In the back of my mind, I thought someone would surely write about the inestimable Margaret Anderson: editor, bohemian extraordinaire, and LGBTQ+ icon. Some day. And now someone has, Adam […]
I drove down Cuyler Avenue the other day, and, as usual, I was reminded of Kiki Cuyler who played outfield for the Cubs from 1928 through 1935 during a 19-year […]
Hull House and its founder Jane Addams have long been recognized as pioneers in citizenship development and education for low-income and immigrant communities. A new book expands on that history […]
Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham lived parallel lives. Both were born in the East and came to Chicago in their youth. Both were poor students and relatively aimless until they […]
With the opening of Robert Weinberg’s poem—“On North Broadway/Middle aged women roll their pushcarts into Rexalls”—you know you’re not in Kansas any more. Instead, you’re back nearly 40 years to a […]
In the mid-1960s, Anne Keegan wore white gloves to apply for a job as a reporter at City News Bureau of Chicago. She recalled riding the elevator to the wire […]
Karen Lewis was a teacher, labor leader, and president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU)—among many other things. Reading through I Didn’t Come Here to Lie: My Life and Education […]
One of the many joys of reading Carla Bruni and Phil Thompson’s Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture is the way the book dazzles the reader with […]
Based on its bright, attractive cover of the lakeshore skyline, Walking Chicago’s Coast looks like one of those ain’t-Chicago-great booster books written to promote the city as a world-class metropolis […]
How does an old Chicago building survive? Public outcry and organized protest have saved a few, yes, but it usually comes down to owners and occupants continuing to give a […]
I don’t think I’m the only Chicagoan who finds it strangely exhilarating to realize that, over the past 60 or so years, I might have ridden in the same el […]
Two-thirds of the way through his history of the Democratic political machine in Chicago, Clout City, Dominic A. Pacyga gives a handful of examples of the requests for favors that […]