The Chicago History Museum's "Out in Chicago" exhibit co-curators Jill Austin and Jennifer Brier will discuss how they put it all together in a moderated discussion with sex advice columnist and activist Dan Savage and his brother, Northwestern professor Bill Savage. more ›

Celebrate Growing Power's 10th anniversary today, tour historic Chicago pubs, and score some Double Daisy Cutter this weekend. more ›

We could spend hours researching the Chicago History Museum's online database of street names and learn something new with each name. more ›

How did the Chicago History Museum get the city's first elevated train car in the museum? Very carefully, as you'll see in this video. more ›

Since Navy Pier is gearing up for its next facelift, we thought this would be a good time to look at its previous iterations. more ›

WTTW will premiere Chicago’s Loop: A New Walking Tour, the latest in Geoffrey Baer's series of tours, tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. We discussed the new documentary with Baer. more ›

Today we shine a light on freebies from the Chicago History Museum and Chicago Cultural Center. more ›

Relive the Great Chicago Fire with this detailed iPhone app. more ›

Gaztro-Wagon, Haute Sausage, Meatyballs Mobile, Sweet Miss Givings and Taquero Fusion are confirmed for the first-ever Chicago food truck flash mob at the Chicago History Museum. The mob starts at 4 p.m. more ›

Looks like we’ve been here—and we’ve been queer—since the city of Chicago was founded in the 1850s, according to the curators of “Out in Chicago,” a new, expansive LGBT-related exhibit at the Chicago History Museum. Previously these communities could only be traced as far back as the 1920s—but according to a recently uncovered ordinance from 1851 that prohibited openly dressing in opposite gender clothing, its clear these communities have been part of the Windy City’s DNA since its inception. more ›

Througout October, the Chicago History Museum is running a free film series devoted to food and food activism. The date for the first movie, Food Inc., has already passed (though if you have Netflix Instant View, you can watch it there), but there are two more upcoming films. On October 10th at 1:30, CHM will be showing The Future of Food, Deborah Koons Garcia's documentary on the growing pervasiveness of unlabeled, genetically modified foods and their place in grocery stores. On October 17th at 1:30, FRESH will be screened; FRESH features author Michael Pollan and "celebrates the American farmers and business people who are re-inventing our food system. We've seen the Future of Food, and it's definitely worth watching - and we'll probably be checking out FRESH when it screens. more ›

The Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues announced this week the names of 11 individuals and four organizations that will be inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame later this year. more ›

Studs Terkel is one step closer to being preserved online. Earlier this week, the Chicago History Museum reached a deal with the Library of Congress to digitize 50+ years (or around 6,000 hours) of interviews Studs did with various people including Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Dylan, and Louis Armstrong. Studs, who passed away in 2008, had donated the tapes to the museum back in 1997. Said Gene DeAnna, who's heading up the project, “This project will require significant staff time and expertise, specialized audio equipment and a computer infrastructure capable of safely storing, delivering and sustaining the digital content: resources that are typically beyond the reach of small archives and museums. Some of these tapes are over 40 years old and are fragile.” The Chicago History Museum will retain ownership and copyright of the interviews; the project should take two years to complete. more ›

Human bones discovered at a Gold Coast construction site are likely remnants of a 19th century cemetery and could date back to pre-Civil War. A construction crew discovered the bones earlier this week in the basement of a townhome near 1500 North State Parkway. Chicago History Museum spokeswoman Lauren Dolan told WBBM, "The boundaries of that Irish Catholic cemetery - we weren't able to locate the exact boundaries. But we knew it was a smaller cemetery just south of North Avenue, which would've been right around the area (where) the bones were discovered." The Trib has more: more ›

Ever regret not signing up for that mysterious LGBT Studies course while in school? Hit the books before such things existed? Or are you just curious to learn more about the gay community beyond what Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert tell Barbara Walters? Luckily, Chicago plays host to two lectures exploring issues facing the community Thursday. more ›

Much like the Riverview Park of yore, Kiddieland is almost nothing more than memories now. This will be the final weekend for the decades-old amusement park in Melrose Park, and rather than dig back through old newspapers we thought we'd take a look at the place that will very soon be history. more ›

Props to our pal Len Kody from the Windy Citizen for discovering this pretty cool - if a little bizarre - design for a Union Station by the year 2020. It appears to be an entry in the Chicago Architecture Club's Union Station 2020 competition, which will be featured as part of the Burnham 2.0 exhibit, opening at the Chicago History Museum this November. more ›

Many of us at Chicagoist are history buffs so we were pretty excited to hear that one of the five known copies of the Gettysburg Address has made its way to town. Starting today, the "Everett Copy" of the speech goes on display at the Chicago History Museum, but only for a short spell. The copy has been making the rounds in honor of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth and, according to James Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which owns the manuscript, "Let's just say it needs a good rest." more ›

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Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont, Wednesday, January 28, 7 p.m., $20 - $25, call 73-525-5006 for tickets. more ›

In spite of the current recession, Chicago's museums are still managing to bring in a healthy number people. Total attendance in 2008 at the city's top 10 "major cultural attractions" was only off by one percent for a total of 7.7 million. The Shedd Aquarium saw a drop of seven percent, but was still had the highest overall attendance at 1.9 million; The Museum of Science & Industry had a larger drop at 15 percent, but was second overall with 1.4 million. In spite of these drops, the eight other attractions saw increases. The Art Institute of Chicago drew 1.4 million for third place overall and the Chicago History Museum saw a healthy 22 percent increase in visitors for a total of 266,000. The overall attendance on "free days" also saw a hefty increase of over 15 percent. more ›

Closing the music library of DJ "Pretty White Jeebus" for a spell, we're getting back to the photographs of yesteryear. more ›

Considering the intense scrutiny this year’s historical presidential race is under, it seems an appropriate time to take closer look at what exactly everyone is fighting for. The Chicago History Museum is doing just that this month in a two-part series titled “The American Presidency,” which examines our nation’s highest office from the perspective of its audiences. more ›

On March 4, 1837, Chicago officially became a city, first mayor William B. Ogden presiding. more ›

It should be a lighter than normal traffic day tomorrow, President’s Day. No mail delivery. Most banks, federal offices, city offices and state offices will be closed. School will be out. Courts will not be in session, and you won’t be able to pick up something to read at the library. more ›

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Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King would have been 79 this year. In 1984 an act of Congress made the third Monday of this month Martin Luther King Day. With most government offices closed today, there are a plethora of events honoring his memory. The Chicago Park District is holding a series of events dedicated to his legacy. The University of Chicago is hosting panels and speakers all week, with a series of films and documentaries this evening starting at 5 p.m. The DuSable Museum of African American History is holding workshops, performances and panel discussions on the legacy of the civil rights movement and the challenges it still faces in 21st century America. The Chicago History Museum kicks the day off with crafts and storytelling for children, followed by songs and spirituals performed by the Chicago Chamber Choir. At 1 p.m., LeRoyce Hawkins and Cameron Drake will perform Jeff Stetson's critically acclaimed "The Meeting", an imagined meeting between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, followed by a reading of King's "I have a Dream" speech. more ›

The weather forecast calls for a lot of "brass bra cold" this weekend. It won't stop people from going out and enjoying their weekend, although some serious consideration should be given to hibernating on the couch with movies, a bottle of wine, and a comforter. more ›

There are sixty bridges spanning the Chicago River throughout the city, as we found out last month at the annual B News neighborhood pub quiz. We know about the larger bridges downtown, and we stop to stare at them when the spans are raised to allow boats to pass. However, the majority of bridges spanning the river are smaller ones allowing traffic to pass between neighborhoods. We tend to overlook those bridges. This is one of them. more ›

In a day packed with college football bowl games, the coolest televised sporting event on New Year's Day had to be watching the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins play an NHL game outside in Buffalo, in front of over 71,000 fans. It brought the game back to its roots, played outside on frozen ponds and lakes throughout the Midwest and Canada. Now imagine that same game outside, only featuring two of the NHL's "Original Six." With the Black Hawks roaring back from the brink of irrelevance in the months after Bill Wirtz's passing, playing hockey in a sold-out Soldier Field, for example, would be the capper on an impressive resurrection. more ›