Notice

Masks required in Abakanowicz Research Center; optional for rest of Museum MORE

City on Fire | Family Gallery Guide

  Use this fun gallery guide as you explore the City on Fire: Chicago 1871 exhibition. Learn more about the exhibition at chicago1871.org. We look forward to welcoming you to the Museum! Gallery Guide (English) PDF | Guía de la Galería Familiar (Español) PDF

City on Fire | Family Activity Kit

Print out all four activities (download complete kit here) and enjoy learning more about the fire through drawing, writing, and crafting in response to amazing images and documents from the museum’s collection. You can also choose the activities that are the best fit for your family and only print those. The estimated time for each More

History of the Chicago Fire Cyclorama

Featured in our City on Fire: Chicago 1871 exhibition is a 40-feet-long painting study created as a guide for a larger Chicago Fire Cyclorama painting, which was displayed in Chicago in 1892-93 in a round building constructed for visitors to have an immersive experience. You can take an in-depth look at the painting study in More

From Ashes to Terra-Cotta

October 9, 2017 CHM senior curator Olivia Mahoney writes about a Chicago innovation that helped the city recover from the 1871 fire in a surprisingly beautiful way. This year marks the 146th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire that blazed through the city from October 8 to 10, 1871. One of the worst urban fires More

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