after world war ii more bosnians immigrated to chicago. many were well-educated, but they had to take jobs as taxi cab drivers, factory workers, and janitors. in the early 1950s, they asked sheik kamil avdich, a religious scholar, to be their first imam. they started the muslim religious and cultural home. in 1957, they opened a mosque on halsted street. in 1968, they changed their name to the bosnian american cultural association. in the 1970s they bought land in northbrook for a larger mosque, the islamic cultural center of greater chicago.