Windy City Historians Podcast

Christopher Lynch & Patrick McBriarty
Windy City Historians Podcast

This is not your Grandad's podcast - WELCOME to the Windy City Historians (WCH) Podcast! Windy City Historians Podcast is a podcast on and about Chicago history for anyone curious about the Windy City hosted by authors and historians Christopher Lynch & Patrick McBriarty. Started in March 2019, we share Chicago history and some great Chicago stories.

  1. 9 SEPT

    Special Episode – Buzzing Through Time

    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 The 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 broods in a cacophony of ear-shattering buzzing.   The last time these broods coincided was in 1803, the same year Fort Dearborn was built near the lakefront at a bend in the Chicago River -- what is now the intersection of Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue.  For those paying attention walking through this intersection will see rectangular brass inserts marking the boundaries of Fort Dearborn. It turns out the arrival of the 17-year cicadas offers an interesting metronome for the study of Chicago history.  These emergences have come at momentous times throughout the city’s history, and coincide with at least two events memorialized as stars on the Chicago flag. Join the Windy City Historians as we buzz through 221 years of history to see how cicadas left their mark on Chicago’s history.  Links to Research and Historic Sources: The New York Times had a fabulous article called “Maps of Two Cicada Broods, Revealed after 221 years,” by Jonathan Forum Biography of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Botanist Harry A. Allard (1880-1962) “Where billions of cicadas will emerge this spring (and over the next decade), in one map” by Brian Resnick, Vox website, May 3, 2024 Biography of William B. Ogden, Wikipedia website The Peshtigo Fire, Wisconsin Historical Society website, historical essay Goose Island: From the Encyclopedia of Chicago website Benjamin Harrison, The biography for President Harrison and past presidents is courtesy of the White House Historical Association History of the Chicago Defender, Chicago Defender website Biography of Marian Anderson in Wikipedia website YouTube video on , John F. Kennedy nominates Adlai Stevenson in 1955 Album details of Louis Armstrong Chicago Concert - 1956 on Discogs website Biography of Mike Royko on Wikipedia website Exhibit Looks at Legendary Chicago Journalist Mike Royko and a Changing Media Industry, by Marc Vitali | August 23, 2024 4:07 pm on WTTW website The Sears Tower on Wikipedia website "Cicada Map of Chicago’s Suburbs" By NBC 5 Staff • Published May 23, 2024 • Updated on May 23, 2024 at 12:43 pm

    50 min
  2. 28/05/2023

    Episode 29 – The 1919 Race Riots

    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 on March 3rd, 1991 and so on cascading back to the stoning and subsequent drowning of Eugene Williams on July 27th, 1919 off Chicago's 29th Street Beach. The violence inflicted on these three men (and countless others) focused outrage to rally outcries, spark civil unrest and riots lasting multiple days. The conditions fanning the flames did not occur in a vacuum nor isolation, but built over time, due to compounding slights, inequality, and oppression. Although intermittent riots sprang up in different eras and regions of the country, the basic facts were the same; Black men were killed or beaten by white policemen or in Eugene Williams’ case, stones thrown and the palpable anger of whites against Blacks caused the drowning of the 17 year-old. In the aftermath of these deaths and days of violence people asked, “Why did this happen?” In Windy City Historians podcast Episode 29 - “The Chicago Race Riots of 1919” we explore the conditions of that hot, “Red Summer”, where Chicago, (and other cities) wrestled with the chaos of civil unrest. Through interviews with Claire Hartfield, the author of “A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919”, as well as commentary from Professor Charles Branham, Ph.D. we walk through the riot’s lasting legacy on Chicago, it's Black community, and the many questions raised by an oppressive summer a century ago. Questions that are still being raised today, more than a century later. Robert S. Abbott, Publisher of the Chicago Defender Crowd in front of a storefront during the race riots in 1919. Examples of 1919 Commemoration Project glass blocks Crowd of men and National Guard Soldiers at tail end of 1919 Riots Black Veteran encounters National Guard Soldier during Riots. Black Veterans defended their neighborhoods from whites, while Guardsmen's job was to quell violence. Links to Research and Historic Sources: "Chicago Race Riots of 1919" by Julius L. Jones, Chicago History Museum Blog "Chicago Race Riots", Chicago Encyclopedia "City on Fire: Chicago Race Riot 1919", by Natalie Moore, WBEZChicago, Nov. 23, 2019 "Carl Sandburg and the Chicago Race Riots of 1919", Carl Sandburg Home, National Park Service, website Carl Sandburg poem “I am the People, the Mob” by Poetry in Voice 2016 winner Marie Foolchand at the Griffin Poetry Prize awards - audio used in this episode (at 39:20) In Memoriam, August Meier, by David Levering Lewis, Perspectives on History, Sept. 1, 2003 The book, “A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919” by Claire Hartfield The book, ”City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster that Gave Birth to Modern Chicago” by Gary Krist. "Black Soldiers in American Wars: Chicago's 'Fighting 8th' and the 370th Regiment" from Black History Heros Blog "Flashback: Chicago’s first black alderman sat as the lone African-American voice on the city's council - and then, Congress", by Christen A. Johnson, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 14, 2023 The book,

    1 hr
  3. 31/03/2022

    Episode 27 – The Great Migration

    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 Baptiste Point DeSable became Chicago’s first non-indigenous settler; African Americans in large numbers began leaving southern States and moving to the north, which historians now call “The Great Migration”.  Their motives were that of people everywhere seeking jobs, opportunity, and a better life. Northern States offered jobs and a relief from the weight of Jim Crow. For many Chicago had became a beacon of hope as Black-owned newspapers and in particular the “Chicago Defender”, distributed by Pullman Porters, gave hope to generations of former slaves, farmers, and sharecroppers.  Beginning as early as the 1880s and then from approximately 1910 to the 1970, rural southern Blacks by the thousands made their way north throughout these decades. And, just as the journey changed them, their music, culture, and customs changed Chicago.  Northern cities, and Chicago in particular, were not always welcoming, as decent  housing was scarce as restrictive covenants and red-lining forced African Americans to live in "The Black Belt”. This tightly constrained strip of blocks on the city's south side, initially between 22nd and 31st Streets, later extending south to 39th and eventually to 95th Street and roughly sandwiched between the railroad tracks of the Rock Island on the west and Illinois Central to the east.  But even with forced segregation, many black businesses thrived, and a sense of place was established creating Bronzeville and its famous “Stroll”. Join the Windy City Historians as we delve into the Great Migration with Dr. Charles Brahnam, author and professor, and the perfect guide to take us on a journey into the Great Migration. A trip populated by famous brave and fearless black Chicagoans such as Ida B. Wells, Oscar DePriest, and Robert S. Abbott and into a better understand of this massive cultural shift for the nation and Chicago in particular. King Oliver Jazz Band Links to Research and Historic Sources: "The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration", by Isabel Wilkerson for Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 2016Great Migration from Encyclopedia of Chicago websiteDr. Charles Russell Branham interview on C-SpanSteve Green story from the Arkansas Encyclopedia websiteIllinois Gov. Len Small from Wikipedia (Please note in our interview we say he was governor, but at the time of the Steve Green story he was involved in Illinois politics but not yet governor.)Ida B Wells: WTTW Chicago StoriesIda B. Wells biography from the Black Past websiteIda B. Wells-Burnett biography from the Women's History websiteFerdinand Lee Barnett's biography from the Black Past websiteRobert S Abbott biography on WikipediaOscar Stanton De Priest biography on WikipediaEdward Herbert Wright biography on WikipediaJesse Binga biography on WikipediaCarter G. Woodson biography on WikipediaChicago Race Riot of 1919 on WikipediaJim Crow laws from Wikipedia"History of Lynching in America" from the NAACP websiteA recommended book, THE DEFENDER: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America From the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama By Ethan MichaeliBoll weevil devastation from WikipediaPullman Porters from WikipediaThe Jones Boys, "From Riots to Renaissance: Policy Kings" from WTTW's websiteThe Incredible History and Cultural Legacy of the Bronzeville Neighborhood f...

    58 min
  4. 28/01/2022

    Episode 26 – 1909

    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, rename, and rationalize street names and addresses across the city. 1909 also ushered in a momentous intellectual shift in perceptions of what Chicago was and could be. Authored by architects Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett The Plan of Chicago offered an idyllic and revolutionary vision for Windy City that still resonate. Join us in this episode as we interview cartographer, historian, and geographer Dennis McClendon to delve into these concrete and esoteric plans that forever changed the physicality and vision of Chicago. Plans and improvements that are still relevant and reverberate acros Chicago's streets, city planning, development and architecture to this day. Edward Brennan in 1926Excerpt from the Street Renaming Directory of 1909Bird's eye view rendering from The Plan of ChicagoMap of the central business district from The Plan of ChicagoDaniel Burnham & Edward Bennett Links to Research and Historic Sources: More about cartographer, historian, & geographer Dennis McClendonHistory of 3-principal mapping companies in the U. S.: Rand McNally, H.N. Gousha, and General DraftingEdward Brennan, author of Chicago's street renaming and renumbering systemPhiladelphia Street Numbering system explainedFurlong system explainedOverview of the "Roads and expressways in Chicago" in Wikipedia"Old Addresses" article on the pre-1909 addresses from the Forgotten Chicago websiteChicagoland Books & Files including the Chicago Street Renaming & Renumbering Directories of 1909 from the Living History of Illinois websiteMilwaukee's Street Renaming & Renumbering from the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee websiteOverview of The Plan of Chicago from the Chicago Architecture Center websiteBiography of Daniel Burnham from the Chicago Public Library website"Who was Edward Bennett? And why has he been overshadowed for a century by Daniel Burnham?" by Patrick Reardon on the Burnham Plan Centennial websiteWacker's Manual as described by the Chicago Architecture Center website"'Big Bill' Thompson: Chicago's unfiltered mayor," by Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune article Feb. 5, 2016Chicago's Midway (formerly Municipal) Airport history from the Encyclopedia of Chicago "Chicago's Municipal Pier," (#2, now Navy Pier) from Chicagology websiteNortherly Island from the Chicago Architecture Center website"Displaced: When the Eisenhower Expressway Moved in Who Was Moved Out?" by Robert Loerzel from the WBEZ websiteMcMillan Plan for the Washington D.C. "mall" from WikipediaChicago's Millennium Park from Wikipedia

    1h 29m
  5. 28/10/2021

    Episode 25 – A Book and A Beer: George Ade and the Old-Time Saloon

    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 decades since his musical comedies were performed. But from the 1890s to the early 20th century, he was compared to Mark Twain, a friend of his, and had not just one, but two hit plays on Broadway at the same time. Ade earned so much money from his successful books, plays and syndicated newspaper columns, he built an English Tutor on a 400-acre estate in Indiana, named Hazelden. There Ade threw big parties and was visited there by U.S. Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Calvin Coolidge. In fact, Taft began his Presidential campaign of 1908 from Hazelden. Ade's name lives on through his philanthropy, like the donation of 65 acres, with fellow alum David E. Ross, to Purdue University, for a football stadium in 1924, which is now known as Ross-Ade Stadium. What was true then about Ade’s writing is also true now, and that is Ade’s stories are hilarious. His final book “The Old Time Saloon” (1931) is laugh-out-loud funny and a recent edition from the University of Chicago Press is annotated by Bill Savage. Bill Savage, Ph.D. is a professor of English at Northwestern University and our guide through not only the work “The Old-Time Saloon: Not Wet - Not Dry, Just History” and this podcast. Dr. Savage paints a picture of the Chicago Ade knew from the high-class Saloons downtown to the more seedy establishments frequented by his friend, Finely Peter Dunne, whose literary bartender, Martin T. Dooley, delighted a nation with his quips. Writers like Ade and Dunne started out as journalists, and along the way captured the rhythms of speech and the vernacular of the working man, and in doing so gave birth to a new type of literature. A style practiced later by authors such as James Farrell, Nelson Algren, Mike Royko and Stuart Dybek. We hope you will enjoy this dive into Chicago's literary and drinking past. Links to Research and Historic Sources: The book, The Old-Time Saloon by George Ade Chicago writer and author George Ade (1866-1944)Ross-Ade Stadium at Purdue UniversityNorthwestern Professor of English Bill Savage, Ph.D.Hazelden (George Ade House) in Brook, IndianaChicago writer and author Peter Finley Dunne (1867-1937)Mr.Dooley on the Immigration Problem (1898) adapted from the writings of Finley Peter Dunne, performed by Alexander Kulcsar.“Who’s Your Chinaman?”: The Origins Of An Offensive Piece Of Chicago Political Slang By Monica EngEra of "Hinky Dink" Kenna and "Bathhouse John” Coughlin from the Encyclopedia of Chicago"Mickey Finn: The Chicago Bartender Who Infamously Drugged And Robbed Patrons With Laced Drinks," By Natasha Ishak Published September 24, 2019The Everleigh Club from WikipediaChicago Daley News Building (Riverside Plaza) from WikipediaDouglas Copeland’s novel “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”Straw Hat Ettiquette from the Vintage Dancer websiteLiz Garibay's website: History on Tap"The Dry Season" by Steve Rhodes, published June 22, 2007 in Chicago MagazineThe book, The World Is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood (Chicago Visions and Revisions) by Carlo Rotella (2019)Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap from the Chicago Bar Project websiteAmerican novelist and journalist, Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) in WikipediaWriter, poet, and author, Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)The book Native Son by Richard Wright (1908-196...

    56 min

About

This is not your Grandad's podcast - WELCOME to the Windy City Historians (WCH) Podcast! Windy City Historians Podcast is a podcast on and about Chicago history for anyone curious about the Windy City hosted by authors and historians Christopher Lynch & Patrick McBriarty. Started in March 2019, we share Chicago history and some great Chicago stories.

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