Collections volunteer Robert Blythe details the history of artifacts in our Marshall Field & Company collection. In 2006, many Chicago-area residents were crestfallen when all Marshall Field & Company stores were rebranded as Macy’s stores. A local institution, Field’s was the premier Midwestern department store with industry-leading customer service standards. Generations of Chicagoans cherish their More

Lyn Millner. The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet.  Gainesville, University of Florida Press (2015). How many visitors to today’s Fort Myers Beach, Florida, have any idea that this was the site of one of the most peculiar of America’s religious utopias?  Cyrus Teed, who saw himself as a More

CHM director of Research and Access Ellen Keith recounts the milestones and achievements of Explore Chicago Collections in its first year. She recently spoke about it at the Bucknell University Digital Scholarship Conference. Did you know that the Chicago History Museum is one of the founding members of the Chicago Collections Consortium? This organization of More

It is a well-known fact that the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series title in 1908. The 1908 Chicago Cubs team at West Side Grounds after winning the World Series. Photograph by the Chicago Daily News, SDN-006934A   In the 108 years since, a lot has happened. Here are a few highlights: William Howard More

As a preview to the opening of Making Mainbocher: The First American Couturier, volunteer Kristin Bernstein explains the process behind building props and determining accessories for the mannequins featured in the exhibition. In Making Mainbocher, mannequins are dressed from head to toe and no detail is lost. A gifted sketch artist who defined luxury in More

Timothy Stewart-Winter. Queer Clout: Chicago and the Rise of Gay Politics. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press (2016). “The path of gays and lesbians to political power led through city hall and developed primarily in response to the constant threat of arrest under which they lived.” With this thesis, Timothy Stewart-Winter offers a carefully-researched and richly-textured More