History

When Emily Taft Douglas won a statewide election to become Illinois's fourth woman in Congress, her husband Paul had already lost a run for Senate and wouldn't win until four years later. Emily also marched with Dr. King, appeared on Broadway, and wrote books.

Black churches in Chicago have played host to speakers from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Frederick Douglass to Barack Obama while supporting civil rights and social justice, as well as their own spiritual communities.

"We need to realize how intertwined the Black church is with the birth of other institutions," says a Chicago theologian. "It’s like a human being: it has incredible beauty, brokenness, blessedness, all of that mixed together."

The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump in the Senate begins February 9. Here are all the ways you can watch PBS NewsHour's special live coverage. 

Harold Washington was a frequent guest on WTTW over the course of his political career. Hear him discuss his upbringing, his coalitional politics, the Council Wars when he was mayor of Chicago, and more in archival interviews ranging from 1968 through 1984.

Find all the ways you can watch the House's impeachment trial, either over-the-air or digitally, here. 

When it comes to Chicago’s early history, people like William Ogden or Cyrus McCormick and their families are often brought up as the city’s founders. But, according to one expert, one of Chicago’s “forgotten founders" is the writer and historian Juliette Kinzie.

Lanzi Candy's Cashew Nut and Rice Crunch was once sold internationally and on American Airlines, all while made out of a small family-owned factory in Chicago. A documentary follows the business's story and a quest to recreate its most popular treat.

The 1909 Plan of Chicago recommended the lakefront be public parkland, extensive parks and forest preserves throughout the city, and other proposals that helped make Chicago the city we know today. 

Attending college on the G.I. Bill changed Abner Mikva's life. As a congressman, judge, and mentor to Barack Obama, Elena Kagan, and numerous young people, Mikva tried to show that government could be a force for good in people's lives. 

40 years ago, the Polish trade union Solidarity was formed. It would go on to force the first free elections in Communist Poland and win resoundingly, ending the Communist regime there. Chicago's Polish community played a strong supporting role throughout. 

Sophonisba Breckinridge, a feminist and social reformer, accomplished a lot in her long career, much of which was spent at the University of Chicago. But despite all she achieved, she is what historian Anya Jabour calls a "forgotten feminist."

The Great Chicago Fire: A Chicago Stories Special reveals new details with recreations and animation that bring the fire to life. Executive producer Dan Protess and producer and writer Peter Marks talked about their approach to telling the old story in a new way.

Margaret Burroughs, an influential Chicago artist, poet, and teacher, established two of the city's important cultural institutions: the South Side Community Arts Center and the DuSable Museum of African American History.

Rudy Lozano sought more political power for Latinos in Chicago, and although his life was cut short, his legacy lives on in his friends and family members who continue his political campaigns and activism.