Adult Group Visits
Experience history, together
Stories are always better when shared! Bring your group to the Chicago History Museum and walk in the footsteps of the city’s past on a private tour. Groups of ten or more adults receive a discount when reserving at least four weeks in advance.
Whether you are a professional tour operator, group planner, or you simply have a lot of friends and family, we have an experience for you. Customized itineraries, Museum tours, city tours, and a variety of lunch options are just some of the ways we can specialize your group’s visit. We also have virtual options.
- Looking to book a field trip for a K-12 group? Visit our field trips page.
- Are you one of our university partners? Sign up for your group visit here.
Current Offerings
Our expert group sales team has carefully crafted private tours that tell Chicago’s story both inside the Museum and out in the city. You can also take a self-guided tour or enjoy a virtual experience with one of our experts.
Behind-the-Scenes Tours
General Guidelines
- Subject to availability.
- For pricing, email: grouptours@chicagohistory.org.
- Please review specific guidelines for each tour; note that group size varies and must be adhered to for visitor, staff, and collection safety (no exceptions).
- No more than one tour per day.
- No children; students must be university level and up; when university student groups attend, teachers/professors must be present and engaged in managing the group.
- Because storage spaces are enclosed and can be congested, we request that those going on behind-the-scenes tours wear masks (just as we do for Abakanowicz Research Center visitors); if you don’t have a mask, one will be provided.
On our behind-the-scenes tour, visitors will get a taste of CHM’s wide variety of collections and activities beyond the exhibitions. What you see will vary depending on our current projects and the particular expertise of your guide. Tours are led by conservators, collections managers, archivists, or other staff who may share favorite items not currently on display, inside looks at collections storage and conservation labs, or even work on new exhibitions in development. With over 20,000 linear feet of archival material and more than 23 million artifacts, there’s always much to see!
Specific Guidelines
- Tour duration: 60 minutes
- Group size: minimum of 10; maximum of 15
- Two weeks advance notice required
- Tours only offered the 4th Friday of the month at 11:00 a.m.
The Costume and Textiles Collection at the Chicago History Museum is one of the largest clothing collections in the country. Get an inside look at rarely seen objects with CHM costume collection manager Jessica Pushor and learn how they are stored, cared for, and prepared for exhibitions. Depending on circumstances, some special requests to tailor to tour group interests can be accommodated. Group size is limited due to space constraints within the storage facilities.
Specific Guidelines
- Tour duration: 60 minutes
- Group size: maximum of 10
- Four weeks advance notice required
Museum Tours
Explore Chicago history your way. Whether your group prefers a guided or self-guided gallery or walking tour—or even a scavenger hunt—you’ll find a unique way to experience the Chicago History Museum and the city’s fascinating stories.
Book your walking tour of the new must-see destination at Lincoln Park’s southwest corner—the Richard M. and Shirley H. Jaffee History Trail! Examine a historic fire relic from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, visit the Couch Tomb (a reminder that the area was once a cemetery), and take in a collection of community-inspired kinetic sculptures by local artist Bernard Williams. Then, visit additional tour stops that amplify Chicago’s personality, highlighting the city’s resilience, connectivity, natural beauty, and complexities.
Tours happen rain or shine. Attendees should dress appropriately for the weather.
Tour options:
- Jaffee History Trail only
- Jaffee History Trail + guided tour of permanent exhibition Chicago: Crossroads of America
- Jaffee History Trail + guided tour of a feature exhibition, such as City on Fire: Chicago 1871 or any other temporary exhibition
- Jaffee History Trail + self-guided exploration of CHM (the discounted group rate)
Group size: Minimum 10, maximum 25 people
Duration: 30 minutes. For group rate, please inquire through the online form below.
Learn the backstory and see Chicago’s past and present from a historian’s perspective with guided or self-guided tours.
HIGHLIGHTS OF CHICAGO
Discover the city’s vast history in Chicago: Crossroads of America. Whether you want to explore the grandeur of the world fairs of 1893 and 1933, or Chicago innovations that changed the world like skyscrapers and modern retail, or the diverse neighborhoods and lively cultural scene, this exhibition is a must see!
Duration: 50–60 minutes
Group size: Minimum 10, maximum varies with each exhibition. Please inquire.
Cost: $21 for adults; $19 for seniors (65+) and college students
Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s
Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s, features Chicago artists and activists in the 1960s and ’70s who used design to create powerful symbols and imagery to amplify their visions for social change. See more than 100 artifacts and images from the Chicago Freedom, Black Power, anti-Vietnam War, women’s liberation, and early LGBTQIA+ movements that often challenged the status quo, plus works from contemporary artivists responding to issues that parallel those of the past.
Dressed in History: A Costume Collection Retrospective
Featuring 70 rarely seen objects, from glamorous gowns and sharp suits to housedresses and sneakers, Dressed in History: A Costume Collection Retrospective explores how clothing captures the material, social, and changing cultural values throughout history. The exhibition celebrates 100 years of an incredible collection and the donors, curators, and staff who have shaped it.
Duration: 50–60 minutes
Group size: Minimum 10, maximum varies with each exhibition. Please inquire.
Cost: $23 for adults; $21 for seniors (65+) and college students
City Walking Tours
Chicago is a city of neighborhoods—lace up your shoes and explore them on foot! Tours run 1.5 to 2 hours. For pricing, email: grouptours@chicagohistory.org.
Tours subject to availability. Please schedule 4 weeks in advance. The following tours are offered spring through fall.
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 with 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.
Meet at the Chicago History Museum.
On a spring day in May 1924, a young boy, Bobby Franks, went missing while walking home from school. Within a day, his body was discovered, which launched an investigation that led to the killers, neighbors and young men of means, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. Join Paul Durica, director of exhibitions, as he explores the 100-year legacy of the “Crime of the Century.”
Meet at NW corner of 49th and Ellis.
In 1893, 27 million people paid admission to the World’s Columbian Exposition to marvel at the grand architecture, scientific innovations, and cultural treasures. While names of the “starchitects” like Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan are remembered, who remembers those who built Chicago’s first world’s fair? Those who worked there? And those who were excluded from having any role in this important event? Join Paul Durica, director of exhibitions, for a walk through the fairgrounds to explore the collective effort, sacrifices, and successes that made the World’s Columbian Exposition possible.
Meet at North stairs of the Museum of Science & Industry, near the entrance.
In the middle of the Great Depression, Chicago hosted its second, lesser-known world’s fair, the A Century of Progress International Exposition. Despite the challenges visitors faced outside the fairgrounds, where they encountered scientific marvels, changing cultural values, and brazen entertainments. While the fair looked to the future with optimism, its various international pavilions foretold conflicts to come. Join Paul Durica, director of exhibitions, to explore the often-surprising legacy of Chicago’s forgotten world’s fair.
Meet at the front steps of Adler Planetarium.
To mark the 91st anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, join Paul Durica, director of exhibitions, on this walking tour that looks at how everyday Chicagoans violated the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act and the consequences of their actions. Meet a grandmother who brewed beer out of her apartment, a famed writer who kept cases of whisky at his private club, and a corrupt prohibition agent who posed as an Eastern European count to shake down the Green Mill jazz cabaret on this exploration of how nearly everyone, not just those named Capone, scoffed at an unpopular law.
Meet at Blick Art Materials, 16 W. Randolph.
From postfire recovery to the hub of Chicago bohemianism in the 1960s and ’70s, Old Town reveals diverse stories about the city’s past. Highlights include a shelter cottage, St. Michael’s Church, the Midwest Buddhist Temple, and numerous historic residences. Minimum 10 participants.
Meet at the Chicago History Museum.
Whisk away to a time when Chicago’s rich and famous caroused on the coast. 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. Minimum 10 participants.
Meet at the Chicago History Museum.
Walk through Pilsen with local guide Luis Tubens and get the larger meaning behind the artwork in Chicago’s capital of Mexican cultures. The tour weaves the history of Pilsen with vibrant large-scale murals and lived personal experiences. Minimum 20 participants.
Meet outside the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 West 19th Street.
Did you know that Bronzeville is home to many of Chicago’s treasured landmarks? This tour gets you up close to the culture, history, landmarks, and great stories in a great neighborhood. We’ll see the Walk of Fame, celebrate the music, learn about how the Black Belt became the Black Metropolis, and celebrate the cultural institutions that existed and endure. Minimum 20 participants.
Meet at the SE corner of 35th Street and Martin Luther King Drive.
Discover the remarkable stories of the Chicago elite buried in this famous cemetery, including Marshall Field, Louis Sullivan, George Pullman, and Potter and Bertha Palmer. Minimum 20 participants.
Meet at 4001 North Clark Street.
History Pub Crawl
Feelin’ Groovy: The Historic Bars of Old Town
Available starting April 20, 2024
As one of Chicago’s oldest areas of the city, it’s no surprise that Old Town is home to many tales of the city’s past. This engaging walking tour explores the history of the neighborhood via some of its wonderfully historic bars.
Local beer and tavern historian, Liz Garibay, guides you on a thirst-free stroll that discusses the area’s bygone days and focuses on the history of each of the saloons you visit. We’ll also dig into the city’s beginnings, the Great Chicago Fire, and beer and Prohibition history. Comedy, music, and film history make cameos too. The tour includes stops at a former speakeasy and bars that were favorite haunts of cultural icons Frank Sinatra and Anthony Bourdain. In the end, you’ll have a better appreciation for the history, culture, and identity of the Windy City.
- NOTE: Please schedule a minimum of 3 weeks in advance.
- Most tours last approximately three hours, and you will visit 3 taverns/bars with 30 minutes spent at each bar.
- Tours can be scheduled Monday through Thursday, beginning any time between 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; or Saturday or Sunday afternoons, beginning any time between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tour length will depend on size of the tour and will last approximately 2.5 hours.
Beverages are not included in the price of the tour. - Please eat prior to the tour, as we do not have time to eat at any bar. We will end at a location that is near many great restaurants.
- Please remember that we will be visiting drinking establishments that require all those entering to be at least 21 years of age. Infants, toddlers, and children are not allowed on this tour. Please remember to bring proper identification.
For more information, pricing, and availability, email: grouptours@chicagohistory.org
Virtual Experiences
Delve into Chicago history from wherever you are! Our new exclusive lectures with Chicago History Museum curatorial staff can be enjoyed from the comfort of your home, your virtual office, or incorporated into your next virtual event.
Ready to Get Started?
Ready to Get Started?
Request Your Private Group Tour or Experience Here
Groups of ten or more—social organizations, hobbyists, even huge families—can enjoy savings by booking at least four weeks in advance.
Your group will have access to a dedicated entrance, including access for motor coaches and buses. A CHM representative will meet your group, answer any questions you may have, and get your visit off to a great start.