Newspaper stories, they say, are the first draft of history, and we’ve been writing them and saving them for 164 years.
The first lesson a journalist learns is that, before writing about today, find out what happened yesterday and the year before. “Get the clip file!” an old hand will tell him or her. It’s one of the joys of journalism, leafing through stories of how Chicago got from bygone years to breaking news.
Now we want to share that experience with readers. Each week we’ll take a topic from the headlines and do a flashback to a similar chapter from the files of the Chicago Tribune. It won’t be a lecture, but a conversation.
So when something happens that echoes the past, or just piques your curiosity, drop us an email. We’ll take it from there. We’ll get the clips.
If you have ideas for Chicago Flashback, contact Stephan Benzkofer at 312-222-5814 or sbenzkofer@tribune.com.
