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In 2024, the holy month of Ramadan began for many Muslims at sundown on Sunday, March 10. CHM curator of religion and community history Rebekah Coffman talks about the significance of iftar, an important part of Ramadan.


Friends and family gather for iftar, September 28, 1974. ST-10104872-0014, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

The Islamic month of Ramadan is a time of prayer, fasting, and personal and community reflection. The ninth and holiest month of the Hijri, it is a time when Muslims around the world will fast daily from sunrise to sunset, fulfilling one of the five central tenets of Islam in commemoration of the Quran’s revelation to Muhammed.


The kids’ table at iftar, September 28, 1974. ST-10104872-0027, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Each evening, after Magrib (evening prayer), communities and families come together for iftar, a meal to break the day’s fast. This includes preparing and eating delicious foods and desserts and is also a time for music, telling stories, playing games, and spending time in each other’s company, passing traditions down through generations. These communal moments were recognized in 2023 as globally significant Intangible Cultural Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), noting how vitally important sharing rituals like iftar can be to maintaining and preserving cultural traditions.


Screenshot of UNESCO’s interactive constellation map of different types of intangible cultural heritage, 2024.

Intangible heritage refers to living traditions beyond monuments and collections and is embodied through oral traditions, rituals, festive events, social practices, and knowledge. It is heritage expressed through living action that bridges the past with the present, and in religious contexts is also known as “living religious heritage.” Many examples of rituals and foods are recognized and celebrated as intangible heritage today, with more being added to our shared global heritage. UNESCO does not currently include the United States in its official lists for recognized intangible heritage, but traditions and rituals remain transnational ways of keeping intangible heritage alive among communities.


Friends and family at iftar, September 28, 1974. ST-10104872-0005, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

A local example of these intangible moments was captured in a series of photographs for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1974. Religion reporter Roy Larson wrote about his experience attending an iftar at the home of Chicagoans Donna and Abraham Mohammed. Joined by family and friends, including the Abu-Shalbacks, the mealtime discussion centered on Palestinian heritage and what the idea of “home” means to them. Larson describes the beautiful meal that was shared, including maqluba, a traditional Arab/Palestinian dish of meat, rice, and vegetables that is cooked and then flipped onto a dish when served. In the spirit of sharing, the Abu-Shalbacks’ then-twelve-year-old son, Sami, invited Larson to his class at 55th Street and Fairfield Avenue in Gage Park to study Arabic and the Quran.


Family and friends sharing an iftar meal, September 28, 1974. ST-10104872-0012, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

In the 1970s, there were approximately 25,000–35,000 Muslims in Chicago. Chicago’s burgeoning Palestinian diaspora was then centered in the Gage Park and Chicago Lawn neighborhoods on the Southwest Side. Today, there are 350,000 Muslims in Illinois, most living in the Chicagoland area, making it the highest concentration of Muslims in the country. The Palestinian diaspora is a vital part of the community, with more Palestinians living in Cook County than elsewhere in the United States. Suburban areas such as Oak Lawn, Orland Park, and Bridgeview have become the heart of Chicagoland’s Palestinian community with the stretch of Harlem Street from 79th to 123rd earning the moniker “Little Palestine.”


Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois, 2024. Photograph by Rebekah Coffman


The Prayer Center of Orland Park in Orland Park, Illinois, June 26, 2019. Photograph by Tim Paton. CHM, ICHi-175817

One of our previous exhibitions, American Medina: Stories of Muslim Chicago (October 21, 2019–May 16, 2021), preserved and shared a wide range of Muslim voices, perspectives, and traditions, demonstrating the diverse Muslim communities that call Chicago home today. This includes more than 140 oral histories, many of which are available to listen to through SoundCloud and research via our online database, including memories of Ramadan and perspectives from other Palestinian Chicagoans.

 

Additional Resources

February 2024 marks 110 years since the start of a labor action commonly known as the Henrici’s restaurant waitress strike. In this blog post, CHM editor and content manager Heidi Samuelson recounts the strike, its history, and its effects.


“Girl Strikers in Riot with Police,” Chicago Examiner, February 10, 1914

In February 1914, four waitresses marched through a lunchtime crowd outside Henrici’s restaurant at 67 West Randolph Street wearing coats painted with their demands: “On strike on at Henrici’s. Henrici’s pay $7 for 7 days. We want $8 for 6 days.” When police tried to arrest them, the “girl strikers” sat down and refused to go without a fight. They were later charged with encouraging an illegal boycott.

The waitresses were members of Chicago Waitresses Union Local 484 who, along with the Chicago Cooks Union 864, organized a strike to demand recognition of the waitresses’ union, a living wage, and better working conditions. Henrici’s was selected as the first target of their picketing, after owners had promised to fire any waitresses who joined the union. The restaurant manager at Henrici’s told reporters their waitresses were asked but “unwilling” to join the union.


Mabel Burke, a union member, being arrested for conspiracy and illegal picketing, February 1014; DN-0062302, Chicago Daily News Collection, CHM

For weeks, the sidewalk outside the restaurant was picketed by women encouraging patrons to boycott the establishment. The picketers were frequently arrested, as police often sided with businesses during workers’ strikes.

Informal full-length portrait of Miss Ellen Gates Starr sitting next to a table in a room in Chicago
Ellen Gates Starr after being arrested for interfering with the waitress strike in front of Henrici’s restaurant, March 19, 1914; DN-0062287, Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

Among those arrested was Ellen Gates Starr, cofounder of Hull-House and a member of the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL), who had lent her support to the strikers. Starr noted in her essay “Efforts to Standardize Chicago Restaurants—The Henrici Strike” that although Illinois law permitted peaceful picketing, the police sometimes arrested the same woman twice in a day, and yet none of the strikers’ cases was ever tried.

The Chicago WTUL was founded in in 1904 and was one of the most active branches of the national organization, which aimed to organize women workers into trade unions, lobby for protective legislation and woman suffrage, and promote vocational education. The WTUL was a mix of middle-class and working-class women. By 1910, it had deepened its alliance with the Chicago Federation of Labor, promoted the leadership of working-class women, and played a key role in the 1910–11 garment workers’ strike—supporting striking workers and their families and helping draft the agreement to end the strike.

Front cover of pamphlet titled The Eight Hour Fight in Illinois by The Girls Who Did The Work, leaflet no. 4, published by The Women's Trade Union League of Chicago, 1909.
Front cover of pamphlet titled “The Eight Hour Fight in Illinois by The Girls Who Did the Work,” leaflet no. 4, published by the Chicago WTUL, 1909; CHM, ICHi-177353

The 1914 waitresses’ strike expanded to twenty more restaurants that were all part of the Restaurant Keepers Association. Though it eventually collapsed due to a series of injunctions against the picketers, it gained significant press attention. Due to this attention, Elizabeth Maloney, a WTUL board member and one of the Waitresses Union Local 484 founders, testified before the Commission on Industrial Relations, or the Walsh Commission, created by US Congress in August 1912 to evaluate US labor law and working conditions.


Portrait of Elizabeth Maloney, financial secretary of the Waitresses Union Local 484, Chicago, c. 1909. CHM, ICHi-067690

During her testimony Maloney said:

“When you look at the profit side of the concern and look at the wage column, and see the wages as low as two or three or four dollars a week, and you know that industry is piling up millions of dollars at the expense of the girls, that side of the table should be equalized a little more, and I think a girl should be entitled to live decently and properly and enjoy some of the things in life that her employer wants his children to have.”

Additional Resources

 

To mark Saint Valentine’s Day, CHM reference librarian Maggie Cusick shares select valentines from our greeting card collection.

On February 15, 1872, the Chicago Tribune wrote: “Young maids and misses were yesterday anxiously hovering about the shops where valentines are sold, and bothering the postmen with inquiries after those that they thought they ought to get. Those who received were happy, and those who failed to receive lingered on in the faint hope that their tender missives must be lost in some corner of the Post Office, which would in due time give up its spoil.”


Chicagoans still looked forward to St. Valentine’s Day even just four months after the Great Chicago Fire.

Here at the Chicago History Museum, we have a collection of thousands of greeting cards from the 1840s to the 1990s that include cards for Christmas, birthdays, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, and yes, valentines—13 boxes of them.

This collection is a composite of many donations over time organized by subject and type. They fall into our category of “Prints and Photographs” and therefore can be served out to researchers in the Abakanowicz Research Center (ARC).

The valentines in the collection showcase the range of stylistic trends over time, and include wonderful handmade and homemade examples, and instances of addressed ones where we can maybe learn a little about the sender and receiver. They can be fun for those who are interested in many areas including design history, the history of ephemera, the history of correspondence, the depiction of relationships over time or the history of courtship, printing history, or specific artists or producers—such as Esther Howland, from New England, the first manufacturer of valentines in the US starting in the 1850s or Aveline Thorpe, working here in Chicago in the early 1900s—to name just two!

If you’re so inclined, please visit the ARC and peruse the flurry of lace, ribbons, satin, silk, paper, and gold foil, professing love—or disdain.


Early examples in the collection includes lacy and ornate cards from the mid 19th century that were typically found in bookshops and stationery stores such as Norris & Hyde, McNally, and E.L. Andrews. A Tribune reporter’s description said it was as if “engraver’s art had gone mad in the hands of some possessor” and “dainty and exquisite as if wrought by fairy fingers for fairy loves” (Chicago Tribune, February 15, 1859).

Esther Howland was the first manufacturer of valentines in the US, based out of Massachusetts. She began in the late 1840s after being inspired by an imported card. Her goal was to use embossed paper to look like lace. Above are two example of her work from our collection. Cards were being imported en masse to Chicago during that period—according to the Tribune, on January 14, 1859, “The largest stock of Valentines ever in Chicago is being received from New York by McNally & Co., 81 Dearborn street [sic]. Country dealers should by all means order from them, as by do doing they can be suited much better than by writing to New York.” This shipment possibly included some of Howland’s cards!


An advertisement for valentines in the Chicago Tribune, February 8, 1885.


In the 1880s, these “humorous and loving devices,” costing anywhere from 5¢ to $5, started to move away from the older style and saw a “card, large and small, modest in its adornment or elegant in its ornamentation,” and floral and landscape designs, pressed natural flowers, winter scenes, doves in a tree with verse, or fan shaped cards come into fashion. (Tribune, February 12, 1882)

Before Esther Howland made valentines more affordable for Americans, in addition to importing them, many people made their own. We have some wonderful, whimsical examples of homemade cards in our collection.

Common throughout this period was the “comic” valentine, sometimes known as the “penny dreadful” or a “vinegar valentine.” These were essentially mean cards, often with caricatures, that people would send to people they held a grudge or wanted to hurt—the original “trolling” perhaps! The Tribune wrote of a magazine illustrator named G. Howard who would create them when he was “out of humor and dissatisfied with life”! (Chicago Tribune, February 9, 1896).

Above is a vinegar valentine about a tailor from the late 1800s and then a guide to writing these, published in New York in 1848, that provides prewritten verse to address any number of sorts of people.

By the 1890s, the Tribune noted that bicycles, the “New Woman,” and other “modern” themes were appearing in valentine illustrations. How about motorcars, motorbikes, and airplanes? (Chicago Tribune, February 7, 1897)

In our collection, there are two fabulous valentines from the 1910s—one that is clearly referencing World War I, and the other, with a handwritten “1918” in pencil, shows a woman in a short bob haircut, commenting on the old and new in verse, “Quaint and stately were the greetings sent by friends in days of old: just as true, sincere and tender are the thoughts my heart now holds.”

There’s another charming example from 1914 of a young girl and boy sitting on a bench, and the card opens to a sweet message. It also reads “Aveline H. Thorpe, Chicago.”

The name Aveline Thorpe shows up as someone involved with the Art Institute in the early 20th century and is listed in the 1923 directory as an artist living on North Winthrop Avenue. In the 1920 census, Frances Thorpe is listed as a commercial artist and her brother Homer as working in advertising for the Chicago Daily News, and in 1930, her brother James Jr. is listed as a salesman involved in engraving. In the Inter-Ocean paper, February 17, 1913, a Frances Aveline at that address held a valentine party at her home:

Frances’s mother is also Aveline (née Holman). It is unclear if this valentine was designed by mother or daughter. In the census, Aveline is not noted with a profession, but an Aveline Thorpe, designer, exhibited at the Art Institute in 1907—and Frances would only have been about 15 years old. Frances Aveline shows up later as a member of the Art Students’ League of Chicago in 1917.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, we start to see more of the cards we have become familiar with—printed, lots of bright colors, and hearts—and a now-household-name in the greeting card business—Hallmark!

Lastly, who doesn’t love cats and dogs for Valentine’s Day? Clearly, they have always been in fashion!

Additional Resources

Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known as Fat Tuesday, is a day in the Christian tradition that marks the end of the time before Lent. In this blog post, CHM curator of religion and community history Rebekah Coffman talks about the tradition’s practice, particularly in Poland and in Chicago’s Polish Catholic communities.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of a somber forty-day period of fasting in preparation for Easter. Many traditions around the world spend the days leading up to Lent as a time of partying, celebrating, and indulging before the restrained atmosphere of the Lenten season. This includes numerous rich food traditions as homes historically tried to use up indulgent ingredients like butter, sugar, and eggs before fasting. Foods often include pancakes, doughnuts, and other sweet pastries.

A variety of pączki flavors from Delightful Pastries in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, 2024. Photograph by Rebekah Coffman.

In Poland and throughout the Polish diaspora, the start of the Lenten season is often synonymous with eating pączki. A sweet, doughnut-like pastry, pączki are made of yeasted dough and filled with jams or custards, with traditional flavors including plum and rose. In Poland, they are typically eaten on the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday, known as Tłusty Czwartek or Fat Thursday. The Tuesday before Lent is known as Herring Night (Śledzik), when it is traditional to eat herring and drink vodka, or Ostatki, meaning the “leftovers” or “last things” as a nod to the end of the celebratory season before the Lenten fast begins. In the United States, these two days are often merged, and Pączki Day has become largely conflated with other Fat Tuesday celebrations in cities with large Polish populations such as Chicago.

Cover of and recipe for pączki from Mayor Byrne’s Chicago Heritage Cookbook (1979). CHM Collection, TX725 .M2

While pączki may have historically religious roots, they have become just as much a mark of cultural heritage and have been adopted by Midwesterners beyond the Polish community. For example, Mayor Byrne’s Chicago Heritage Cookbook (1979) showcases Chicago’s cultural diversity through recipe highlights, including a section on Poland with a number of Polish favorites such as hunter’s stew (bigos), stuffed cabbage (golabki), dumplings (pierogi), and, of course, a pączki recipe contributed by the Polish National Alliance. The cookbook’s introduction notes that many of its contributors participated in the Chicago Heritage Parade and the Chicago International Festival at Navy Pier, and this showcasing of recipes and heritage was for the goal of “greater appreciation of Chicago’s ethnic diversity.”

Outdoor market in Polish neighborhood around Division Street and Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, c. 1955. CHM, ICHi-175590; Stephen Deutch, photographer

As discussed in our exhibition, Back Home: Polish Chicago, Chicago has been shaped by nearly two centuries of Polish migration marked through four distinct waves: first from the 1850s to 1920s, next after World War II, then the Solidarity era of the 1980s, and again in the last decades of the 20th and into the 21st centuries. Core Polish neighborhoods were first established northwest of downtown Chicago along Milwaukee Avenue, with the area surrounding Milwaukee Avenue, Ashland Avenue, and Division Street earning the moniker of the “Polish Downtown.” This was soon followed by settlement in areas near industrial and trade work, including Pilsen, Bridgeport, Back of the Yards, South Chicago, Hegewisch, and other parts of Southeast Chicago. As time passed and agents of gentrification and ethnic succession took hold, families and communities moved further away from the historic core neighborhoods and into outer edge areas and the surrounding suburbs, including Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Archer Heights, Calumet City, Chicago Heights, and Cicero. With these shifts came the establishment of new businesses, places of worship, and community spaces.

Polish Constitution Day Parade near N. Milwaukee Ave. and W. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Jefferson Park, Chicago, 2000. ST-20002308-0018, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

For example, Jefferson Park in Chicago’s northwest has long been known as the “Gateway to Chicago” and served as an important transportation hub into the city, including as an extension of the core Milwaukee Avenue corridor. Around 1900, through its connections by street railway lines, large numbers of Polish, German, and Italian immigrants began coming to the area as laborers, artisans, and tradesmen. Though bifurcated by the construction of the Kennedy Expressway in the 1950s, the Polish community of Jefferson Park continued to grow in subsequent decades. Community institutions followed, such as the transformation of the former historic Gateway Theater into The Copernicus Center in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1990, almost half of those living in Jefferson Park were of Polish descent. Today, while the Polish community still has a strong neighborhood presence, Jefferson Park continues to become more racially and ethnically diverse with nearly 25% of residents identifying as Hispanic or Latine.

Exterior of Delightful Pastries at 5927 W. Lawrence Ave. in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, Chicago, 2024. Photograph by Rebekah Coffman

Various pączki flavors at Delightful Pastries include rose, plum butter, passion fruit jelly, and strawberry. Photograph by Rebekah Coffman.

Delightful Pastries in Jefferson Park is a delicious example of this rootedness within Polish tradition and culture while nodding toward multicultural influences. Owner Dobra Bielinski, born in Lubin, Poland, studied French at the Sorbonne, where she became inspired by Parisian pastries. She later studied culinary arts in Chicago, and 26 years ago she opened Delightful Pastries when presented with the opportunity to purchase a storefront on Lawrence Avenue. Dobra noted that, while pączki are a fried, yeasted dough like doughnuts, they are much less sweet than your everyday custard or jelly doughnut. Her Warsaw-style pączki are made with a traditional style dough and include old-fashioned flavors like plum, rose, and raspberry. However, her personal philosophy sees baking as something that has no borders and draws international inspiration as well. For example, her passion fruit pączki was inspired by a trip to Mexico and is filled with homemade passion fruit jelly, and her take on a strawberry shortcake includes strawberries and whipped cream in a halved paczek shell.

Wherever you buy, whatever flavor you love, and whenever you enjoy your pączki this pre-Lenten season, Niech słodkim nam będzie Tłusty Czwartek, and Happy Pączki Day!

Explore the Evolution of Renowned Artist Nick Cave Through Over 40 Unique Garments

CHICAGO (January 23, 2024) – The Chicago History Museum (CHM) is thrilled to announce its latest acquisition of over 40 men’s garments created by renowned Chicago artist Nick Cave. The collection, generously donated by Greg Cameron, President and CEO of The Joffrey Ballet, and his partner Greg Thompson is the first acquisition of the artist’s work for the institution and documents the artist’s evolution from fashion designer to world-renowned sculptor, dancer and performance artist. Each garment in the collection is one of a kind, and CHM hopes to feature pieces from the collection in upcoming exhibitions and selected items will be viewable on its website.  

 Cameron, a long-time friend and admirer of Cave’s work, expressed his excitement about the donation. “In the spirit of ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to discover Nick’s unique perspective, I knew that the costume collection at the Chicago History Museum was the perfect home for his wearable works of art,” said Cameron. “By sharing Nick’s creations, I am humbled to fulfill his wish, in his own words, to ‘take you (in this instance, CHM visitors) to the next level.'”  

 Cameron has been deeply involved in the arts community for decades and understands the profound impact of exhibitions and collections. “A fifth-grade field trip to the then Chicago Historical Society resulted in a 54-year love affair with this vibrant city that continues to flourish,” he shared. “As a former museum administrator, I understand the magic of connections built with artists like Nick.”  

 The Chicago History Museum’s costume collection comprises more than 50,000 costumes and textiles dating from the eighteenth century to the present and is noted for both its size and the quality of its holdings. “We are honored to serve as the stewards of this exciting collection of garments made and designed by Nick Cave,” said Jessica Pushor, costume collections manager at the Chicago History Museum. “These pieces are powerful visual tools tracing Cave’s transition from fashion designer (with his own clothing store on School and Clark Street), to the internationally known artist and creator of the Soundsuit series. We believe this acquisition will inspire and engage our visitors, fostering a deeper appreciation and understanding of the intersection of art and fashion.” 

 For more information about the costume collection and the Chicago History Museum, visit https://www.chicagohistory.org/collection/costumes-and-textiles/. You can learn how to view and research the costume collection on the Museum’s YouTube Channel or see photographs of select items at https://images.chicagohistory.org/costume-and-textiles-collection/ 

 Media kit available here: https://app.box.com/s/6lwz01o1v2f4mdpkjfwgpe0lzunasemx  

 

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Our exhibition Back Home: Polish Chicago opened in May 2022, and as part of our series highlighting stories of Polish Chicagoans, CHM educational assistant Joanna Bak shares a story told through garments in our costume collection that also happens to involve actor Betty White.

While not as large as New York or LA, Chicago features a small but mighty fashion scene. The business hub of the fashion scene in Chicago is the Merchandise Mart, a massive complex made to display retail and wholesale clothing. One designer who carved her way through to Chicago’s fashion shows and retail windows was Polish-born Yolanda Lorente.


Hand-painted silk dress in shades of hot pink, red, yellow, and blue, Yolanda Lorente, c. 1984. All photographs by CHM staff unless otherwise noted.

Fashion designer Yolanda Lorente stated in a 2013 interview with Crain’s Chicago Business, “I went to Saks Fifth Avenue wearing my own hand-painted silk dress, and I said [to myself], ‘If somebody’s going to like this, somebody’s going to say something.’ Americans are very honest with the compliments.”

Her confidence paid off. An employee asked what designer she was wearing, and she told them she made the dress herself. They were impressed by her technique of hand painting silk to create unique motifs that added to the delicate, flowing nature of the fabric.


Hand-painted silk wrap top, skirt, and scarf, Yolanda Lorente, c. 1985.

Lorente’s clothes were ultimately sold at Saks Fifth Avenue and independently. For many years, Lorente had a boutique on North Michigan Avenue, where she displayed her latest designs, which were manufactured in Chicago. She participated in Chicago-based fashion shows and traveled outside the city to teach younger people about design. Lorente also displayed her paintings and non-fashion-related art.


Silk blazer, blouse, skirt, and scarf, Yolanda Lorente, c. 1985.

The loose draping of the silk dresses, kaftans, and shirts Lorente was creating in the 1980s and ’90s helped create a vibe of carefree elegance, a style to which none other than legendary actress Betty White gravitated.


Women’s three-piece skirt suit ensemble with scarf, Yolanda Lorente, c. 1990.

Best known for playing Rose Nylund on the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–92), White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on January 17, 1922. Her impressive eight-decade career is one that many actors and entertainers aspire to—in both 2014 and 2018, she was awarded a Guinness World Record for “Longest TV Career for a Female Entertainer.”

Yolanda Lorente became a staple of Betty White’s award show ensembles. Her designs make repeat appearances at different awards shows, as White was no stranger to rewearing outfits on the red carpet. At both the 2004 TV Land Awards and the Creative Arts Emmys, she can be seen wearing a pastel green and purple gradient two-piece blouse and skirt.

More recently, White wore a lively multipattern silk tunic of Lorente’s when she appeared on Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2015. Several years earlier, in 2010, White became the oldest person to host the show (after rejecting invitations to host three different times) after an online Facebook page called “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!” went viral.


Betty White with Alan Light at the 1992 Emmys Wearing a Yolanda Lorente dress. Photograph by Alan Light.

Some of the hand-painted silk gowns were sold at auction after White’s death in 2021. A white floral dress and scarf that she wore to the 1992 Emmy Awards and the 1997 Convention of the California Federation of Women’s Club was sold for $4,480. She wore the dress again in a 2012 promo photograph for Betty White’s Off their Rockers, a prank show she hosted. A red floral dress she wore to the American Comedy Awards in 1992 sold for $5,120.


(Left) Evening dress made out of multicolored printed silk and a sash from the same material, Yolanda Lorente, c. 1990; (right) multicolor dress, Yolanda Lorente, c. 1990.

While Lorente is retired from working in fashion, her work is still a part of the Chicago fashion community, and her pieces—though none worn by White—are a treasured part of CHM’s vast costume collection.

Additional Resources

January 12, 2024, marks the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Women in Architecture (CWA). In recognition, CHM curator of religion and community history Rebekah Coffman talks about the organization’s history and shares related items in our collection.


Chicago Women in Architecture invitations, including a reproduction of an original invitation by Gertrude Lempp Kerbis. CHM collection, Chicago Women in Architecture Records

Founded in 1974, CWA began with an inaugural meeting called by Gertrude Lempp Kerbis, in which women architects around the city were invited to discuss how to best mutually support one another in the male-dominated architectural field. Additional founding members include Nancy Abshire, Pao-Chi Chang, Gunduz Dagdelen Ast, Natalie de Blois, Laura Fisher, Jane M. Jacobsen, Barbara Ralph, Carol Ross Barney, Pu Hu Shao, Cynthia Weese, and Margaret Zirkel Young.

Just before this founding meeting, in December 1973, Wilbert R. Hasbrouck of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago wrote to Gertrude about the state of the AIA Chicago chapter, noting only twelve of its registered members were women. Meanwhile, AIA member directories around this time show roughly 700 total members listed in the Chicago area. This seemingly aligns with then-contemporary national trends, where gender representational disparities abounded. In 1957, at the centenary of the AIA’s founding, only 1% of registered national members were women. By 1982, almost a decade after the CWA’s founding, that figure had risen only slightly to 5%. The CWA’s call to action was timely in bringing these imbalances into focus through solidarity, advocacy, networking, mentorship, and increasing visibility for women in architecture and related fields, and its membership quickly jumped from its founding 12 to 40 in its first year.


Chicago Women in Architecture: Contemporary Directions exhibition at the Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, 1978. CHM, ICHi-182682


Promotional poster for Contemporary Directions, 1978, CHM collection, Chicago Women in Architecture Records

Just a few years after its founding, the CWA hosted an exhibition at the Artemisia Gallery in 1978 entitled Chicago Women Architects: Contemporary Directions. As the first group exhibition of women architects working in Chicago, it centered projects designed and built by women through panels with drawings and photographs. Represented projects in the catalogue included River Plaza with Margaret Young as project architect (1977), the Marie Sklodowska Curie High School with Po Hu Shao as project architect/designer (1973), University of Chicago Fieldhouse Alterations with Carol Ross Barney as project designer (1977), a corn crib in central Illinois by Cynthia Weese (1977), The Greenhouse by Gertrude Lempp Kerbis FAIA (1975), and the Webster Condominiums by Gunduz Dagdelen Ast (1977), among others.


Installation views of Chicago Women in Architecture: Progress & Evolution, 1974–1984 at Chicago Historical Society. CHM collection

Six years later, to mark the 10th anniversary of CWA’s founding, the Chicago Historical Society (CHS, now the Chicago History Museum) exhibited Chicago Women in Architecture: Progress & Evolution 1974–1984. Opened October 20, 1984, the show featured the work of 54 women architects represented through a series of large shadowboxes.


Exterior view of the Woman’s Building and lagoon at the World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893. CHM, ICHi-002302


Woman’s Building under construction, showing caryatids sculpted by Enid Yandell. CHM, ICHi-059978

Sabra Clark, then Assistant Curator of the Architectural Collections at CHS, noted in the exhibition’s catalogue that the contributions of CWA stood on the shoulders of decades of women working and advocating for their place to define the built environment. The Woman’s Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition is cited as a key moment when an open competition for women architects led to Sophia Hayden’s winning design. The Woman’s Building itself became a motif used by the CWA in its membership drives, such as in a 1980 blueprint-inspired mailer.


Pages from Chicago Women in Architecture: Progress & Evolution, 1974–1984 exhibition catalogue, featuring shadowbox designs, including by Gunduz Dagdelen Ast and Sheila Fogal. CHM collection, NA1997.C5 1984 OVERSIZE

The shadowboxes displayed in Progress & Evolution shifted away from exclusively literal representations of built and designed works, as were featured in Contemporary Directions, and instead allowed for thematic, abstracted, and recontextualized representations of projects, modes of practice, and ways of being as women architects. For example, Gunduz Dagdelen Ast, partner with Ast + Dagdelen and founding CWA member, contributed a box divided into nine squares that represents sections of nine different projects done by her firm. The exhibition catalogue quotes Dagdelen, saying, “It is not how we enclose space . . . but rather how we extend it, carve it, mold it . . . that achieves the maximum effect.” An example of this space-conscious design practice represented in the shadowbox includes Ast + Dagdelen’s clever adaptive reuse of a former Old Town church into residential spaces (square at top row, left).


Shadowbox designed by Gunduz Dagdelen Ast. CHM collection. Photograph by Rebekah Coffman.

In another, Sheila Fogel’s piece, “The Feminist Flat,” considers gendered tasks and their influence in domestic design, noting the “traditional woman’s domain” are generally spaces “hidden away—along with the woman.” Her proposed “Feminist Flat” redesign locates the kitchen and laundry facilities centrally in the living spaces, presuming the shared visual/mental load would translate into shared domestic workload. In Fogel’s vision, flats of this arrangement would find a place in mixed-use residential apartment blocks, where “no commuting is necessary” between domestic and commercial life, a still sought-after urban ideal in today’s climate-conscious landscape.


Chicago Women in Architecture: Progress & Evolution, 1974–1984; An Exhibition. CHM collection, NA1997.C5 1984 OVERSIZE

The Progress & Evolution exhibition catalogue’s cover features a reproduction of Chicago-born architect Marion Mahony Griffin’s (1871–1961) delineation of a pier design for the Cafe Australia, 1914. The pier to the right featuring the figure of a woman is a play on a popular architectural motif: the caryatid. Coming from ancient Greece, the sculpted image of a woman acted as a pillar, keeping the roof supported by the very strength of her form as a mark of eternal punishment by the gods. This has proven to be a powerful and multilayered metaphor for women working in and around the architectural field.


Chicks in Architecture Refuse to Yield (CARY) exhibition materials, CHM collection, Chicago Women in Architecture Records

For example, Chicks in Architecture Refuse to Yield to Atavistic Thinking in Design and Society (CARYATIDS), sometimes going by just CARY, was a Chicago-based design collective founded in 1992. CARY borrowed the female-pillar form to dismantle the status quo of the architectural “boys’ club” atmosphere of the field. Cofounders Carol J. Crandall, Kay Janis, and Sally Levine designed their 1993 exhibition more than the sum of our body parts at the Randall Street Gallery to address themes of gender-based discrimination through multimedia sculptural installations.


Exhibition catalogue for more than the sum of our body parts, cover and installation image for “Tea and Sympathy,” Chicks in Architecture Refuse to Yield, 1993. CHM collection, Chicago Women in Architecture Records

Installations were designed to address specific issues women faced in the field through metaphoric vignettes, including professional treatment, pay inequity, lack of female mentorship, lack of higher-level positions held by women, family issues, discrimination and harassment, and the myth of the single great architect creating alone. These provocative installations were a call to solidarity and an overt expression of some of the issues CWA organized around two decades prior. The caryatid metaphor and imagery persist today, for example, in the popular She Builds Podcast, which features women of the design and construction industry through podcasts and an online archive.


Cover of program for the Illinois Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (INOMA) Annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet, September 7, 2001, with Susan J. Van Der Meulen of CWA as volunteer judge. CHM collection, Chicago Women in Architecture Records

In 2022, the number of AIA registered architects who identified as women rose to 24.9%, showing the impact gender advocacy by collectives like CWA and CARY have had on the profession. However, as continued strides are made toward gender equity in architecture, issues of discrimination and lack of representation persist across intersectional issues of race, ethnicity, and class. CWA archives hold past examples of collaboration and solidarity with organizations such as the Illinois Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (INOMA), including efforts toward creating a Diversity Alliance to bring awareness to contributions to the built environment by women and minority architects.


Tenants stand outside the Ida B. Wells Homes, 454 E. 39th St., Chicago, 1951. Beverly Lorraine Greene provided design contributions to the project as part of an architectural collaborative for the Chicago Housing Authority. CHM, ICHi-023374; Mildred Mead, photographer

Intersectional advocacy toward representational fairness is of critical importance in a field that remains predominantly white. For example, FIRST 500 founded by Chicago-based architect Tiara Hughes in 2018, notes Black women make up ~0.3% of all licensed architects. Beginning with the first Black woman to be registered as an architect in the United States, Chicago-born Beverly Lorraine Greene, FIRST 500 serves as a platform for not only bringing awareness to Black women’s contributions to the field but empowering future architects through mentorship. The legacy of coalitions like CWA can be celebrated in the call to build networks of solidarity and continue to work toward equity in the architecture field and beyond.

Additional Resources

CHM research and insights analyst Marissa Croft teams up with YouTuber Kaz Rowe to share a tale of two ciders at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Recipes for both ciders included at the end of this post!

Food trends seemingly take the world by storm all the time (the cronut, spicy chicken sandwiches, unicorn anything, etc.), and those looking to cash in on a craze must quickly come up with their own recipes. At 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, that popular and much-imitated food item was “orange cider.” Originally made by Huelsenkamp, a Floridian beverage maker and distributor, their orange cider was sold for 5 cents a glass in the Florida, Washington, and Illinois State Buildings, at the Midway by the Ice Railway, at the Big Tree at the side of the Vienna Café, and in the Streets of Cairo.

The orange cider stand at the Big Tree at the side of the Vienna Café, CHM,
ICHi-013860.

The original Floridian orange cider formula was nonalcoholic, making it popular with temperance folks and was described by fairgoers as “rich and mellow in quality, of a fine, delicious flavor, and withal most wholesome for young and old” (The Inter-Ocean, Sunday, August 20, 1893, p. 3). One Mr. Bowen Patterson said the orange cider in the Florida building must be “the drink of the gods” (The Inter-Ocean, July 23, 1893, p. 6) and the Dixon Evening Telegraph noted that the orange cider served in the Florida State Building “far excels in quality that found anywhere else on the grounds” (July 15, 1893, p. 6).

Competing orange cider booths near the Ferris Wheel in a photograph by C. E. Waterman, 1893. CHM, ICHi-002440.

However, as fall approached, other beverage vendors wanted in on the orange cider fad, but their imitations paled in comparison. According to a Chicago Daily Tribune article:

“There is a general complaint concerning the quality of the stuff now sold in the Exposition grounds as ‘orange cider.’ It was delicious when first introduced and became very popular, but prosperity seems to have spoiled it. Until the manufacturers return to first principles and make it of orange juice instead of vinegar, molasses, and various slops the Worlds’ Fair visitor will do well to let it alone.” (September 13, 1893, p. 12).

In one write-up of Manhattan Day at the fair, another reporter even called the orange cider “a soul destroying concoction.” (Chicago Daily Tribune, October 22, 1893, p. 12). This orange cider that was neither made from oranges, nor a true alcoholic cider soon became a punchline.

A joke about Orange Cider featured in the Chicago Daily Tribune, September 22, 1893, p. 12

One late fall Tribune article observed the even though orange cider vendors loved to claim their beverage had authentic Florida and California oranges, most of them were just citric acid, molasses, Lake Michigan water, and coloring matter and cost less than half a cent a glass to make. They noted it these bogus orange ciders were harmless and palatable. (Chicago Daily Tribune, October 9, 1893, p. 19). After the fair came to an end, countless beverage makers rolled out “orange cider” knockoffs to profit off of its popularity. These drinks were also invariably just a mix of various acids, vinegars, sugars, and molasses, and according to one article, soap!

Some of the ingredients you’ll need to make your own orange cider (no real oranges necessary).

If you’d like to try recreating this infamous historical drink, here are two recipes you can easily make at home. The first one approximates the original Floridian Huelsenkamp formula and is a very refreshing and tasty citrus beverage. It makes a great mixer for a cocktail or a more exciting version of lemonade for a summer picnic! The second recipe is for the cheap knockoff orange cider, and the resulting drink is unusual but not completely undrinkable (especially if you like unsweetened iced tea).

Orange Cider Recipe [Drink of the Gods Version]

Adapted from The Home Chemist; A Key to Honest Wealth by Prof. Duke H. Bashford, 1899.

Ingredients 

(Makes just over 1 quart)

4 cups water

1 cup simple syrup (1 cup sugar and 1 cup water)

1/2 Tbsp citric acid (can be found in the bulk bin section of most grocery stores)

3/4 tsp orange extract

1/4 tsp orange colored sanding sugar, or more to achieve desired color

  1. Make your simple syrup by combining 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water together in a small pot over medium heat until the sugar dissolves fully.
  2. In a pitcher, combine the water, the warm simple syrup, citric acid, orange extract, and colored sugar and stir well until all ingredients have dissolved. Chill or serve immediately over ice.
  3. According to Professor Bashford, “The above makes a most delicious beverage and costs less than ten cents per gallon.”

“Orange Cider” Recipe [Soul-Destroying Version]

Ingredients

(Makes 1 quart)

1 quart water

2–3 tablespoons molasses

1–2 tablespoons vinegar

½ tablespoon citric acid (optional)

  1. Heat water in medium pot on stove till warm then stir in the molasses, vinegar, and citric acid (if using).
  2. Adjust the proportions of molasses and vinegar to your taste.
  3. Chill or serve immediately over ice.

If you’d like to see a live taste test and review of these recipes, as well as a ranking of other 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition oddities, be sure to check out this video from Kaz Rowe!

Sources and Further Reading

When we heard about the Chicago Bulls’ new Ring of Honor distinction, we just had to look in our archives for throwback photographs. This year’s inaugural class includes notable players, coaches, and staff, who have defined the Bulls franchise since its founding in 1966. Here’s what we found.

Honorees

1995-96 championship team


The Bulls on defense during Game 2 of the NBA finals versus the Seattle Supersonics on June 7, 1996, at the United Center in Chicago. From left: Ron Harper guarding the Supersonics Gary Payton (#20), Luc Longley, Dennis Rodman (#91), and Michael Jordan (#23). ST-17101505-0012, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

With an almost entirely new lineup from their original three-peat team, the 1995–96 Bulls found a new winning formula and finished the season with a then-record-breaking 72–10 record and a championship victory over the Seattle Supersonics. The 1995–96 roster included: Randy Brown, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey, James Edwards, Jack Haley, Ron Harper, Michael Jordan, Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoč, Luc Longley, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Dickey Simpkins, and Bill Wennington.

Artis Gilmore


Photograph of Artis Gilmore (left, #53) in The Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia by Alex Sachare. (Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, c. 1999) GV885.52.C45 S33 1999 OVERSIZE

Dominant in the American Basketball Association (ABA) playing for the Kentucky Colonels from 1971 to ’76, Artis Gilmore joined the Bulls in 1976 after the ABA disbanded. The 7’2” center led the team in points, rebounds, and blocks his first season and was an All-Star four of his five seasons with Chicago.

Phil Jackson


Phil Jackson at game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers at Chicago Stadium, June 5, 1991. ST-50004141-0089, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

An assistant coach under Doug Collins from 1987 to ’89, Phil Jackson was promoted to head coach in 1989, a position he held until 1998. Jackson-led teams made the playoffs in all nine of his seasons with the Bulls, which included six NBA championships. Jackson’s one NBA Coach of the Year award came in 1996.

Michael Jordan


Michael Jordan takes off from the free throw line for a slam dunk during the Slam Dunk Contest prior to the NBA All-Star Game at Chicago Stadium, February 6, 1988. ST-17500478-E1, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

A cultural icon and global ambassador of the sport, Michael Jordan saw the best years of his NBA career as a Bull, earning countless accolades for his scoring, defense, and overall proficiency, as well as winning six championships. His name remains in the English lexicon as a term for someone who excels at something: “the Michael Jordan of ____.” He was so dominant that anything associated with him also got attention—from Nike to Gatorade to Hanes to the city of Chicago itself. The name Jordan even ranked in the top 30 boys’ names for most of the 1990s.

Johnny “Red” Kerr


Johnny “Red” Kerr watches his rookies scrimmage at DePaul’s Alumni Hall, Chicago, August 12, 1966. ST-17500360-E1, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

The voice of the Chicago Bulls for more than 30 years, Chicago-born Johnny “Red” Kerr switched from soccer to basketball and led Tilden Technical High School (now Edward Tilden Career Community Academy High School) to the 1950 Chicago Public League Championship and went on to play for the University of Illinois. He first joined the Bulls as a coach for the franchise’s first two seasons. After a stint in Phoenix, Kerr returned to work in the Bulls’ front office in the early 1970s and began providing color commentary during games in 1975.

Dick Klein


Photograph of Dick Klein with Al Bianchi and Red Kerr in The Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia by Alex Sachare. (Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, c. 1999) GV885.52.C45 S33 1999 OVERSIZE

Determined to bring professional basketball back to Chicago, Dick Klein was awarded an NBA expansion team in 1966 after getting the support of the American Broadcasting Company and other backers. He bestowed the team with the nickname “bulls,” wanting to evoke images of Chicago’s stockyards.

Jerry Krause


Jerry Krause watches as Michael Jordan announces his second retirement from the NBA at a press conference at the United Center, 1901 W. Madison St., Chicago, January 13, 1999. ST-60003759-0132, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Chicago-born Jerry Krause was both a baseball and basketball scout for various professional teams, including the Chicago Bulls and White Sox in the 1970s. In 1985, he became general manager of the Bulls, a position he held until 2003.

Toni Kukoč


Toni Kukoč during warmups of the 1996 NBA Finals vs. the Seattle Supersonics at the United Center, June 7, 1996. ST-17101535-0043, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Hailing from Croatia, Toni Kukoč won several European Basketball Player of the Year Awards before playing for the Chicago Bulls from 1993 to 2000. As a versatile player and skilled passer, Kukoč was most often used as a sixth man for the Bulls and was awarded the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1996.

Bob Love


Bob Love with his daughter, Basha, at his home, Palatine, Illinois, April 30, 1975. ST-17500397-E1, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Traded to the Bulls by the Milwaukee Bucks in the middle of the 1969–70 season, Bob Love was a standout player for the Bulls in the 1970s. A three-time All-Star known for his ability to shoot with his right or left hand, Love’s #10 was the second jersey to be retired by the Bulls.

Scottie Pippen


Scottie Pippen in the NBA Finals Game 2 between the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix, June 11, 1993. ST-10000029-0036, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Another Bull who needs no introduction, Scottie Pippen played 11 seasons in Chicago and was one of two players on all six championship teams. Considered one of the greatest small forwards of all time, Pippen’s best skill was, perhaps, his defense. He made the NBA All Defensive Team for ten consecutive years during his career and is one of three players to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season.

Dennis Rodman

 
(Left) Dennis Rodman guarding Seattle’s Shawn Kemp during the NBA Finals, June 7, 1996. ST-17101535-0027, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM; (right) Shoes worn by Dennis Rodman during the 1997–98 postseason. The “7” embroidered on each shoe indicates the 7th straight season he led the NBA in rebounds, on display in Chicago: Crossroads of America, 2005.82.1ab-f, gift of the Bulls Organization.

Two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dennis Rodman was traded to the Bulls before the 1995–96 season and spent three championship seasons in Chicago. Also known for his off-court antics and colorful hair, Rodman was a tenacious rebounder, leading the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years.

Jerry Sloan


(Left) Jerry Sloan grabs the rebound during a game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee, December 4, 1971. ST-17500384-E1, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM; (right) Jerry Sloan courtside at the Indiana Pacers vs. Chicago Bulls basketball game at Chicago Stadium, 1901 W. Madison St., Chicago, January 19, 1982. ST-40002549-0002, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Known as “the Original Bull,” Jerry Sloan was selected in the 1966 expansion draft by the Chicago Bulls. He led the team to the playoffs in their first season and to their first division title. After his playing career, he worked for the Bulls as a scout, assistant coach, and head coach from 1979 to 1982. Sloan went onto be the long-time coach of the Utah Jazz and faced off against the Bulls in the both the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. His #4 was the first jersey retired by the Bulls.

Chet Walker


Chet Walker drives to the basket during a game vs. the Detroit Pistons at Chicago Stadium, January 25, 1975. ST-17500423-E1, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Another All-Star and Hall-of-Famer, Chet Walker was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Bulls for the 1969–70 season. In his six seasons with the Bulls, he averaged over 20 points per game and was known for his excellent free throw shooting—as a Bull, he never had a season under 83% and shot a career-best 87.5% in 1973–74.

Tex Winter


Tex Winter’s headshot from the Chicago Bulls’ 1993–94 official media guide and yearbook. GV885.52.C4 B804

A longtime college basketball coach, Tex Winter joined the Bulls as an assistant coach in 1985. As a player at University of Southern California after World War II, Winter learned the triangle offense from coach Sam Barry, which he then taught to Michael Jordan. That triangle offense became the hallmark of the Bulls’ championship teams in the 1990s.

Additional Resources

CHM director of research & access Ellen Keith shares about the most requested research collections from the Abakanowicz Research Center in 2023.

2023 was quite a year for the Abakanowicz Research Center (ARC). We stopped requiring appointments in June. We said farewell to beloved reference librarian Lesley Martin, who retired in October. Staff members Brigid Crawley and Ayah Elkossei created guides to the yearbook collection and true crime research collections. We also served lots of archival material to our researchers. Without further ado, we present the top five requested collections of 2023!

#5 – We had a four-way tie for fifth most requested collection

Leon M. Despres papers [manuscript], 1929–82, bulk 1955–75. A long-serving alderman of the Fifth Ward from 1955 to 1975, representing Hyde Park and, surprisingly, serving as an Independent.


Alderman Leon Despres leads marchers down State Street on the way to City Hall in protest of segregation in Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, June 25, 1965. ST-10104123-0008, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

Claude A. Barnett papers [manuscript], 1918–67, bulk 1928–63. Barnett was the director of the Associated Negro Press. This is a large collection covering wide-ranging topics.


Undated portrait of Claude A. Barnett at desk. CHM, ICHi-061826

Archibald J. Motley Jr., papers and photographs collection [manuscript], 1894–2004, bulk 1920–90. A famed African American painter whose works can be found in the Art Institute of Chicago, among other museums. He was also the father of longtime Chicago Historical Society archivist Archie Motley.


Cover to catalogue regarding an exhibition of paintings by Archibald J. Motley Jr. at the New Gallery, New York, New York, 1928. CHM, ICHi-067678

African American Police League (Chicago, Ill.) records, part 1 and part 2 [manuscript], 1961–93, bulk 1968–86. Founded in 1968 as the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League, with the goal of elevating African American policemen and eliminating police brutality. The League’s first president, Renault Robinson, passed away in July 2023.


Undated flyer encouraging individuals to report police abuse. AAPL records, box 42.

#4 – A two-way tie

Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago records [manuscript], 1914–78. This organization had as many as 250 social services agencies as members, so it’s been an excellent resource for researchers looking for a specific Chicago agency.


Front cover of a pamphlet titled Building a Better Life in Chicago, published by the Chicago Southern Center, a member of the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago, 1967. CHM, ICHi-075584

Thing Magazine records, [manuscript] c. 1980–95, bulk 1987–94. This collection documents LGBTQIA+ zine Thing and its predecessor, Think Ink. Zines have only grown in popularity, and Thing is included in the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s current exhibition, Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines.


The front cover of Thing no. 2 (April 1990) features a stylized photograph of Little Richard. CHM, ICHi-173544

#3 – Special Olympics Chicago records [graphic, manuscript] 1965–2017, bulk c. 1970s–90s

Special Olympics Chicago was cofounded by Anne McGlone Burke in 1968.


Two children light the torch at the Special Olympics Opening Ceremony at Stagg Field, Chicago, 1993. CHM, ICHi-174243

#2 – Chicago Teachers Union records [manuscript], c. 1870–2017, bulk 1930–2015

The Chicago Teachers Union is a powerful organization in the city, and the records spanning over 100 years include strikes, pensions, and the notorious tenure of Superintendent Benjamin C. Willis.


Chicago Teachers Union demonstrators carry a banner that reads “Is Chicago Killing Public Education?” in a protest against payless paydays, Chicago, 1933. CHM, ICHi-016219

#1 – Chicago Police Department Red Squad and related records [manuscript], c. 1930s–86, bulk 1963–74

We can’t imagine a year where this collection of surveillance of suspected “subversive” groups by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) isn’t the most requested collection of our 30,000 linear feet of archival holdings. Two of our staff are notaries to take researchers through the protocols required by the court order.


Example of a Red Squad record at a press conference held by the Representatives of the Businessmen for the Public Interest regarding the Red Squad at the Executive House Hotel, 71 E. Wacker Dr., Chicago, January 5, 1977. Twenty-four Chicagoans claim they were watched by the Red Squad for years and filed a lawsuit that seeks to end the police surveillance. ST-60002106-0029, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM

We hope to see you soon at the ARC. Remember, it’s free to visit!

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