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All donations from these online lectures directly benefit our speakers and general operations.
All donations from these online lectures directly benefit our speakers and general operations.
2023: GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
LECTURE RECORDINGS WILL APPEAR HERE BEGINNING JANUARY 13TH, 2023
Check out our 2023 lecture lineup on our public events page.
2022: CHICAGO OBSCURA
AVIATION IN CHICAGO
Octave Chanute, the Wright Brothers, and other pioneering Midwesterners who sent people into the skies. By Walter Kiefer → WATCH THE RECORDING |
DEEP DARK LAKE MICHIGAN
Ghost ships, pirates, tunnels & more: strange and sordid stories pulled from the depths of Chicago's inland sea. By Sam Prestigiacomo → WATCH THE RECORDING |
TALES OF THE CHICAGO STAGE
Exploring stories of actors acting, early film, and infamously zany Chicago performers. By Lance Baker → WATCH THE RECORDING |
PARIS ON THE PRAIRIE: PARLEZ-VOUS CHICAGOAN?
Joliet! Marquette! DuSable! Illinois! Des Plaines! Discovering the history of French colonialism & culture in Chicago. By Olivia Sobieraj → WATCH THE RECORDING |
WHERE DID ALL THE PUBLIC HOUSING GO?
A history of public housing in Chicago, from the policies that shaped them, to segregation, demolition, & privatization. By Elsa Haarstad → WATCH THE RECORDING |
1920s BOHEMIA & THE WIND
BLEW INN Recently unearthed tales of fearless flappers, "petting parties," secret booze, and the Inn's proprietor Lillian Collier. By Adam Selzer → WATCH THE RECORDING |
A HORRIBLE HISTORY OF CHICAGO BRIDGE SAFETY
The evolution of Chicago's bridge safety (0 to 100!) as told by the deadly accidents they caused. By Leyla I. Royale → WATCH THE RECORDING |
A BRIEF HISTORY OF DEMOLITION IN CHICAGO
We built & we built... and then we tore it all down. How urban renewal and other factors created vacant lots citywide. By Patti Swanson → WATCH THE RECORDING |
WAYWARD WARDS: REDISTRICTING CHICAGO
Looking at how Chicago's wards have evolved, how they've been drawn, and how they're set to change this year. By Debbie Liu → WATCH THE RECORDING |
FIGHTING CENSORSHIP: MARGARET ANDERSON
Chicago's scandalous literary history of the 1910s-20s, centered around Margaret Anderson's The Little Review. By Emily O'Keefe Davenport → WATCH THE RECORDING |
THE WOMEN WHO DEVELOPED CHICAGO
A long-overdue dive into the history of Chicago's women architects, engineers, and real estate developers. By Erica Ruggiero → WATCH THE RECORDING |
(ARGUABLY) THE BEST
MCCORMICK Chicago's infamous McCormick family featured many bizarre historic figures... and the exceptional Katherine Dexter. By Mandy Crypt → WATCH THE RECORDING |
HOW BRONZEVILLE INVENTED THE LOTTERY
Long before it was sanctioned by any state, black Chicagoans played Policy... and Bronzeville was its epicenter. By Ms. Bea → WATCH THE RECORDING |
CHICAGO'S LOST DIME
MUSEUMS A dive into the vast & weird array of low-cost oddity museums that once proliferated throughout the city. By Anthony Alfaro → RECORDING COMING SOON |
2021: WHAT'S OLD IS NEW(S) AGAIN
OTHER VIRTUAL LECTURES
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