Aquí en Chicago - The Project
¡Saludos!
We’re proud to share the many resources on local Latine history surrounding the exhibition Aquí en Chicago (October 25, 2025–November 8, 2026). Latine folks make up nearly a third of Chicago. Even the term “Latino” became popular through Mexicans and Puerto Ricans collaborating in Chicago. No matter who you are or where in the metro area you live, odds are that the Chicago you know bears the stamp of Latino history or presence. We are one Chicago.
Background
IJLA Student Protest
In 2019, when high school students from Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy (IJLA, then including Rudy Lozano Leadership Academy Consolidated Campuses) protested CHM for our lack of Latine representation, they inspired us to learn more and do better to inclusively, respectfully, and consistently preserve and present the Latine histories of Chicago.
Learn MoreAquí en Chicago is both a project and an exhibition that these students inspired. It is about the ways Latine folks have shaped Chicago and resisted white supremacy and colonialism for 170 years. Resistance takes many forms, ranging from protest to linguistic and cultural maintenance. This broad concept of resistance includes building thriving communities.
Latine history will always be relevant and present at CHM, beyond the closing of the gallery for the Aquí en Chicago exhibition. Chicago history is incomplete without Latine stories and communities.
Here is a quick guide to the materials you can access and add to for free from this page:
- A growing library of digital and print publications including a 268-page full color anthology of 14 essays, three CHM magazine issues, and numerous articles
- The Missing Exhibition: Building Aquí, a podcast on Spotify and Apple produced by Rivet360 and co-created by Jesse Betend
- An on-going oral history project
- The Indigenous Language Maintenance Project
- Heritage and memory workshops around the city, , continuing through the Chicago Sacred Initiative
- Resources for educators and families
- A house music mix by DJ Jesse de la Peña
- A digital image gallery of CHM collection objects and photographs
- Coming in 2027: look for—and add to—Aquí in the forthcoming Chicago History Atlas!
The exhibition implements a toolkit for changemaking through Latine experiences and celebrates the historically persistent cultural presence of Latine communities in Chicago. Aquí is only one part of the Museum’s effort to redress a long history of omitting Chicago’s communities of color from its central narrative.
As we close this exhibition, we renew our thanks for the collaboration of our 43 advisors, 34 interns and fellows, 95 lenders and donors of objects, hundreds of contributors to the Digital Communities’ Scrapbook, storytellers, Indigenous language speakers, community leaders, sponsors, our Senior Designer, Dan Oliver, our Codesigner, Cecilia Beaven, Balance Studios, Angle Park, Rivet 360, Truth and Documentaries, and Progressive Communications, and more than 100 collaborators within the Chicago History Museum in every department, including more than ten volunteers and many former staff members. Special thanks to Olga Castrejón and the team at the North & Clark Café for perfecting and baking thousands of Hojarasca® cookies from El Nopal Bakery.
And lastly, special thanks to every visitor for sharing your valuable time with us. We hope Aquí was as meaningful in the gallery for you as it was for us, and we hope you enjoy and use these durable resources, continue to reach out for more collaboration, and continue to ask for the resources you need from CHM as we work together to preserve and present our shared history.
Sinceramente,
Elena Gonzales, Curator of Civic Engagement & Social Justice, Lead Curator of Aquí en Chicago
Jojo Galván Mora, Digital Humanities Curator, Supporting Curator, Aquí en Chicago
Rebekah Coffman, Curator of Religion and Community History, Supporting Curator, Aquí en Chicago
Paul Durica, Director of Curation and Exhibitions
Ongoing Research
Aquí en Chicago has been years in the making. Read more about how the project has developed and the researchers involved in our blog posts.
Be Part of the Exhibition
A Digital Communities’ Scrapbook will appear in the exhibition where visitors can not only view images from CHM’s collection but also share their own! In this way, you can add your memories to a larger story of the people, places, and events that form Chicago’s Latino/a/e history.
Community Collections Workshops
CHM is cohosting several community collections workshops with local partners. These free bilingual workshops share best practices for preserving personal photographs, negatives, documents, textiles, oral histories, and digital materials. They are also a space to discuss how CHM can best help preserve Latino/a/e and local histories.
Does your organization want to host a collections workshop? Please contact Elena Gonzales at [email protected]
Internships
CHM Internships
CHM interns have been contributing research for Aquí en Chicago, focusing on Latino/a/e histories. This research will serve several purposes, aiding in the production of accessible online blog posts in support of public history and learning, informing Aquí en Chicago exhibition content, and providing resource materials in support of CHM’s Chicago Learning Collaborative classroom engagement program.
CHM Interns at Work
Community Advisory Committee and Community Awareness Council
These groups are made up of Aquí en Chicago supporters, who will help us remain aware of communities within the Latino/a/e population of Chicago(land).
Our goals are to:
- Build relationships among and across Chicago’s many different Latino/a/e communities
- Bring as many voices to the table at CHM as possible
- Network through this group
- Learn of ways in which the Museum can serve diverse Latino/a/e communities
How to Get Involved
How to Get Involved
SUPPORT OUR WORK
We cannot do this work without you!
Consider making a donation to support Aquí en Chicago.
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