CHICAGO (January 9, 2025) – Chicago History Museum (CHM) is thrilled to announce it has received a $2.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. The grant will be used over the next several years to support the second phase of CHM’s Chicago Sacred Initiative through programming, education, digital initiatives, and a forthcoming exhibition centered on everyday stories of places of ritual, memory, memorial and belief.
“We are honored to continue our relationship with Lilly Endowment,” says Donald Lassere, Museum President and CEO. “This initiative is designed to foster public understanding about religion and lift up the contributions that people of all faiths and diverse religious communities make to our greater civic well-being.”
“The shifting religious landscape highlights the need for our practice as a museum to uplift sacred, spiritual and community expressions beyond singular religious traditions,” says Rebekah Coffman, curator of religion and community history. “With so many rich sacred legacies present throughout Chicago, this work seeks to bring its many diverse communities into dialogue with the past, present and each other to envision what the future of urban religion can be in cities like Chicago.”
In 2019, Lilly Endowment launched the Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. Its aim is to support museums and other cultural organizations as they strengthen their capacity to provide fair, accurate and balanced portrayals of the role religion has played and continues to play in the United States and around the world. Chicago History Museum received a grant through the initiative’s first round of funding in 2021. That grant enabled the Museum to establish the Chicago Sacred Initiative through the creation of a new permanent role, curator of religion and community history, and the Lilly Collections Fellowship, a program for early career archivists in sacred and community-based collections.
“The United States is widely considered to be one of the most religiously diverse nations today,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Many individuals and families trust museums and other cultural institutions and visit them to learn about their communities and the world. We are excited to support these organizations as they continue to develop their capacities to help visitors understand and appreciate the diverse religious beliefs, practices and perspectives of their neighbors and others in communities around the globe.”
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ABOUT THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM
The Chicago History Museum is situated on ancestral homelands of the Potawatomi people, who cared for the land until forced out by non-Native settlers. Established in 1856, the Museum is located at 1601 N. Clark Street in Lincoln Park, its third location. A major museum and research center for Chicago and U.S. history, the Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, publications, special events and programming, the Museum connects people to Chicago’s history and to each other. The Museum collects and preserves millions of artifacts, documents, and images to assist in sharing Chicago stories. The Museum gratefully acknowledges the support of the Chicago Park District on behalf of the people of Chicago.
ABOUT LILLY ENDOWMENT INC.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. While the primary aim of its religion grantmaking focuses on strengthening the leadership and vitality of Christian congregations in the United States, the Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the contributions that people of all faiths and diverse religious communities make to our greater civic well-being.