Chicago History Museum

Walking Tour | Hyde Park Murals
2026-05-10 11:00 - 13:00, 2026-06-14 11:00 - 13:00, 2026-07-19 11:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Pepperland Apartment building, 1509–1517 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL, 60615
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making public art, establishing community, and cultural expression.
Join artist and educator Juarez Hawkins for a lively historical tour of the murals along the Metra underpasses linking Hyde Park Boulevard and Cornell Avenue in Hyde Park, one of the city’s most engaging neighborhoods. Take a close look at public art that tells distinctive stories about Chicago and its history, including Astrid Fuller’s Spirit of Hyde Park (1973) and William Walker’s Children of Goodwill (1977). We’ll also touch on the issues surrounding content, restoration, and reinterpretation.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet at the Pepperland Apartment building at 1509–1517 E. 57th Street, adjacent to the 57th Street Metra Stop.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Paseo Boricua and Humboldt Park
2026-05-16 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-06-06 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-07-11 10:00 - 11:30 | Ciclo Urbano, 2459 W. Division St., Chicago, IL, 60622
Join professional guide and local resident Eduardo Arocho on a walk through Humboldt Park! As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making art, establishing community, and cultural expression.
Located on the Northwest Side of Chicago, the community has been defined by its strong cultural presence throughout the ages. Humboldt Park was named after naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt (1759–1859) in 1869. Interestingly, the one time that von Humboldt visited the United States, he did not travel to Chicago. The community was annexed into Chicago the same year as its naming, following the creation of the West Park System (which also includes Douglass and Garfield Park). These three parks—connected by the Boulevard Park System—were established to provide Chicago residents with some relief from the congested landscape of the city.
In a city known for its cultural and ethnic diversity, Humboldt Park stands out as the center of Puerto Rican culture in both Chicago and the American Midwest. Since the 1960s, it has been home to Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. This thought-provoking tour explores the history of the iconic West Side neighborhood through the public art proudly displayed along the six blocks of Division Street (Paseo Boricua) and in Humboldt Park.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs approximately 90 minutes. Meet at Ciclo Urbano, 2459 W. Division Street, Chicago, IL 60622.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.
Tour presented in partnership with Paseo Boricua Tour Company.

Walking Tour | Pilsen Murals
2026-05-16 10:30 - 12:30, 2026-06-20 10:30 - 12:30 | National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Chicago, IL, 60608
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making public art.
Experience the grandness of Pilsen’s murals with local poet and multidisciplinary artist Luis Tubens. As you walk through Chicago’s capital of Mexican cultures, get the larger meaning behind the public art on railroad viaducts, buildings, and doors, which shows an evolution of the community’s Mexican identity, heritage, and activism. The tour weaves the history of Pilsen with vibrant murals and lived personal experiences.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet outside the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 West 19th Street.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.
This tour is presented in partnership with Pilsen Public Art Tours.

Walking Tour | Historic Old Town
2026-05-23 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-06-27 10:00 - 12:00 | Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, 60614, United States
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making art, establishing community, and cultural expression.
The Chicago History Museum sits on the edge of Old Town, a neighborhood rich in history. The Chicago area was home to the Potawatomi, whose villages were built on these lands. After they were forcibly removed, German farmers settled there to make their homes. Since then, it has served as an enclave for Puerto Rican migrants, a home to the first gay rights organization in the US, as well a vibrant arts scene.
Join CHM volunteer Carol Fitzgibbons to explore stories of recovery from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and the neighborhood as the center of Chicago bohemianism in the 1960s and ’70s. Highlights include a post-Fire shelter cottage, the Midwest Buddhist Temple, numerous historic residences, and St. Michael’s Church, one of only seven buildings to survive the fire.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet at the Chicago History Museum.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Glitterati on the Gold Coast
2026-05-23 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-06-20 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-06-27 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-11 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-18 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-25 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-01 10:00 - 12:00 | Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, 60614, United States
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making art, establishing community, and cultural expression.
Join a CHM History Buff volunteer guide and whisk away to a time when Chicago’s rich and famous caroused on the coast. “Gold Coast” refers to a stretch of expensive lakefront property occupied by the city’s wealthiest residents. Before the opening of the Michigan Avenue Bridge (now DuSable Bridge) in 1920, it was isolated from the downtown business district and home to only a few wealthy families, such as the McCormicks, Palmers, and Ryersons.
The area soon became the heart of the upper crust of Chicago society. Sociologist Harvey Warren Zorbaugh, who claimed that college boys returning from the East Coast dubbed the area the “Gold Coast,” immortalized it in his book The Gold Coast and the Slum: A Sociological Study of Chicago’s Near North Side (University of Chicago Press, 1929; reprint 1983). The density of wealth in the Gold Coast buffered it against the deterioration that threatened other portions of the North Side in the 1950s.
Gaze at ornate architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, step onto a rare wood-block alleyway, and take in Chicago’s early mansions, including the Archbishop’s Residence.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet at the Chicago History Museum.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Sheffield Stroll
2026-05-24 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-06-21 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-07-26 12:00 - 14:00 | Fullerton Red/Brown Line L stop, 943 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL, 60614
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making art, establishing community, and cultural expression.
Join CHM History Buff volunteer guide Dave Gudewicz to explore the history of the Sheffield/DePaul neighborhood. The area was once home to immigrants who worked in the local factories, then wealthy Victorian-era families, and is now home to a university and its students. Stroll past Italianate and Queen Anne-style architecture and see the sites of Hollywood films. The tour concludes at the family-owned Kelly’s Pub where you’re welcome to grab a drink with the guide.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet at the street-level entrance of the Fullerton Red/Brown Line L stop.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Union Park and Beyond in the West Loop
2026-05-30 16:00 - 17:30 | Carter Harrison Statue, One block south of Union Park (1501 W. Randolph Street), Chicago, IL, 60606, United States
Did you know that the West Loop is home to the Haymarket Affair, a rally for workers’ rights that quickly became bloody and dangerous? Or that it’s considered the birthplace of House Music?
Join storyteller and guide Connie Fairbanks, author of Chicago’s West Loop Now and Then: People, Businesses, Buildings, as she explores the rich history of the Near West Side/West Loop from the 19th century to the present. You’ll learn about Carter Harrison, the five-time mayor of Chicago, see a church that served as City Hall after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, and explore spaces central to Chicago’s long and robust labor history. You can even stop by where some of the finest harps in the world are made mostly by hand!
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 60–90 minutes and includes one mile of walking along sidewalks. This tour begins at the Carter Harrison Statue one block south of Union Park (1501 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60606) on Washington Street between Ashland and Ogden Avenue and north of Warren Boulevard. The tour ends at Epiphany Center for the Arts (201 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60607)
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Lincoln Park's Lost History
2026-05-31 12:00 - 13:30 | Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, 60614, United States
From 1843 until the late mid-1860s, what is now Lincoln Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo was the Chicago City Cemetery. After the park was named for Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, graves were moved to more distant cemeteries, but evidence of the cemetery’s past remains. On this walking tour guide and researcher Tony Szabelski, explore the park’s history from the Couch Tomb to the tragic deaths along the High Bridge and the site of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Content warning: Discussion of death by suicide in association with the High Bridge.
$25; $22.50 members
Tour runs about 90 minutes, begins at the Chicago History Museum, and ends at 2122 N. Clark St.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

OUT at CHM | Downtown LGBTQIA+ Stories Walking Tour
2026-06-06 14:00 - 16:00 | 11 East Ida B. Wells Dr, Chicago, IL, 60605
Did you know that Chicago is home to the very first gay rights organization in the United States AND the first Pride Parade in the world? As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we are also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through their words and actions.
On this tour with guide Mike McMains of Tours with Mike, discover Chicago’s hidden LGBTQIA+ stories from the 19th century to today while exploring the city’s downtown area. Learn why LGBTQ people were forced to live in the shadows in fear of legal and social repercussions, how they began to claim their own spaces in the city, and the development of one of the largest and most vibrant queer communities in the United States. Hear stories about:

A Nobel Peace Prize winner’s secret, lesbian romance
The homosexual illustrator whose works graced more covers of The Saturday Evening Post than even Norman Rockwell
Why downtown Chicago was so active with homosexual activity during the mid-20th century
The influential, Chicago activist campaigning for city and national officials to act during the AIDS crisis
The country’s first Gay Liberation March

Attendees can enhance their tour experience by using their smartphones to view historical photographs related to the tour topics.
$25; $22.50 members
Tour begins at 11 East Ida B. Wells Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, covers about two miles, ends at the Daley Center (50 West Washington Street, Chicago, IL 60602), and is wheelchair accessible.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

OUT at CHM | North Side LGBTQIA+ Stories Walking Tour
2026-06-13 10:00 - 12:00 | CTA Belmont Red/Brown/Purple, 945 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL, 60657
Did you know that Chicago is home to the very first LGBTQIA+ rights organization in the US (1924) AND the first Pride Parade in the world (1970)? As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we are also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States make practice democracy through their words and actions.
Led by Mike McMains of Tours with Mike, this tour explores the businesses and organizations in the Northalsted (formerly Boystown) area in Lakeview. Today, it is one of the country’s largest LGBTQIA+ districts and the very first “gayborhood” to be governmentally recognized. It’s home to numerous bars, restaurants, shops, and social services and civil rights organizations. You’ll discover:

How the architecture evolved along with the neighborhood’s transformation
The Legacy Walk, which honors LGBTQIA+ leaders and historical events
Beautiful mosaics, murals, and sculptures celebrating Chicago’s diversity
Wonderful spaces inside the Midwest’s largest LGBTQIA+ community center

Attendees can enhance their tour experience by using their smartphones to view historical photographs related to the tour topics.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs approximately 90–120 minutes and is wheelchair accessible. Meet just outside of the Belmont Red/Brown/Purple Line train station’s southern entrance in front of Dunkin Donuts (945 West Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657). The tour ends at Center on Halsted (3656 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60613)
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Mary Bartelme Park and Beyond in the West Loop
2026-06-21 16:00 - 17:30 | Corner of Adams and Peoria Streets, Chicago, IL, 60607
Did you know that the West Loop’s Mary Bartelme Park is named after Illinois’s first female judge? Or that in 1988, investors purchased a cold storage warehouse and established Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios in this neighborhood?
Join storyteller and guide Connie Fairbanks, author of Chicago’s West Loop Now and Then: People, Businesses, Buildings, to explore the history of the Near West Side/West Loop from the late 1800s to the present. See a range of historical locations that have made the West Loop what it is today. From the new Pray for Peace sculpture to remnants of one of the largest garment districts in the US, you’ll learn about the history of this neighborhood while viewing the art and architecture that makes the West Loop such an important site in Chicago’s history. You’ll even learn where the powdered sugar doughnut was perfected!
$25; $22.50 members
Tour runs 60–90 minutes and includes one mile of walking on sidewalks. Tour begins at the corner of Adams and Peoria Streets, near Mary Bartelme Park (115 S. Sangamon), and ends at the corner of Halsted and Madison Streets, near the Midwest Bank Building (801 W. Madison St.).
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Historic Prairie Avenue
2026-06-28 12:00 - 14:00 | Glessner House, 1800 S. Prairie Ave., Chicago, IL, 60616, United States
During the Gilded Age, Chicago’s Prairie Avenue was regarded as “Millionaire’s Row.” The wealthy flocked to the area after the Civil War because it was close to the Loop, and it did not require its residents to cross the Chicago River.
On this walking tour with guide and researcher Tony Szabelski, stroll through the neighborhood that once boasted Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Richardson Romanesque-style homes. Learn about its rise to prominence, decline in the mid twentieth century, and the preservation efforts that led to the Prairie Avenue District to be added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Hear tales of the famous specters that supposedly still linger in the remaining structures, such as the William W. Kimball House and Marshall Field Jr. Mansion.
$25; 22.50 members
Tour runs approximately 1.5 to 2 hours, meets at Glessner House at 1800 S. Prairie Ave., and ends at The Second Presbyterian Church at 1936 S. Michigan Ave.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Pilsen Murals
2026-07-11 10:30 - 12:30 | National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Chicago, IL, 60608
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making public art.
Experience the grandness of Pilsen’s murals with local poet and multidisciplinary artist Luis Tubens. As you walk through Chicago’s capital of Mexican cultures, get the larger meaning behind the public art on railroad viaducts, buildings, and doors, which shows an evolution of the community’s Mexican identity, heritage, and activism. The tour weaves the history of Pilsen with vibrant murals and lived personal experiences.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet outside the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 West 19th Street.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.
This tour is presented in partnership with Pilsen Public Art Tours.
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Walking Tour | Historic Old Town
2026-07-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, 60614, United States
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making art, establishing community, and cultural expression
The Chicago History Museum sits on the edge of Old Town, a neighborhood rich in history. The Chicago area was home to the Potawatomi, whose villages were built on these lands. After they were forcibly removed, German farmers settled there to make their homes. Since then, it has served as an enclave for Puerto Rican migrants, a home to the first gay rights organization in the US, as well a vibrant arts scene.
Join CHM volunteer Carol Fitzgibbons to explore stories of recovery from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and the neighborhood as the center of Chicago bohemianism in the 1960s and ’70s. Highlights include a post-Fire shelter cottage, the Midwest Buddhist Temple, numerous historic residences, and St. Michael’s Church, one of only seven buildings to survive the fire.
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet at the Chicago History Museum.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.

Walking Tour | Union Park & Beyond
2026-07-19 16:00 - 17:30 | Carter Harrison Statue, One block south of Union Park (1501 W. Randolph Street), Chicago, IL, 60606, United States
Did you know that the West Loop is home to the Haymarket Affair, a rally for workers’ rights that quickly became bloody and dangerous? Or that it’s considered the birthplace of House Music?
Join storyteller and guide Connie Fairbanks, author of Chicago’s West Loop Now and Then: People, Businesses, Buildings, as she explores the rich history of the Near West Side/West Loop from the 19th century to the present. You’ll learn about Carter Harrison, the five-time mayor of Chicago, see a church that served as City Hall after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, and explore spaces central to Chicago’s long and robust labor history. You can even stop by where some of the finest harps in the world are made mostly by hand!
$25, $22.50 members
Tour runs 60–90 minutes and includes one mile of walking along sidewalks. This tour begins at the Carter Harrison Statue one block south of Union Park (1501 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60606) on Washington Street between Ashland and Ogden Avenue and north of Warren Boulevard. The tour ends at Epiphany Center for the Arts (201 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60607)
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.  u

Walking Tour | Lincoln Park's Lost History
2026-08-02 12:00 - 13:30 | Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, 60614, United States
From 1843 until the late mid-1860s, what is now Lincoln Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo was the Chicago City Cemetery. After the park was named for Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, graves were moved to more distant cemeteries, but evidence of the cemetery’s past remains. On this walking tour guide and researcher Tony Szabelski, explore the park’s history from the Couch Tomb to the tragic deaths along the High Bridge and the site of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Content warning: Discussion of death by suicide in association with the High Bridge.
$25; $22.50 members
Tour runs about 90 minutes, begins at the Chicago History Museum, and ends at 2122 N. Clark St.
Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.
Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.c
