When the Chicago Historical Society renovated its building in 1988, the result was to change Chicago history. Not only did the museum increase its size considerably, it grew more ambitious than ever in telling stories of the past.
Its new galleries examine the latest scholarship on subjects of Chicago and American history. For those who remember the old society with nostalgia, much remains, like old portraits of local worthies. But things change. Near a traditional painting of Lincoln in the east lobby is another view of the Great Emancipator by Roger Brown, a Chicago Imagist who is anything but staid.
What follows is a short guide to major exhibitions currently at the society plus a sampling of collections accessible to the public.
`We the People`
America`s history is relatively short. This permanent exhibition shows that its true creation occurred over a period of 55 years. ”We the People:
Creating a New Nation, 1765-1820” describes people and ideas that made America different from all other nations.
A generation ago, history was told through the eyes of leaders. Today, scholars show it as trends that rise up through society. In this exhibition, the diversity of settlers is illustrated through artisans` tools, German hymnals and the shackles that slaves carried with them.
Americans also understood the printing arts. Among the most valuable pieces in this exhibition are first printings of the Declaration of Independence and other key documents, including the Northwest Ordinance, which was a blueprint for the growing nation. There`s also an original of Paul Revere`s engraving of ”The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street, Boston,” otherwise known as the Boston Massacre, a rallying cry for the rebellion that followed.
Common people made the Revolution a reality. Curators advance this idea by profiling the lives of several individuals whose lives, if not typical, provide a view of America`s diversity. Some were famous, such as Paul Revere- though it may be a surprise that his role came from leadership in an artisans` union.
Also portrayed is the life of Phyllis Wheatley, an educated slave who wrote poems about ”a Principle which we call love of Freedom….” Some such profiles are accompanied by letters and other curious written material. For instance, black ship owner Paul Cuffee was wealthy but believed that other blacks would find despair, not equality, in America. He assisted other freed slaves to resettle in Africa-and a passenger list for such a voyage in 1821 is on display.
`A House Divided`
In the hall after ”We the People” is one of the most remarkable Civil War exhibitions in the United States. ”A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln” owes its special character in part to collections of Lincolniana assembled in Illinois and subsequently given to the society.
Some objects in the exhibit have raw emotional power. The bed on which Lincoln died is here. In a display of Civil War weapons, there also is a small military surgical kit with a crude saw. Other documents and objects reflect the complexity of the conflict.
The exhibit has a point of view about the war. Some historians claim it was fought over economics or abstract political ideas. But this exhibition portrays slavery as the issue. This point is made by stark posters advertising the sale of slaves and, among other things, engravings from a pamphlet entitled ”Bible Defence of Slavery.”
Politics leading to the war, as portrayed here, hinged largely on the slavery controversy. The 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates-Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were opponents for the U.S. Senate from Illinois-addressed the question forcefully. Douglas favored ”popular sovereignty” (or states`
rights) on the issue. Lincoln verged toward abolitionism. Their eloquence is replicated in recordings that accompany a section on these famous debates.
(Lincoln lost the Senate race but won the presidency two years later.)
Other sections of the exhibition tread on relatively new historical ground. Tintype portraits of black Union soldiers remind us of their fighting role in the war. Yet at least one letter from a white soldier shows that the writer, like many others, was not fighting for emancipation but against a divided nation.
A section on ”The First Modern War” shows that tactics were rather medieval, in terms of close combat and charges, but that the weapons, like smooth bore howitzers, were horribly modern. The incongruity accounts for this war`s almost inconceivable carnage.
Toward the end of the exhibition is an image of hooded Ku Klux Klansmen. Though abolition was won with the war, ”many issues of social justice were put off until later,” according to Eric Foner, an esteemed Civil War historian who co-curated the exhibition.
The museum`s ”Voices From History” program, in which actors portray figures from the past, now focuses on ”A House Divided.” Frederick Douglass, Harriett Beecher Stowe and others are brought back to life on weekdays at 10:15 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon; on weekends they appear on the half hour, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Sundays.
`Chicago in the 1890s
”A City Comes of Age: Chicago in the 1890s” remains on display through July 15-part of a decade-long series of exhibitions on Chicago entitled
”Prologue to a New Century.” It begins with a video introducing several personalities in the 1890s. Visitors are encouraged to empathize with the plight of an immigrant newsboy, or the social isolation of George Pullman.
”A City Comes of Age” shows that Chicagoans were defined by their ethnic group, their work and their wealth (or lack of it). Photos and craftwork from Italian, German, Swedish, African and other communities demonstrate that the city was a place of ”a million strangers.”
Later in the exhibition, other meanings creep in. Labor activists gained power-their notebooks and posters are on display.
At the same time, wealthy Chicagoans wrote longingly of Paris and London. Ultimately they built the World`s Columbian Exposition-with ornate palaces and massive displays of electric lights-to dazzle people from all walks of life. Images from the fair are displayed on a narrow catwalk, made to resemble the then-modern cast iron construction.
An undercurrent of this exhibition is that Chicago faced major urban change at this time. The city established an elevated railroad. Builders created whole new neighborhoods. Luxury goods were never more prevalent. Philanthropists established a great university and spawned settlement houses. At the end of the gallery, visitors are asked to reflect on what important changes challenge Chicago today.
Chicago History Gallery
Most of the Chicago History Gallery was built around 1979, when museums were less intent on making strong historical statements. Though this gallery is a place without such strong unifying themes, it is a pleasure nonetheless. The exhibit provides a seamless walk through the ages of Chicago. It begins with Chicago as a commercial center, with musical instruments, tools, ads for meat products and other images from pre-fire Chicago. The city`s transportation background is represented by the Pioneer, a locomotive-reputed to be Chicago`s first-that children can climb.
An elegant parlor of carved rosewood and satin upholstery provides contrast to a grittier Chicago. Among other signs of a growing leisure class is a poster for an 1862 play at the McVicker`s Theater starring John Wilkes Booth.
The Chicago Fire of 1871, which raged for several days, was a central event and is given much attention including a musical slide presentation. Elsewhere in this section are Chicago`s first fire engine (put in service in 1835), detailed models of wooden homes that were prevalent in a city that grew too fast and authentic cedar blocks that were used to pave many streets at the time.
Further on in the gallery are sections on parks, mass transit, world`s fairs, jazz, politics, sports and other topics. While it is all rather breezy, many objects have intense interest-such as paintings from the 1933-34 Century of Progress and maps used by Hull House social workers.
For people nostalgic about the old Historical Society, the Chicago Dioramas, installed in 1932, are still intact. These are detailed miniature scenes from Chicago history going back to the first trading posts.
Pioneer Life Gallery
Life in Illinois changes continuously, but the beginnings of swift change came when the first pioneers arrived in our region. In a series of rooms, the Pioneer Life Gallery displays primitive tools used by the early settlers who had to plant, build, sew and otherwise work their way through each day.
A large portion of this gallery is devoted to the domestic arts of spinning, weaving, quilting and cooking, with appropriate equipment. Some objects are authentic, such as spinning wheels, while others are
reproductions. A basket of onion skins is also on hand-these were the basis for one kind of available dye.
The gallery represents a relatively comfortable pioneer family life in the 1840s. It is evident that people lived directly adjacent to their livestock. The barn shows that places where animals lived also were used for grinding corn and processing flax. Some tools and devices are unfamiliar but are demonstrated by volunteers every morning and often in the afternoon.
Life was basic in those days, but a print shop was apparently an essential aspect of American life, even on the prairies. To communicate was as basic to pioneers as quilting blankets and milking cows.
Hands-On Gallery
This is a hands-on place for children, open noon to 2 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4:30 p.m. Sundays. To show what drew the first settlers to this area, pelts of various animals are on display, waiting to be touched. Clothes from a later era can be tried on, an old-style bicycle can be mounted, and a manual vacuum cleaner can be pumped.
Because Chicago was a great retail center, merchandise-including toupees and bowler hats-from old stores is on hand for children. A film clip of Buster Keaton trying to assemble a mail-order house plays on a small screen. Several hunks of melted metal represent different objects that were destroyed by the intense heat of the Chicago fire.
The Chicago Street
This is a section of street that, little by little, turns from old Chicago to the present day. Cobblestone becomes brick, and brick becomes asphalt. Wagons gradually give way to cabs. Styles change, as seen in benches, lightposts, architectural fragments and photos. At the end of this exhibition- which is well suited to children-are artists` conceptions of the future on State Street, Daley Plaza and other familiar locations.
Collections
Behind the scenes, the society actively searches for and collects documents that provide firsthand historical knowledge about Chicago. Social services, trade unions, race relations, reform politics and community life are particular strengths of the Archives and Manuscripts Collection.
To demonstrate how archives can be used, a small current exhibition entitled ”Behind the Box Score” profiles aspects of professional sports as seen through old documents. Included are photos, game programs, letters to baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and other sports curiosities.
The Prints and Photographs Collection has more than 1 million photos, prints, posters, videotapes and films, much of its pertaining to Chicago history. Exhibitions frequently are formed around portions of the collection. The department sometimes commissions photos of modern scenes for new exhibitions and for its archives.
The Society Library holds 400,000 books and other published materials focused on Chicago and Illinois. Among its treasures are the first newspaper published in Chicago and the first map of the city. Other volumes-some rare and others current-can be used in the library by researchers and others who make arrangements beforehand.
The Architectural Collection includes a large range of working drawings and presentation drawings documenting Chicago`s architectural history. From plans of bungalows and storefronts to blueprints by well-known architects such as Helmut Jahn, such things are available for public use.
Society archives and collections are open to researchers through special permission.
