Essay: Walking Graceland Cemetery with—and Without—Adam Selzer’s New Book
Near the end of my hourlong walk around Graceland Cemetery the other day, I went past a stone obelisk, maybe 30 feet tall, and noticed this on the side: SANDRA […]
Review: The Seed-Germ King: Louis Sullivan’s Idea, by Tim Samuelson and Chris Ware
Louis Sullivan’s Idea, a biography of the 19th century Chicago architect, by Chicago’s first cultural historian Timothy Samuelson, is, in the most literal sense of the word, a beautiful book. […]
Preview: Choose Your Own Adventure at C2E2 2022!
Nature is healing. Summer is in full swing, and Lollapalooza is behind us. Fan Expo kicked off our summer convention circuit, and we, the nerds, will be returning to the […]
Preview: Chicago Commemorates Emancipation with Juneteenth Celebrations
On paper, the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved Americans on January 1, 1863, during the middle of the Civil War. But not all chattel slaves were immediately manumitted. Union General Gordon […]
Feature: Beautiful Bronzeville Explored by TikTok Historian Dilla for the CHF
The Chicago Humanities Festival sponsored a bus tour of Chicago’s South Side, the “Black Belt,” for the spring Public-themed series. Hosted by “TikTok historian” Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, the two-hour tour began […]
St. Patrick’s Bulletin: Chicago Is 2nd Most Irish City in US, Ranking Shows
Did you think we would come in first and beat out Boston as the most Irish city? No, but we are second, because of the size of our Irish-American population, […]
Retrospective: A History That Leaves a Lot Unsaid, City of the Century By Donald L. Miller
City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America By Donald L. Miller Simon & Shuster For a quarter of a century, I’ve used Donald L. […]
Review: Messy Cities, Monstrous and Full of Hope, Metropolis, by Ben Wilson
Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention By Ben Wilson Anchor Books In the 1850s, Swedish writer Fredricka Bremer visited Chicago and, to say the least, was not […]
Review: Chicago Grittiness With an Eye for Beauty: Sacred City by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Sacred City By Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. University of New Mexico Press The Teddy in Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.’s new short story collection Sacred City has a way […]
Interview: In Olde Chicago: A Talk with David Anthony Witter about His Book Oldest Chicago
David Anthony Witter was born in Miller, Indiana—“across the lagoon from Nelson Algren’s summer home,” as he puts it—but has spent most of his life in Chicago. Growing up in […]
Review: Dark, Rough, Brutal, and Real: Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay
Bessie Smith: A Poet’s Biography of a Blues Legend By Jackie Kay Vintage Books Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, liked to spend money on herself and on her friends, […]
Essay: Taking a Walkabout on Printer’s Row, a Neighborhood Within a Neighborhood
There is a street in the South Loop—Dearborn from Polk to Harrison is only one block long—that is one of the most charming blocks in the city. I say the […]