the puka shell, and the telephone clipped to the waist. Members had been trying to persuade their boyfriends to put those telephones in their pockets without much success.
The Society had already published its own observations of this wardrobe. Jill would have appreciated a link. Her larger objection was to the “Build Your Own Trixie” illustration: after all that research, the available shoes were disappointing.
We heard from him
Mr. Pemberton recently sent a professional update. He works in electrical supply in Schaumburg and still keeps material from the project. Jill asked whether he might have the original image files.
He offered to answer questions about the site. The Committee prepared twelve, including whether the illustration had been drawn from life and who had selected the polo.
He answered the first eleven. On the polo, he said he would need to find the original file. Whitney remembered it as blue; Ashley was certain it was green. Two screenshots have now been requested.
Jill suggested inviting him to discuss the archive over lunch. Ashley would like to see the shoes before the invitation goes out. We expect lunch will happen eventually.
“Ask him to send the whole folder. There may be something useful in it.”— Jill Martin, Editor
Keeping the record
The old site is no longer active. Members who saved screenshots are welcome to send them to Jill, along with anything they remember about seeing it at the time.
Our own Chad coverage will continue. The wardrobe has changed in places, and the Members have plenty to say about that too.
For now, we are waiting for Mr. Pemberton to find the folder.