Chicago History Podcast
Stories from history of the Greatest City in the World - Chicago. The places, events, and the people behind it all.
Episodes
For many coming into the city from the west, the drive on the Eisenhower Expressway under that massive building at Van Buren is truly a sight to behold, but few seem to know much about its history. Today we’re talking about Chicago's Old Main Post Office.
Originally released in September 2021.
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The Chicago White Sox have called three primary sites home since the team’s founding in 1900, and each plot of earth carries layers of history older than the game of baseball.
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Originally released January 15, 2022.
In 1988, two attractive young students attending a prominent suburban Chicago religious school disappeared, setting off a frenzied search that lasted months before the truth about what happened to them was revealed.
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Some of histories biggest rock acts first performed in the Chicago area at music venue in a suburban strip mall in Schaumburg. This is the story of B'Ginnings.
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Items rela...
Genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith joins me to discuss her connections to Chicago and "The Women Who Built Chicago" bus tour, launched for Women's History Month in partnership with Ancestry, which highlights overlooked women's contributions.
Tickets for the bus tour:
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Jun Fujita was a pioneering Japanese-born photographer who made his way to Chicago to become widely regarded as the first Japanese American photojournalist. Hear more about Fujita's life in Chicago from Graham Harrison Lee, Fujita's great-nephew and author of the book Jun Fujita: Behind the Camera.
Preorder a copy of the second printing of the book from the publisher (and save $10):
An unbearable loss pushes one man past the breaking point, ending in murder. Listener discretion is advised.
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Up your cockt...
Here's a FROM THE ARCHIVES episode originally released on Feb 18, 2023.
Many towns in the Chicago area were established to be all-white, keeping out Blacks, Asians, Jews, Native Americans, and others, allowing minorities to work in those towns but not live there. Those individuals also needed to be gone by sundown.
Find all things Ernest Crim III at ernestcrim.com. Signed copies of Mr. Crim's book ...
Chicago’s cold weather can be brutal, and it has been for more than 150 years since it started being tracked. Here are ten of Chicago's coldest days.
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In the late 1940s and well into the 1950s, Chicago was plagued by fires that had one key thing in common – they took place at often unsafe, threadbare hotels, injuring and even killing those who were already down on their luck. This is the story of Chicago’s Skid Row Flophouse Fires.
Originally released in January 2022.
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On a cold and snowy day in December 1972, United Airlines flight 553 crashed into a neighborhood near Midway Airport, resulting in 45 deaths. The tragedy was soon followed by conspiracies. Was the plane brought down to silence those who might jeopardize powerful people in the government?
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Author Rob Miller (one of the founders of Chicago's Bloodshot Records) joins me to discuss his new book, “The Hours Are Long But The Pay Is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music.”
Get Rob's book here:
https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p088964
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Purchasing items through the links below helps support...
Please enjoy this FROM THE ARCHIVES + EXTRAS episode from the summer of 2022.
One man was robbed more than 190 times, knocked unconscious at least four times, and had an eardrum burst aboard Chicago’s L, each time with Chicago cops nearby watching, all in the name of public transportation safety.
This is the story of Chicago’s Mass Transit Decoy Squad of the 1970’s.
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The Spyglass Murder of Margaret Gallagher, the killing and dismemberment of Judith Mae Andersen, the execution-style murder of Chicago Alderman Ben Lewis, and the roadside disappearance of Tammy Jo Zywicki are all part of this episode on Chicago's unsolved murders.
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Halloween is coming! Enjoy this episode about Chicago's ghoulish past, including tales of forgotten cemeteries, grave robbers, mob graveyards, and more. Expanded and re-recorded from the original, released Oct. 2020..
Pamela Bannos / Hidden Truths:
https://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/
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Anything purcha...
Chicago has had its share of bizarre incidents resulting in death, including the Pain Fireworks Company Explosion of 1914.
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Here's one originally released in August 2021 that you may not have heard. Enjoy.
He was the son of one of the wealthiest men in Chicago, and on one fateful night he was shot under mysterious circumstances. Was Marshall Field Jr.'s death an accident or something much darker that was covered up by powerful forces?
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If you're planning on walking through Lincoln Park anytime soon, you may be curious about all the statues you'll find. With the help of contributor Connie Fairbanks, we discuss the story behind many of the creations you'll see, and tell you about the ones that were once there but are no longer.
You can purchase Chicago's West Loop: Then and Now by Connie Fairbanks from the author at:
https://w...
In August of 1925, an opulent cinema opened on Broadway just north of Lawrence Avenue. Joining me today to discuss the history of that theater is Robert Loerzel, one of the authors of the recently released book The Uptown: Chicago's Endangered Movie Palace.
https://www.robertloerzel.com/blog/
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Uptown, ...
The return of One on Every Corner, where we discuss a neighborhood drinking establishment, the neighborhood around it, and more. Joining me for this episode is writer Leigh Giangreco and Four Moon Tavern owners Matt Kozlowski and Robbie Lane.
@leighgiangreco.bsky.social
Four Moon Tavern - @fourmoontavern on Insta
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