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Museum opens its doors to all Illinois residents at no cost to provide a cool, welcoming space during the anticipated extreme heat.

CHICAGO (June 29, 2026) – The Chicago History Museum will offer free admission to all Illinois residents on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in response to the extreme heat expected across the Chicago area.

The Museum will be open during its regular weekday hours, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., providing visitors with a safe, air-conditioned space to explore Chicago’s rich history while staying cool. Guests must check in at the Museum’s front desk with a valid photo ID to receive free admission.

This special free admission day is in addition to the Museum’s regularly scheduled free admission days, including: July 4, July 15, August 13, August 27, September 7, and September 24. 

The Chicago History Museum also offers free or discounted admission year-round for museum members, Illinois educators, partner university students or employees, service members, and social services recipients with a valid ID, as well as all Illinois residents aged 18 or younger. Learn more about admission and eligibility at https://www.chicagohistory.org/visit-us/. 

For more information, please contact Emily Miller, Public Communications Manager, at [email protected] or (312) 799-2161.

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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.

This year marks the centennial of the 28th International Eucharistic Congress, which was held in Chicago from June 20 to 24, 1926. In this blog post, Rebekah Coffman, Curator of Religion and Community History, writes about the event and how public spaces in Chicago have been adapted into temporary sacred spaces.


Clerical procession during the International Eucharistic Congress at Soldier Field, 1926. DN-0081753, Chicago Sun-times/Chicago Daily News Collection, CHM

You may have seen recent news from Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and his entourage traveling to the Vatican to visit Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope hailing from the United States. As part of his visit, Mayor Johnson invited him to celebrate a mass in Grant Park, recalling Pope John Paul II’s visit to Chicago in 1979.


Pope John Paul II, along with local bishops, gives mass to crowd in Grant Park, Chicago, October 5, 1979. ST-19070082-0016, Chicago Sun-Times Collection, CHM

Pope John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyła in Wadowice, Poland, had taken the world by storm as the first non-Italian pope elected in 500 years. At the time of his 1979 visit, Chicago was the largest Catholic diocese in the country and claimed one of the largest Polish diasporas outside of Poland.


Papal altar construction for Pope’s mass in Grant Park, Chicago, September 19. 1979. ST-19070083-0018, Chicago Sun-Times Collection, CHM

More than 200,000 (some estimates say up to 1 million) people were in the crowds of his Grant Park Mass, with thousands more lining the streets in neighborhoods around the city as he made visitation rounds. When it was announced in 2025 that the new global leader of the Catholic church hailed not only from the US but more specifically Chicagoland, it seemed fitting that the Church and the city have wanted to mark the moment with large-scale fanfare again, including the public mass held at Rate Field in 2025.

Embed from Getty Images
Pope Leo XIV addresses Catholic faithful on the scoreboard at Rate Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, during a celebration and mass to honor his selection as Pope, Chicago, June 14, 2025. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

When we imagine sacred spaces across the city of Chicago, any number of beautiful architectural monuments may come to mind. However, as papal visits and large-scale masses in Grant Park demonstrate, there are innumerable locations in the city that have served as temporary—even spontaneous—places of spiritual encounter. Often, these traces of gathering moments are erased from our visual memory of the city’s landscape but have powerfully shaped our collective history.

Construction of Municipal Grant Park Stadium, (renamed Soldier Field in 1925), Chicago,. July 1924. DN-0077235, Chicago Daily News Collection, CHM

Parks, beaches, stadiums, theaters, and countless other spaces in the city demonstrate these lesser-known sacred connections. The Municipal Grant Park Stadium, renamed Soldier Field soon after, is an example of how spaces evolve and transform in both sacred and contested ways. The original stadium was designed by Holabird & Roche in 1924 and opened to the public in October of that year.


Soldier Field dedication with group of women and men, members of the American Legion, standing in front of a banner that reads “Soldier Field,” Chicago, November 11, 1925. DN-0079575, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News Collection, CHM

On November 11, 1925, it was renamed as a form of memorial for soldiers lost in World War I, becoming thereafter known as Soldier Field. Since its opening, Soldier Field has been home to athletic games, concerts, and a host of other large-scale events. It has served as the home field for the Chicago Bears since 1971 and home stadium of the Chicago Fire FC twice, first from 1997 to 2006, and again since 2020.


People walking along a wide pathway in Soldier Field during the International Eucharistic Congress, Chicago, 1926. DN-0081741, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

As with many buildings in transition, the uncertain future of Soldier Field can be a time to remember the many ways its history has transformed. Held June 20–24, 1926, the 28th International Eucharistic Congress was the first of its kind in the United States. The events took place across a network of places across Chicagoland—some dedicated religious spaces such as Holy Name Cathedral, with others transformed specifically for the congress, including Soldier Field.


Crowd standing outside Holy Name Cathedral during the International Eucharistic Congress, Chicago, 1926. DN-0081857, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

The goal of Eucharistic Congresses was to reengage people with the Catholic Church and Christianity, especially during an age of what was then seen as increasing secularization. It gets its name from the eucharist, meaning the process of giving and receiving communion, and church leaders believed large, public displays would remind the public of the importance of the Church. Functionally, they served in many ways as a religiously oriented Wworld’s Ffair, bringing together representatives of different nations. The first Congress was held in Lille, France, in 1881, followed by a series of other congresses in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, England, Germany, Spain, Austria, Holland, Syria, and Canada. In 1923, Chicago was identified as the next congressional location, making it the first host city in the US and “put[ting] Chicago on the map” for global Catholicism in a way never done before.


Clergy in front of the altar at Holy Name Cathedral during the International Eucharistic Congress, Chicago, 1926. DN-0081835, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News Collection, CHM

The Chicago congress formally opened with a Midnight mass on Sunday, June 20, at Holy Name Cathedral followed by with a solemn mass at every church in the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese. The next day, events began at Soldier’s Field with a day dedicated to children, including a choir of 62,000 children from Chicago’s parochial schools. Tuesday, June 22, was Women’s Day, followed by Higher Education Day on Wednesday, June 23, concluding the events at Soldier Field.


Altar being erected on a large field with grandstands near Solder Field, Chicago. 1926. DN-0080948, Chicago Sun-Times-/Chicago Daily News Collection, CHM.

To celebrate communion en masse, a series of temporary altars were constructed, including an altar platform at Soldier Field with a golden baldacchino inspired by the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. More than 10,000 priests were recruited to help with serving, and Chicago-area nuns prepared more than 4.5 million communion wafers to be served.


Five young women sit on grass in front of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception during the International Eucharistic Congress, Mundelein, Illinois, June 1926. DN-0081898, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

The final day of the congress shifted to suburban Mundelein, with events held at the St. Mary of the Lake Seminary (now University of Saint Mary of the Lake). The seminary chapel was too small to accommodate the massive crowds, so again a temporary altar space was built on the steps of the chapel with crowds gathering across the plaza and open spaces beyond. So many were in attendance that transportation logistics across railways became a major concern, and the highway from Lake Bluff to Mundelein was pedestrianized for nine miles to accommodate the swelling pilgrims.


The Chicago Daily News’s coverage of the Mundelein event included details such as the pilgrims’ consumption of ten tons of hot dogs, the crush of passengers on the trains, which began running at two-minute intervals from 4 a.m., and the Daily News‘s own pride at getting photographs from Mundelein into papers on the street within two hours, thanks to swift delivery by airplane.

The success of the 1926 International Eucharistic Congress led to it becoming a model for future civic and religious gatherings in Chicago. It was also a time when the worldwide Catholic community experienced Chicago’s welcoming spirit.

We are pleased to announce that the Chicago History Museum has migrated ARCHIE, the Abakanowicz Research Center’s (ARC) online catalog for searching the Museum’s research collections, to a new system. The new ARCHIE has a similar interface to other online catalogs you may already be using and will enhance research services for the public and CHM staff. ARCHIE helps users explore and access the Museum’s collection of printed material, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, architectural drawings, and assorted ephemera.

ARCHIE’s homepage now looks like this:

The catalog works through a management system and user interface called Alma/Primo VE. However, the Museum will still refer to the catalog as ARCHIE, named in memory of Archibald Motley III (1935–2002), a long-time archivist and activist at the Chicago History Museum who left an enduring mark on how our institution collects and shares Chicago’s stories.

Our Cataloging and Metadata Librarian and our Technical Services Librarian have spent the past seven months preparing our data for migration, tidying up records, training on the new management system, and configuring the user interface. We are proud to share the catalog and look forward to continued improvements as we meet the needs of our users.

CARLI

As part of this transition, CHM has joined the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries of Illinois (CARLI), a statewide network of more than 120 academic and research libraries. The Museum’s participation in a consortia system has many benefits for the public, including access to e-resources, including more than 2,600 database subscriptions. This gives users immediate, open access to articles, journals, and scholarly publications. CHM provides access to archival finding aids and images of the Museum’s 3D object collection via CARLI Digital Collections, a shared repository of digital content via CONTENTdm. Now, migrating to Alma/Primo VE through CARLI is the next step in keeping all our services within the same consortial system to improve collection discovery for our users.

Below you will find a brief step-by-step outline of basic and advanced searching, and where to find the information you need to request research collection materials when visiting the Abakanowicz Research Center.

Homepage and Search Anything

Our ARCHIE homepage still has links to all our guides and resources. Users can easily navigate to our range of topical and collection LibGuides, clearly find our policies, and link to our digital collections.

Through CARLI, we have new resources available to users, including e-resources and the ability to search the library collections of other CARLI members. From the homepage, when you enter your term into the “Search Anything” box, the default will search the Museum’s research collection catalog. However, the drop down that appears allows you to select other options, including:

  • “CHM Research Collections” – Materials held by the institution that are served on-site in the Abakanowicz Research Center
  • “Everything” – Research Collection material and access to thousands of journals, books, government documents, and other publications
  • “Articles” – Limits the search to those open access articles provided by CARLI, a great resource for immediately accessible publications
  • “All I-Share Libraries” – Searches resources, databases, and articles available through other CARLI institutions

Simple Search/Search Anything looks like this:

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search option is available to the right of the search box. It allows you to set parameters before searching, such as specific terms or selecting a material type. These filters will appear at the top left of the brief results page, while still allowing for additional filters later.

Advanced Search looks like this:

Brief Results

Whether you use the Simple Search or Advanced Search, the brief results page has a lot of information for users and options to choose from. The results list includes the title of the resource, creator or author, the type of resource, and the call number. The search term is underlined in yellow where it appears in the results page and when you select a catalog record to view. On the left of the results page, under “Filter your results,” you can select multiple filters to narrow your results by resource type, date, or by individual or group associated with the material.

Brief Results page looks like this:

Collection Discovery

Another way to filter your search by type of material is to use the Collection Discovery feature, one of the links at the top of the home page. Here you can search within specific collections such as Archives and Manuscripts, Newspapers, Maps, and more. There are also rotating topical collections to explore here, such as LGBTQIA+ history for Pride month.

Here we also feature collections that have items currently on display in the Museum’s galleries. Visitors to the Museum are encouraged to explore a collection further if something piques their interest in an exhibition. Please note, you can search or browse within the featured collections, but advanced search is not possible within Collection Discovery.

Collection Discovery looks like this:

Catalog Record Display

Just like the previous interface, you will find detailed information about an item by clicking on the title to view the individual catalog record. The main information is listed at the top of the record, including title, creators, dates, and basic call information. Additionally, links to digitized content and finding aids are also found toward the top. Any restrictions, such as an advanced request for photographs from cold storage or the use of listening copies of audio material, are noted under Details.

Record Display looks like this:

Further down, under Locations, you will find information about the call number and what color call slip to use when requesting items in the Abakanowicz Research Center. Expanding the holdings locations will allow you to see the items, which can be particularly useful for archival collections. This will show you which boxes are associated with which call number, the location, and any terms of use, such as when an item requires an advance request.

Locations look like this:

We are thrilled to launch the new ARCHIE, and we hope you are too! We look forward to continuing to support our patrons through this new catalog system and believe it will streamline ARC operations, creating an even better experience for discovering and accessing our collections.

You can always find ARCHIE at www.chicagohistory.org/archie.

On July 4, 2026, the Chicago History Museum will welcome visitors of all ages for a day of celebrations, present newly featured stories of freedom and community-led change in its “Facing Freedom” exhibition

CHICAGO (June 8, 2026) – The Chicago History Museum invites Chicagoans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States with a day full of festivities on Saturday, July 4, 2026. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Museum will host a range of indoor, family-friendly activities and civic engagement experiences tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary and Chicago’s long history of civic action, including the reopening of its “Facing Freedom” exhibition with refreshed content and new Chicago stories. The exhibition reopening is part of the Museum’s year-long “US at 250: Civic Action in Chicago” initiative.

As part of the day’s programming, at 10 a.m., there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the freshly cleaned and refurbished Augustus Saint Gaudens’ Lincoln: The Man (1887), presented by the Chicago Park District in partnership with the Lincoln Park Conservancy, the Chicago History Museum, and the Gold Coast Neighbors Association. Beginning at 4:30 p.m., activities move outdoors to the Museum plaza, with a free public concert by the Americana Concert Band, under the direction of Joe Lill, at 6:30 p.m. The Museum café will offer hot dogs, cold sodas, and ice cream.

“As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, we invite Chicagoans of all ages to join us at the Museum for a day filled with music, family activities, civic engagement, community connection, and reflection,” said Interim President and CEO of the Chicago History Museum Michael Anderson. “From exploring our refreshed “Facing Freedom” exhibition to enjoying festivities across the Museum grounds throughout the day, there will be something for everyone as we come together to celebrate our shared history and imagine our future.”

Anchored in the Chicago History Museum’s collection materials relating to the United States’ founding and Chicago’s civic legacies, “US at 250” centers the city as a place of participatory action and the Museum as a place for making connections between past, present, and future. As part of the day’s celebration, visitors will also experience the reopening of the Museum’s refreshed “Facing Freedom” exhibition, which invites guests to consider their own role in advancing freedom and civic participation.

Originally opened on July 4, 2010, “Facing Freedom” is a permanent exhibition on the Chicago History Museum’s first floor that highlights eight specific conflicts over freedom in U.S. history. With a middle- and high-school student audience in mind, the exhibition explores how various communities have demanded freedom and created change through civic action, protest, innovation, and advocacy.

Peter T. Alter, Gary T. Johnson Chief Historian and Director, Studs Terkel Center for Oral History, served as the curator of the reimagined “Facing Freedom” exhibition after working on the original exhibition that opened 2010. “The revised ‘Facing Freedom,’” Alter said, “puts people front and center as they seek, fight for, and make their own freedom.”

“History shows us that young people are often in the vanguard of changemaking movements that allow people to live free and more equitable lives,” said Director of Education Erica Griffin. “With middle school learners in mind, ‘Facing Freedom’ uses images, artifacts, and interactive elements to explore eight familiar and not-so-familiar stories in Chicago’s and the nation’s past and asks students to consider their own informed actions to impact the future.”

The Chicago History Museum invites the public to explore how people have worked together in the 19th and 20th centuries to form unions, promote boycotts, stage protests, demand rights, fight against conditions of enslavement and incarceration, protect land, and create community spaces. Guests who have seen the original exhibition will be treated to two brand-new stories examining the work of freedom seekers in Chicago, particularly abolitionists John and Mary Richardson Jones, and the role house music played in establishing safe spaces for Chicago’s Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ communities. The refreshed design includes eight updated interactive experiences and expanded content in the existing six stories, all presented in both English and Spanish.

“In redesigning the exhibition, we made improving access and accessibility for the Museum’s visitors a priority,” said Director of Curation and Exhibitions Paul Durica.

Additionally, July 4 serves as a culminating event for the Chicago History Museum’s Civic Season programming series. Operating between the bookend dates of Juneteenth, June 19, and Independence Day, July 4, Civic Season invites participants of all ages, especially youth and families, to draw inspiration from the histories presented in the Chicago History Museum’s exhibitions, including “Facing Freedom,” to help narrate a more just and equitable future. From gallery explorations, presentations, collaborative arts making, and connections to community-focused civic partners, and more, visitors are encouraged to consider their capacity for civic involvement and respond to the question: “What will your civic action chapter add to Chicago’s story? Find more information on Civic Season Independence Day programming here.

Also coming to the Chicago History Museum in July is the third of four installations from Chicago-based artists who created artworks in response to four important documents from U.S. history in the Museum’s collection. Multi-disciplinary artist, cultural strategist and creative entrepreneur Barrett Keithley created “The People, We Are: A Living Reflection on the U.S. Constitution,” an immersive, mixed-media installation that visually and emotionally explores the impact of the U.S. Constitution. “The People, We Are” will open to the public on Tuesday, July 14, and remain on display in the Museum’s lobby for three months.

A preview week for “Facing Freedom” will be held from Monday, June 29, 2026, to Friday, July 3, 2026, during which members of the press are invited to schedule a tour the exhibition and hear from the curator.

For more information, please visit chicagohistory.org/facingfreedom or contact Emily Miller, Public Communications Manager, at [email protected] or (312) 799-2161.

MEDIA KIT AVAILABLE HERE

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CHICAGO (May 29, 2026) – The Chicago History Museum in association with the Dave Truitt Historical Film Series is proud to host the free premiere screening of the documentary film “Holding Pattern,” an unprecedented chronicle and intimate portrait of the conflict surrounding a proposed third Chicago airport, on Saturday, June 13, 2026, 12:30 p.m.

For over twenty years, filmmakers Tom Desch (“Walkable USA,” “An American Home”) and Brian Kallies (“Lincoln Is Crying,” “Gaming Wall Street”) have documented the ongoing saga of a proposed third Chicago airport and its impact on communities in Chicago’s Southland and exurbs near Peotone, Illinois. Immediately following the screening there will be a panel discussion with filmmakers Tom Desch (director/writer/producer) and Brian Kallies (producer/writer/editor), airport proponent and long-time political strategist and analyst Delmarie Cobb, and anti-airport activist and Will County Board Official Judy Ogalla, moderated by former Fox News Chicago reporter Mike Flannery. Executive producer John Davies will also join the discussion.

Since 1985, plans for a third major airport in Chicago’s far south suburbs—with a full footprint larger in land area than New York’s Manhattan Island—have increasingly gained momentum. Proponents of the airport claim it would alleviate air congestion, meet growing passenger demand, and create thousands of much-needed jobs in the economically struggling Southland. Anti-airport activists have decried the plan as a potential environmental disaster, the destruction of irreplaceable farmland, and a waste of millions of taxpayer dollars. Still in play, this debate has spanned the administrations of seven Illinois governors and Chicago mayors.

The 56-minute “Holding Pattern” documentary frames this ongoing battle through the lens of two anti-airport activists, George Ochsenfeld and Judy Ogalla, and two airport proponents, political pundit Delmarie Cobb and former Park Forest mayor John Ostenburg. Over the course of more than 20 years, the filmmakers take an up-close and personal look at how the airport project has impacted the lives of Ochsenfeld and Ogalla, their personal relationships, and their evolution from citizens to activists to politicians. Cobb and Ostenburg, who have championed the airport for decades, address the political complexities of the project and explain why they believe eminent domain—the government’s power to seize private land for public use—is justified and could change thousands of lives for the better.

“Holding Pattern” is executive produced by veteran television showrunner and documentary filmmaker John Davies whose many national credits include the WTTW Chicago productions “Sneak Previews,” “Wild Chicago,” “Heroes on Deck” and “The First Jetliner.” The documentary is also executive produced by Robert Bied, president of Captain Dave’s Foundation and the Chicago Marine Heritage Society. The film is made possible in part through the support of Captain Dave’s Foundation, an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussions are underway with local Chicago broadcasters for a television premiere later this year, and with syndicators and streaming platforms for broader distribution. Updates will be forthcoming.

Link to media kit 

Link to RSVP for premiere screening

Contact: Tom Desch (773) 837-1915 or [email protected]

Buddy Guy, Debra Cafaro, Fred Eychaner, Linda Johnson Rice and John McCarter Jr. to be recognized for shaping Chicago’s cultural and economic legacy.

CHICAGO (May 28, 2026) – The Chicago History Museum will honor a cross-section of Chicago’s most influential leaders from blues icon Buddy Guy to top executives and civic visionaries at the Museum’s 32nd Annual Making History Awards, which will occur on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago.

The Making History Awards is the Museum’s premier annual fundraising event, supporting its mission to serve as the primary destination for learning, inspiration and civic engagement to connect people to Chicago’s history and each other.

This year’s honorees represent the breadth of leadership shaping Chicago today across business, culture and civic life:

Debra A. Cafaro
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ventas
Recipient of the Cyrus McCormick Making History Award for Historic Corporate Achievement
Award Presenter: Laura Ricketts

Fred J. Eychaner
Chairman, Newsweb Corporation; President, Alphawood Foundation
Recipient of the Daniel Burnham Making History Award in Visionary Leadership
Award Presenter: Art Johnston

George “Buddy” Guy
Iconic blues guitarist, singer and songwriter whose influence has shaped generations of American music
Recipient of the Theodore Thomas Making History Award for Distinction in the Performing Arts
Award Presenter: Ronnie Baker Brooks

John W. McCarter Jr.
Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Field Museum of Natural History; Chair, Board of Regents, Smithsonian Institution; Interim President, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
Recipient of the Marshall Field Making History Award for Distinction in Corporate Leadership and Innovation
Award Presenter: Marshall Field V

Linda Johnson Rice
Chairman, Johnson Publishing Company
Recipient of the Bertha Honoré Palmer Making History Award for Distinction in Civic Leadership
Award Presenter: Marc Schulman

“The Making History Awards celebrate individuals whose work reflects the spirit, resilience and innovation that define Chicago,” said Michael Anderson, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago History Museum. “This year’s honorees represent extraordinary leadership across business, culture and civic life, and we are proud to recognize their enduring contributions.”

Media opportunities with select honorees and Museum leadership are available upon request.

For more information about the event, sponsorship opportunities, or tickets, please visit chicagohistory.org/mha or contact Eric Miller, Development Coordinator, at [email protected] or (312) 799-2110.

MEDIA KIT AVAILABLE HERE: https://app.box.com/s/sk2ed94lyowl0kazfi3jqxree2cajdgr

On May 27, 1933, the second world’s fair set in Chicago opened to colorful fanfare in the midst of the Great Depression. In this blog post, Paul Durica, Director of Curation and Exhibitions at CHM, writes about the circumstances of the A Century of Progress International Exposition and how planners sought to make it different from the first world’s fair.

On a cloudy evening in late May 1933, starlight lit up the lakefront in Chicago. Forty years had passed, it was believed, since the light had emanated from the star Arcturus in the constellation Boötes and arrived on photoelectric plates at four observatories where the weak current it generated would be amplified and then sent, via telegraph wires, to the nation’s second largest city. The four decades separating the light’s departure and its arrival served a purpose, which was to remind those in the present that in 1893 Chicago had hosted a world’s fair, the World’s Columbian Exposition, in Jackson Park, on the South Side of the city.


The front cover of Color Beauties of A Century of Progress Chicago 1933. CHM, ICHi-073747. A stylized drawing of the star Arcturus appeared on several A Century of Progress souvenirs, such as this pamphlet.

The 1893 fair had as its core 14 immense neoclassical structures painted a blinding white. Now, farther north but still along the lakefront, stood another cluster of large buildings, sleek and modern. There was another key difference, made clear when the light from the star Arcturus arrived at 9:15 p.m. on that evening of May 27. One by one, accompanied by the singing of the national anthem, the blasting of cannons, and the pealing of bells, the sleek and modern buildings became bathed in electric light, a rainbow of colors. The White City of 1893 receded into the past. In 1933, the A Century of Progress International Exposition, the city’s second world’s fair, opened in a burst of what could only be described as technicolor.


Night view of fireworks above the Sky Ride Tower and Hall of Science at the A Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, 1933. This lantern slide was hand-colored by the photographer, Anton Rodde. CHM, ICHi-176028; Anton Rodde, photographer

An opening in which color chased away the clouds fit the purpose of this world’s fair. Outside the fairgrounds, the Great Depression continued to immiserate the people of Chicago and the rest of the nation. The widespread economic collapse that had begun almost four years prior had threatened to cancel plans to mark the city’s centennial, but the planners pressed on, raising enough private funds to produce the fair. Even the assassination of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak in March of that year—an event that eerily mirrored the political murder of Mayor Carter Harrison at the conclusion of the 1893 fair—did not pause the preparations. Instead, Cermak’s ultimate successor, Edward Kelly, turned the event into a kind of memorial to Cermak, his vision for the future of the city.


Crowds of people watch a marching band parade down Michigan Avenue at Monroe Street near Grant Park for the opening of the A Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, May 27, 1933. CHM, ICHi-167209; O. L. Cook, photographer. Note the Arcturus symbol on the banners.

Earlier that day, a parade along Michigan Avenue had led to the fairgrounds, which encompassed today’s Museum Campus and more, and into Soldier Field, where a formal opening occurred. Wave after wave of representatives of the various nations with pavilions at the fair processed past a reviewing stand upon which stood Mayor Kelly, Illinois governor Henry Horner, president of the fair Rufus Dawes, and US postmaster general James Farley, who came with a message from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. When the black-shirted Italians marched by, they gave the assembled dignitaries a one-armed fascist salute.

Following the international delegations were columns of cadets, soldiers, and veterans. When Black veterans of the Great War entered Soldier Field, separate from their white counterparts, the Chicago Tribune noted they were “heartily cheered.” After them came Lillian Anderson of Racine, Wisconsin, Queen of the Fair, and her court of “fifty ladies of honor,” as selected by readers of the Tribune. Anderson bore medals that she bestowed upon Farley, one for him and one for the absent Roosevelt. Episcopalian bishop George Craig Stewart dedicated the fair with a prayer. The Tribune had observed earlier in the day that the “orators [had promised] to be mercifully brief.” Everyone knew things really would get started when the sun went down.


Left: Professor Edwin Frost (right) leaning on stairs next to an unidentified man looking through a telescope in the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, 1927. DN-0082807, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM. Right: The Light of Arcturus board by the Hall of Science at the 1933–34 A Century of Progress International Exposition. CHM, ICHi-038601

Capturing light from the star Arcturus to open A Century of Progress had been the idea of a blind astronomer Edwin Frost, formerly of the University of Chicago’s Yerkes Observatory. He was there, on a platform outside the Hall of Science, when all the lights came on. After explaining the science behind capturing and harnessing the power of starlight, Frost asked the jubilant crowd, “Is this not a fitting demonstration of this century of progress?”


Broadside for A Night in Paris at the A Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, 1933. CHM, ICHi-075758; William P. Welsh, artist

After the lighting ceremony, about 3,500 of the city’s elite, many in elaborate costumes, attended the Bal de Quat’z’Arts (Ball of the Four Arts) in the Streets of Paris attraction and celebrated late into the night. They enjoyed beer and wine, now legal again after 13 years of Prohibition. A performer named Sally Rand caused a small stir when nonattired as Lady Godiva she rode a white horse through the crowd.


A parade along the Avenue of Flags during Illinois Day at the A Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, 1933. DN-0011047, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

The Tribune believed 150,00 to 200,000 attended the opening of A Century of Progress. By the time the fair closed in November, it is estimated that a total of 22 million had passed through the turnstiles. The second Chicago world’s fair proved such a success that it was brought back the following year, with an Earth-bound President Roosevelt, via a projected film, kicking off the opening evening’s festivities.

Sources

James O’Donnell Bennett, “Exposition Starts with Pageant in Soldiers’ Field,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 28, 1933: 1

Ibid., “Miles of Wonders Show Progress of Century,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 27, 1933: 1

“Four Observatories Will Help Arcturus Open World’s Fair,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 25, 1933: 1

“Fox Shows How Arcturus’s Light Will Open Fair,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 27 May 1933: 2

Philip Kinsley, “Star Sets 1933 Fair Ablaze,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 28, 1933: 1

Lenox R. Lohr, Fair Management: The Story of A Century of Progress. Chicago: Cuneo Press, 1952.

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Jojo Galvan Mora, CHM Digital Humanities Fellow, writes a brief history of Cuban independence, the country’s ties to the United States, and Cuban relations with Chicago.

On the island of Cuba, May 20 is a day just like any other. However, for the roughly 18,000 Cubans who call Chicago home, and for the thousands more in the diaspora around the world, May 20, 1902, is remembered as one of the most important moments in the island’s history. On this day, the Cuban flag, the Estrella Solitaria (Lone Star), was raised for the first time over the Castle of the Three Kings of Morro in the bay of Havana, marking the end of formal US military occupation, thereby inaugurating the Republic of Cuba as an independent nation, kickstarting over a century of complex international relations between both countries.


View of the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (Castle of the Three Kings of Morro), Havana, Cuba, c. 1899. Library of Congress, LC-USZC2-6452

The flag raising on May 20 was the culmination of nearly a century of intertwined history between the island nation and the United States. What first began as an amicable trade relationship between the US and the Spanish territory in the early 1800s quickly became so important and profitable that, in 1848, US president James K. Polk formally offered the Spanish empire $100 million to purchase the island, an offer that Spain declined. Despite the denial, trade between the US and the island continued, with the US becoming the largest buyer of Cuban sugar by the 1860s. In 1868, the island entered into militarized conflict seeking independence from Spain in what would come to be known as the Ten Years’ War. During this time of crisis, the US became a place of sanctuary for those fleeing the violence, as the country welcomed more than 10,000 Cubans immigrants throughout the duration of the fighting. Two more conflicts would follow in pursuit of independence from Spanish rule, the first in 1879, and and the second in 1895.


Lithograph depicting the destruction of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor during the Spanish-American War, Havana, Cuba, February 15, 1898. CHM, ICHi-008428. The destruction of the Maine has long been the subject of historical debate, with press reports blaming the incident on Spanish forces, while other records point to an accidental explosion.

The third struggle for independence would finally see the United States entering the conflict after the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor in February 1898, with the international press quickly placing the blame on Spanish forces, and the US government formally declaring war in April. The Spanish-American War lasted a little over three months, ending in August with Spanish defeat. As part of their concessions, the Spanish empire ceded control of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the US, and a military protectorate, the Platt Amendment (proposed 1901, approved 1903), over the island of Cuba.


Milk glass dish with lid titled The American Hen, in the shape of an eagle sitting on a nest of eggs labeled ”Porto Rica” (Puerto Rico), Cuba, and Philippines, 1898. CHM, ICHi-179104

The Platt Amendment placed Cuba under US military and financial guardianship until the island’s political leaders, many of whom were installed by the US government, could draft and ratify a new constitution. In 1901, the assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution for Cuba rejected the terms of the Platt Amendment, a demand which then-US president Theodore Roosevelt rejected. In June 1901, a new constitution was approved, with the Platt Amendment included as an official appendix to the new nation’s founding document. In December of that year, elections were held, and after some controversy, Tómas Estrada Palma, a naturalized US citizen residing in the mainland was elected to lead the Cuban Republic, formally ending the occupation when he took office.

The legacy of the Platt Amendment is vast. It established the terms for the lease over the area that would become the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention facility and opened the door to extensive US immigration and investment on the island. By 1902, more than 15,000 residents on the island were US citizens. On the US mainland, the topic of Cuba was one of constant debate, with many seeing the terms of the Platt Amendment as little more than a US version of European imperialism, a sentiment fueled further by growing Cuban populations in cities like Miami and New York.


Charles G. Dawes (holding top hat), vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929, stands next to Gerardo Machado (wearing glasses), president of Cuba, who is shaking hands with Chicago mayor William Hale Thompson, along with a group of men during a visit to Chicago, 1927. Machado is shaking hands with one of the men. DN-0083489, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM

While Cuban migration to the Chicago metro area would not come until the middle of the 20th century, the Windy City served as a host to Cuban civic and political leaders. In 1927, US vice president Charles G. Dawes hosted Cuban president, and later dictator, Gerardo Machado as part of a larger effort to demonstrate goodwill and the importance of commercial and political ties between both nations. While this visit may seem little more than a trivial footnote, it demonstrates the depth behind the history tying both nations as political and economic allies, opponents, and sites of cultural exchange. In many ways, it’s impossible to adequately tell Cuba’s national history without giving a nod to the ever-present shadow of US policy, a complex reality that continues to this day as policies around trade, immigration, and national sovereignty continue to shift.

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Cinco de Mayo is here, and the scent of lime juice is in the air! We’re popping salt on the rims of some festive cocktails. But why? Fighting colonial powers is the answer!

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has become a general celebration of Mexican culture. Sometimes people even mistake it for Mexican Independence Day (which is actually September 16).


Guerre du Mexique, siège et prise de Puébla / Imp. lith. Charles-François Pinot éditeur, c. 1870. Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-2673

But the holiday is more specifically the celebration of a mixed-heritage (Indigenous, African, and European descent) Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The French intended to recolonize the newly independent Mexican nation, which won independence from Spain in 1821. Though Mexican resistance to the French colonizers took several more years to reach lasting victory, this was an important moment for Mexicans to publicly and very visibly reject the idea of new and additional colonization.

This rejection was crucial following on the heels of the US-Mexico War (1846–48), during which the US stole more than half of the land belonging to Mexico and occupied the state of Puebla and Mexico City. Then-US president James K. Polk requested that each state in the union send military troops to the US-Mexico border to fight in the war. Illinois governor Thomas Ford sent three regiments of local militia in 1846 in response.


A copy of the order from General William Jenkins Worth saying that the government of the State of Puebla (and any other lands occupied by the US) is abolished by the occupying government of the US, May 22, 1847. CHM, Abakanowicz Research Center, broadsides collection

This local “contribution” to the war may be part of the reason why CHM has General Antonio López de Santa Anna’s ceremonial tack (spurs and bit) in its Americana Collection.


The bit (above) and one of the spurs (below) that belonged to Santa Anna, 1840–50, on display in Aquí en Chicago. Photograph by CHM staff

Santa Anna (1794–1876) was the 8th president of Mexico, a military leader who lost Texas to Sam Houston—and eventually to the US (1845). He allowed US forces to invade Mexico City (1847) and brokered the utterly bad deal (for Mexico) of the Gadsden Purchase (1854), selling off additional Mexican territory.


Undated lithograph of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. CHM, ICHi-053702

The success, from the standpoint of United Statesian empire building, of the US-Mexico War paved the way for much more imperial US expansion during the 19th century including, most notably, the theft of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines from Spain in 1898.


Milk glass dish with lid titled The American Hen, in the shape of an eagle sitting on a nest of eggs labeled “Purto Rica” (Puerto Rico), Cuba, and Philippines, 1898. CHM, ICHi-179104

So, this year when you’re firing up the grill, consider the ways in which US imperialism has helped create the Chicago we experience today. ¡Salud!

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Spring is in the air. And that means it’s time for full skirts and photo sessions as young people across the area begin celebrating their milestone fifteenth birthdays with a quinceañera. This special event is a coming-of-age ritual for many families of Latin American heritage.

Front view of a quinceañera ensemble from Mi Quince World with a matching bouquet and tiara, c. 2024. Created by Nelly Lizcano; Susana Cavazos, Wendy Clavijo, Anahi Marin, Giselle Morales, Juanita Rangel, Ariella Santoyo. CHM, ICHi-186341

Traditionally, the quinceañera looks a bit like a wedding, minus the groom. A young lady attends mass with her family and then makes her debut at a party surrounded by a coterie of damas and chambelanes (ladies and gentlemen of her court). She may wear her first high heels, give her last doll to a younger member of the family, receive gifts of money, and enjoy toasts in her honor and a delicious meal.


Juanita Villarreal wears a quinceañera dress made by her mother, Maria Villarreal, 1983. Courtesy of Roman and María Villarreal

Though the celebration of the quinceañera often retains a religious component—celebrating mass—the focus is now, more than ever, on the individuality of the celebrant and the culture. And the celebration is beginning to include young men and nonbinary folks as well as young women. Clothing is often the space we use to express our identities, and in the quinceañera that often takes the shape of a gown. 26th St. in Little Village, La Veintiséis, is the place to shop for quinceañera gowns and accessories, not only in Chicago but all over the Midwest and beyond.


Interior view of Mi Quince World, 2018. Courtesy of Jonathan Michael Castillo

After Michigan Avenue, 26th St. is the highest grossing street in Chicago. Chicago has roughly 80,000 Latine businesses (Illinois has roughly 140,000), and, during Operation Midway Blitz last fall, the businesses on 26th St. were hit particularly hard, losing sometimes 40–60% of their business. This is an excruciating, sometimes insurmountable burden for a small, independent business.

Ariella Santoyo and Jesús “Jesse” Nevares, co-own Mi Quince World on 26th St. It grew from their more general apparel business, started in 2006, to focus entirely on the quinceañera in 2008. The selection of gowns on site, mostly made in Mexico and locally, the customization of the gowns, and the focus on themes sets the shop apart. The seamstresses and designers at the shop do the beading, embroidery, lace, and other decorations themselves as well as the entire conjunto of supplies for the event: bouquet, bible, kneeler for mass, guest book, and so on. The tiaras also come from a single maker in Mexico.


Mi Quince World staff pose with the peach gown that was on display in Aquí en Chicago. Photograph by Elena Gonzales

In 2023 Ariella graciously recorded an oral history about the shop and the tradition of the quinceañera and, in 2024, Mi Quince very generously made two glorious—and very different—gowns specifically for the Chicago History Museum’s permanent collection. The gowns each had their time on display Aquí en Chicago (on view through November 8, 2026).

The traditional peach and champagne-colored gown (on display first) might appeal to celebrants across Latin American heritages, not only Mexicans (who make up 73% of the Latine third of Chicago). This gown is a classic, sparkling vision of femininity featuring a skirt nearly eight feet in diameter and a long train covered in rhinestones and applique. The tiara (from a single maker in Mexico) features an iridescent floral pattern.


Left: CHM production manager Ethan Gasbarro and lead preparator Taylor Ausley open the display case to switch out the gowns. Right: CHM mount maker Michael Hall adjusts the bouquet that coordinates with the escaramuza gown. Photographs by CHM staff

On April 29, 2026, the vibrant escaramuza or equestrian-style gown came on view with a distinctly Mexican aesthetic. The escaramuzas or female charros began competing in teams in Mexico in the 1960s and are cultural icons of today of a femininity that is wild and daring yet noble, powerful, and accomplished.


Front view of a charro style quinceaёera dress and accessories, c. 2024. Ensemble includes a bodice with floral appliques, a matching overskirt, a red tiered underskirt, a tiara, a bouquet of faux roses. Created by Nelly Lizcano; Susana Cavazos, Wendy Clavijo, Anahi Marin, Giselle Morales, Juanita Rangel, Ariella Santoyo. CHM, ICHi-186750

This red and black ensemble features a dramatically flounced skirt that may be removed for a sleeker look at the after-party with the black satin miniskirt and bustier embroidered with red roses. Note the horse in rhinestones in the tiara!

The golden buttons feature the image of the Piedra del sol or Aztec Calendar Stone, which appears several times throughout Aquí as a national symbol of Mexico that finds many homes in Chicago. The real Piedra is at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and is enormous, weighing approximately 24 tons. The Aztecs carved it using stone from the Xitle Volcano between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Embed from Getty Images

¡Felicidades to all those turning 15 this season!

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