February 7, 2026
Skokie, Illinois—For the first time in the city’s history, the Assyrian flag will rise alongside the banners of other nations at the Sculpture Park on McCormack Boulevard. After more than two decades of community effort and hope, this long-awaited recognition arrives as a powerful affirmation of the Assyrian presence and contribution to Skokie’s civic life.
The moment is especially meaningful because Skokie is home to one of the largest concentrated Assyrian community in the region. Assyrian students make up more than 30 percent of the local school population, and institutions such as the Assyrian Community Center, Mar Sargis Parish of the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Assyrian National Council of Illinois stand as pillars of cultural, spiritual, and social life. These institutions have helped generations maintain their heritage while becoming deeply woven into the fabric of the city.
Skokie itself is a place shaped by many stories. In the early 1800s, the area was a landscape of forests and wetlands where buffalo and deer roamed. Native American tribes, followed by French and British explorers and waves of European settlers, each left their imprint on what would become a dynamic American suburb. Prussian immigrant Henry Harms—Skokie’s first merchant, postmaster, and school founder—helped lay the foundations of the modern village, a legacy preserved today by the Skokie Park District.
From vegetable farms and greenhouses in the early 20th century to the arrival of the railroad in 1903 and the paving of Church Street in 1933, Skokie grew steadily into a thriving community. After World War II, new neighborhoods and schools transformed it into what was once called “The World’s Largest Village.” Today, nearly 65,000 residents call Skokie home, a community proud of its past and confident in its diverse future.
The raising of the Assyrian flag adds a new chapter to that story. Much of the credit belongs to Morton Grove Trustee Ashur Shiba, Executive Director of Vote Assyrian, and Niles Township Trustee Marie Benyamin, both respected Assyrian American advocates who worked tirelessly to make this vision a reality. In a letter to Skokie Mayor Ann Tennes, Mr. Shiba reflected that the flag’s presence will carry deep meaning “today and for generations to come.”
For Assyrians, this moment is more than symbolic. It is recognition that their language, faith, and identity have a place in the American mosaic. It tells Assyrian children growing up in Skokie that their heritage is seen, valued, and honored.
As the flag takes its place in the Sculpture Park, it will stand not only as a marker of Assyrian pride but as a reminder of what Skokie has always been: a community where many histories meet, and where new traditions continue to rise.
Great news. Thanks to all Skokie residents and officials of the surrounding towns for recognising our community. Working together always pays of and our mutual interests bocome come to fruition. May our Lord bless all.