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The National Veterans Art Museum collects and exhibits art inspired combat and created by veterans. This museum also offers a space where military personnel and civilians can discuss the impact of war. All the artwork is created by veterans and the museum also supports the latest memorial to Vietnam veterans. 

National Veterans Art Museum

These entries and tours connect the public to art and the context that provides meaning

Art and History

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This tour includes over three dozen Chicago art, history, and science museums. The tour begins at the Chicago History Museum and includes numerous museums dedicated to preserving the history of the diverse ethnic communities that continue to shape the city.

The Chicago Historical
Society was formed in 1856 and formally incorporated by the Illinois state
legislature the following year. The Society soon developed an impressive
collection of mostly historic documents for research purposes; it opened its
first museum building on the corner of Ontario and Dearborn Streets. In 1871
the Society was devastated by the Great Chicago Fire that ravaged the city. The
vast majority of its collection was destroyed, including Abraham Lincoln’s
final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. A second fire destroyed nearly
the remainder of the original collection in 1874. The Society worked to rebuild
its collection, and in 1896 it erected a new, stone structure on the site of
its original building. The building, which still stands today, was designed by
Chicago-based architect Henry Ives Cobb, whose work included the Newberry
Library. In 1978 the building was added to the National Register of Historic
Places.

One of the Society’s most
important additions to its museum was the acquisition of the personal
collection of Charles F. Gunther in 1920. Gunther, a local wealthy
confectioner, accumulated thousands of items from around the world, with a
particular focus on the Civil War. Among the artifacts in his collection is the
bed in which Abraham Lincoln died and the table on which Robert E. Lee signed
his surrender agreement at Appomattox. The purchase of Gunther’s collection
transformed the Society from a local history research facility into a
full-fledged national museum. 

In 1932 the growing museum
moved into a new building in the Lincoln Park district, where it remains to
this day. The building has undergone three major expansions and renovations in
1972, 1988, and 2006. Following the 2006 renovation, the Chicago Historical
Society changed its name to The Chicago History Museum as part of a rebranding
effort. Today the museum boasts an impressive and expanding collection of over
20 million artifacts relating to Chicago, Civil War, and American history. It
includes multiple permanent exhibitions on Chicago history, and temporary
exhibits on other topics. It has a large research center containing documents,
images, books, and other printed materials that can be examined for research.
The museum also operates other programs such as lectures, online exhibits, and
the Encyclopedia Chicago project. Since
1995 the Chicago History Museum has also hosted the annual Making History
Awards, honoring individuals and groups that have made remarkable contributions
to Chicago’s history.

The Chicago History Museum is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Chicago's rich and varied history, as well as American history. The museum is located at the southwestern corner of the city's famous Lincoln Park and housed in a building constructed in 1932; the modern addition was built in 1988. The museum was founded in 1856 as the Chicago Historical Society and given its current name in 2006. Its collection is very large, amounting to 20 million items. The museum features several permanent exhibits including: "Chicago: Crossroads of America," "Sensing Chicago," "Chicago Authored," and "Lincoln's Chicago," which explores President Abraham Lincoln's political rise in Chicago, his presidency, assassination, and legacy. The museum offers many temporary exhibitions as well.

The Chicago History Museum

The museum serves “to enrich people's lives by enhancing their appreciation and understanding of the history, development, and advances of surgery and related subjects in health and medicine” (“Mission”). &nbsp; ExhibitsCurrent exhibits include Beyond Broken Bones, Japan Hall of Fame, Milestones in Medical Imaging: From X-Ray to Nuclear Medicine, Milestones in Medical Imaging: 21st Century Medicine, Nursing: Care for a Changing World, Rx for Success, Polio Exhibit, Supporting Structure: Understanding the Spine and Spinal Surgery, Surgicogenomics: Genes &amp; Stem Cells in Surgery, Taiwan Room, Turn of the Century Apothecary Shop, the Universal Condition: Enduring &amp; Alleviating Pain, and Windows to the World: The Science of Sight &amp; the Ophthalmic Art.Background &nbsp;The
museum’s origins trace back to Dr. Max Thorek, who founded the International College
of Surgeons in 1935 to share surgical knowledge with eager minds.&nbsp; Thorek helped found the International
Museum of Surgical Science and get donations from the International College of
Surgeons, surgeons, collectors, and other organizations in the form of artifacts,
paintings, books, and sculptures.&nbsp; The museum
opened in September 1954 and some of the 1st exhibits included the
Hall of Immortals and the Hall of Murals.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1959, the museum opened galleries that featured different nations,
including France, Mexico, Spain, and the Netherlands, among others throughout
the years.&nbsp; In 1990, the museum opened
new exhibits focusing on historical themes and surgical disciplines.&nbsp; Collections include Medical Artifact, Fine
Art, the Museum Library, and the manuscript Collection.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Role as a Historic HouseIt was a Lakeside Manor, built in 1917. It was contracted by Eleanor Robinson Countiss to provide a place for her family to live. It is one of a few actual Lakeside Manors remaining and is currently the only one open to the public. It is also remarkable because it managed to stay with in the founding family until 1954 when it was transformed into a museum for public use.&nbsp;Popular Collections&nbsp;&nbsp;The Museum boasts a fine group of collections. The first collection that comes to mind is the Medical Artifacts collections. The collection includes many different artifacts that contain the beginnings of medical history. The collection contains over 7,000 medical artifacts from all over the world and different time periods.The most surprising collection is the Fine Arts collection. The fine arts are all pieces of artwork that depict medical practices or instruments that were implemented throughout history. Many are graphic and very detailed.

The International Museum of Surgical Science is home to 4 floors “filled with extraordinary artifacts, as well as paintings, illustrations and sculptures that interpret the primitive and modern healing practices of Eastern and Western civilizations. From early practices to today’s revolutionary techniques, the Museum’s collections and exhibitions portray the mysteries, breakthroughs, failures, and milestones that have shaped modern surgical science” (“Exhibits”).  

International Museum of Surgical Science

<div>The confluence of several histories allowed for the existence of the James Charnley House; built in 1891 by two famous architects -- Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, for a man involved in one of Chicago's prominent nineteenth-century industries, in a neighborhood catering to Chicago's wealthy, and at a time when Chicago was in the midst of reaping the benefits of its unique geography to become the fastest growing city in the world.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright are two stalwarts within the field of architecture.&nbsp; Sullivan, then of Sullivan &amp; Adler, hired the much younger Wright in 1887 as a draftsman to assist in producing construction drawings for Chicago's Auditorium Building (1887–1889).&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>But, it was Wright's involvement in with the Charnley House (1891) that demonstrates Sullivan's respect for Wright by letting him be involved in the creative design aspects of the project.&nbsp; Evidence of the collaboration can be seen both in Sullivan's typical rejection of anything related to Beaux-Arts and their mutual avoidance of anything related to historical, Victorian architecture. Early signs of the Prairie School are noted, especially with the interplay between a structure's geometric form and the natural-looking landscaping.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>James Charnley, a wildly successful lumber magnate, hired Adler &amp; Sullivan to build his house in what is now the Gold Coast neighborhood, noted for its wealthy residents. Though the Michigan Ave Bridge, which helped open the city's north side, was still nearly thirty years away at the time of the house's design, numerous wealthy Chicagoans recognized the advantage of living on Chicago's Near North Side, especially near the lake.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Lumber, in Chicago, proved to be a good industry for which to gain wealth. Along with grain and meatpacking, lumber served as one of the city's “big three” commodities during the nineteenth-century. Chicago's favorable geography (as it was perceived by investors) included a maritime connection to both New York and New Orleans (among other places) as well as the dense forests located in the Upper Great Lakes. Chicago also grew to become one of the nation's most important railway hubs. Those variables, along with the lumber used in the city itself as it rapidly grew, allowed Chicago to mature as an indispensable hub for advancing and processing forest products. In fact, Chicago was the world's largest lumber market in the last half of the nineteenth century.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Lumber provided Charnley with wealth, and Chicago's growing Near North Side offered a chance for him to hire one of the most prestigious architectural firms in the city -- Adler &amp; Sullivan, with Sullivan's fame already secured. That, in turn, allowed Sullivan's new draftsman, with whom Sullivan admired, a chance to exercise his home-design prowess -- and the Prairie School was not far behind. Thus, the house stands as a monument to several aspects of both Chicago's history and architectural history.&nbsp;</div>

The Charnley-Persky House (1891) was designed by two famous architects, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. Sullivan had hired Wright as a draftsman in 1887, but allowed him to help with the design of the Charnley House, an abnormal role for a draftsman at the time. Sullivan's rejection of Beaux-Arts style, as well as their mutual rejection of Victorian-era designs are noted, as well as features that came to be synonymous with the Prairie School. 

The building was constructed during the height of Chicago's meteoric population and construction boom, and for James Charnley, a lumber magnate in Chicago at a time when Chicago existed as the world's largest lumber market. 

Charnley-Persky House (Now known as Charnley-Persky House Museum)

The Newberry Library was established with an endowment from Chicago businessman and investor Walter Loomis Newberry. Newberry moved to the relatively new settlement of Chicago in 1833 and amassed a fortune through successful ventures in real estate, banking, and railroads. Newberry was also very active in the development of the city and was a founder of the city’s Young Men’s Library Association as well as the president of the Chicago Historical Society. Newberry also served on the boards of education and health and supported a number of charitable causes.&nbsp;Walter Newberry passed away while returning home from France in 1868. In his will, he set aside a $2.2 million estate for the establishment of a free public library (which Chicago did not have at the time) in the event that his two daughters died without heirs. By 1885 Newberry’s wife and two daughters had passed away, so the trustees of his estate, William H. Bradley and Eliphalet W. Blatchford began the process of establishing the library. The Newberry Library was officially founded in 1887. By this date, the Chicago Public Library had been established, so the executors of Newberry's will decided that his library would not operate as a lending library but rather serve as a repository for rare books and manuscripts to support research in the humanities. Walter Newberry’s private book collection had been destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, so the new library had to acquire its own collection through donations and purchases. By 1894, the library had amassed 120,000 books. William Frederick Poole, who had also served as the first librarian of the Chicago Public Library, was hired as the first librarian of the Newberry.&nbsp;During the first several years of operation, the library moved locations three times. The library was first located on La Salle Street before moving to Ontario Street, then moved to the corner of State and Oak Streets. The library moved to its present location at West Walton Place in 1893. The location was chosen for its close proximity to public transportation, and for the amount of sunlight owing to a lack of tall buildings compared to more central locations in the city center. The building was designed by Henry Ives Cobb in the Romanesque style. The building was constructed with pink granite from Connecticut and has been expanded and renovated several times in the past century.&nbsp;The Newberry Library continues to promote the humanities and research. The librar has offered public exhibitions since the 1890s and offered fellowships to scholars for advanced research since the 1940s. It also hosts a variety of conferences, seminars, lectures, and performances. The library’s ever-expanding collection consists of over 1.5 million books and 600,000 maps that date back over five centuries.&nbsp;The primary subjects of the collection are Native Americans; American history; European history; genealogy and local history; music and dance; and religion. Some of its most interesting items include a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio; Thomas Jefferson’s Federalist papers; letters written by Alexander Hamilton; and a first edition of Alice in Wonderland. It is currently home to four research centers; the Center for American History and Culture; the Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies; the Center for the History of Cartography; and the Center for Renaissance Studies. The library also holds an annual book fair, in which more than one hundred thousand donated used books are available for sale.In January 2018 the Newberry Library began a six-month, $11 million renovation of the first floor. When completed, it will feature a new orientation center; remodeled bookstore; a permanent exhibition space; digital signage; and restored architectural details.

The Newberry Library is a private, independent research library in Chicago that began operations in 1887 thanks to an endowment from Walter L. Newberry. Newberry amassed a fortune in real estate and railroads and donated a portion of that fortune to create a substantial library for the city of Chicago. The research library specializes in materials related to the humanities and supporting the work of humanities scholars with programs, grants, and a collection of over million books and documents. The library's collection is known to scholars around the world and its non-circulating collection includes many rare materials dating as far back as the Middle Ages. The library holds thousands of rare books and millions of original documents related to early American history, European history, and Western culture. The library operates a wide variety of programs to encourage public engagement and research. These programs include lectures, classes, and fellowship opportunities opportunities for scholars.  

Newberry Library

By the 1860s, there was a significant strain on Chicago’s water supply. Because the nearshore water of Lake Michigan was too polluted for safe use, in 1867 engineer Ellis S. Chesbrough created a water-supply tunnel system that ran two miles off shore. A pumping station was required to transport the water such a distance. In 1869, a more consistent pumping system was needed, so a standpipe system was designed and the famous Water Tower was constructed to house the system.&nbsp;Architect William Boyington designed the building almost entirely with Joliet limestone in his famous castellated Gothic Revival style. In 1882 during a visit to Chicago, Oscar Wilde famously remarked that the tower was a “castellated monstrosity with pepper-boxes stuck all over it.”Because of the Water Tower being constructed primarily of stone, it became one of the few buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1871. During the fire, German immigrant Frank Trautman covered the tower with blankets and old ship sails and kept them wet in an effort to protect the building. Because such a grand building remained upright after the fire, it became a symbol of determination for the city.&nbsp;The building underwent two renovations during the 20th-century, first between 1913-1916 and the second during 1978. The Water Tower is now an art gallery for the Chicago Office of Tourism and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 1975.

Located in the Near North Side neighborhood within its Magnificent Mile district, Chicago’s famous Water Tower remains a symbol of its pre-Great Fire past. Constructed in 1869, it held pumps to draw water from Lake Michigan as well as tall standpipes that could provide high-pressures for firefighting as well as regulate water surges. Architect William Boyington designed the building almost entirely with Joliet limestone in his famous castellated Gothic Revival style. Because of the Water Tower being constructed primarily of stone, it was one of the few to survive the Great Fire of 1871. The building underwent two renovations during the 20th-century, first between 1913-1916 and the second during 1978. The Water Tower is now an art gallery for the Chicago Office of Tourism and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 1975.

Chicago Water Tower 

Designed by architect Josef Paul Kleihues, the Museum of Contemporary Art first opened to the public in 1967 thanks to the effort of a group of art enthusiasts that included art dealers, collectors, architects, art critics, and others. The building’s key feature is the main staircase leading up to the museum’s entrance, which was inspired by the Acropolis and the Atles Museum in Berlin. The galleries were built without embellishment so the focus could solely be on the art. For a short time beginning in 1990, the museum was partly located in an old National Guard armory&nbsp;building that was built in 1907. This was torn down in 1993 to make way for the Kleihues building.&nbsp;

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is one of the world's foremost contemporary art museums. It was established in 1967 and has grown to house a collection of 2,500 works of art that date from the 1920s to today. These include paintings, photographs, sculptures (some of which are displayed outside), videos and films. The museum also features a theater where various kinds of performances take place and offers changing exhibitions throughout the year. The museum's mission is to foster the creation of contemporary art and engage the public in this process through its exhibitions, collection, and performances that take place here.

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago 

Originally named the Express Ways Children’s Museum, it was founded in 1982 by the Junior League of Chicago, who were seeking other educational opportunities for children because of public school cutbacks during the time. The museum started displaying exhibits in the Chicago Public Library within two hallways of the building. The first ever exhibit was called “Getting to Know Hue” which focused on color, light, music, and literature. From there, interest in the exhibits arised and more people visited the museum. The museum started doing more trunk shows and showed exhibits all over Chicago as they started finding new places to store displays.In the year of 1995, the museum found a permanent home right on the Navy Pier. This new facility has 57,000 square feet of space for exhibits and included three floors of educational displays to visit. It originally reopened at the pier as an anchor tenant before being refurbished into a museum. The museum has over 650,000 people visit it and has many programs that children can learn from. It does have an admission fee, but provides free entry for children 15 years old and under.The museum is the fourth largest in the entire United States. In 2006, plans were made to relocate the museum over to the Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grand Park. Supporters believe it will allow double the space for other exhibits and give more access to the community, but others say that it will interfere with the space of the park and provide a green light for other organizations to move there. However, the museum opted out of the deal in 2012 signing a 90-year lease with the Navy Pier. It provided extra space for the museum and an announcement was expected in 2013 providing more details.

Beginning in 1982, The Chicago Children’s Museum was founded based on program setbacks in Chicago’s public schools. It was founded by the Junior League of Chicago and would start off at the Chicago Public Library in two hallways of the establishment. The museum would soon offer trunk shows and traveling exhibits due to the large crowds that would gather to see it in person. The museum now includes 3 floors of exhibits and activities that provide crowds with highly interactive exhibits, sensory experiences, and education. The exhibits and programs focus mostly on literature, science, math, the performing arts, and health.  

 Chicago Children's Museum

Background on the house&nbsp;Originally home to banker Samuel Mayo Nickerson, the Driehaus Museum is a 19th century residential building of Chicago.&nbsp;In 1879, Nickerson acquired the home from Buring &amp;
Whitehouse of Chicago, designers of the First National Bank where Nickerson had
been president since 1867. The interior
was designed by William August Fiedler, George A. Schastey &amp; Co., and R.W.
Bates &amp; Co.Prominent FeaturesThe&nbsp;&nbsp;Driehaus Museum is home to the Driehaus Collection of Fine Arts. The collection features works by Tiffany, the famous glass &amp; furniture maker, and the Herter Brothers. The collection features both furniture and artwork. The collection is also not limited to American works but also features European works as well.ToursTours can be guided and arranged but the museum also allows unguided walk-through. There are many exhibits throughout the year which can be attended.Admissions$20 Adult $12.50 Senior (65+)&nbsp; $10 Student with valid I.D. $10 Youth (6-12 years)*

The Driehaus Museum was founded by the Philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus in 2003. The museum is housed in the former home of banker Samuel Mayo Nickerson, and underwent a five-year restoration before becoming the museum. The museum offers original furnishings and historic pieces from the Driehaus Collection of Fine Arts.  The Driehaus Museum also features an extensive collection of fine furnishing from the turn of the 19th century into the new millennium of the 20th century. 

Driehaus Museum 

The Chicago Foodseum is a nonprofit food museum that serves food enthusiasts and aspiring chefs of all ages by "Creating a central location for anyone to learn about, celebrate and be inspired by food” (“Mission”). 

 The museum includes interactive exhibits, educational seminars, developmental programs, and events about the history of food, including people and the processes critical to getting food from its most raw forms to ready to eat.  

Chicago Foodseum

The Museum of Broadcast
Communications was founded in 1982 by broadcaster and radio talk show host Bruce
DuMont. At the time DuMont was working for WBBM-TV, where he became concerned
about the way television studios were preserving their film tapes. While
serving on the board of the Chicago Television Academy he proposed the creation
of a broadcasting museum for Chicago. The board gave its approval and allotted
DuMont $250 to begin his project. After assembling an initial collection of artifacts,
the museum first opened to the public in 1987 in a condominium complex on South
Wells Street. In 1992 the museum moved into the Chicago Cultural Center, where
it received over 200,000 visitors annually. 

In 2003 the museum left
the Cultural Center and announced plans to move to a new location on North
State Street. A derelict parking garage, built in 1927, was purchased to be
refurbished into a new museum building. Renovations was delayed and stopped
several times for over eight years as the museum struggled to get money for the
$27 million project. In 2009 the State of Illinois provided the museum with a
grant to allow it to finish construction. The four-story, 62,000 square-foot
facility opened in 2012. Over the next several years the museum faced financial
problems as it operated at a net loss, struggled to pay its mortgage, and suffered
a dramatic decline in attendance. A portion of the first floor was sold to a
restaurant chain, and the fourth floor was opened to rent for weddings and
other events. In 2017 the museum unveiled a temporary, one year exhibit “Saturday
Night Live: The Experience” which garnered much media attention and has led to
an increase in visitors. 

The museum contains a collection
of over 20,000 artifacts relating to the television and radio industries,
including both local and national programs. Interesting items include Oprah’s
entrance door from The Oprah Winfrey Show;
Bozo the Clown’s costume; the complete Meet
the Press set from when Tim Russert was moderator; a television camera from
the first Kennedy-Nixon debate; and thousands of antique televisions, radios,
and memorabilia. The museum’s greatest asset is its archive of 85,000 hours of
television and radio broadcasts, much of it not yet digitized. Also located in
the museum is the National Radio Hall of Fame. Established in 1988, it honors a
growing list of inductees for their contributions to the radio industry, from
figures such as Casey Kasem and Howard Stern to Ronald Reagan and Michael
Jackson.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of television and radio history to the public. It claims to be one of only three museums in the nation focused solely on broadcasting. The museum first opened in 1987 and is now located at North State Street. It is notable for possessing and preserving 85,000 hours of television and radio broadcasts, as well as thousands of other artifacts. The museum is also home to the National Radio Hall of Fame. 

Museum of Broadcast Communications

The DuSable Bridge (The McCormick Bridgehouse &amp; Chicago River Museum) speak Chicago’s transformation from a Native American community and trapping town to a modern, major city. &nbsp;Indeed, Chicago’s trifurcated character -- divided three ways by its rivers -- has played a large part in Chicago’s history. The bridge represents the human decisions that made Chicago a place for which to invest and live - a society changing from rural and local economies to that of cities and expanding marketplaces.1The bridge's location is now&nbsp;located near the River Museum. It was&nbsp;“the first double-deck, double-leaf, fixed Trunnion Bascule bridge ever built,"&nbsp;designed by architect Daniel Burnham 1909.2Chicago has existed as a home to Native Americans, trappers and Fort Dearborn because the rivers served as a place of easy navigation to Lake Michigan, as well as a place for access to water, food and trapping grounds. However, the evolution of expanding marketplaces and industry made Chicago a prime spot for speculators and investors, as the rivers and Lake Michigan converging on Chicago made it a potentially near-perfect central point for trade and shipping, notably by the 19th century. Soon after investors roamed in to help create the I&amp;M canal and take advantage of Chicago’s natural water highways, railroads arrived. Chicago’s population grew immensely in the latter half of the 19th century - but that was also a problem. Chicago’s natural waterway system included two pitfalls -- the ground in Chicago was quite swampy in nature, and it was difficult to traverse the city as the rivers proved to be difficult to cross. As such, bridges were needed to connect the north, south, and east portions of the city. But the turn of the 20th century, city planners such as Daniel Burnham looked to modernize the city and bridges were one of the major parts of that plan.3 Chicago’s infamous “Mag Mile” - the skyscraper-laden shopping, hotel, and service-orientated district of Michigan Ave is largely a result of Daniel Burnham and the Commercial Club -- architects organized to create The Plan of Chicago (1909).&nbsp;Although they could not have foreseen how it would evolve in modern times, they made it a primary focus to connect the city’s north and south sections over the river that separated it -- and Michigan Ave was the road they wanted to use. They spent thousands of dollars promoting that specific part of the plan, hiring a publicist and otherwise making it a point to sell the idea. To them, it was not only a good move for the city’s logistical needs, but one that would benefit the city financially, thus helping those, like the Commercial Club, with a vested interest in the city’s success.4 Today, for five dollars,&nbsp;visitors can enjoy a 360-degree view of the Chicago from atop&nbsp;the Bridgehouse, view the inner-workings of the bridge lifts, and possibly&nbsp;witness live&nbsp;bridge lifts (although, that is limited to&nbsp;roughly forty times per year).&nbsp;The museum opened in 2006 and educates visitors on the Chicago River and its help in developing Chicago.5 The
bridge opened in 1920 for commercial traffic use and is a popular pathway for a Chicagoan today. The bridge and its four bridge-houses were designated as a
Chicago Landmark in 1991.&nbsp; The museum's location provides a glimpse into Chicago's history, as well as that of the nation and globe. Once filled with Native Americans who named the area "Chicago," the location is not far from the residence of Chicago's first Anglo-American resident, John Kinzie - a trapper and friend to many Native Americans. He also befriended and traded with&nbsp;both the French and English who&nbsp;roamed the region. The river stood as a prime location for trapping. Later, the navigational advantages of the rivers into Lake Michigan also made it a prime spot for a Fort - Fort Dearborn, which helped the city grow.&nbsp;The river always remained a place of navigation, but modern advances required one transport&nbsp;over&nbsp;the river, both for residential and business purposes. The city had grown crowded during the Industrial Revolution and modern-day engineering helped alleviate that issue. Today, one can look down the river and see an array of restaurants, bars, and roaming tourists, as well as businesspersons - the river now exists as a place where money is exchanged and leisure is attained. All of that is done in the shadows of towering skyscrapers, largely designed as a result of advances made by the same designers who helped build the bridge. Today's Chicago is the result of societal changes that made Chicago a place of commerce, and now a place of modern city living. And the bridge is a lasting symbol of that transformation.&nbsp;

At the center of the new Chicago Riverwalk, The McCormick Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum celebrates and honors “the Chicago River and its world-famous movable bridges.”  At river level, visitors can see the city’s most famous movable bridges and then walk through 5 stories of exhibits that highlight the river and bridge.  

McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum

American Writers Museum (AWM) founder, Malcolm O’Hagan, was inspired after a visit to the Dublin Writers Museum in Ireland. O’Hagan learned that there was no similar museum in the United States dedicated to great American writers. During the planning process, the museum’s developers considered the name “Museum of American Literature” for the new institution. However, they ultimately decided that the focus of the museum would fall on the writers themselves, with more of a “populist” point of view.The museum opened to the public on May 16, 2017. It is located on the second floor of an office building and covers 11,000 square feet. Over 500 authors across 43 genres are represented in AMW’s galleries. The scope of the museum is broad and constantly changing. Famous novelists like Ernest Hemingway and Mark Twain are showcased alongside rapper Tupac and chef Julia Childs. Visitors can experience the work of poets, screenwriters, journalists, songwriters, politicians, copywriters, and sportswriters. The only common thread between them is that they were influential through their words and that no living authors are represented in the museum’s permanent exhibits.AMW has six permanent exhibit spaces. “The Mind of a Writer” exhibit encourages visitors to consider aspects of the writing process and to contribute their own words to collective stories created on vintage typewriters. In the “Nation of Writers” gallery, visitors encounter an 85-foot-long panel of significant authors along a timeline of American literary history. In the same room, a rotating “Surprise Bookshelf” and a fluctuating “Word Waterfall” both showcase memorable quotes and visitors learn the social environments in which notable writers crafted their work. Chicago writers and the impact they made on the city are highlighted in the “Wintrust Chicago Gallery.” A muraled children’s area provides couches and bookshelves to curl up for story time, or interactive games to entertain. Finally, the “Readers Hall” focuses on the impact of readers on the history of literature and doubles as an event space for programing.AWM collaborates with historic house museums and other sites dedicated to individual writers around the country to showcase different authors in its temporary exhibits. The first temporary exhibit at the museum displayed the original manuscript of On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, typed on a 120-foot-long scroll. Other recent temporary exhibit topics include immigrant and refugee stories, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, and the lyrical poetry of Nobel Prize for Literature recipient Bob Dylan. In addition to rotating exhibits, the museum offers events like weekly children’s story times, school field trip programs, and regular lectures by authors and historians.

The American Writers Museum is the first and only museum dedicated to the lives and the work of American writers. The museum opened in 2017 and puts a strong emphasis on modern, interactive exhibits that incorporate technology. The mission of the museum is “to engage the public in celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, our culture, and our daily lives.”

American Writers Museum

The Chicago Cultural Center was designed by Shepley, Rutan &amp; Coolidge and built in 1897 to serve as&nbsp;the city’s first central library. The building was deemed a national historic place in 1972 and a Chicago landmark in 1976. In 1991, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs designated the library to become the Chicago Cultural Center.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The building is&nbsp;made of rare imported marbles, polished brass, fine hardwoods, and mosaics of Favrile glass, mother-of-pearl and colored stone. The Chicago Cultural Center&nbsp;is home to the world’s largest stained glass&nbsp;Tiffany Dome, which measures&nbsp;38 feet in diameter and contains&nbsp;30,000 pieces of glass. The building also features&nbsp;the Healy &amp;&nbsp;Millet Dome, a renaissance-style piece that&nbsp;measures&nbsp;40 feet in diameter and is made of 50,000 pieces of&nbsp;glass. The neoclassical Beaux Arts style architecture was influenced by buildings at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.&nbsp;&nbsp;The interior of the Chicago Cultural Center&nbsp;is made of rare marbles, mosaics, and coffered ceilings. The first floor houses several galleries, the visitor’s center, a studio theater, and a dance studio. On the second floor stands the Claudia Cassidy Theater, the Healy Millet Dome, and a gallery. Preston Bradley Hall and the Tiffany Dome reside on the third floor while more galleries and exhibit halls are on the fourth.

Famous for its two stained glass domes, the Chicago Cultural Center is an architectural beauty that offers free music, dance, theater events, as well as films, lectures, art exhibitions, and family events/programs for the City of Chicago. These events honor international, national, regional, and local arts, musicians, and performers. The Chicago Cultural Center was designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge and built in 1897 to serve as the city’s first central library. The building was deemed a national historic place in 1972 and a Chicago landmark in 1976. In 1991, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs designated the library to become the Chicago Cultural Center.   

Chicago Cultural Center

<div>An Overview of the Collections The museum’s collections include the Dr. Charles E. Metz collection of WWII aircrafts, the Hershel “Woody” Williams collection, the Francis P. Kane collection, the Robert O Harder collection, the Lt. Col. Robert C. Peithman, USMCR collection, the William P. Levine collection, the Norman Kuperman Military History collection, the Dr. James Wengert Military Medical collection, the Holabird Family collection, the Parish Collection on Soviet history, the Dr. Charles C. Moskos collection, the Lt. Sollie Kaplan collection, the Prior Family Archives, and the Jack V. Sewall collection. &nbsp; History of some of the Named Collections </div><div>The Hershel "Woody" Williams collection was donated by WWII Veteran Hershel "Woody" Williams, who had fought&nbsp;in the Battle of Guadalcanal and the famous battle in&nbsp;Iwo Jima in the Marine Corps. He has donated his metal of honor to the museum as well as a tapestry that is dedicated to the 62 recipients of the medal of honor from West Virginia, the state that Williams was born and raised. The&nbsp;Dr. James Wengert collection is the collection of the doctor's books and&nbsp;personal papers from his time as a&nbsp;&nbsp;U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon in the Vietnam war, where he served&nbsp;on the aircraft carrier USS&nbsp;Randolph. His collection discusses many different medical renovations over many vast times of war.&nbsp; Parrish Collection on Soviet Union is a book collection on the the Soviet Union Military aspects.&nbsp;Michael Parrish, an Associate Professor at Indiana University, donated the collection to the museum. General Artifacts&nbsp; </div><div>The library features over 3,000 rare books and a few exhibits, including an American Revolutionary War Soldier’s Notebook, Remember the Maine: 45 Star Flag, and the Benjamin O Davis Glass Photographic Plate. &nbsp;The museum features lectures, movie screenings, and a book club. &nbsp;</div>

The Pritzker Military Museum and Library feature a collection of books and other materials on military history and citizen soldiers in America with a mission to increase understanding of military history and sacrifice. The museum houses a collection of prints, posters, photos, artifacts that cover early war and conflicts, 20th-century war and conflicts, modern war and conflicts, military reading lists, military leaders, and the armed forces, as well as a permanent exhibit called Medal of Honor. The museum also prides itself on being "a public forum to discuss the past, present, and future of the military." Admission is $5 or free for any member or person with an active military ID.

Pritzker Military Museum & Library 

The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, boasts a collection spanning 5,000 years of artistic expression. The founders of the Art Institute hoped to place a gritty, working-class city on the cultural map and also desired to expose the citizens of Chicago to works of the masters. Their avant-garde spirit led the founders to collect some of the greatest works of art of the late 19th century, and that vision built one of the best Impressionist collections in the world outside of France. The Art Institute continued to grow over the 20th century, and now the museum stands as one of the great encyclopedic art museums in the world.

Built on rubble from the 1871 Chicago fire, the Art Institute was originally founded as the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1879. The name was changed in 1882, and shortly thereafter the institution was already in need of a new home for its expanding collection and growing student body. As the city prepared to dazzle the country as host of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the Art Institute's trustees negotiated with the city's civic bodies for a new structure located on a park site at Michigan Avenue and Adams Street. The design of the classical Beaux-Arts building, by the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, allowed for the institution's ambitious goals. The Art Institute officially opened on December 8, 1893. Over the years, the museum has grown and continues to grow its collection, its physical plant and its reputation.In May 2009, the Institute opened its newest addition, a 24,000-square-meter Modern Wing, housing renowned Modern and Contemporary masterpieces. This internationally acclaimed Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano is the largest expansion in AIC’s 130-year history. This signature building features the latest in green museum technology and greatly increased the space dedicated to modern and contemporary art, photography, and architecture and design. The Modern Wing also houses the Ryan Education Center, a state-of-the-art facility placed in a prominent and highly trafficked area of the museum.

The Art Institute of Chicago, established in 1879, is a world-renowned, encyclopedic art museum housing one of the world’s most important permanent collections. The Institute offers around thirty exhibitions a year and its permanent collection of over a quarter million works represents the third largest collection of art in the United States. The Institute is also home to the largest collection of impressionist paintings outside of Paris.

The Art Institute of Chicago

History of the Shedd Aquarium The birth of the Shedd Aquarium dates back to prominent Chicagoan and president of the department store giant Marshall Field &amp; Company, John G. Shedd. Due to his gratitude for the city of Chicago and his adoration of European-style aquariums, Shedd donated upwards of $2 million and started the not-for-profit Shedd Aquarium Society in 1924. The main goal of the Society was to construct and maintain a museum of aquatic life for entertainment, educational, and scientific purposes. With a passion for architectural and a devoted study of aquariums in Europe and the U.S., Shedd gave donated another $1 million.&nbsp;Although Shedd died in 1926, the board of directors of the Society broke ground in 1927 and the museum opened to the public in 1930. The acclaimed architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst &amp; White, which helped build the Field Museum and the Wrigley Building, created the Shedd Aquarium using a neoclassical temple style of white marble and terracotta. The original building, known as Neptune’s Temple, featured an octagonal shape that gave extra room for reserve areas, feed rooms, and an animal hospital.&nbsp;To bring seawater into the early aquarium, over 20 railroad cars made round trips from Key West to transport more than one million gallons of seawater, and the aquarium gained international recognition in 1933 after the Century of Progress World’s Fair, which was held in Chicago. By 1987, Shedd Aquarium was officially placed on the National Register of Historic Places.1
Exhibits and Animal Life 
Although the architectural excellence at the Shedd Aquarium draws thousands of enthusiasts every year, the true glory of this aquarium comes from its wide diversity of animal life and a myriad of exciting and interactive exhibits. Visitors to the aquarium can discover both common and rare fish species close to home or from faraway exotic places.&nbsp;However, the Shedd Aquarium does not solely feature marine animals, as the aquarium showcases the biodiversity found in water-based ecosystems. In addition to turtles and sea otters, visitors can also discover tiny monkeys and frogs who live in the Amazonian ecosystem as well as the world’s rarest iguana species that was found on a desert isle in the Bahamas. The other highly popular exhibits include Amazon Rising, Caribbean Reef, Abbott Oceanarium, Polar Play Zone, At Home on the Great Lakes, and Wild Reef.2&nbsp;
Aquarium Experiences 
The Shedd Aquarium does more than just expose visitors to the diversity of marine life. A variety of “experiences” at the aquarium capture interest and spark the imagination through touch, learning, and feeling. For example, within Shedd’s Aquatic Show, visitors can actually hear and see how beluga whales, sea lions, and dolphins are cared for and trained by Shedd’s expert trainers and animal care specialists.&nbsp;Other experiences at the aquarium include touching stingrays, a 4-D Experience, sustainable seafood dinners, nighttime aquatic adventures, and much more. Visitors looking for a more in-depth, personal experience should ask about Shedd’s shark feeding tours, its behind-the-scenes tour, its beluga whale proposal experience (which includes a picture-perfect moment for proposing to a loved one), and even a 30-minute penguin experience.3&nbsp;

Opening on May 30, 1930, Shedd Aquarium has grown to include exhibits of over 1,500 species ranging from the rare and endangered deep ocean varieties to dolphins and whales. At one time, Shedd stood as the largest indoor aquarium in the world, boasting over five million gallons of water. This was also the first aquarium to feature a permanent saltwater fish collection. 

Shedd Aquarium 

The Field Museum traces its roots back to the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Leading up to the Exposition, directors and donors decided to use the some of the exhibits and the fair itself as the impetus to create a natural history museum. The effort was largely endowed by department store magnate Marshall Field, with additional support from leading businessmen such as George Pullman. After the fair was over, they decided to house the new museum in the Palace of Fine Arts Building, a&nbsp;grand structure that had been a part of the fair's&nbsp;famous White City. The museum opened in 1894 as the Columbian Museum. &nbsp;Eleven years later it was renamed the Field Museum, in honor of Marshall Field. In 1920 the museum was moved from its first home to one that it occupies today. The museum, as well&nbsp;as being a natural history museum, is also a cultural museum, with exhibits on Native American, Pacific, African, and Asian cultures. Perhaps the most famous thing on display at the museum is Sue, a thirteen-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton that came to the Field Museum in 2000. &nbsp;Other permanent exhibitions include Inside Ancient Egypt, Evolving Planet, Underground Adventure, Restoring Earth, The Crown Family Playlab, The Ancient Americans, Grainger Hall of Gems, The Tsavo Lions, Gidwitz Hall of Birds, Hall of Jades, McDonalds Fossil Prep Lab, DNA Discovery Center, Pawnee Earth Lodge, Pacific Spirits, Maori Meeting House, Africa, and the&nbsp;Project Hyena Diorama.

The Field Museum explores the history of life on Earth and takes visitors on a “journey of scientific discovery.” With over 24 million specimens, dozens of galleries, and a collection of nearly 300,000 books, the Field Museum is one of the largest museums in the world. Highlights of the museum include some of the world's most valuable gems, ancient hieroglyphs and two-dozen Egyptian mummies, rare Chinese jade artifacts that are over 8000 years old, and Sue, the most complete and best-preserved fossil remain of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the world. There are numerous exhibits and programs for children, as well as outreach programs for schools and evening lectures for adults. 

Field Museum of Natural History

The Glessner house is “quintessentially
Richardsonian: monumental, fortress-like, designed with the site in mind,
featuring massive rusticated stone blocks, round arches and design elements
derived from French and Spanish Romanesque architecture” (“The House”).&nbsp; The home’s foundation is made of Illinois
dolomite and the walls of Braggville pink granite.&nbsp; Ultimately, the home creates an integrated environment,
one of the main components of the Arts and Crafts architectural movement.&nbsp; The 17,000 square foot home contains 13
bedrooms, 3 of which were for the family, 2 for guests, and 8 for servants; 5.5
baths, 3 which were for the family/guests, 2 for the servants, and one half
bath for the downstairs; 11 fireplaces; and 14 different staircases.&nbsp; In 1924, the Glessners agreed to leave their
home to the Chicago Chapter of American Institute of Architects upon their
death; however, after Mrs. Glessner’s death in 1932 and Mr. Glessner’s death in
1936, the Institute returned the home to the Glessner family because the
Depression made repair costs far too high. &nbsp;The Chicago School of Architecture acquired the home in 1966.&nbsp; In 1960, the Glessner home was designated an
honorary Chicago landmark, was listed on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1970, and was named a National Historic landmark in 1974.

A National Historic Landmark and a famous piece of architecture, the Glessner House Museum was completed in 1887 by American architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose design differed vastly from the traditional Victorian style.  The museum is “one of the country's premier sites for the study and enjoyment of decorative arts” and “offers both the casual visitor and the serious connoisseur a unique opportunity to partake in the pleasures of the Aesthetic and English Arts and Crafts movements” (“Collection”).  

The museum offers tours, lectures, and programs on art, architecture, and social history from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as on the Gilded age (“when America’s newly rich industrialists were living in modern-day castles” (“The House”)) and changes to the historic Prairie Avenue area.  

Glessner House Museum 

<div><div><div><div>Migrants and some immigrants began to populate what is now Chicago by the 1820s and 1830s, leading to Chicago's incorporation in 1837, which is also indicative growing rapidly in population and size and intent on settling the West. One of Chicago's new residents, who gambled on Chicago's potential, was Henry Brown Clarke, who moved his family from Utica, New York, to the the Chicago-Fort Dearborn area in 1835. Clarke enjoyed success selling hardware and building supplies, a booming business for a city enjoying a population increase. The success allowed him to build his home near 16th St and Michigan Ave in 1836 on the south end of the city, which at the time consisted of nothing but open land. Today, it's the concrete-and-steel haven known as the South Loop.&nbsp;Many in the nation, in the midst of settling the frontier and removing Native Americans in the process, continued to champion Roman and Greek ideals as symbols of democracy as demonstrated by its architecture.&nbsp;&nbsp;Clarke’s house personified that trend with its ancient Greek style. &nbsp;The Clarke house enjoyed elements of a Greek temple including a grand staircase entrance and&nbsp;substantial&nbsp;columnns. As well, the house had a substantial timber that provided it durability, which in part,&nbsp;allowed it to survive to this day.&nbsp;Henry Clarke died in 1849 and his widow, Caroline, sold off much of the house’s surrounding land to support their family, though work on the house continued.&nbsp;Decades later, after Chicago's Great Fire in 1871, the Clarke house was purchased and, as was common in the day, moved several miles to the south to 45th Street and Wabash, where it remained for more than a century. The house, in its new location, served as both a residence and part Bishop Henry Ford’s church.</div></div><div>When the church no longer needed the house, the City of Chicago sought to claim the building and keep it secure. The plan to move it again was delayed by a small fire and a harsh Chicago winter in 1977. Nonetheless, the move did eventually take place, moving it to its current location in Chicago Women’s Park. Efforts to restore the building have allowed the house to take on its original appearance, which can be enjoyed by visitors; the building now exists as a museum where Chicagoans and tourists can gaze into Chicago's early history.&nbsp;</div></div><div></div></div><div></div>

Arguably Chicago’s oldest residential house, the building has survived two moves, a fire and decades of tremendous growth. The historic structure now serves as a local history museum that offers exhibits and programs about the early history of the city and influential Chicagoans such as hardware and building magnate Henry Clarke. Like many of Chicago's founding mothers and fathers, the Clarkes arrived a few years prior to Chicago gaining its charter and both promoted and profited from the city's growth. The museum and its architecture also interpret the significance of Greek and Roman architecture found in many of the homes and buildings in and beyond the city.

Henry B. Clarke House and Museum

In 2002, the Chinatown Museum Foundation was established by Dr. Kim Tee, Dr. Bennet Bronson, and Dr. Chuimei Ho. Bronson and Ho had been working at the time in the Field Museum of Chicago’s Department of Anthropology. The foundation hosted monthly lectures on Chinese culture at the Chinatown branch of the Chicago Public Library in order to raise funds and awareness. [1]The museum opened to the public on May 21, 2005. It is located in an 1890s four-story brick building formerly owned by the Quong Yick Company, a Chinese grocery store. It was renamed the Raymond B. and Jean T. Lee Center after the Lee family donated $600,000 to the foundation to purchase the building. [2]In September 2008, a fire ravaged through the museum, the cause of which was never determined. The museum lost a significant portion of its collection, including all but one of 23 dioramas from the 1930s World’s Fair in Chicago. [3] The entire building had to be renovated. Generous donations, again from the Lee family, as well as other donors and support from other cultural institutions, allowed the museum to reopen on September 25, 2010. [4]The mission of the museum is “to advance the appreciation of Chinese American culture through exhibitions, education, and research and to preserve the past, present, and future of Chinese Americans primarily in the Midwest.” [5] Exhibits in the past have covered fashion, toys and games, archaeology, and the history of Chicago’s Chinatown. A permanent display called “Great Wall to Great Lakes: Chinese Immigration to the Midwest” relates immigrants’ stories about their journey to the American Midwest. The museum also hosts events, such as movie screenings, musical performances, and Chinese New Year festivities.

The Chinese American Museum of Chicago was the first museum to be located in Chicago’s Chinatown. The museum showcases Chinese American culture and history, with a particular focus on the communities of the Midwestern US. Exhibit topics have included Chinese immigration, the history of Chinatown, fashion, art, and archaeology. In 2008, just three years after opening, a devastating fire claimed a significant portion of its collection. In a city-wide community effort, the museum was able to gather additional artifacts for its collection and raise funds to build new displays. The renovated building reopened in 2010.

Chinese American Museum of Chicago

The Heritage Museum of Asian Art opened in June 2014 on 23rd Street in Chicago’s Chinatown. It was founded by Jeffrey Moy, a successful bookseller and publisher, as well as the grandson of one of the earliest community leaders in the community. Moy’s motivation behind opening the museum was to provide locals and visitors a chance to delve deeper into the ancient history of Chinatown’s residents: "People come to eat and do a little shopping, but there's nothing for them to see relating to Asian culture,” he is quoted as saying. [1]The focus of the Heritage Museum of Asian Art is broad, covering not just historical Chinese art, but also pieces from Japan, India, and Southeast Asia. [2] The galleries contain artifacts dating from Neolithic pottery to modern painting. A large 18th century alcove bed on display is one of only about six in existence. [1] Artifacts made of precious jade, ceramic, porcelain, paper, and textiles fill the galleries. Past exhibition topics have included Asian mythology, ritual bronzes, empire maps, poetry, and religious icons. The museum also contains a research library with over 10,000 books, a media center, and a gift shop. [3] The museum’s website regularly hosts online exhibitions, with photos and informative resources on a variety of artifacts.In June 2017, the Heritage Museum of Asian Art reopened in an expanded and renovated facility at 218 West 26th Street. [3] In late 2019, the museum announced that it was facing a deficit in operational funding and may have to close. [4] The museum started a GoFundMe account and waived its admission fee in the hopes of attracting more visitors who may donate.

The Heritage Museum of Asian Art opened in 2014 in Chicago’s Chinatown. Local bookstore owner and third-generation resident of Chinatown, Jeffrey Moy, was motivated to start the museum as a way to expose people to Asia’s ancient history. The exhibits cover most Asian cultures, with artifacts such as jade sculpture, bronze vessels, ornately embroidered robes, folk pottery, and household décor. The mission of the museum is “to preserve and promote the tradition of Asian art for the enrichment of present and future generations.” The museum reopened in much larger facility on 26th Street in 2017. 

Heritage Museum of Asian Art

The Museum of Science and Industry&nbsp;is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; designed by Charles Atwood, the building&nbsp;is the only remaining one from this world exposition.&nbsp;Initially endowed by Julius Rosenwald, the Sears Roebuck and Company president and philanthropist, the museum&nbsp;was supported by the Commercial Club of Chicago and opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress Exposition. &nbsp; German U-boat U-505 was a type IXC submarine which was larger than the conventional submarines produced by Germany weighing 1,200 tons. Production of this vessel began June 12,&nbsp;1940, but it wasn’t until May 25,&nbsp;1941, that the ship set sail. Over U-505’s&nbsp;lifespan, it conducted 12 patrols and sunk 8 allied vessels serving in the wolf pack Hela. June 4,&nbsp;1944, U-505 was picked up on radar by an anti-submarine task force near Cape Verde. After close water combat, the submarine was damaged and abandoned but not destroyed. From the ship, 58 members were captured and the ship was salvaged for Allied use becoming USS U-505. Following the end of the war, the United States had no use for the ship and planned to use it for gunnery practice in the ocean. Instead, the ship was purchased by the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for use as an interactive educational exhibit.

The largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry is home to 40,000 square feet of interactive exhibits and 35,000 artifacts.  Based on 2009 attendance, the museum was the second largest cultural attraction in Chicago. One of the leading attractions at the museum, German submarine U-505 was produced for Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II and was captured by the US Navy on June 1944. Visitors can tour this U-boat, which provided the Allies with a multitude of classified information. 

Among its diverse and expansive exhibits, the Museum features a full-size replica coal mine; a German submarine (U-505) captured during World War II, which is the only German U-boat in the United States; a 3,500-square-foot model railroad; Pioneer Zephyr, the first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel passenger train; the Apollo 8 spacecraft that carried the first humans to the Moon; Science Storm; You! The Experience; Baby Chick Hatchery; The Great Train Story; Toy Maker 3000; Genetics: Decoding Life; Earth Revealed; Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle; Farm Tech; and Tech Flight.  The museum also features an 800 seat auditorium, 2 small theaters, and a 5-story, domed Omnimax Theater.

The Museum of Science and Industry encourages and inspires children and other visitors to learn and strive in the fields of science, technology, medicine, and engineering.  The museum's Center for Science Education offers teacher education courses and youth programs, featuring learning labs and after-school science clubs.

Chicago Museum of Science and Industry

The Smart Museum of Art was dedicated and opened in
October of 1974.&nbsp; Originally run by the
university’s art department, the museum gained its own administrative authority
in 1983 with a focus on public outreach.&nbsp;
The museum underwent an extensive program expansion in the 1990s, reaching
out to local schools and University of Chicago faculty.&nbsp; After celebrating its 40th
anniversary, he museum is currently undergoing gallery reinstallation.Named for David (1892–1952) and Alfred (1894–1951) Smart, who launched &nbsp;Esquire during the heart of the Great Depression and then followed that endeavour with Coronet, a pocket-sized magazine with the slogan “infinite riches in a little room,” and Verve, an oversize avant-garde quarterly that featured original art by Matisse, Chagall, and Picasso. In the postwar years, they also produced short instructional movies through Coronet Films. The success of Esquire offered the Smarts an opportunity to establish the Smart Family Foundation in 1967, which resulted in a gift to the University of Chicago -- the museum was born.1&nbsp; <blockquote>“Through its holdings and its programs [the Smart] will offer countless and infinitely varied possibilities for the study of the visual arts. The discovery and the exploration of those possibilities, very much in the great tradition of experimentation and creative research which so characterizes the University of Chicago, is the task of the faculty, staff, and students now and in the future.”—Edward A. Maser, founding director of the Smart, 1974.2</blockquote>Associated with the University of Chicago, the museum focuses on education of art in addition to (hopefully) being a world class displayer of art. By 1983, the museum expanded its philosophy to included greater public outreach by launching educational programs for local public schools as well as local art-focused programs.3Further expansion commenced in 1999 when Smart received a $5 million bequest from Paul and Miriam Kirkley to establish an endowment for art acquisitions. During the 2000s, the museum hosted&nbsp;exhibitions that included&nbsp;Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China (2004), Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan (2010), and Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art (2012) toured nationally and internationally.4Now home to 15,000 pieces, visitors can view anything from fine art brought to Chicago from around the globe to historical, ancient Chinese relics.&nbsp;

The University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art houses collections of art from around the world, including Asian art, Old Master art, modern art/design, and contemporary art.  The museum, which focuses on teaching and research, hosts several educational programs, including public talks, lectures, symposia, a teaching gallery, studio workshops, field trips, family days and programs, artist talks, workshops, tours, concerts, films, and events for University of Chicago students.

Smart Museum of Art 

<div>This museum, like the city of Chicago itself, is named in honor of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, a Haitian of African and French descent, who in 1779 established the trading post and permanent settlement which would become known as Chicago.</div> The museum has over 15,000 pieces; including paintings, sculptures, prints, and historical memorabilia and also offers exhibits with artifacts on loan from individuals or institutions. The museum's permanent exhibits focus on art and Chicago history, such as one that focuses on the personal history of Harold Washington and another that looks at the experiences of African Americans in the military. There is also an exhibit that traces the experiences of people in African descent from slavery to freedom and another that looks at the culture and history of the African continent. The museum also sponsors lectures,&nbsp;&nbsp;musical performances, film festivals, and workshops with artists and educators.

The DuSable Museum of African American History is the first and oldest museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art. The museum was founded in 1961 by educator and art historian Dr. Margaret Burroughs and works to preserve and interpret the experiences and achievements of people of African descent. The museum's permanent collection includes thousands of documents and artifacts, including many that are related to the history of Chicago. Visitors can also see works of art and tour special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum also sponsors workshops and lectures.

The DuSable Museum of African American History

The city
of Chicago is home to the largest Lithuanian community outside of Lithuania
itself. Thousands of Lithuanians began immigrating to the United States
starting in the nineteenth century, and peaking around the late 1800s and early
1900s. The exact number of Lithuanians who immigrated is difficult to determine
as the country was part of the Russian Empire until 1918. A large amount of
these immigrants found their way to Chicago, where they developed communities
in the Bridgeport and Marquette Park neighborhoods. They formed their own
schools, churches, newspapers, and fraternal organizations. The Lithuanian
community in Chicago was famously portrayed in the 1906 novel The Jungle, which inspired the passage
of federal food safety laws. 

A
new wave of Lithuanian immigration came during and after World War II as a
result of the incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union. The new
immigrants revitalized the community and established institutions to preserve
their culture such as the American Lithuanian Council, the Lithuanian Studies
Center, and the Lithuanian World Community. Many were strong supporters of
Lithuanian independence, which finally occurred in 1991. Today the Lithuanian
community in Chicago maintains very strong ties with Lithuania; the country
even has a consulate in the city.

The
Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture was established in 1966 by Stanley
Balzekas Jr., the son of Lithuanian immigrants. Balzekas’ family was very
active in the Lithuanian community; his father paid for 345 Lithuanian families
to immigrate to the U.S. after World War II. Originally the museum had two
objectives: to preserve Lithuanian culture among the immigrants; and to
advocate for Lithuanian independence. After Lithuania regained independence,
the museum adapted and now works to educate the public on the traditions of
Lithuania and Lithuanian immigrants around the world. At its beginning the
museum consisted of the personal collection of the Balzekas family (which
included artwork, maps, and armor) and was housed in a two-story building on
South Archer Avenue, next to the family’s car dealership. In 1986 the museum
was moved to South Pulaski Road, renovating and occupying the former Von
Solbrig Hospital building. The museum expanded over the years through donations
and purchases; today it possesses the largest collection of Lithuanian
artifacts outside of Lithuania. 

Today
the Balzekas Museum has an assortment of temporary and permanent exhibits
exploring the history and culture of Lithuanians both in their homeland and the
United States. It includes a Children’s Museum featuring interactive and
hands-on activities. There is an extensive library and genealogy archives for
museum members. The museum also has a large online gift shop and hosts a
biannual trip to Lithuania.

The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture is dedicated to preserving the story and traditions of Lithuanian Americans and their homeland. It was founded in 1966 by the Balzekas family, partly to push for Lithuanian independence. The facility is one of the largest sources of Lithuanian knowledge and artifacts outside of Lithuania itself, and serves as an anchor for Chicago’s Lithuanian American community. It contains thousands of historic and cultural artifacts; many permanent and temporary exhibits; and a research library. It also offers various outreach programs, most notably a biannual trip to Lithuania. The museum is a member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance.

Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture

In 1997, fire-history enthusiasts&nbsp;and firefighting veterans established the museum in order to preserve Chicago's long&nbsp;firefighting&nbsp;history, as well "provide an educational forum for succeeding generations to understand how emergency situations were confronted throughout history so they may be better prepared and equipped to meet future emergencies head on."1&nbsp; From the Great Fire to readiness attached to a city dominated by very tall skyscrapers, the fire servicemen and women&nbsp;of Chicago are part of&nbsp;a rich history. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 made it abundantly clear that Chicago could not exist without a dedicated, professional fire service. Moreover, the fire led to an infusion of young architects into Chicago that coincided with immigration and a subsequent population boom. Chicago's architecture grew to influence the world, and the city became one of the biggest in the world.2&nbsp;However,&nbsp;none of that could have happened without fireman to protect the city and its residents.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Railroads, meat packing, and banking dominated the Chicago economic landscape during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but there also existed a large increase in cultural centers such as theaters. All of which presented a fire danger. The city and its fire department&nbsp;&nbsp;faced several fires including numerous Stockyard fires, the&nbsp;Iroquois Theater fire, and the Eastland ship disaster.3The 1920s ushered in the era of automobiles. Chicago and suburban fire departments adapted rapidly. As the twentieth century progressed, so too did the fire department, including relying on "computerized communications, new firefighting technologies and the vast expansion of emergency medical services."3 The two-story museum works to share and preserve that&nbsp;history. The building&nbsp;is located in the former Engine 123 firehouse at&nbsp;5218 S. Western Ave&nbsp;in Chicago, which&nbsp;served as a firehouse from&nbsp;1916 until&nbsp;January 17, 1974. The renovation project that began in the late 1990s&nbsp;including removing the kitchen and poles to make way for exhibits, such as old fire trucks. Meanwhile, the Ken Little library is scheduled to reside in the&nbsp;museum's&nbsp;second floor, which&nbsp;is currently being renovated. The library will serve as a research facility as well as house&nbsp;books, photographs, and other unique&nbsp;artifacts.&nbsp; <div> </div>

Established in 1997, this local history museum is located in firehouse that was built in 1916 and served as the home of Engine 123 and its crew. The museum is home to historic apparatus and equipment, a library of historic documents and photographs, and exhibits that chronicle the growth of the fire service throughout the city of Chicago. 

Fire Museum of Greater Chicago 

The growth and success
of Chicago is directly attributable to the city’s strategic location between
the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system. The area’s potential was
first revealed to Europeans in 1673 when French explorers Louis Jolliet and
Father Jacques Marquette were led by Native Americans to a small portage
connecting the Des Plaines River (a tributary of the Mississippi River) and
Chicago River (a tributary of Lake Michigan). The portage, a piece of land
suitable for transporting cargo and small boats from one body of water to
another, made it possible to travel from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi
River and down through to the Gulf of Mexico. A thriving fur trade soon started
developing in the region between the Native Americans and the French; later the
French would be replaced by the British, and then the Americans. Many towns and
settlements grew around the area to capitalize on the trade.

The City of Chicago was
not officially founded until 1830. In 1848 the Illinois &amp; Michigan Canal
was completed, which replaced the portage and allowed for complete waterway
access from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. The city grew
rapidly as it was flooded by a new wave of commerce. Wharves, warehouses, and
factories crowded the shores as hundreds of ships filled the waters, carrying
goods destined to be transported all over the world. Despite being far inland,
Chicago became the busiest port in America by the late 1800s; at one point it
was frequented by more ships than at San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia,
Mobile, Charleston, and Baltimore combined. During the early 1900s traffic
began declining in Chicago as newer ships were too big for the harbors, and the
river shipping industry overall was displaced by the rise of railroads and
automobile highways. By the 1920s, all of the wharves had been demolished.
Today the commercial port is located in the Calumet River, while the shores of
Chicago are primarily dominated now by recreational boating. 

With most of the
visible remnants of Chicago’s maritime history gone, efforts were made to save
what was left. The Chicago Maritime Society was established in 1982 to preserve
and tell the story of Chicago’s relationship with the area’s waterways. Over
the years the society collected over 10,000 artifacts of maritime history, but
lacked a place to permanently display them. Finally in June 2016 the society,
now under the name Chicago Maritime Museum, opened a permanent location on the
first floor of the Bridgeport Art Center. The 10,000 square-foot space was
designed by architect Dirk Lohan, chairman of the museum and grandson of famous
architect Mies Van Der Rohe. The museum is located in Chicago’s Bridgeport
community, and sits by the shore of Bubbly Creek, a tributary of the Chicago
River; the museum eventually hopes to move to Navy Pier for its stronger
connections to the city’s maritime history.

The museum displays a
chronological history of Chicago’s waterways from the days of French fur
trading to recreational boating in the modern era. Artifacts on display include
artwork and images; various model ships; a large collection of historically significant canoes, many
belonging to popular canoe maker Ralph Frese; and the only surviving diving
suit used in recovery efforts following the U.S.S.
Eastland disaster of 1915. The museum
also engages with the community through different events, including hosting
lectures on historical maritime topics as part of the Bridgeport Art Center’s
Third Friday Open House.

The Chicago Maritime Museum works to preserve and raise awareness of Chicago's maritime history. The city became the major metropolis it is today because of its location between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River system, enabling it to become one of the most vital ports in the United States. The museum opened in 2016 on the first floor of the Bridgeport Art Center, and posseses a collection of over 10,000 artifacts. Items of note include a large collection of historically significant canoes and an original diving suit from the 1915 Eastland disaster. The museum also hosts a historical maritime lecture series as well as other community programs. 

Chicago Maritime Museum

Prior to the opening of the Mexican Fine Arts Center, there were no other institutions that focused primarily on Mexican art and culture. Founder Carlos Tortolero wanted to change that by establishing an accessible arts and cultural organization. In 1982 and only $900, he organized a team of fellow teachers and community activists to help design the museum. After five years of intense planning, the museum debuted under the name Mexican Fine Arts Center in 1987. Its inaugural exhibition Images of Faith: Religious Art of Mexico in the 18th and 19th Centuries showed the essential role that religion played in the interactions between Spanish missionaries and the Indians in Mexico1. The exhibit filled the longstanding Chicano-sized hole in the community. Having an exhibit specific to Mexican history was a large and much-needed step to gain respect for Mexican culture. Tortolero’s initiative helped others and even those within the Mexican community to appreciate the beauty of Mexican culture instead of letting it languish.Initially, Tortolero received some pushback when he said that he wanted the museum to be located in the working-class neighborhood Pilsen. All of his peers believed that starting an arts museum in a blue-collar neighborhood was “crazy”, not to mention problems with funding if admission was free. Tortolero was told “it couldn’t be done”2. Tortolero disregarded these warnings, because he had a vision in mind. The aspects that others criticized worked out to be the strengths of the museum. Pilsen’s charm and free admission made the museum accessible and today the expansion of the neighborhood with new restaurants popping up nearby only make it more alluring. Also, outside the museum are the famous Pilsen murals that decorate the neighborhood.In order to support its growth, the Mexican Fine Arts Center moved to a 48,000 square foot state of the art facility in 2001. In 2006, the museum was rebranded to the name it has today, the National Museum of Mexican Art. The change in name was to reflect the evolution of the museum into a nationally recognized institution, especially because the museum remains the only Mexican museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. In 2014, the museum revamped their permanent collection. The new exhibit, Nuestras Historias, is filled with new art pieces from over 160 different artists. The curator, Cesar Moreno, stated that the “best of [their] collection is on display.” The transformation of the past collection to Nuestras Historias truly is a highlight of the museum because while the pieces are extraordinarily beautiful, they also capture the history and narratives behind Mexican culture. The works of art focus on the identity of Mexican peoples over the years, capturing the diverse stories of Mexican individuals. The exhibit portrays Mexican identity as an idea that continually evolves over time, something that could not be encompassed by a singular concept or artist. This aspect of the museum is a pillar for Mexican society because it allows for individuals not familiar with Mexican culture to recognize the multiple, complex identities within Mexican communities.Each work of art in the Pre-Cuauhtémoc section of the permanent collection represents an important aspect of ancient Mexican history and culture. The term “Pre-Cuauhtémoc” was frequented by Tortolero, who intended to de-emphasize the Eurocentric view of Mexican history. The museum places an importance on displaying all past Mexican interactions, even those that may prove difficult or complex, such as Spanish colonization and the Mexican revolution. All of the older art pieces are located in the indigenous wing of the museum, and as a result, each work of art plays an important role in depicting the historical and cultural context of the museum. One of the most influential pieces in the collection is Jesús Helguera’s 1940 painting La Leyenda de los Volcanes, depicting the legend of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The painting is integral to ancient Mexican culture, as the story of Popo and Ixta has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries between Mexican families. The permanent collection transitions from ancient Mexican culture to Mexican history in which Enrique Alférez’s artwork is commonplace. Alférez has twelve sculptures throughout the museum, most prominently located in an exhibit in the permanent collection titled “Arte Diseño Xicágo.” This exhibit focuses on art from the time period between the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 and the Civil Rights Era, which concluded in the early 1970s. Perhaps the most distinguished work of art in the exhibit is Alférez’s sculpture titled La Soldadera. La Soldadera contributes greatly to the indigenous wing of the permanent collection, tying together the exhibit with the enriching Mexican history associated with the Mexican Revolution, which allowed Mexicans to feel a strong sense of independence and freedom for the first time in their lives. Also included in the museum is world-renowned painter Diego Rivera. Rivera played a significant role in the expansion of Mexican art globally, helping to establish the Mexican mural movement. Rivera’s presence in the National Museum of Mexican Art conveys the museum’s commitment to exhibiting artists and works in the indigenous wing that prove meaningful in displaying the notable history and culture of Mexico’s past.Many of the more modern pieces at the museum target contemporary political issues. Ranging from subtle to defiant, these art pieces challenge the status quo and unify Mexican and Mexican-American communities, past and present. Pieces such as Liberating Borders by Hector Duarte help exemplify the difficulties of Mexican immigrants coming to America and the racism that they face. The museum also holds pieces that are integral to Mexican political identity. In the Galeria Cardenas subwing, The Grapes of Wrath Poster exemplifies the Delano Grape Strike and boycott that many Mexican workers participated in to secure better working conditions and better wages. The museum also holds pieces that are significant to the museum’s history such as the jacket that Cesar Chavez wore at his last time to the museum. These pieces takes museum goers back to the past, especially the civil rights movements of the 60’s and 70’s. Three sculptures from the Deportable Alien Series showcase some of these hardships by representing the unfair repatriation under the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations. By keeping these pieces of work in their permanent gallery, the museum pays tribute to past generations whose perseverance created a better future for those today.The museum hosts all sorts of cultural programs such as symposiums and theater/music/dance performances. The museum also celebrates their annual Sor Juana Festival which pays homage to accomplishments of Mexican women. The festival honors Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th century Mexican nun who fought for equal rights in women’s education. The Sor Juana Festival places an emphasis on the importance of Mexican women in the art industry. Each year, the festival hosts a number of talented Mexican or Mexican-American female artists. Another annual event that the museum hosts is the Dia de los Muertos: Love Never Dies Ball. This dancing escapade honors the lives of those who have passed before us with live Mexican music, cuisine, and cocktails. The event shows a deep reverence for Mexican history and culture, a fundamental principle on which the museum was founded. The National Museum of Mexican Art continually hosts events in order to promote Mexican culture and praise the accomplishments of Mexican individuals.In 2017, the museum celebrated its 30th anniversary with a new exhibit Memoria Presente: An Artistic Journey. Thiry Mexican artists, including famous names Alberto Aguilar, Maria Gaspar, and Juan Angel Chavez, were invited to furnish the museum with wild yet still politically charged instillations. The pieces cover the complexities of immigration, the ramifications of drug cartels, and the violence in Mexican-American communities. Despite the celebration, the museum used its anniversary as a platform to bring much needed attention to these controversial topics. 	While the museum acquires its own art pieces, it flourishes because of support from the community. In 2005, the museum was able to run an exhibit purely from pieces borrowed from local collectors. The exhibit, Colecciones: Mexican Art from 50 Private Chicago Collections, featured 110 loaned pieces of art. Individuals such as Scott Hodes, a local Chicago attorney, and Gilberto Cárdenas, Executive Director of the Notre Dame Center for Arts and Culture, willingly lent &nbsp;their prized pieces to the museum3. Cardenas eventually had a wing of the permanent collection named after him. Cesar Moreno, curator of the museum, found that instead of having to track down local collectors, they would freely volunteer their help. In addition, because admission is free, the museum relies on donations and grants to run daily operations and events. Some major contributors include the Anheuser-Busch, Southwest Airlines, Boeing, and JP Morgan Chase. They allow for the museum to stand as a monument of Mexican culture. In 2018, the National Museum of Mexican Art received another 5-year commitment award of $300,000 from the MacArthur Foundation because of its devotion to the community and its goal of developing appreciation for Mexican culture. Because of all these donations, the museum is able to achieve its goals of preserving Mexican art and culture, developing Mexican artists, and providing an arts education to local Chicago neighborhoods. The museum receives over 165,000 annual visitors, including nearly 60,000 K-12 students, who appreciate the beautiful exhibits on display and take part in the numerous cultural and artistic activities.

Located in the Pilsen neighborhood, the heart of Chicago’s Mexican and Mexican-American community, the National Museum of Mexican Art is a shrine to Mexican culture and art. Founded in 1987 by Carlos Tortolero, the museum contains over 10,000 pieces of art in its permanent collection; pieces dating from 3,000 years ago to the present. The National Museum of Mexican Art also remains the only museum devoted to Mexican Art that is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum also has several famous traveling exhibitions that are lent out to museums across the United States and Mexico. Some of these exhibits include The Art of the Other Mexico, The African Presence in Mexico, and Frida’s Contemporaries: Women Artists of Modern Mexico.


National Museum of Mexican Art

Jane Addams&nbsp;was&nbsp;born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860, and graduated from Rockford Female Seminary in 1881. As an exemplary student and leader, she was known to be&nbsp;a force to be reckoned with. After a trip to London,&nbsp;she rented, with her friend&nbsp;Ellen Gates Starr, a worn-down mansion&nbsp;that would become the&nbsp;world famous social settlement Hull-House. Settlement houses&nbsp;in America, like Hull House, were part of a larger trend seen in the first settlement houses of London, which were&nbsp;originally founded&nbsp;for middle to&nbsp;upper-class women and men to live in poorer&nbsp;neighborhoods closer to the city&nbsp;as a way&nbsp;to experience urban life. Addams and Starr drew inspiration from Toynbee Hall&nbsp;in London that provided recreational and educational programs to the surrounding neighborhood as well as its residents.&nbsp;During Hull House’s beginning,&nbsp;the neighborhood was&nbsp;comprised of immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Germany, Greece and other European countries. The residents at Hull House offered &nbsp;services such as daycare and classes in English and citizenship&nbsp;to this working-class community. The Immigrant Protection League (IPL)&nbsp;was founded by the Hull House residents in 1908 where they advocated for the protection of the rights of immigrants. The Hull House&nbsp;also provided a common space&nbsp;for trade union groups and working-class clubs like the Jane Club for single working girls to meet.&nbsp;<div> </div><div>After World War I, the neighborhood experienced a demographic change. The passage of the 1921 Emergency Quota Act and the 1924 National Origins Act restricted the&nbsp;number of immigrants from&nbsp;Southern and Eastern Europe but not&nbsp;from the Western hemisphere.&nbsp;This led to a&nbsp;sudden availability of new jobs in railroad, meat packing, and steel industries, which led to&nbsp;Mexicans migration into the neighborhood. They soon became the dominant immigrant group in the neighborhood.&nbsp;Although Hull House already advocated and supported immigrant groups, this changing demographic still had an impact on the type of services that it offered. New groups emerged that used Hull House as a common space such as Mexican dance troupes like the Azteca and the Cuauhtėmoc and mutual benefit associations like the Sociedad Hispana, which encouraged Mexican-Americans to not give up their Mexican identities. The IPL&nbsp;began to focus on Mexican repatriation as an issue in the 1930s and fought against the illegal raids and deportation the U.S. made against Mexicans. Hull House suddenly became a space for embracing Mexican culture and allowed for these new immigrants to form a community, as well as a new identity.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Art was one of the main services that the residents provided to their new community. In 1927, the Hull House Kilns were established by Myrtle French, a trained ceramist, to teach pottery to&nbsp;community members and provide a market for artists to sell their art. These classes were seen as an escape from industrious life and to celebrate crafting skills. When the Mexican people began to take these classes, some, particularly those from the central regions of Mexico which has a strong tradition in pottery, were quick-learners and soon enough, had a club of their own. It was established by Myrtle French to encourage community building within the Mexican population of Hull House, most of whom did not speak English. Pottery became a way for the immigrants to connect with their Mexican identity, especially those from the central regions like Michoacán, Guanajuato, and Jalisco. Famous students that took these classes at Hull House included artists&nbsp;Jesus Torres and Miguel Juárez. Juárez’s interest in pottery came to him at a depressed point in his life as he had lost his leg at his workplace and&nbsp;could neither read nor write, which make it difficult for him to find a job. However, at&nbsp;Hull House, he was able to become a mentor to other artists and sell plenty of his work. The same could be said for Jesus Torres, who at first went to Hull House for English courses, but eventually went on to take ceramics classes at the Kilns&nbsp;and made an income in selling his pottery.</div><div> </div><div>Many of the migrants from Mexico came to the United States to flee from the Mexican Revolution. They had only known their country to be fragmented with no unifying identity. Therefore, while the Mexican-American identity was developing in Chicago, the Mexican identity was developing in Mexico as well. Hull House was a main connection between Mexican-Americans and Mexico as many people on the board had visited Mexico and formed relationships with Mexican nationalists. Although Hull House was a part of bringing the Mexican migrants together, there were difficulties in the community in how they should identify themselves as either fully Mexican, fully American, or a combination of both. Hull House contributed to the development of a polar identification (Mexican or American, not both), which can be seen in the communities choosing to identify with a post-revolution&nbsp;Mexicanidad&nbsp;due to a refusal to be fully American. It made it all the easier for those who returned to Mexico, but not for those who stayed in America, who continued to struggle to define&nbsp;their&nbsp;identity, which&nbsp;would&nbsp;eventually lead to the rise of the Chicano movement.</div><div> </div><div>For those who stayed in Chicago, the struggle continued in other areas as well. As a part of Chicago’s urban renewal plans during the early 1960s, construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus&nbsp;would take place in the same neighborhood where Hull House was located, a majority immigrant community. Therefore, the settlement house needed to close its doors and relocate.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;residents and community members&nbsp;did not do this without a fight. It took a settlement of $675,000 and a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court in order for relocation to happen. However, it did happen, and it led to&nbsp;the dispersal of the settlement house services&nbsp;across Chicago and the displacement of the&nbsp;Mexican residents into Pilsen, a&nbsp;neighborhood&nbsp;with currently&nbsp;one of the&nbsp;highest concentration of Mexican-Americans in Chicago.&nbsp;The Hull House organization&nbsp;ceased its services in 2012 due to rising costs and&nbsp;a decrease in&nbsp;fundraising, but the original house with the dining hall still stands in the UIC campus as a museum.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Hull House facilitated the continuation of Mexican identity and culture through the arts and helped to bring&nbsp;together&nbsp;the Mexican-American community in Chicago. Despite the residents' polar identification of Mexican immigrants, Hull House&nbsp;was a settlement house that truly addressed the changing demographics of its community. It is a part of a larger story of settlement houses in the United States and the cultivation of Latinx identity in Chicago. It is the story of changing demographics and an example of adaptation, rather than resistance, to change that we should take to heart. Furthermore, the Museum and its many vibrant programs make connections between the work of Hull-House residents and important contemporary social issues. Hull-House played a vital role in redefining American democracy in the modern age. Addams and the residents of Hull-House helped pass critical legislation and influenced public policy on public health and education, free speech, fair labor practices, immigrants’ rights, recreation and public space, arts, and philanthropy. Hull-House has long been a center of Chicago’s political and cultural life, establishing Chicago’s first public playground and public art gallery, helping to desegregate the Chicago Public Schools, and influencing philanthropy and culture.From Hull-House, where she lived and worked until her death in 1935, Jane Addams built her reputation as the country's most prominent woman through her writing, settlement work, and international efforts for peace.<div> </div></div>

Hull House was established in Chicago's Near West Side community in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr when the community consisted mostly of Southern European immigrants. Mexican immigration to Chicago occurred in the early 20th century and they soon became the dominant immigrant group in the Hull-House neighborhood. Therefore, Hull House, and the immigrant rights organizations associated with it like the Immigrants Protection League, had to change the services that it offered to serve this new community. Hull House became a center of engagement for Mexican-Americans to pursue the arts, helping to inspire Mexican artists such as Jesus Torres and Miguel Juárez and helping to create a new sense of Mexicanidad in Chicago. The settlement house eventually became a symbol of the dispersal of the Latinx population during the construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 1960s in a time of urban renewal.

Currently, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum serves as a dynamic memorial to social reformer Jane Addams, the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and her colleagues whose work changed the lives of their immigrant neighbors as well as national and international public policy. The museum preserves and develops the original Hull-House site for the interpretation and continuation of the historic settlement house vision, linking research, education, and social engagement. The museum is open to the public at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus and contains original settlement house buildings- the Hull Home, a National Historic Landmark, and the Residents' Dining Hall, a beautiful Arts and Crafts building that has welcomed some of the world's most important thinkers, artists and activists. 

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Hundreds of thousands of Greeks immigrated to the United
States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in search of better
economic opportunities. Most of them settled in large metropolitan areas,
particularly New York, Boston, and Chicago. Many Greeks in Chicago lived
together in a neighborhood that came to be known as Greektown. Originally
Greektown was located around the Halstead, Harrison, and Blue Island areas, but
the construction of the Eisenhower Expressway and the University of Illinois at
Chicago forced the community to move several blocks north. It was once one of
the most vibrant ethnic communities in the city; today it is primarily a
commercial district, home to many Greek restaurants and other businesses. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1983 the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center was
founded in Chicago to promote Greek culture. It did not have a physical facility
open to the public until 1992 when it opened in a location on Michigan Avenue.
In 2004 the museum moved to a temporary space in the fourth floor of a building
on South Adams Street in Greektown and announced its intentions to build a
permanent location. After years of planning and fundraising, construction began
on the new museum building in 2010 at the corner of Van Buren and Halsted
Streets, on the site of a former hardware store. By this time the museum had
been renamed the National Hellenic Museum as part of a rebranding effort in
2008. The new museum building was completed and opened to the public in 2011.
The four-story, 40,000 square-foot facility incorporates elements of Greek architecture
from various periods of history; it was designed by Chicago-based Greek American
architect Demetrios Stavrianos, whose notable works include the U.S. Capitol
Visitor’s Center and the Food and Drug Administration Headquarters. In 2017
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited the museum, the first Greek head of
state to do so. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the years following the opening of the new building,
the museum has been able to greatly expand its collection and operations. Today
it possesses over 10,000 artifacts relating to Greek and Greek American history,
displayed in several permanent and temporary exhibits. It includes the Frank S.
Kamberos Oral History Project, which preserves recordings of interviews and
memoirs from hundreds of Greek Americans and encourages others to participate
as well. The museum is home to the Gus and Mary Stathis Library and Resource
Center, which features a large non-circulating collection of books and
documents on Greek culture, history, religion, and language. The museum also operates
multiple programs including lectures, a popular series of Greek language
classes, and culture classes in topics such as music, theatre, dancing, poetry,
and art. It also hosts annual events such as a fundraising gala and a Greek
food festival known as Kouzina.

Chicago's National Hellenic Museum is dedicated to promoting Greek culture. Located in the city's popular Greektown district, the current museum building opened in 2011. The museum contains thousands of artifacts spanning Greek history from ancient Greece to Greek Americans in the present day. It has multiple permanent and temporary exhibits, as well as an extensive research library. The museum also engages in community outreach with educational programs such as lectures, language classes, and culture classes. 

National Hellenic Museum

People of Polish
descent have lived in the United States for centuries, but immigration in large
numbers did not begin until the mid-1800s. The first and longest wave of
immigration was from the 1850s to the 1920s, and was driven by the political
and economic situation in Poland, which at the time had been partitioned among
multiple countries. A second wave came following World War II and the communist
takeover of Poland. The third and final wave occurred in the 1980s amid unrest
in Poland which resulted in the imposition of martial law. Early on Chicago
became one of the primary destinations for Polish immigrants in the United
States; by the 1930s Poles constituted the largest ethnic group in the city.
They formed a thriving neighborhood community sometimes nicknamed “Polonia.”
The Polish Americans established a large number of separate institutions
including churches, schools, Polish-language newspapers, small businesses, and
fraternal organizations to keep the ethnic group connected. 

The Polish Roman Catholic
Union of America (PRCUA) was founded in Chicago in 1873 as the first major
Polish fraternal organization in the United States. It was noteworthy for
operating social programs, opening an orphanage and hospital, and establishing
an insurance system for members. In 1913, the PRCUA constructed a building at
Milwaukee Avenue and Augusta Boulevard for its national headquarters. In 1935
the organization decided to establish a museum dedicated to Polish culture; the
Museum and Archives of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America was opened on
the third floor of the building; it did not become available for public viewing
until 1937. It was the first museum in the United States ever created for a
single ethnic group. Later the museum would become its own separate
organization, renamed simply The Polish Museum of America, but it continues to
share the original building with the PRCUA. 

A significant chunk of
the museum’s collection came from two separate events in the early years of its
existence. In 1939 the Polish government sponsored a large exhibit at the 1939
New York World’s Fair in honor of the twentieth anniversary of Poland’s
independence. When World War II began in September, the contents of the exhibit
could not be transported back to Poland, so the museum arranged to purchase and
preserve most of it. In 1941 the estate of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a famous
pianist and Polish politician, donated many of his personal possessions to the
museum. 

The Polish Museum of
America owns a substantial collection of items relating to Poland and Polish
Americans; only a small portion is on display at any given time. Noteworthy
artifacts include artwork and photographs; documents from Revolutionary War
Generals Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski; letters from Polish kings
dating back to the 1500s; the archive of Congressman Dan Rostenkowski; artwork
from the 1939 World’s Fair, such as a stained-glass window; and many
Polish-manufactured model trains. The museum includes both a library and
archives containing thousands of documents (in multiple languages), books,
photographs, videos, music, and oral history recordings on the history and
culture of Poland and Polish Americans. The library itself predates the museum
by twenty years, having been established by in 1915 by the PRCUA, and serves as
the headquarters of the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PMAL). The
library is open to the public, while an appointment is needed to access the
archives. The museum also hosts a number of cultural events, lectures, and
temporary exhibits throughout the year.

The Polish Museum of America is the largest ethnic museum in Chicago and one of the first ethnic museums in the United States. It was founded in 1935 by a Polish fraternal organization in the city’s historically-Polish neighborhood. The museum is focused on preserving Polish history and culture, and contains thousands of artifacts and resources on Poland and Polish Americans. The museum occupies a building that was constructed in 1913 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the museum, the building is also the headquarters for both the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America and the Polish Genealogical Society of America.

The Polish Museum of America

Ukrainian migration to the United States started in the second half of the nineteenth century and came in a series of waves. The first major immigration wave lasted from 1870 to 1899. These immigrants consisted mainly of poor farmworkers seeking better economic opportunities. Many of them settled in the rural areas of Texas, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania; often they took up farming or worked in coal mines. The second wave lasted from 1900 to the beginning of World War I in 1914. These immigrants sought factory jobs and moved to industrial cities such as Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The third wave was from 1920 to 1939; these were political immigrants, driven by the chaos caused by Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1918, and its forced absorption into the Soviet Union four years later. Soviet dominance of Ukraine following World War II spurred another wave from 1948 to 1955, this time consisting of many intellectuals, artists, and political dissidents. The last major wave of immigration came in the 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine regained its independence. Today it is believed that between one and two million Americans are of Ukrainian descent.Chicago is home to the most prominent Ukrainian American community in the United States, in the historic Ukrainian Village neighborhood. Located around the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Chicago Avenue in the West Town area, the neighborhood acquired its identity when Ukrainian immigrants began to outnumber other groups in the early 1900s. Several historic Ukrainian churches, including the St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church, formed the centerpiece of the Ukrainian Village. Ukrainians from every major immigration wave have lived in the neighborhood; it contains a plethora of Ukrainian-owned businesses and cultural institutions. Several portions of the Ukrainian Village have been designated a Chicago Landmark District.The Ukrainian National Museum was established in 1952 by scholars Olexa Hankewych, Julian Kamenetcky, and Orest Horodysky, with financial support from activist Dr. Myroslav Simynovycz. They had come to the United States during the post-World War II immigration wave; their original goal for the museum was to collect and preserve materials that would then be brought back to Ukraine when it became independent again. It has since evolved and now works to preserve Ukrainian culture and educate the public about the history and contributions of Ukrainian Americans. The museum contains thousands of artifacts including large collections of folk art and fine art; religious objects from Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky; items brought by immigrants; and Ukrainian American veteran memorabilia. In addition to hosting events and temporary exhibits on Ukrainian art and history, the museum has several permanent exhibits including ones dedicated to Pysanky (traditional decorated Easter eggs); the Ukrainian pavilion at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair; the 1932-1933 Holodomor genocide; and Ukrainian American veterans. The museum also has a library and archives (open by appointment only) containing thousands of books and documents on Ukraine, Ukrainian immigration, and Ukrainian American organizations.

This Chicago museum was founded in 1952 by Ukrainian scholars fleeing the Soviet Union and offers exhibits and programs that help share Ukrainian history along with the experience and perspectives of Americans of Ukrainian heritage. The museum is located in Chicago's historic Ukrainian Village neighborhood, a longtime center of the Ukrainian American community. The museum contains thousands of artifacts from folk art to war memorabilia and a library and archives. The museum also hosts many programs around the year including art exhibits, cultural activities, and community events.

Ukrainian National Museum 

The National
Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture is the only museum in the nation
dedicated to showing Puerto Rican Art and cultures through out the year.
Residing in the Renovated Humboldt Park Stables and Receptory at 3015 West Division
Street, the museum was founded by Puerto Rican community members in Chicago in
2000 and was added as the latest museum in the park in February of 2012. The building
itself as Queen Anne architectural features designed by Fromman and Jebson
during 1895-1896. During this time, Danish immigrant Jens Jenson was named
superintendent of the park. Currently, the museum is run by president Billy
Ocasio. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the 1940s, there was a significant
wave of Puerto Rican migration in Chicago. Puerto Ricans scattered in multiple
neighborhoods such as Lakeview and Lincoln Park then by the 1960s moved to Humboldt
Park and West Town due to urban renewal programs. As a result, Humboldt became
the official barrio of Chicago. According
to Billy Ocasio, the president of the museum, he thought Humboldt was a perfect
place to hold the museum because it was the center of Puerto Rican culture in
Chicago and as a result, the Stables were used to be the heart and shrine of
Puerto Rican culture. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A
social group called Los Caballeros de San
Juan was involved in promoting the integration of Puerto Rican migrants into
Chicago life. They created the event called the El Dia de San Juan which was later named the famous Puerto Rican
Parade. On the first Puerto Rican parade, however, there was a police shooting
of a young Puerto Rican man
that leads to a riot that also drew flame from police brutality and from unfair
living conditions and aid such as education, housing, health, and employment. Division
Street, the area that held the parade became known as Paseo Boricua which is known for the two Puerto Rican Flags and Puerto
Rican shops and restaurants.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The building
in itself was created to display Humboldt Park as a “pastoral” park. The first function
was to be the office of the then superintendent Jens Jenson. The park was
constructed during a time where Chicagoans were trying to maintain public parks
and create neighborhoods around the parks. By doing so, the city was able to
make more profits from these high paying neighborhoods. The parks were a symbol
of natural beauty that was famous for their recreational paths and horseback. The
206-acre Humboldt Park was meant to be a place to honor Baron Alexander von Humboldt
who was a German naturalist and as an acknowledgment to the surrounding German community.
As the lone standing building in Humboldt, the stables were left vacant for a
number of years during the mid-1900’s. It wasn’t until 1990 where the Chicago
Park District made plans to restore the historic site which was finished in
1997. The Puerto Rican Museum then inhabited in the stables and opened in 2007.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Today,
the National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture hosts a variety of
workshops and exhibits that teach kids, teens, and adults artistic and creative
skills that are focused around Puerto Rican Culture. Aimed to teach young
Puerto Ricans about their ancestors’ history on the island, the art workshops teach
kids about painting, making collages, and sculpting. In addition, the current
exhibits reflect the Puerto Rican history such as the “Circo de la Ausencia,” “Expresion
de Barrio” and “Galeria Chicago.” They also host various events that recognize events
that have had happened to Puerto Ricans through out history. For example, they are
holding the 5th annual Raices Gala which is the anniversary of
Hurricane Maria and acknowledgment of the restoration of Puerto Rico. They are also
hosting a Barrio Arts Fest that brings local artists, performers, and cooks together.&nbsp;The
National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture do what they can to maintain
the historic significance of Puerto Ricans.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture do
what they can to maintain the historic significance of Puerto Ricans. In the eyes
of the nation, the museum is the only facility that is invested in celebrating and
showing Puerto Rican culture as the main focus. In the eyes of Puerto Ricans, the
museum is a center of their heritage. While other museums may offer snippets of
Puerto Rican history in temporary exhibits, the National Museum offers a
complete exposure of years of Puerto Rican history. The Museum and the
neighborhood have transformed from being a German, Eastern-centric that has only
been intended to be a natural relief to an urbanizing Chicago, to the heart of Chicago’s
Puerto Rican culture that hosts to the Puerto Rican Parade and has been a home
for them. The National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture gives Chicago
Puerto Rican youth an opportunity to understand their heritage and culture in a
deeper and more interactive setting that would surely live on for years to
come.

Located in the historic Humboldt Park Stables and Receptory, the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture was founded in 2001 to celebrate Puerto Rican heritage and culture. The center offers seasonal exhibitions and programming as well as community and art programs exhibitions, workshops, films, and an arts & crafts festival.  The museum has a courtyard decorated with mosaic artwork, two galleries, performance spaces, and art classrooms.  Current renovations are set to include a café, a gift shop, and the main gallery.  

National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture

The number of
Cambodians immigrating to the United States was negligible until 1975. That
year the Communist Party of Kampuchea, commonly known as the Khmer Rouge,
seized control of the Southeast Asian country after a bloody civil war. Over
the next several years the Khmer Rouge attempted to transform Cambodia into a
classless agrarian society and launched a brutal campaign of genocide to crush
any dissent. Intellectuals and the well-educated in particular were targeted;
city residents were forced into labor camps; doctors, teachers, scientists,
activists, artists, monks, the wealthy, and people from minority groups faced
execution. Many were gunned down en masse and buried in open spaces that were
soon dubbed “killing fields.” More than two million people were killed over a
four-year span. In 1979 Vietnam invaded Cambodia and removed the Khmer Rouge
regime. 

Hundreds of thousands
of Cambodians immigrated to the United States during and immediately after the
Khmer Rouge regime. Most settled in Massachusetts and California, but several
thousand came to Chicago, where they concentrated in the Uptown and Albany Park
neighborhoods. Today it is estimated around 3,000 or more Cambodians and their
descendants live in the city. In 1976 the Cambodian Association of Illinois was
formed; originally a chapter of the Cambodian Association of America, it
separated to become an independent entity in 1983. The society’s original
mission was to provide support services to help Cambodian immigrants adjust to
life in America. It provided aid, offered English lessons, and taught
Cambodians how to do tasks such as rent apartments and go grocery shopping.
Today the association’s goals have shifted more towards keeping the Cambodian
American community connected; preserving its culture; and remembering the
Cambodian Genocide. 

In 1998 the Cambodian
Association of Illinois purchased a building on Lawrence Avenue with the intent
of opening a museum and memorial. Over a million dollars in funding was raised
for construction and renovations. The Cambodian American Heritage Museum and
Killing Fields Memorial opened to the public in 2004. In 2015 the museum was
incorporated as an independent entity (while still a part of the CAI) and
changed its name to the National Cambodian Heritage Museum &amp; Killing Fields
Memorial. The museum currently contains one permanent exhibit, “Remembering the
Killing Fields,” which tells the story of the Cambodian Genocide with images
and artifacts from the event. Another section of the building houses the
Killing Fields Memorial, the first permanent monument to the victims of the
Cambodian Genocide. It includes a Wall of Remembrance, where a growing list of
victims is etched onto a series of glass panels. The museum still serves as the
headquarters of the Cambodian Association of Illinois, which operates a gift
shop and a research library containing various resources on Cambodia, Cambodian
Americans, Buddhism, and the Khmer language. The museum and CAI also operate a
cultural arts program that offers traditional dance, music, and language
lessons.

The National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Cambodia and connecting the Cambodian American community together. Much of the museum is focused on the Cambodian Genocide, during which over two million people died under the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. It is one of only two Cambodian museums in the United States and is home to the Killing Fields Memorial, the first permanent monument to the victims of the Cambodian Genocide. The museum is also home to the Cambodian Association of Illinois, which provides support services to the state’s Cambodian American community and offers a variety of cultural and language classes. It is a member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance.

National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial

Historically
Germans have made up one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States.
Nearly six million immigrated to America from 1820-1930; they were compelled to
leave Germany for reasons such as population growth, poverty, religious persecution,
and war. Many German immigrants in the mid-1800s chose to settle in the Great
Plains. Many passed through Chicago on the journey west; some skilled workers
and their families decided to stay in the new, growing city. As early as 1850,
Germans and those of German descent made up the largest ethnicity in Chicago. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s the German American community
remained connected through a variety of fraternal organizations, clubs,
churches, businesses, and German-language newspapers; many Chicago public
schools even had German language programs. Expression of German cultural declined
sharply due to the World Wars, and many of these groups vanished or were
Anglicized. As relations between the United States and Germany began to improve
in the 1950s, some German Americans sought the creation of a national
organization to represent their interests. These efforts were spearheaded by
Leonard Enders, the editor of a German newspaper, who published an editorial
calling for such an organization. On December 12, 1958, a group of German
American representatives gathered in Chicago and founded the Deutsch
Amerikanischer National Kongress (German American National Congress) also known
as DANK. Since then, DANK has worked to preserve and promote German language
and culture in the United States. In 1987 it successfully lobbied to have
October 6 designated national German American Day. Today DANK has chapters all
over the nation; it operates a series of German language schools and publishes
a bi-monthly German and English magazine, the German-American Journal. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Chicago’s DANK Haus German American Cultural Center was
established in 1967 by the Chicago North chapter of DANK. The group purchased a
six-story, 77,000 square foot building constructed in Lincoln Square, a historically-German
neighborhood. Built in 1927, it was designed by German American architect Paul
Gerhardt Sr., who designed numerous public and commercial buildings in the
Chicago area. It originally housed a fraternal organization called the Three
Links Association. DANK Haus today is one of the centers of German American
culture in Chicago. In addition to housing the Chicago North chapter, the
cultural center also serves as the meeting place for numerous smaller German
clubs and societies. It houses a language school, offering courses for people
of all ages as well as classes in German history and theater. &nbsp;The center is home to the DANK Haus Museum,
containing artifacts on Chicago’s German American community; the Scharpenberg
Art Gallery, featuring rotating art and history exhibits; and the DANK
Bibliothek (DANK Library) which contains over 7,000 mostly-German-language
books. Several rooms are offered as venues to rent for events, such as the
Marunde Ballroom, Skyline Lounge, and Brandenburg Room.

The DANK Haus German American Cultural Center in Chicago is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of German language and culture. The center has its roots with DANK, the German American National Congress, which was founded in 1959. The current building in Lincoln Square was purchased in 1967. The cultural center hosts a variety of events exploring German heritage, culture, and language. It also serves as the meeting place for many German clubs, and is home to a language school, a museum, a library, and an art gallery. It is a member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance. 

DANK Haus German American Cultural Center

Kurt Mathiasson, a Swedish immigrant, opened the
Swedish American Museum in 1976 inside a small log cabin. Wanting to preserve
Swedish culture in America, Mathiasson displayed family histories within the
museum.&nbsp; In 1987, the museum moved to its
current location and was visited by the King of Sweden.&nbsp; The museum underwent a major renovation in
1997 to house a new gallery and the Nordiska Museet exhibit.&nbsp; In 2000-2001, the museum opened its permanent
exhibits and the Children’s museum.

Located in Chicago's Swedish cultural center Andersonville, the Swedish American Museum is the “cultural center for the education, celebration and interpretation of Swedish American history and culture in Chicago, Illinois” (“About”).  The museum serves to honor and celebrate Swedish culture, history, customs, traditions, and the Swedish immigrant experience.  

Home to over 12,000 artifacts, the museum has a special exhibits gallery that hosts 4 exhibits a year as well as a permanent exhibit entitled “The Dream of America-Swedish Immigration to Chicago” that is updated annually; the exhibit is about immigration to Chicago at the end of the 1800s and features artifacts, immigrant experiences, and immigrant perspectives.  The 24,000 square foot museum hosts events, language classes, programs, and field trips, as well as the Brunk Children's Museum and the Nordic Family Genealogy Center.  

Museums of Chicago Tour

National Veterans Art Museum

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