Chicago History

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.

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. 

While it has been overshadowed by other unrest of the late '60s in Chicago, the Division Street riot was an important point in the history of Chicago's Puerto Rican community, drawing attention to issues faced by the community. 

Nella Larsen existed in disparate worlds, never quite finding her place: born to a Danish mother and West Indian father in a Chicago vice district, she eventually became a part of the Harlem Renaissance and Black professional class, producing a neglected classic novel. 

Chicago looms large in the creation of baseball's Negro Leagues, for reasons both positive and negative. One influential player-manager spearheaded the creation of the Negro National League 100 years ago; another helped solidify the sport's color line decades earlier.

Lucy Parsons was full of contradictions: an anarchist who defended marriage, a Black woman born into slavery who claimed her dark skin came from Mexican and Native American ancestry, a supporter of rights for women who didn't trust elections and thus never aligned herself with suffragists.

A series of bronze plaques on the famous rainbow pylons in Chicago's Boystown neighborhood make up the Legacy Walk – an outdoor museum highlighting the historical and cultural contributions of LGBTQ people.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote. Chicago was home to some of the leading suffragists in the nation, and they brought Illinois women a limited right to vote years before 1920.

If weekend closures of Red Line stations are an inconvenience, comfort yourself with the thought that it could be worse. More than 25 years ago, the Green Line—like the Red Line today—needed maintenance and modernizing. Back then, the CTA shut down the whole line—for more than two years.

Muckraker journalist Upton Sinclair started a national movement for food safety after the publication of his 1906 novel, The Jungle, although that wasn't his aim. “I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach,” he said. 

Before our clocks fell back and sprung forward, there were dozens of time zones in the United States. Chicago, once a major railroad hub, played a key part in standardizing time across the country.