History

Barbara, Trixie, and Patsy of 'Call the Midwife.' Photo: Neal Street Productions 2016

Modern Midwifery: A Conversation with a Midwife-in-Training

Many people probably assume midwives are a thing of the past. A midwife-in-training at the Yale School of Nursing shows otherwise, explaining the various roles midwives play today and surveying the recent history of midwifery.

An anti-German cartoon from World War I. Image courtesy Joseph Gustaitis

How World War I Transformed Chicago

World War I helped trigger huge shifts in Chicago, with the rapid Americanization of Germans, an influx of African Americans, Mexicans, and single women, Prohibition, and more all occured or began because of developments during the Great War.

A mural in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen. (Ken Carl)

My Neighborhood: Pilsen

“I believe if you connect people deeply enough to the experiences of others, they will have the opportunity to discover in themselves their potential to create change.” This could be the mission statement of WTTW's My Neighborhood: Pilsen initiative.

How Much Do You Know About the Chicago Flag?

April 4th was the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Chicago flag, which was rated the second-best city flag in the US in 2004. Did you know that not only do the stars have meaning, but also the colors and stripes?

"Operation Finale: The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann" at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. (Ron Gould Studios)

"A Universal Jurisdiction Over Genocide": The Trial of Adolf Eichmann

The exhibit "Operation Finale," at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, examines one of the most notorious war criminals and his sentencing to death. The effects of his trial on postwar justice and Holocaust consciousness were profound.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Hull House, Alice Hamilton, Jane Addams.

The Groundbreaking Women of Hull House

Celebrate the pioneering achievements, landmark reforms, and impressive careers of some of the women who resided at Jane Addams' social-minded Hull House in the early twentieth century.

A statue of Queen Njinga outside the Fortaleza de São Miguel in Luanda, Angola. (Courtesy of Cécile Fromont)

Africa's Global Objects: Cécile Fromont at the Art Institute

Cécile Fromont is a professor of Art History at the University of Chicago specializing in Central Africa and Brazil who appears in the new, three-part documentary Africa's Great Civilizations.

Charles Elmé Francatelli, Queen Victoria's chef.

Victorian Cooking with Francatelli

The chef who takes an interest in Skerrett on Victoria, Francatelli was a real-life cook who worked in the hottest restaurants and published several cookbooks, making him one of the first celebrity chefs. Baked sheep's head or bullock heart, anyone?

Emma Green, Anne Hastings, and Mary Phinney of Mercy Street. (Courtesy of Erik Heinila/PBS and Antony Platt/PBS)

Enlarging the Historical Framework: Pamela D. Toler's Look at the Amazing Women of the Civil War

The author of Heroines of Mercy Street discusses the determination and accomplishments of female Civil War nurses, the importance of writing about women in history, and her broad historical interests.

DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis

DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis explores the incredible history of African Americans in Chicago and their indelible influence on the city. Discover extensive web-exclusive content here.

Various forms of transit in 1904 at State and Madison Streets, with two cable car trains. (Courtesy of Chicago Transit Authority)

Buried History: Chicago’s Forgotten Cable Cars

Chicago had the largest cable car system in the world, in terms of riders and equipment. The city's adoption of the new transit system sparked a nationwide boom in cable cars--but it lasted for less than 25 years.

Unidentified Black Soldier with Cannons. (Library of Congress)

African Americans in Chicago During the Civil War

During the Civil War, many freed slaves moved to Chicago, swelling the black population from around 600 at the beginning of the decade to 3,691 in 1870. A black professional class began to emerge while new churches and communities were built.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII and the Actresses Who Portray Them

The new series Secrets of the Six Wives explores the lives of Henry VIII's spouses. How do the actresses compare with the real women they portray? And do the people portraying the same figures on Wolf Hall hold up?

Dave Kloke with his working replica of the Leviathan locomotive, which pulled Lincoln's funeral car on a tour from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois.

Lincoln's Funeral Train

In advance of the premiere of the second season of PBS's original Civil War drama Mercy Street and of the airing of a documentary about Lincoln's assassination, revisit the story of a man who built a working replica of the funeral train that carried Lincoln's body from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois.