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Upton Sinclair pictured as an adult; year unknown.

Celebrate Upton Sinclair’s Birthday with 7 Looks at the Impact of His Work

Writer and muckraker Upton Sinclair was born on this day 144 years ago. He was a prolific writer and political activist whose most notable work, The Jungle, had a transformative impact on the meatpacking industry in Chicago and nationwide. 
Queen Elizabeth II with Prince Philip and Mayor Richard J. Daley in Chicago on the royal couple's 1959 visit

Revisiting Queen Elizabeth II's Sole Visit to Chicago

In honor of Queen Elizabeth II, revisit the festivities (and some dental drama) of her lone trip to Chicago, in 1959, as part of a tour of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Canada. 
A soldier standing with a phony armored vehicle

The Top-Secret Army Unit of Artists Who Deceived German Troops in World War II

An ongoing exhibition at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie tells the story of how a unit of artists, engineers, and other soldiers deceived German troops using inflatable tanks, weaponry, phony radio calls, and other artistic effects.
Children enjoying a Shoot the Chutes ride at Riverview in Chicago in 1965. Photo: ST-90004584-0041, Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum

Revisiting Some of Chicago's Lost Amusement Parks

Geoffrey Baer takes a tour of some lost amusement parks that entertained Chicagoans, including his father, who loved Riverview, and himself—he was fond of the Kiddieland in Skokie. Do you have any fond memories of another park?

The January 6th Hearings PBS NewsHour

How to Watch the January 6 Hearings

Watch PBS NewsHour's live coverage of public hearings laying out lawmakers' findings from a nearly yearlong investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which begin on Thursday, June 9.
Gottfried Pilsener

How Czechs Have Shaped Chicago's History

At the turn of the twentieth century, Chicago had the third-largest Czech population in the world, behind only Prague and Vienna. Czechs were deeply involved in the labor movement, politics, and more, as the producers of a new documentary on Czechs in Chicago explain. 

Jane Byrne raising her finger while speaking at a mayoral forum

A Q&A with the Producer of a New Jane Byrne 'Chicago Stories'

Jane Byrne was the first woman to be elected Mayor of Chicago and the first woman to lead a mayor U.S. city. A new Chicago Stories documentary follow's Byrne's rise to power and tenure as mayor. 

(L-R) Likely Naomi Pollard; John and Amanda Pollard; Luther Pollard. Images: Courtesy Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society

The Extraordinary Achievements of the First Black Residents of Rogers Park

The Pollard family contained the NFL's first Black head coach, the first Black licensend nurse in Illinois, a producer of silent films, the first Black woman graduate of Northwestern University, a Civil War veteran, and the winner of an Olympic medal.
Sidney Poitier as Walter Lee Younger in the original 1959 stage production of Lorraine Hansberry's 'A Raisin in the Sun.' Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Friedman-Abeles, New York

From the Archive: Sidney Poitier

The trailblazing actor and director Sidney Poitier, star of A Raisin in the Sun, The Defiant Ones, and other films, has died at the age of 94. Listen to two interviews with him conducted decades apart by Studs Terkel.
Pullman National Monument

Test Your Knowledge of This Year’s Local News with Our 2021 News Quiz

Did we all hope 2021 would be a calmer news year than 2020? Probably. Was it? Most definitely not. Test your knowledge of Chicago’s top news stories –– from the essential stories, to the bizarre ones –– with our year-in-review news quiz.

Film set for a silent western featuring Gilbert M. Anderson, known as Broncho Billy, at Essanay Film Studios in Chicago, Illinois, circa 1910. Image: Chicago History Museum; ICHi-016886

Geoffrey Baer's Favorite Uses of Chicago in Film

Chicago has become a major hub for film and television production in the past decade, but the city has been an important part of the film industry almost since the birth of movies. Here are some of Geoffrey Baer's favorite uses of Chicago in films.
"Pupils of this school" Carlisle Indian Training School, 1885. Image: Courtesy of Repository: National Archives and Records Administration

'Home from School' Tells One Story of Indian Boarding Schools in Order to Heal

The new documentary Home from School tells the story of the Northern Arapaho's efforts to repatriate the remains of three children who died at an assimilationist boarding school more than a century ago. “This film talks about closing those cycles [of generational trauma]," says an associate producer.
Cherokee Nation citizen James Greg Bilby as Sequoyah in 'Searching for Sequoyah.' Photo: Karl W. Schmidt

Searching for the "Enigmatic Hero" of the Cherokee Language, Sequoyah

A new documentary explores the legacy and mysterious life of Sequoyah, who created the Cherokee writing system despite being illiterate in any other language. The team behind the film discusses its importance to them as Native scholars and filmmakers. 
William Walker's "Wall of Daydreaming and Man's Inhumanity to Man" at the corner of 47th and Calumet in Chicago. Photo: Lee Bey

Tracing Muhammad Ali's Memory in Chicago - A Photo Essay

Muhammad Ali was born in Louisville and attained global fame, but Chicago played an important role in the boxing legend’s life. Discover some of the locations that marked Ali's remarkable life during his time in Chicago.
Muhammad Ali sitting in the back of a convertible waving to a crowd during the Bud Billiken Day Parade at 39th Street and Martin Luther King Drive, Chicago, Illinois on August 9, 1969. Photo: ST-40001287-0032, Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum

Chicago, Chicago, That Boxing Town

Three of the most famous world heavyweight champions—most famous athletes in general—have lived in and had some of their most formative experiences and bouts in Chicago, a city that has also always been a stepping stone for amateur boxers.