Ron Grossman

Ron Grossman's columns vary from social and political commentary to chapters in Chicago history. Before turning to journalism, Grossman was a history professor. He has published a book, “Guide to Chicago Neighborhoods,” and a 1982 map of Chicago's neighborhoods.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur, left, and President Harry Truman in an automobile on Oct. 14, 1950, during a meeting on Wake Island to discuss the Korean War. Truman later told reporters the atomic bombing of North Korea was under consideration. MacArthur had a plan to drop 30 to 50 of the bombs, the general told journalists after the war. Sixty years after the start of the Korean War, released declassified documents have helped fill in the history of U.S. nuclear threats against North Korea over the decades. (AP)

Col. McCormick’s Tribune blamed FDR and Truman for events leading to outbreak Korean War 75 years ago

July 17, 2025 at 7:46 p.m.

The United States was caught by surprise when heavily-armed North Korean troops and tanks poured into South Korea on June 25, 1950. But the Chicago Tribune had predicted America’s enemies...

Sam "Momo" Giancana, circa 1963. Editor's note: This historic print shows a newsprint crop notation on the left. (Police Department)

The assassination of a Chicago mob kingpin 50 years ago remains unsolved

June 15, 2025 at 9:57 a.m.

Fifty years ago, a Tribune reporter got an overnight tip that led to a scoop of one of the biggest hits in Chicago mob history.

Studying a map of the Chicago area, Rand McNally's Frank Pifat, left, production supervisor, and Art Pyzik, right, master cartographer, check for accuracy on Oct. 6, 1964. (Steve Lasker/Chicago's American)

Rand McNally maps helped travelers find their way

June 1, 2025 at 11:14 a.m.

In the pre-Internet era, Rand McNally road atlases were an essential part of planning a family vacation.

Last rites are given to those who died in the fiery “Green Hornet” streetcar crash at 63rd and State Street on May 25, 1950, in Chicago. (Dante Mascione/Chicago Tribune)

On a rainy May day 75 years ago, the ‘Green Hornet’ streetcar disaster left more than 30 dead

May 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

On a rainy May day 55 years ago, more than 30 people were killed when a Green Hornet streetcar collided with a fuel truck on Chicago's South Side.

The great $75 million structure on Canal Street is under construction in the spring of 1924. All of the steel frame, which required 13,000 tons of material, had been completed, and about 80% of the exterior work was finished. It opened its doors to the public as Union Station in May 2025. (Underwood & Underwood)

100 years ago, the first trains pulled into Union Station

May 11, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.

The first trains pulled into Chicago's Union station 100 years ago this year.

Gwendolyn Brooks reviews papers in a sun-lit area of the Library of Congress on Dec. 13, 1985, in Washington, D.C. Brooks was the consultant in poetry to the library. (Paul F. Gero/Chicago Tribune)

Gwendolyn Brooks, Chicago’s Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, wrote of life’s also-rans

May 1, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Gwendolyn Brooks grew up in a South Side house full of books and was a poet from an early age, eventually becoming the first Black to win a Pulitzer Prize...

South Vietnamese civilians scale the 14-foot wall of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, trying to reach evacuation helicopters as the Americans depart from Vietnam on April 29, 1975. (AP)

A South Side GI’s incredible sacrifice in a war that ended chaotically 50 years ago

April 28, 2025 at 9:42 a.m.

The Vietnam War produced heroes including Chicagoan Milton Olive, but ultimately ended in a chaotic surrender and exit.

Wid Matthews, left, of the Cubs, and White Sox scout Johnny Mostil, right, have pencils ready to take down baseball pointers on June 2, 1951, from young Bob Becker, a standout with the Cubs of the Little League. Mel Thillens, sponsor of the Little League, is behind Becker. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

For generations of Little Leaguers and softball players, Thillens Stadium was Chicago’s Field of Dreams

April 13, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Chicago had its own Field of Dreams in Thillens Stadium, where generations of Little Leaguers and softball players competed.

Ginevra Mitchell in the driver's seat, left, with Mrs. J.C. Burgard and other society ladies from Lake Forest in September 1926. With the two women are, in back row from left, Mrs. Nelson Tabbot, Mrs. Knight Cheney Cowles and Lacy Armour. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

Chicago’s connection to ‘The Great Gatsby’ as Fitzgerald’s novel turns 100

April 8, 2025 at 9:28 a.m.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's romance with a North Shore debutante provided fodder for "The Great Gatsby," which this year turned 100.

Members of the Chicago Woman’s Club took a bus tour of the city on Nov. 20, 1939, with the chrysanthemum show at the Garfield Park Conservatory, the PWA projects in Lincoln Park, the exhibit of Italian art at the Art Institute and the Oriental Institute as high points on the itinerary. The club's forest and garden class and the art class jointly sponsored the tour. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

Chicago Woman’s Club led the way on issues from juvenile justice reform to birth control

March 9, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

For decades, the Chicago Woman's Club was an activist organization that championed causes including juvenile justice reform and woman's rights.

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