To mark Labor Day 2023, CHM editor Heidi Samuelson writes about Polish-born John Kikulski, a Chicago labor leader in the early twentieth century. You can see more about Kikulski in our exhibition Back Home: Polish Chicago. Labor Party candidates palm card, Chicago, 1919; CHM, ICHi-182716-001 John Kikulski was born in the village of Okinin in More
June 26, 2023, marks the 130th anniversary of Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld pardoning three men who were wrongfully imprisoned for their connections to the Haymarket affair. In this blog post, CHM director of exhibitions Paul Durica discusses Altgeld, the incident at Haymarket, and its aftermath. Sleep softly . . . eagle forgotten . . More
Algae Guzman is a graduate student at University of Illinois Chicago who has been interning with CHM curator of civic engagement and social justice Elena Gonzales for our upcoming exhibition Aquí en Chicago. Part of their work includes researching Latino/a/x histories of Chicago. On May 27, 2021, Jesús “Chuy” Negrete passed away at the age More
For Labor Day, we’re highlighting the work of labor leader, antiwar activist, and author Sidney Lens, whose papers are archived at CHM. Ask about them on your next visit to the Abakanowicz Research Center. Staughton Lynd, Rev. James Bevel, Sidney Lens (second from left), and Richard Flacks of the Chicago Area Draft Resisters speak at More
In recognition of International Workers’ Day, we’re spotlighting the Teamsters Union and its history in Chicago. Historically, the term “teamsters” referred to commercial road transportation workers. Before 1945, most teamsters worked locally, driving “teams” of horses throughout Chicago. By the late twentieth century, national road networks enabled an interstate trucking industry, which employed many long-haul More