The South Shore Cultural Center was once a country club that excluded Black people. Now it's home to a soul food restaurant owned by a Black entrepreneur.
History
Memories of Chicago-Area Grocery Stores, As Shared By Our Audience
Daniel HautzingerFrom cramped corner stores to big local chains, our audience shared memories of grocery stores in the Chicago area both extant and long-gone. The reminiscences track the changing landscape of grocery stores over the decades.
The Story of Chicago’s Grocery Stores – And How They’ve Changed How We Eat
Daniel HautzingerFrom open-air public markets to big national supermarkets, grocery stores have both tracked and influenced our diets and urban life. The Chicago area has had its share of homegrown companies, from Dominick's to Jewel and all the independents in between.
How the Miracle of Refrigeration Changed Our Food System – And Chicago's Role in Its Development
Daniel HautzingerRefrigeration has divorced us from the origins of the food we eat, thanks to entrepreneurs like the Chicago meatpacker Gustavus Swift, who helped the stockyards grow by developing the refrigerated train car.
The Illinois Governor Who Headed a Landmark Commission on America – and Had a Tragic Fall from Grace
Daniel HautzingerOtto Kerner gave his name to a report that called for enormous changes in American society to address racial disparities, but his reputation for integrity suffered when he became the first (not the last) Illinois governor convicted of a crime.
The Oldest Restaurant in Illinois – Where Even the Furniture Was Once for Sale
Lisa FuttermanLong Grove, Illinois is home to the state's oldest restaurant, The Village Tavern. What was once a watering hole 177 years ago is now a charming spot steeped in history.
A 'Call the Midwife' Cookbook Explores the Food—and History—of a "Totally Bonkers Period"
Daniel HautzingerNine Chicago Women Who Found Success in Food Before the Age of the Celebrity Chef
Daniel HautzingerA Brief History of Marathons in Chicago
Meredith FrancisRevisiting the Great Chicago Fire 149 Years Later
Meredith FrancisThe Chicago Magazine That Has Helped Define Poetry for the Past Century
Daniel Hautzinger"One of the Greatest Events in the History of Medicine": The Defeat of Polio
Daniel HautzingerHow Chicago’s Pride Parade Grew from a Small March to a Big Event
Meredith FrancisChicago's Pride Parade didn't start as a parade at all. It was originally a small march to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. But a protest against anti-gay activist Anita Bryant in 1977 helped the parade become what it is today.
The Chicagoan Who Founded the Earliest Gay Rights Group in America
Meredith FrancisThe Atomic Age's Beginnings on a Squash Court in Chicago
Daniel Hautzinger75 years ago on December 2, scientists at the University of Chicago inaugurated the nuclear era by engineering the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Learn about the origins of nuclear power and the upsides and downsides of its future.