League of Women Voters of Chicago Launches Campaign to Rename Balbo Drive to Mother Cabrini Drive
MEDIA CONTACT
Jane Ruby, president@lwvchicago.org, 646-467-3622
League of Women Voters of Chicago Launches Campaign
to Rename Balbo Drive to Mother Cabrini Drive
League calls on City Council to replace embarrassing tribute to a fascist war criminal with one that honors an Italian-American nun and saint who championed Chicago’s immigrants and women
Chicago, IL – [05/05/26] – The League of Women Voters of Chicago today announced a campaign to rename Balbo Drive as Mother Cabrini Drive, an initiative aimed at aligning the city’s street names with its democratic and humanitarian values. The move would replace the current homage to Italo Balbo – an Italian fascist and ally of Mussolini – with a tribute to Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini. This renaming offers a unifying civic opportunity: it corrects a longstanding symbolic injustice by removing a fascist-era namesake, and it affirms Chicago’s identity as a welcoming city of immigrants and social progress. If approved, it would be only the second downtown street named for a woman, following 2018’s renaming of Congress Parkway to honor Ida B. Wells.
Balbo Drive’s namesake is deeply at odds with Chicago’s values. Italo Balbo (1896-1940) was a Fascist politician and Blackshirt leader who helped Benito Mussolini seize power in Italy. He led Mussolini’s air force and served as his governor in Italian Libya. In 1933, Balbo led a transatlantic flight to Chicago, for which the city renamed 7th Street in his honor. Yet Balbo was also an early proponent of air power as a tool of terror and conquest; he endorsed the use of poison gas and the carpet-bombing of cities in Africa. After World War II, Italy outlawed fascism and removed its symbols, leaving Chicago as one of the last places with a public tribute to the war criminal Balbo.
By contrast, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850–1917), an Italian-born Catholic nun who founded 67 hospitals, schools and orphanages worldwide, including several major institutions in Chicago, to aid immigrants and the poor. Cabrini was canonized in 1946 as the first American citizen saint and is honored as the Patroness of Immigrants. Her life’s work, walking with Chicagoans in need, embodies values of compassion, diversity and civic responsibility. Renaming the street for Mother Cabrini would highlight these positive legacies in our civic landscape. It would also correct a symbolic injustice by removing a fascist-era honor from downtown and replacing it with a name that reflects Chicago’s diversity and humanitarian legacy.
“Renaming Balbo Drive is a project a decade in the making. And honoring Mother Cabrini is a simple but powerful way for Chicago to say, in the map of our own city, that we stand with democracy, with immigrants and with human dignity against all forms of repression,” said Jane Ruby, president of the League of Women Voters of Chicago. “We are not erasing history; we are choosing which history to honor at our front door, and Mother Cabrini’s life of service to Chicago’s families is exactly the kind of legacy our children should see and learn from every day.”
The election of Chicago‐born Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, lends special resonance to the moment. The fact that Chicago has given the world both its first American saint and now its first American pope imbues this effort with powerful cultural and emotional significance. It offers a unique opportunity to honor the city’s core values, as well as the contributions made by Italian-Americans and to Chicago’s flourishing.
The League of Women Voters of Chicago calls on the City Council and community members to seize this civic opportunity. Renaming Balbo Drive to Mother Cabrini Drive is not just a change of signage. Rather, it is a statement of Chicago’s commitment to democracy, equity and compassion. We encourage residents to contact their aldermen and urge support for this initiative. Together, we can correct an outdated tribute to fascism and uplift the legacy of one of Chicago’s true heroes for future generations.
About the League of Women Voters of Chicago
The League of Women Voters of Chicago is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. We empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy and education. LWV Chicago encourages informed and active participation in government while influencing public policy. LWV never endorses nor opposes political parties or candidates, but remains a committed political organization. LWV Chicago is a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit lwvchicago.org.