Marty Pick, Retiree and former Program Director for Chicago's Hull House, recalls attending the 1952 Democratic National Convention at the age of 12.

From his earliest days growing up on the West Side of Chicago in the 1950's, Marty Pick had an interest in politics. At the age of 12, Marty and his 13 year old friend Howard volunteer for various Presidential Candidates during the 1952 Democratic National Convention held at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago. The two middle schoolers spend a week of their summer marching, shouting and singing around Michigan Avenue for all four of the potential nominees: Adlai Stevenson from Illinois, Estes Kefauver from Tennessee, Richard Russell from Georgia, and W. Averell Harriman from New York. In return for their efforts, the boys are given all of the pop and food they can eat and a bit of a political education.

Marty Pick, who retired in 2004, had a succession of jobs at Hull House, including program director for kids and teens, day care so ...