Chicagoans, the holidays are upon us! It's time to preheat the ovens, stock up on sugary sprinkles and break out the gelatin molds. Let's investigate holiday treats from years past using materials in Special Collections. The recipe compilers of The Old Town Dawn Until Dawn Cookbook perhaps best sum up our collective experience in the…
Historical Home Repair: A Peek at Chicago’s Past
Summer is finally here. How's your home project to-do list looking? It's estimated that over 300,000 homes in Chicago were built before 1919. Today, that likely means maintenance and repair. Whether you're looking to restore or re-create the historical features of your house or have the do-it-yourself spirit of Joseph and Lydia Schmidt, who renovated…
Chicago’s Women of Gospel Music
Chicago was influential in the beginning of gospel music, and women were part of gospel from the beginning. CPL has numerous resources to help you discover more about some of these magnificent Chicago women, past and present. Often the first name to come to mind for Chicagoans is Mahalia Jackson. Let's meet a few of…
Gospel Music in Special Collections: I’ll Take You There
On September 16, 1966, the Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place came alive with the Gospel Festival Spectacular. "Spectacular" is undoubtedly the word today’s gospel music lovers would use to describe this lineup. Among the featured groups to join the Rev. Clay Evans and his 150-voice Fellowship Radio Choir were the Rev. James Cleveland Singers…
Wheatless Mondays: The 100-Year Anniversary of WWI
Before gluten-free and soy milk became common at the grocery store, Americans needed a bit of coaxing to embrace wheatless Mondays, meatless Tuesdays, porkless Saturdays and ice cream made without sugar or cream. Like our One Book, One Chicago selection, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, World War I or the "Great War" urgently required citizens to…
Chicago’s South Loop Before the Library
It's hard work to keep State Street "that great street," as the lyrics to Frank Sinatra's "Chicago" go. Before Sinatra's 1956 hit song, Chicago's South Loop was dark at night, colorful by day, and its southern edges vexed the best intentions of developers, urban planners and local organizations. As the Harold Washington Library Center celebrates…
Examining Chicago’s Role in Political Conventions
Even before the groundhog looks for his shadow, the first political contest for 2016 begins. Starting with the Iowa caucus on February 1, the primary season ushers in a year of non-stop television ads and lots of opinions. Thomas Dyja, the author of this year's One Book, One Chicago selection, describes our city’s impact on…
Seven Degrees of Chicago, 1938
Although massive in scale, Chicago is a city with remarkably few degrees of separation. Just as the year's One Book, One Chicago selection connects diverse readers across the city to threads of history, the book, Thomas Dyja’s The Third Coast, opens its first chapter by stitching together the overlapping paths shared by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and future Illinois…
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