On August 2, 2023, two of Europe’s biggest soccer clubs—Chelsea Football Club of England and Borussia Dortmund of Germany—will face off at Soldier Field. The two clubs have played in Chicago in the past, with Dortmund playing Plymouth Argyle FC of England on May 7, 1954, and Chelsea playing an MLS All-Stars team on August More
On June 14, 1949, former Chicago Cub Eddie Waitkus was shot at the Edgewater Beach Hotel by 19-year-old Ruth Ann Steinhagen in what is thought to be one of the first recognized cases of criminal stalking in the United States. Eddie Waitkus faces Ruth Ann Steinhagen in felony court, Chicago, 1949. ST-17500605-E1, Chicago Sun-Times collection, More
To mark the 30th anniversary of the Chicago Bulls’ victory to clinch the 1993 NBA Finals and the team’s first three-peat, CHM editor and content manager Heidi Samuelson recounts the path the Bulls took to accomplish this historic feat. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen celebrate winning their third consecutive championship against the Phoenix Suns at More
To kick off March Madness and Women’s History Month, CHM content manager & editor Heidi Samuelson writes about Dorothy Gaters, a history-making basketball coach. Coach Dorothy Gaters, c. 1992. STM-034072572/Chicago Sun-Times The 2023 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) girls’ basketball 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A state final tournaments are being held March 2-4 in CEFCU More
Thirty years ago today, the Chicago Bulls won their first NBA championship with a 108–101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. With a starting lineup of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright, and John Paxson, and led by head coach Phil Jackson, the Bulls won the final series in five games. This victory More
On December 16, 2020, Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Rob Manfred made big sports news with the announcement that the MLB had “elevated” seven professional Negro Leagues to major league status. “All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations, and triumphs against More
Missing college football’s annual fall kickoff? We’ve huddled up some images from the first half of the twentieth century. Peter T. Alter, CHM chief historian and director of the Studs Terkel Center for Oral History, provides insights on a time when Chicago-area teams and coaches dominated the collegiate gridiron. A football game between the University More
The 2019 National Football League season marks the centennial for both the league and a few original teams, including our very own Chicago Bears. To commemorate the occasion, assistant curator Julius L. Jones compiled some highlights from the Bears’ first century using artifacts and images in the Chicago History Museum’s collection. The Chicago Bears More
In this photo essay, take a look back at the events surrounding the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal. The text is adapted from “Black Sox” by Robert I. Goler, which appeared in Chicago History, fall/winter 1988–89. One hundred years ago, the Chicago White Sox lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. The infamous More
To commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, CHM editor Heidi Samuelson compiled some highlights from the Museum’s collection. Sixty years ago, the third Pan American Games were held in Chicago from August 27 to September 7. This was the first time they were held both in the United States More