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Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1954, Patrick Kelly was a self-proclaimed Francophile who mixed Parisian influence with the creativity and fashion sense of his female relatives, who often embellished store-bought garments with found objects. As a young adult, Kelly moved to Atlanta, where he sold recycled clothes, and he eventually moved to New York to study at Parsons School of Design. It was in Paris, during the late 1980s, that Kelly found his greatest success. He was the first American admitted to the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, the governing body of French ready-to-wear.
Silk women’s suit, c. 1988. Patrick Kelly, France. Gift of Ms. Dorothy Fuller. 2008.174.1a-b. Photographs by by CHM staff
Kelly’s designs were exuberant and humorous, as seen in this silk women’s suit (c. 1988), and some of his most memorable garments used masses of plastic buttons, wild animal prints, and suggestive embroidery. But perhaps most notably, he was known for his potent referencing of folkloric racism in his work. Kelly used to give out handmade picaninny doll pins at his fashion shows. He deliberately grappled with the images of systemic racism that were widespread in his native Deep South and translated them into a blatant commercial statement. Kelly’s creations proved to be powerful and original contributions to the field of fashion, and he was a cult figure during his brief career that was prematurely and tragically ended by AIDS in 1990.
Patrick Kelly was in the headlines again in 2020 as the namesake of the The Kelly Initiative. Organized by editor Jason Campbell, creative director Henrietta Gallina, and writer Kibwe Chase-Marshall, the petition was a response from 250 Black fashion professionals to The Council of Fashion Designers of America’s antiracism efforts and a call on the trade organization to use its status to hold the industry accountable on hiring and promoting Black people. The initiative also seeks to start The Kelly List, an annual index of 50 Black industry professionals who will be given exposure and networking opportunities, and who will pledge to hire Black professionals throughout their careers.
Three-quarter right view of women’s jumper, 1987. Denim. Patrick Kelly Paris, France. CHM, ICHi-179042
See more items from our renowned Costume and Textiles collection, which has more than 50,000 artifacts dating from the eighteenth century to the present. Explore the collection.
In this blog post, CHM curatorial intern Brigid Kennedy recounts the life of Pearl M. Hart as part of a series in which we share the stories of local women who made history in recognition of our online experience: Democracy Limited: Chicago Women and the Vote.
Pearl M. Hart is remembered by her family as being fond of boxing, her gun collection, and her car—a lavender Auburn—but she was known to much of the rest of the city as the “Guardian Angel of Chicago’s Gay Community” and as the lawyer who was devoted to defending immigrants and leftists amid anti-Communist fervor.
An undated portrait of Pearl Hart at her desk. CHM, ICHi-039673
Hart’s career began in 1912 when, at the age of twenty-two, she began taking evening classes at John Marshall Law School, where she would later teach. Just two years later she gained admission to the bar and became the first woman to serve as public defender in the Morals Court, which handled cases of adultery, prostitution, and child abuse (and eventually became the Women’s Court).
In 1937, Hart became a founding member and the first national secretary of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), a progressive organization founded to advance civil liberties and the rights of trade unions and immigrants. Unlike the American Bar Association at the time, the NLG was racially integrated. Hart became a civil rights activist in the 1940s, and in 1948 became a member of the executive board and trustee of the bail fund of the Civil Rights Congress, Illinois chapter, which worked, among other things, against racially discriminatory housing laws and practices that enforced segregation. Hart also founded the Midwest Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born in 1947 to provide legal defense for noncitizens threatened with deportation and denaturalization by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
Despite the variety of work she did, Hart’s career became publicly defined by her defense of immigrants and leftists caught up in the mid-century Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism, and particularly those who were called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) under threat of deportation and held without bail. Hart famously defended Chicagoans George Witkovich and James Keller, who were indicted for refusing to answer questions about their alleged affiliation with the Communist Party at their deportation hearings. The case eventually made it to the US Supreme Court, which ruled on May 19, 1957, that the attorney general could not seek evidence of Communist Party affiliation after a person had been ordered to be deported—a win for Hart.
Chicago Sun-Times article about some of Hart’s HUAC work. She is pictured at the bottom, center. May 26, 1965. Pearl Hart papers, Box 2, folder 1
At the end of her career, Hart focused on securing civil rights for the LGBTQIA+ community in Chicago. She defended queer Chicagoans against police harassment and worked to garner support for anti-entrapment and right-to-privacy laws. In 1965, Hart cofounded a Midwest chapter of gay rights organization The Mattachine Society in response to Lavender Scare police entrapment schemes and raids on gay bars and increasingly common dismissals of queer people from jobs in the government and military. Hart utilized the newsletter for Mattachine Midwest to spread legal information and advice relevant to queer people. She served as legal counsel for the organization until her death in 1975.
Cover of a Mattachine Midwest newsletter, May 1970. Pearl Hart papers, Box 10, folder 7
Hart was herself a queer woman and lived with partners Blossom Churan and Bertha Isaacs for most of her life; she also had a relationship with author Valerie Taylor. She rarely discussed this part of her life publicly or with the rest of her family, but her enduring impact on the lives of queer Chicagoans is undeniable. Hart was one of the first people to be inducted, posthumously, into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 1992, and she is one of the namesakes of the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, the largest circulating library of gay and lesbian titles in the Midwest.
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Legendary photographer Victor Skrebneski passed away on April 4, 2020. For this blog post, Nena Ivon, past president of the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum, delved into her personal archive and reflects on her friend’s work with the Museum.
Victor Skrebneski had a varied and exciting association with the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum through the years. During his half-century career, he was known for his striking images of models in advertisements and portraits of celebrities, but his work encompassed so much more than that. His extraordinary editorial photography graced the pages of Town & Country magazine, as well as numerous breathtaking books and catalogues. Victor’s eye for composition brought life to advertising campaigns for major retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and I. Magnin. His work was displayed in major exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Undated self-portrait of Skrebneski. © Victor Skrebneski
Victor and the Costume Council were a perfect pairing—an iconic creator documenting an iconic costume collection. His contributions to the Costume Council and the Museum were extraordinary and leave us with breathtakingly exquisite images. He helped develop the Costume Council’s annual fundraiser—the legendary Donors’ Ball—through his unique invitations, serving on occasion as decor chair, and helping bring illustrious designers to headline the galas, such as Hubert de Givenchy in 1995.
Victor (left) looks on as Nena Ivon (standing) speaks with Givenchy and Bonnie Deutsch, a past Costume Council president, at the 1995 Donors’ Ball.
Here are two of examples of Donors’ Ball invitations featuring Victor’s photography.
The 1986 Donors’ Ball was presented at the opening of Northwestern Atrium Center (now 500 West Madison), which is connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Center.
Donors’ Ball 1990, one of my favorite invitations!
Victor, Bonnie Deutsch and Sugar Rautbord, Donors’ Ball Co-Chairs, flanking James Galanos, who received the first Designer of Excellence Award at the Donors’ Ball, Chicago, November 20, 1992. CHM, ICHi-069729
Geoffrey Beene (left) was honored in 1996 with the Costume Council’s Designer of Excellence Award. Pictured with him is past Costume Council president Lawrie Weed, Victor, and Ed Weed.
One of his extraordinary contributions to the Costume Council was a ten-page color photography spread in the October 1984 issue of Town & Country magazine, which featured seven Executive Board members in front of some of the Costume Collection’s spectacular pieces. Truly a memorable captured moment in time.
Beverly Blettner, past Costume Council president, with one of the crown jewels of the costume collection—Paul Poiret’s Sorbet! © Victor Skrebneski
In addition to his work with the Costume Council, Victor’s work can be seen when you visit the Museum. His portrait of Benjamin B. Green-Field is on display at the entrance of the gallery named after Green-Field. The milliner was a generous donor to the Museum, and the Costume Collection includes a huge assortment of his whimsical Bes-Ben hats.
Undated portrait of Benjamin Green-Field. CHM, ICHi-173662; Victor Skrebneski, photographer
My last photograph taken with Victor was at a Fashion Group International Chicago event late last year. Pictured with us is Dennis Minkel, Victor’s longtime assistant, studio manager, archivist, and keeper of the flame. All of us are indebted to Dennis for his support of the Costume Council. We are holding the photographs of us that appear in Victor’s latest book, Skrebneski Documented. At the time of his death, Victor was working on two more books.
Dennis (second from left), Victor (center), and Nena Ivon (right), December 3, 2019.
It was one of the highlights of my life to not only work with this genius but to call him a dear friend for more than fifty years. His legacy will live on in the history of Chicago, the city he loved and called home.
CHM technical services librarian Elizabeth McKinley and cataloging and metadata librarian Gretchen Neidhardt outline how Research Center staff have been updating the language describing its holdings to reflect a viewpoint that is ethical, modern, and ultimately more humanizing.
For the past several months, Chicago History Museum librarians have been working behind the scenes to critically examine the language we use to describe our Research Center materials, including books, archives and manuscripts, and prints and photographs. Using the principles of critical cataloging, librarians have begun evaluating the keywords, subject headings, and summary descriptions used to identify items by and about marginalized and colonized groups, including African Americans, Indigenous peoples, and members of the disability community. This is only the start of an ongoing project that will work to address these and other group identities throughout the next several years.
CHM librarian Elizabeth McKinley (left) in the stacks during the CHM Members’ Open House, June 2019. Photograph by J. Keener Photography
Community consensus has inspired most of our changes, including empowered person-first language recommended by members of those communities. Our first changes were regarding the subject heading for “noncitizens,” previously “illegal aliens.” In some ways, this was an easy change, since the Library of Congress had proposed new and approved language, though an act of Congress prevented it from becoming official. Despite this, CHM has joined dozens of institutions in changing their public subject headings to reflect this more humanizing terminology.
Another example of more extensive changes involved the language of slavery, using P. Gabrielle Foreman’s community-sourced guide “Writing about Slavery/Teaching about Slavery: This Might Help.” Many of our collections with documents pertaining to slavery had descriptions transcribed directly from the card catalog. These cards, written decades ago, often quoted directly from the item itself. As one can imagine, some of this language sounded quite harmful. Enslaved people were not empowered or centered in any way; they were written about as if they were property. This is one of our many harsh historical truths, and in no way would we want to alter the original texts that discuss the brutality of the enslaver-enslaved person relationship. Slavery is an irrefutable part of American history, and we cannot deny its horrific effects. However, in describing an item, we can choose a description that ensures a more ethical and modern viewpoint that validates the personhood of someone who was enslaved.
CHM librarians Gretchen Neidhardt (center) and Elizabeth McKinley (second from right) present a display of Research Center materials, October 2019.
As we continue to consider the historical ramifications of colonization and marginalization in our language, our intention is not to erase histories, but to balance preserving a record of historical and institutional bias along with mitigating harm for current and future researchers. The Museum intends to converse and collaborate with a wide range of community members and organizations. Currently, we are finishing up changes to our Black and African American-related items and starting updates for materials related to the Indigenous and disability communities. We will build in periodic evaluation so that we can more frequently address necessary language changes.
An undated photograph of Research Center patrons at work. Photograph by CHM staff
We also recognize that communities are not monoliths—various members will have different preferences and experiences. We understand that language is fluid and forever changing, and this discussion is meant to be an ongoing and open dialogue. Read more about our critical cataloging work here. We welcome your thoughts or comments at research@chicagohistory.org. We’re excited to see where it takes us and hope to continue keeping you informed along the way.
Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood is one of the most famous planned neighborhoods in the US and is notable for its role in US labor history. George M. Pullman may have built the neighborhood, but it was the Pullman Porters who worked on his luxury train cars who made history in 1925 when they formed the first black union in the US! Learn more about the Pullman neighborhood and the Pullman Porters in this week’s activities.
El barrio Pullman de Chicago es uno de los barrios planificados más famosos de los Estados Unidos y es una parte importante de la historia laboral estadounidense. George M. Pullman construyo el barrio Pullman, pero los Pullman Porters que trabajaban en los vagones de lujo de Pullman fueron los hombres comunes que hicieron avances extraordinarios en la historia laboral de Chicago y vinieron a organizar el primer sindicato negro en los Estados Unidos. Obtenga más información sobre el vecindario, Pullman y los Pullman Porters en las actividades de esta semana.
Hood by Hood: Discovering Chicago’s Neighborhoods
After exploring the cultural richness of some of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods, did it make you think about your neighborhood? If your neighborhood was explored, what else would you like the rest of Chicago to know about it? As a Chicagoan, you have a hand in what the future of the city will look like. Use the graphic organizer to guide you in your journey!
Barrio por Barrio: Descubriendo los Vecindarios de Chicago
Después de explorar la rica cultural de algunos de los 77 vecindarios de Chicago, ¿te hizo pensar en TU vecindario? ¿Qué te gustaría que el resto de Chicago supiera de tu vecindario? Como Chicaguense TU tienes una mano en cómo será el futuro de la ciudad. ¡Utilice el organizador gráfico para guiarle en su exploración!
A Tough Call and Your Homerun Choices
Read or listen to the story A Tough Call to find how the White Sox dominated baseball during the mid 1910s and the scandal that ruined the 1919 season. In the story, meet Danny, a huge White Sox fan, who draws lessons from the past to make his own tough call. Then fill out baseballs showcasing your own homerun choices.
Windy City Kites
Chicago is often called the Windy City. It earned this nickname because politicians and organizers were bragging about Chicago while lobbying to be the host city for the 1893 world’s fair. Today, most people associate it with our gusty weather. Make your own paper bag kite and see how high you can fly it in the Windy City!
Set Sail!
Chicago’s beaches along Lake Michigan are fantastic places to play outside and breath in some cooler air. They are also home to sailboat races all summer long. Make your own cork boat, then test how well it floats as you set sail!
Picture Perfect
If you close your eyes and picture your perfect summer day, what would it include? Use your drawing and guessing skills to play a fun game of pictionary all about summer favorites from arts and crafts to zoos.