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Search Smarter with the New ARCHIE

The Chicago History Museum’s Abakanowicz Research Center (ARC) is proud to announce the unveiling of a new catalog interface—Enterprise from SirsiDynix. CHM librarian Gretchen Neidhardt talks about this new interface, which allows us to offer you more resources in one place and provides more accessibility and flexibility in searching. After several months of work, ARC More

Examining Evolving LGBTQIA+ Language

In our latest blog post, CHM cataloging and metadata librarian Gretchen Neidhardt writes about our ongoing critical cataloging work. This spring, the Chicago History Museum’s Research and Access department was fortunate to host Dominican University practicum student Rebekkah LaRue, MLIS, to assist us in examining our LGBTQIA+-related language in ARCHIE, our online catalog. This work More

The Start of a Dynasty

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

“Solidarity Forever!”

In 1889, an international group of socialist party members and trade union representatives designated May 1 as a day in support of workers in commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago and the subsequent trial and executions. Since then, May Day (also called Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day) has been celebrated in many countries and recognizes the historic struggles and gains made by workers and More

The Passing of a President

On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died in the Petersen family’s boarding house in Washington, DC, at 7:22 a.m. The night before, John Wilkes Booth shot him during a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre, and soldiers carried Lincoln across Tenth Street so that he could pass his last moments peacefully and not risk a bumpy carriage ride back to the White House.  After More

Suksan-wan-songkran!

Today is the start of Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year. The holiday was Thailand’s official New Year until 1888 when it was switched to a fixed date of April 1. In 1940, the date of the New Year was changed again to January 1, and Songkran was transformed into a three-day national holiday. Thai More

Creating a Disability Studies LibGuide

In this blog post, Ariel Robinson, Chicago History Museum Research Center page and recent library school graduate, writes about her experience designing a Disability Studies LibGuide for CHM. At CHM, Gretchen Neidhardt, cataloging and metadata librarian, and Elizabeth McKinley, technical services librarian, have worked on developing LibGuides (subject guides) for various ethnic and BIPOC groups More

Enjoy a Cold One

For National Beer Day, we hope you enjoy a cold one—if you’re of age, that is. The day is observed on April 7 because on that day in 1933, the Cullen-Harrison Act went into effect, amending the National Prohibition Act and allowing the manufacture and sale of beer and wine with a 3.2% alcohol content or less. During the nineteenth century, beer making in Chicago was transformed from a small-scale, seasonal activity More

Pizza, Chicago Style

It’s National Deep Dish Pizza Day! Where will you be ordering from tonight? Modern pizza is reputed to have started in Naples in 1889 when Raffaele Esposito created the “Pizza Margherita,” with tomato, mozzarella, and basil replicating the colors of the Italian flag, for King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Italy. From there, pizza spread across the More

Happy Easter from CHM!

Happy Easter! In this image, a crowd stands around the Fourth Presbyterian Church for an Easter parade along North Michigan Avenue, just south of Delaware Place, in 1927. The church recently celebrated its sesquicentennial. On February 12, 1871, Fourth Presbyterian Church was formed with the merging of the North Presbyterian Church (founded in 1848) and Westminster Presbyterian Church (founded in 1855 as a mission church of the First More

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