Windy City Historians Podcast is a podcast on and about Chicago history for anyone curious about the Windy City hosted by authors Christopher Lynch and Patrick McBriarty.
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The Windy City Historians so enjoyed talking with John William Nelson Ph.D. Associate Professor of History at Texas State University about his book Muddy Ground ; Native Peoples, Chicago’s Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent we revisit this discussion. With so much ground of the Chicago landscape traversed by both European and Native peoples to cover, muddy or not, we are returning for…
In the Twentieth Century, Chicago’s Midway Airport had a sign that read “Crossroads of the World,” and during its heyday Midway literally was the aviation center of the world. From a historical perspective the same has been true for Chicago reaching back a century earlier as a critical hub of the railroads, during the Industrial Age as a center for trade and manufacturing, and for centuries before…
In this special episode of the Windy City Historians we revisit our discussion of 17th Century French explorer Jean Nicolet with the late historian John Swenson, J.D.. This was his last interview in which, John presents a new take, context, and history of Samuel de Champlain and Jean Nicolet’s adventures to establish New France, after the colony was taken by English privateers in 1629. Join us to…
In this Special Episode we take a view of Chicago History — Cicada style. For in the world of entomology, 2024 was a big year. As two cicada broods T he Great Southern Brood , which emerge every 13-years and is the largest of all periodical cicada broods and The Northern Illinois Brood which emerges every 17-years, coincided in 2024. In places like Springfield, Illinois one could witness both…
Chicago is blessed to still have two daily newspapers, while many other U.S. cities are lucky to have one. And too many these days have none. In light of such loss, it is remarkable to learn that at one time, Chicago had at least nine newspapers and in that age reporters and editors would do just about anything to get a scoop. The era is epitomized by the stage play “The Front Page” authored by…
All too often history repeats itself — with tragic results. During the last 100-years, the killing of one person becomes symbolic and spawns a larger tragedy. Irregularly bubbling to the surface these crises rise from elemental rents and systemic failures in the fabric of society. We call to mind the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th, 2020 and beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles…
We are still living with many of the changes brought about by the Great War. The war to end all wars as World War I was called and the war’s impacts dramatically changed Chicago and the world. As we discuss, WWI tipped society to institute Prohibition, playing the national anthem at sporting events, spurred The Great Migration, suppressed of Chicago’s German culture, and made Jazz popular. All of…
In American history, we were taught that pioneers and homesteaders moved from east to west settling the continent in the greater pursuit of “Manifest Destiny” — killing and obfuscating the First Nations peoples’ way of life. However, another American pattern often overlooked is the migration from south to the north. Starting less than a century after a Black man of Haitian decent named Jean…
In 1909 Chicago changed dramatically both physically and intellectually. Having grown through fits and starts via annexation and experiencing the most rapid population growth of any city in history, to that point, the Chicago City Council approved a new street and address system in 1908. The new address system took effect in 1909 and employed the Philadelphia and furlong systems to renumber,…
The path to riches is not often associated with journalism, but in the case of George Ade, writing for Chicago newspapers was his road to wealth and fame. Ade, (1866-1944) who was born and raised in Kentland, Indiana, attended Purdue University and then came to Chicago to work as a reporter in the heydays of newspapers. Today George Ade is rarely remembered, with his books out of print, and…
