In 2015, Chicago received its first National Park Monument when President Obama granted the title to the Chicago neighborhood of Pullman. This neighborhood is historically significant because it was once the home of the Pullman Car Company, which created the first sleeping cars for trains. George Pullman founded both the Company and the Pullman neighborhood…
Tag: Chicago
Pritzker Military Museum and Library
On the corners of Monroe St. and Michigan Ave. in Downtown Chicago is a skyscraper built in 1912 called the Monroe Building. The second through fourth floors of this building house the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. Founded in 2003, this non-profit research center began as the personal military collection of retired Lieutenant Colonel J….
Newberry Library
Although the Chicago Public Library was founded in 1873, two years after the Great Chicago Fire, a wealthy Chicagoan named Walter L. Newberry decided to leave $2.2 million dollars upon his death to fund another free public library in Chicago. That led to the creation of the Newberry Library in 1887. This is not to…
American Writers Museum
In 2017, the American Writers Museum opened in downtown Chicago. Located in a section of a high-rise building, its goal is to teach visitors about famous writers from the United States. I visited the museum in 2017, the same year that it first opened, so its exhibits may still be evolving. Overall, the museum is…
Irish American Heritage Center
Irish immigrants have been making Chicago their home since the 1830s, with the last large wave of Irish immigrants arriving in the 1980s. Therefore, it is not surprising that twelve of Chicago’s mayors have been Irish, including Richard M. Daley, Chicago’s longest-running mayor (who served from 1989 to 2011). Through the efforts of Chicago’s Irish…
Poetry Foundation Library
Although public libraries are obviously the most popular types of libraries, there are so many other types of unique libraries that exist. Many of these are research libraries, which do not allow you to take their materials home, but do allow you to use their materials while inside the library. The Poetry Foundation Library in…
Driehaus Museum in Chicago
Some of the best museums are historic homes, because they provide you with an immersive experience into another era. Perhaps one of the most beautiful historic homes in Chicago is the Driehaus Museum. Completed in 1883, the home first belonged to a banker named Samuel Nickerson. However, over the years, it changed hands from private…
Circle Studio, Inc. in Chicago
From the Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe, to the Tiffany stained glass of the United States, to the simple design of raised glass on a door, we can all appreciate the beauty of glass artists. Although I usually write about museums or libraries, for my first post of the new year, I would like to…
Polish Museum of America
If you live in Chicago, you may have heard people say that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw, Poland. Chicago’s radio station, WBEZ, investigated this claim in 2015. Although it is not completely true, there are elements of truth to it. According to WEBZ, the largest Polish populations outside of Poland can…
Baby Face Nelson
Even though COVID-19 has shut down cultural institutions such as museums and libraries for most of 2020, that has not stopped me from learning some interesting new history. Last month, I learned that I live close to where the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) found the dead body of Baby Face Nelson in 1934. Baby…
Bet Arkeh 