Playlist History
History
Watch a Tireless 83 Year-Old Mavis Staples Perform in a Concert Recorded in Chicago
Mavis Staples began performing with her family band, The Staple Singers, when she was eleven. She's still singing at 83, as in a concert recorded earlier this year at Chicago's Symphony Center that WTTW is broadcasting.
The 150th Birthday of the Chicago Mayor Who Was Killed by a Bullet Meant for FDR
One hundred and fifty years ago today, the future mayor of Chicago Anton Cermak was born in an area of Austria-Hungary that is now part of the Czech Republic. The above photo of him with Franklin Delano Roosevelt was taken in 1932, a year before Cermak’s death as a result of his relationship with Roosevelt. FDR won the nomination to be the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate against Herbert Hoover at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that year.
Forty Years Ago, Harold Washington Was Elected Mayor of Chicago
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson is the second Black man to be elected to office (Eugene Sawyer was appointed), almost 40 years after Harold Washington won election to become the first Black mayor of Chicago.
Nine Chicago Women Who Found Success in Food Before the Age of the Celebrity Chef
Even today there is a huge disparity in the number of women head chefs, but achieving success in the food industry earlier on was even less common. Meet some of the women who influenced Chicago and America's attitudes towards food.
The Little-Known Social Worker and Writer Who Embodied Chicago’s Role as a “Cauldron” for Social Movements
Though the history books rarely mention her, social worker and avant-garde writer Mary Field Parton embodies Chicago's role as a focal point of political and social movements.
The First Black Catholic Priest—a Candidate for Sainthood—and His Importance to Chicago
Father Augustus Tolton escaped slavery in Missouri to become the first openly recognized Black Catholic priest, ministering in Quincy, Illinois and establishing the first standalone Black Catholic church in Chicago. While there are currently no African American saints, he is currently a candidate for sainthood.
The Woman Who Invented Monopoly (Sort of)
The Illinoisan and Chicagoan Lizzie Magie invented a board game at the turn of the twentieth century as a teaching tool on behalf of anti-land ownership ideals. It later influenced Monopoly. Discover her story in an excerpt from a new American Experience documentary on Monopoly.
Eight Things to Watch and Read on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, and his birthday is honored as a federal holiday. Celebrate the civil rights hero in a variety of stories about his legacy, time in Chicago, and more.
Why America Is the Only Country That Embraced the Lie Detector—and Chicago’s Role in Its Rise
The technology behind the lie detector is basic and available around the world, but only America has used it extensively over the decades, thanks in part to pioneering work in forensics in Chicago that attempted to address the city's notorious crime.
Get in the Spirit with Vintage Holiday Cards from the Chicago History Museum
From dogs in sweaters offering each other gifts to "Dickensian Christmas" scenes to personalized illustrations of graphic design and avant-garde art, the holiday cards in the Chicago History Museum's collection showcase a broad array of styles, and reveal how similar we are to people of the past.
Revisiting the Biting Articles That Branded Chicago the "Second City"
Seventy years ago, the New Yorker writer and New York City native A.J. Liebling published a series of articles about Chicago that saw the city as a "not-quite-metropolis" imbued with a "collective sense of disappointment." Was he right?
How to Watch the Next January 6 Committee Hearing, Likely Its Last
The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is holding its next public hearing on Monday, December 19 at 12:00 pm CT. The hearing will likely be the last held by the committee, which is expected to release its final report on December 21.
Photo of the Week: A 1943 Marshall Field’s Christmas Window Display
Take a look back at a Marshall Field's Christmas window display from 1943, and discover the history of the displays.
Chicago's Early Female Detectives, Real-Life Analogues to Miss Scarlet
Eliza Scarlet of Miss Scarlet and the Duke may be fictional, but she does have a few real-life historical analogues of trailblazing female detectives and forensics experts, including in Chicago.
On This Day in Illinois History: Alton Abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy Killed By Mob
On November 7, 1837, an abolitionist named Elijah Parish Lovejoy was killed by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois.
