From the Archive

"I want to be an honest man, and I want to be a good writer," James Baldwin tells Studs Terkel in this eloquent and incisive conversation from 1961. He achieved both, in his clear-eyed writing and speaking about America and race, as is brilliantly obvious here.

Sunday night at the Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey gave a galvanizing acceptance speech after being granted a lifetime achievement award. See what she was like just as her career was taking off with a morning talk show, in a 1984 interview on WTTW.

They have been a tradition in Chicago for over one hundred years, and seemingly everyone has fond memories of going to see them. See some of your favorite Christmas windows and learn how they're put together in this episode of Chicago Stories from 2000.

The upcoming The Chicago River Tour with Geoffrey Baer explores the river today. But what was the waterway like thirty years ago, back when the city center was only just beginning to be revitalized? Watch a tour from a 1986 episode of Chicago Tonight.

Hear excerpts from a 1977 Studs Terkel interview with Ron Kovic, the author of the best-selling memoir Born on the Fourth of July, which became an Oliver Stone film. "I know that the people of this country want to face up to the truth of that war," Kovic says.

In 1980, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel looked back on the films that tackled the Vietnam War, reviewing Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, Hair, and, the one pro-war film, John Wayne's The Green Berets, among others. Hear their takes on Hollywood's contributions.

As Ken Burns's The Vietnam War approaches, watch excerpts from two 1976 WTTW interviews with General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. The war "came about as the result of a series of very serious political blunders," he says.

Watch Geoffrey Baer take part in the oldest and longest freshwater sailboat race, as he joins the crew of the Radiance in a journey from Chicago to Mackinac Island. Along the way, discover iconic sights, hear Lake Michigan lore, and learn about the history of the race and region.

Riverview Park delighted Chicagoans for 64 summers, from 1904-1967. A massive parachute tower, beloved roller coasters, spooky fun houses, the world's largest carousel: relive them all in this Chicago Story about the beloved amusement park that used to stand at Belmont and Western.

Ten years ago today, Apple released the first iPhone, redefining our relationship to technology and heralding the beginning of the smartphone era. Revisit the legacy of the groundbreaking device and its creator in a Chicago Tonight segment that aired after Steve Jobs's death in 2011.

As the Chicago Pride Parade approaches, look back at a conversation with Malcolm Boyd, one of the first American clergymen to come out of the closet. "The majority loses its rights the moment it doesn't recognize the rights of minorities," he says.

June 7 marks the centenary of Gwendolyn Brooks. The renowned poet was the first black author to win the Pulitzer Prize and Poet Laureate of Illinois from 1968 until her death in 2000. Hear her read two of her poems in this WTTW program from 1966.

The Edgewater Beach Hotel played host to weddings, big bands, scandals, and celebrities like Nat King Cole and Bette Davis during its heyday. Experience some of the "Magic by the Lake" in this episode of Chicago Stories.

Today is John F. Kennedy's centenary. 34 years ago, WTTW's John Callaway hosted a discussion on the legacy of the 35th president of the United States on the twentieth anniversary of his assassination. 

In 1984, WTTW hosted a discussion of the Vietnam War with a group of veterans and four Steppenwolf Theatre actors playing soldiers onstage, including Gary Sinise. Revisit it here.