Episode 18 – The Year 1893
For most historians if you mention Chicago and the year 1893, they will immediately think of the World’s Colombian Exposition. However, there was much more going on in Chicago during that year that still resonates today. Beyond the excitement surrounding the Fair, 1893 was pivotal for the many new contributions, innovations, and changes that impacted...
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Episode 17 – The Haymarket
Why is May Day a holiday celebrated all over the world, but not in the United States? The answer is piece of Chicago history pointing to the events culminating at Haymarket Square on May 4th, 1886.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:48 — 53.9MB)
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Episode 16: The Second Star – The Fire
There is one story well-known throughout the world about the Windy City and a cow kicking over a lantern that set the Great Chicago Fire in motion. The fact that the story of Catherine O’Leary’s cow is totally false seems not to matter, as this wrong-headed legend continues to perpetuate itself with the general public. ...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:44 — 54.7MB)
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Episode 15: The Stockyards
In the Spring of 2020, one of the first cracks in the American economy with Covid-19 was the closing of several meatpacking plants in the United States. The nature of the process with workers stationed in close proximity to one another, poorly ventilated spaces, and often arduous work conditions and practices became a breeding ground...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:58 — 55.0MB)
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Episode 14: A Brewing City
Chicago has a long history of brewing and distilling; of taverns, pubs, and saloons; of alcohol distribution and consumption so we hope you will soak up this episode on the history of alcohol and its impact on the city. This episode of the Windy City Historians podcast is a historic concoction ranging across Chicago’s history...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:38 — 63.8MB)
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Episode 13: Early Chicago
In this episode of our “Laying the Foundation” series of the Windy City Historians we explore an often ignored and long forgotten era and complete our interview with Dr. Ann Durkin Keating. We tap into the history of Juliette Kinzie and the city’s early wheelers and dealers as it rises up out of the swampy prairie landscape along...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:40 — 51.0MB)
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Special Episode: Don’t Sneeze, Cough or Spit!
The contagion began suddenly in the northern suburbs of Chicago and floated south toward the city like an invisible cloud. Soon restaurants, saloons, and theaters were closed and the police had the power to break up crowds and arrest individuals for spitting, coughing or sneezing in public. Public funerals were forbidden and elective surgeries canceled. ...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:21 — 85.5MB)
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Episode 12: The First Star – part two
Fort Dearborn at the beginning of the War of 1812 . . . is it a Battle or a Massacre? How should we, in the twenty-first century, talk about the events that occurred on Chicago’s lakefront on August 15, 1812 — a month-and-a-half after the declaration of war? How do we describe what happened to...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:07 — 57.9MB)
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Episode 11: The First Star
Did you realize each of the four stars on the Chicago Flag represent important dates in Chicago history? The two blue stripes on the flag have a special meaning as well. In this Episode we will discuss the events running up to the Fort Dearborn Massacre which is represented by the first star on Chicago’s...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:49 — 54.8MB)
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Episode 10: The First Murder
Founded in 1803, Chicago’s Fort Dearborn is the western most outpost on the frontier, and by 1812 still the most isolated fort in Indian Country. The garrison and few settlers are outnumbered five-to-one by the neighboring tribes within a day’s ride. A pivotal year in Chicago history the corner of today’s Wacker Drive and Michigan...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:14 — 56.1MB)
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Episode 9: The First Scandal
Early settlement of Chicago begins, Fort Dearborn is established at this outpost in Indian Country and it gets entangled in Chicago's first scandal.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:21 — 55.3MB)
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Episode 8 : The First Settler
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines settler as, “a person who goes to live in a new place where usually there are few or no people”. Native Americans have lived in the greater Chicago area for approximately 10,000 years dating back to the last ice age. Dependent on long lost oral histories we have no clear records...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:47 — 61.2MB)
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