a very special artifact salvaged by richard nickel offers inspiration and motivation to carry on

on an exceptionally gloomy day late last week i was feeling the dismal ambiance of both my mind and the weather, when seemingly out of the blue i was gifted a louis h. sullivan-designed staircase newel post from the chicago stock exchange building. the artifact hearkens to a time 45 years ago, when the magnificent building was gasping through a slow demolition, fraught with mishaps.

the heavy copper-plated cast iron newel post (fabricated by the winslow brothers, chicago, ills.), was salvaged by richard nickel, who carried it out of the building roped to his back (this, according to salvaging buddy tim samuelson, who watched him do it with his own eyes). nickel even went back for another, to give to tim, so that they each had one. the newel posts and other ornament salvaged that day - and many days after that - were brought back to nickel's building on cortland street.

i'm forever indebted to tim samuelson for gifting me such a historically important architectural artifact that was given to him by richard nickel, who removed it from the chicago stock exchange during its demolition in 1972.

the freestanding copper-plated chicago stock exchange cast iron newel post was executed by the winslow brothers foundry, chicago, ills. the interior staircase newel posts typically have markings indicating their placement within the building. this particular example only contains a lightly incised letter (i.e., "n" for north end staircase), but others have both a letter and number, with the latter representing the floor the newel was installed on.

in a moment of premonition, nickel drafted up a letter detailing drawings of ornament and instructions pertaining to ownership if something were to happen to him. of course, not long after, nickel was killed in the very building these newels were salvaged from. it was a freak accident- the trading room floor collapsed on him, sending his crushed body into the subbasement. weeks later he was finally found, perfectly preserved - entombed in a cocoon of building debris. samuelson soon received the letter nickel had written before his death, and when he met nickel's family on cortland, they gave him the newel post richard had saved for himself. for decades samuelson has kept both newel posts in storage.

one day i expressed to tim my growing concerns about exhaustion- from the ever-increasing workload i've tacked onto my daily life. i thought i could perhaps offset the feeling or cope better by having an artifact in my office that would reignite my inspiration and motivation, to prevent me from regressing into depression and anxiety. tim responded by offering up this newel post and the story behind it. having it in my possession has indeed helped with my current state of mind. the sheer beauty of sullivan's ornament speaks volumes and i'm just happy to listen.

the life of this object fascinates from beginning to end. it is not just how the newel post came into being and was installed in the stock exchange, but the manner of its removal, and the hands it's passed through. stories of nickel's maniacal restlessness and passion are more than therapeutic, and inspire me to see my daily struggle as somehow related to the legacy of his salvage-work and advocacy.

i'm becoming more comfortable acknowledging my exhaustion and perhaps accepting new ways of combating imbalance to regain equilibrium. as i've said before, this work is very unforgiving - both to the mind and body, but i live for the feeling that i've contributed in some minor way to documenting chicago's architectural history, so it is amazingly rewarding and ultimately impossible to turn away from. though stress may make me falter, my sense of being in alignment with history is easily restored.

rooftop self-portrait of richard nickel. the image on the top right corner was one of the last he took (trading room interior) before he lost his life when the trading room floor collapsed, pushing his body deep into the building's sub-basement. the image on the bottom left corner is nickel's grave, which is within eyeshot of louis h. sullivan's grave (graceland cemetery, chicago, ills.).