CHM archives and manuscripts intern Matthew Norgard worked with archivist Julie Wroblewski this past summer to process the papers of the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights (CCDBR). In this blog post, he details what he learned about the CCDBR and activism in the city more broadly. Grassroots organizing is once again in More
John Zukowsky. Building Chicago: The Architectural Masterworks. New York, Rizzoli (2016). What sets this book apart is not only Zukowsky’s interpretation of the two-century sweep of Chicago architecture, but the way that he sheds light on the past few decades. He sees historicism More
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the White Sox winning the 1917 World Series, CHM historian Peter T. Alter looks back at the team and its activities within the context of that year. Saturday, October 6, 1917, dawned chilly and wet in Chicago. A thirteen-year-old White Sox fan, James T. Farrell, left his More
October 9, 2017 CHM senior curator Olivia Mahoney writes about a Chicago innovation that helped the city recover from the 1871 fire in a surprisingly beautiful way. This year marks the 146th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire that blazed through the city from October 8 to 10, 1871. One of the worst urban fires More
CHM curator Petra Slinkard writes about an artifact that celebrated the Cubs’ 2016 World Series win before they actually won. Juan Ceballos of Joliet, Illinois, about forty miles southwest of Chicago, is a die hard Chicago Cubs fan. In fact, he was so confident the Cubs would win the 2016 World Series, he was inspired More