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Chicago is known for industry – stockyards, steel mills, and more, but this city had another that thrived for nearly 150 years. Today we’re discussing the Rise and Fall of Chicago’s Brickyards.

Get out and see the city with Will Quam on a Brick of Chicago tour!

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Brick: A World History by James W. P. Campbell and Will Pryce

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Contemporary Brick Buildings by Philip Jodidio

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Chicago's Buckingham Fountain is being turned on for the season on Saturday, May 10, 2025, so this seems like the perfect time to discuss the history of how the fountain came to be in this enhanced and re-recorded version, with an all-new section about Queen Elizabeth II's historic 1959 visit to the city.

Switch On Summer:

https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/events/switch-summer-night-out-kick-buckingham-fountain-0

Edward H. Bennett Digital Collection:
http://edwardbennett.lakeforest.edu/exhibits/show/edward--h--bennett-collection-/chicago/grant-park

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Discussing their book "Don't Go: Stories of Segregation and How To Disrupt It" are authors Tonika Lewis Johnson and Maria Krysan.

Folded Map Project:

https://www.foldedmapproject.com/

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Further reading (purchasing these items through these links helps support our efforts at no additional cost to you):

Don't Go; Stories of Segregation and How To Disrupt It by Tonika Lewis Johnson and Maria Krysan

https://amzn.to/3ERFNtM

Cycle of Segregation: Social Processes and Residential Stratification by Maria Krysan and Kyle Crowder

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ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN OCTOBER 2020.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Lincoln Park had a “High Bridge” which rose 75 feet over the south lagoon's water. As welcoming to sightseers as the big beautiful bridge was, it also had a dark appeal, quickly earning it the dubious name “Suicide Bridge.”

Viking Ship at Good Templar Park in Geneva, IL:
https://vikingship.us/

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It is Women's History Month! Here's a look at five pioneering women in Chicago's history: Chicago founder Kitihawa du Sable, women's suffrage activist Grace Wilbur Trout, Vivian Gordon Harsh, Chicago's first Black librarian, Union activist Rev. Addie L. Wyatt, and Elisabeth A. Martini, Chicago's first woman architect.

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Reverend Addie Wyatt: Faith and Fight for Labor, Gender, and Racial Equality by Marcia Walker-McWilliams

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Just in time for St. Patrick's Day 2025, here's a little history about Chicago's connection to preserving Irish music, originally posted in March of 2022.

He served as a Chicago policeman for more than 32 years and was Chicago’s chief of police for four, but Francis O’Neill is probably better known for his efforts in preserving the music of his homeland. Today we’re talking about Police Chief Francis O’Neill – Chicago’s Savior of Irish Music.

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Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby (1910) by Francis O'Neill
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Originally released in September of 2021, this episode has been enhanced with additional music and sound effects.

Sixteen years before Al Capone came to Chicago and long before anyone could blame violence on video games, three boys just out of their teens became robbers and worse in Chicago with brazen acts of thievery and wanton killings. Today we’re discussing the Automatic Trio and the Car Barn Murders.

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The Gangs of Chicago: An Informal History of the Underworld by Herbert Asbury
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For Black Americans seeking to escape enslavement in the first half of the 1800s, Chicago was often an important stop on their path to freedom. Today we’re discussing the Underground Railroad in Illinois.

Network to Freedom Listings:

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/ntf-listings.htm

Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) Underground Railroad Activists

https://www.gracelandcemetery.org/underground-railroad-activists/

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Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois by Larry McClellan

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Underground Railroad: A Captivating Guide to the Routes, Places, and People that Helped Free African Americans During the Nineteenth Century and the Life of Harriet Tubman by Various

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Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad as Told by Levi Coffin and William Still by Willene Hendrick

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Path to Freedom: The History of the Underground Railroad for Kids (History Just for Kids) by Sara Michaels

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