Here's one for you history buffs: today marks the 137th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. The fire burned from Sunday October 8 to early Tuesday October 10, 1871, killing 300 and destroying over 17,000 buildings. Of course, the city rose from the ashes and has since become the gleaming beacon of the Midwest (sorry, St. Louis). more ›

While the Tribune calls this a "shocking storm," we heard it was going to be hot and rainy all week. However, our friends at the Weather Channel have just reported that over at the Chicago Historical Society (1601 N. Clark), the windows were blown out from the wind and there are some injuries. We send a good thought to everyone there. They also report that there were wind speeds of 78 m.p.h. recorded at Wrigley... more ›

While many of you shuffle back and forth from stage to stage in Grant Park this weekend, we thought we'd take the opportunity to show you how it looked about 80 years ago. It's just a touch different today, isn't it? While the landscaping had yet to take its place in 1929, Buckingham Fountain and the general layout of the park are clear. The Art Institute is in place and looks exceptionally lonely, and while... more ›

Chicagoist would have liked to have been a fly on the wall at this particular auction: In a heated bidding war that ended late Wednesday, Ripley's (of "Believe It or Not!" fame) sniped our own Chicago History Museum at the last second. The coveted item? A warped, weather-beaten 119-year-old gallows. Not just any gallows, however ... The five-noose set was built specifically for four of the convicts from the Haymarket Riot of 1886. After that... more ›

All year we’ve been hearing the hype and the promises. This week, two Chicago cultural institutions invite the public to see the results of their high profile face lifts. The venue once known as the Chicago Historical Society regularly provided modest, helpful insights into local and regional history. Now it’s been renovated and renamed the Chicago History Museum, sporting 16,000 shiny new square feet for robust programming, heeding Burnham’s command to “Make no small plans.”... more ›

.. or at least they go less than they used to? Or something? Wait, what's going on here? 9 out of the 10 largest museums in the city saw a decline in visitors last year, but one had a huge leap. The Museum of Science & Industry saw a 34% increase in attendance. People must have really liked that video game exhibit they had last year! more ›

Please excuse us; we can't help but be exclamatory: stop by the Chicagoist Happy Hour on Thursday, and this will be your one good excuse to leave early. Author, radio personality, and all-around legendary Chicagoan Studs Terkel will be at Women and Children First Thursday at 7:30 to talk about his new book: And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey. more ›

Remember 2004, when every single person on the bus and the "L" seemed to be simultaneously reading The Devil in the White City? Chicagoist was one of those entranced readers, and though we secretly dug the chapters about H. H. Holmes infinitely more than the detailed descriptions of pre-Columbian Exposition politics and planning, we did lament our inability to experience the "White City" in its new electric glory. more ›

During discussions of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Illinois Institute of Technology campus, one particular building is always a bit more discussed, revered and admired than the rest: Crown Hall. An engineering masterpiece that features a clearly expressed, massive steel frame and a ceiling suspended from the I-beams that cross above it, the building ranks among Fallingwater and Villa Savoye as one of the 20th century's finest architectural works. So Mies's grandson is going to commemmorate it by smashing it with a hammer. more ›

A tribute for Saul Bellow is planned for tonight at 8:30pm at the Chicago Historical Society. Bellow will be remembered and his literary works will be read aloud by members of The Second City. Also, WGN Radio will be broadcasting a 2-hour program from the museum starting at 9pm. The tribute will be hosted by Milt Rosenberg, a longtime colleague of Bellow's. The schedule of events is - 8:30 pm – 9:00 pm: The... more ›

The Chicago Historical Society may be our fair city's longest standing museum, but its age doesn't mean it's using a walker or eating dinner at noon or anything. In stark contrast, the museum will celebrate its 150th birthday next year with a $22 million rehab that will leave its exterior shell intact, but will transform the existing exhibit halls and public spaces into a vibrant representation of "the city's collective memory." more ›

We should really be a headline writer. Isn't this one killer? Get it? "Killer"? Oh wait, since you only get your news from Chicagoist you wouldn't get it because you haven't heard or read anything about the story yet. So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, the story of a prank gone wrong in Calumet City. An off-duty Cook County corrections officer shot and killed another officer, his friend, around 1:12 a.m. Saturday. The friend,... more ›

Tomorrow night, the Chicago Historical Society kicks off their "Out at CHS" lecture series with a look at how modern historians interpret same-sex relationships in the 19th Century. Scholars from area universities will discuss the lives of Jane Addams, Walt Whitman, and Charlotte Cushman through the modern perspective. more ›

Chicagoist often gazes through Brown Line windows at the ever-so-dismal remains of the Cabrini Green community, and has wondered time and time again just what went wrong with some of the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) most ambitious, and notorious, housing projects. For that reason, Roosevelt University's The Promise of Public Housing, 1936-1983 is situated firmly atop our “Damn, This Exhibit Looks Cool” file. Compiling more than 80 photographs culled from the archives of the CHA... more ›

Exciting news for students of the history of the sixties and Chicago’s place in it: the Chicago Historical Society will present a screening and discussion of the Academy Award-nominated film The Weather Underground this Tuesday from 6:30 to 9:30 PM. Though the film was shown at this year’s Chicago Underground Film Festival back in August, tomorrow's post-screening discussion here will include former Weathermen Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn with co-director Bill Siegel. more ›

Release your inner Tito Puente or your inner Turiya Mareya because the Jazz En Clave Festival, Chicago’s First Annual Latin Jazz Festival, starts tonight. “Jazz In Key” features performances at HotHouse, the South Loop’s best live music venue, and continues through Sunday with additional events at the Chicago Historical Society and the Ruis Belvis Cultural Center. Since Latin jazz has only been a Grammy category since 1994, it’s no surprise that it’s taken this long for Chicago to have it’s own celebration of an art form that explores the African and Caribbean influences of a genre often overshadowed by American influences. more ›

, so we'd like to thank the Tribune for running its debate drinking game article today. It gives us plenty of time to get ready. more ›

Out at CHS, organized by the Chicago Historical Society, is spending the year exploring the LGBT past by hosting a series of events that celebrate the illustrious history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in Chicago and throughout the country.
more ›