April 4, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Chicago flag, one of the city’s most familiar symbols. To mark the occasion, CHM is hosting a special event that evening, featuring two flags from the Museum’s collection. The first is from 1920 and has two red stars, as originally designed by Wallace Rice to represent More
Collections volunteer Robert Blythe details the history and contents of the Illinois Women’s Agenda records in our Research Center. The records of the Illinois Women’s Agenda (IWA) shed light on the many and varied activities that characterized second-wave feminism in America in the 1970s and 1980s. Established in December 1975, the IWA was a coalition More
Just as it’s impossible to keep insects out of our homes, it’s impossible to keep them from entering museums as well. While insects in general are not harmful to humans, many of them can severely damage the very collections that museums seek to preserve. In order to prevent this, many museums, including CHM, have instituted More
Collections volunteer Robert Blythe details the history and contents of the African American Police League records in our Abakanowicz Research Center. “Black Police League Has Tough Job Ahead.” This headline could have been from yesterday’s newspaper, but in fact appeared in the Chicago Defender in September 1968. In May of that year, Chicago Police Department More
Archives intern Brienne Callahan talks about a newly processed photograph collection that highlights Chicago’s LGBTQ nightlife and rights activism in the 1980s and 1990s. After years of gay rights activism in Chicago, Lee A. Newell II worked as a nightlife photographer for two LGBTQ publications—Chicago’s Windy City Times and the Michigan-based Metra Magazine—between the late More