Our contributor Isa Giallorenzo attended an opening reception in April for artist Brandon Breaux’s solo exhibition “BIG WORDS,” which is on view at Blanc Gallery in Bronzeville through May 27. She reports, “A beautiful, stylish, and lively crowd attended . . . the gallery has a cozy outdoor space that could accommodate a large number of guests. […]
Category: Sightseeing
Posted inCity Life
When Koreshan science invaded the south side
Dr. Cyrus Teed’s cult-like religion attracted death threats and broke up marriages in late 19th century Chicago.
Posted inCity Life
Grant Park, the lakefront, and Chicago’s WWI connections
In September 1918, the park hosted an exposition to drum up civilian support for the war effort.
Posted inCity Life
Chicago at the turn of the century through the eyes of Rudolph F. Michaelis
From 1900 to 1905, his photographs captured slices of everyday life.
Posted inCity Life
The maverick at the center of Chicago’s 1918 flu response
Meet Dr. John Dill Robertson, the “utterly unqualified” head of the Chicago Health Department
Posted inCity Life
The ghosts of Great Lakes
The deaths of nearly a thousand sailors at Great Lakes Naval Training Station in 1918 hold lessons for the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The opposite of social distancing
Photos from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century show Chicago in love and at play.
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When Cook County enlisted the Marines to fight marijuana
A sheriff, a pack of journalists, and three sergeants walked into a field of weed . . . with flamethrowers.
Posted inCity Life
A trip back in time to the World’s Columbian Exposition
Travel tips for Chicago from 1893 (yes, you should tip your servers).
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Field notes from the war on sex
A century ago, the Committee of Fifteen hunted for “houses of ill-fame.”
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They thought he was an ‘agitator’
Franklin A. Denison was no rabble-rouser, but the Bureau of Investigation said he sparked the 1919 race riot.
Posted inCity Life
A tale of two soldiers
Letters home from two WWI soldiers, one white, one Black, explain the 1919 Chicago race riot as well as any history book.
Posted inCity Life
An airport in the lake
How Mayor Richard J. Daley’s ambitious plan failed to take flight
Posted inCity Life
Think you know your Chicago underworld slang?
A quiz on some of the less obvious entries in a 1967 police-training dictionary