A Hoosier Holiday, In Chicago’s Loop

Tour popular landmarks in the Windy City. Through Hoosier eyes, consider the intersection of Illinois and Indiana history and art. Topics we recall include the Indiana Dunes, Frank Dudley (Painter of the Dunes), Charles Yerkes (ex-convict turned transportation visionary), Theodore Dreiser (American novelist) and the Hoosier Salon (a juried art exhibition).

Big Ideas and the Rise of Chicago

Over a period of just sixty years, frontier land of sand dunes and swamp was re-imagined into to a modern, cutting-edge metropolis — which also became the center of the whole world for six months of 1893! Chicago’s total transformation is considered in terms of remarkable ideas that were realized, and in spite of obstacles and setbacks along the way.

Chicago Engineered, the Taming of the Swamp

Mother Nature left Chicago’s landscape promising yet problematic. It took clever engineers to orchestrate imaginative and sometimes daring edits to Chicago’s terrain, and consequently, to build the city with the big shoulders. In looking back, we salute the problem solvers and workers who made swampland hospitable and safe for big city life.

Vanished: Monumental Art at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

Time travel back to virtually stroll the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and view the monumental sculptures that decorated the buildings, bridges, lagoons, as well as private viewing rooms. Learn exciting history behind these mostly temporary sculptures that dazzled before they disappeared.

Signposts on the Prairie

• Part I: A Passport to Where Illinois Began
  Take a virtual road trip — to Little Egypt — and learn why Southern Illinois is considered to be Where Illinois Began. Along the way, we will encounter signposts that recall prehistoric Illinois; early French settlement in the American Bottom; a consequential Revolutionary War campaign; and more. All this learning will be accented with recreational stops as well, including a virtual hike at a National Natural Landmark.
• Part II: Traces Out of the Wilderness
  Explore Northern Illinois, scouting out signposts that direct our attention back to significant turning points in Illinois history. Glean insight into how Northern Illinois attracted early settlers and how, consequently, the wilderness years were left behind.
• Part III: Passage Across a Deep Divide
  We return to a time of increasing lawlessness and violence, when the nation was half slave and half free. In the words of Lincoln, “the pillars of the temple of liberty…have crumbled away.” Through the prism of Central Illinois signposts, we glean how American traditions would be reborn. By the light of messengers in the night, the future was vast.

Prehistoric Illinois

Time-travel back — just a moment in geologic time — and encounter mastodons, mammoths and early Paleoindian hunters. Experience warming temperatures and an ‘entirely new’ environment following the retreat of the last glacier. Consider Illinois’ vast and ever changing past through the prism of prehistoric signposts.

Chicago Holiday Traditions – Old and New

Virtually tour popular holiday attractions in Millennium Park and the Chicago Loop. Enjoy local history and art while reveling in this most wonderful time of the year!

Giants in the Park (a four-part series)

[Chicago Writers Association 2011Book ofthe Year; Illinois State Historical Society2014 and 2017 CertificatesofExcellence]
Explore Lincoln Park – Chicago’s largest park — and encounter GIANTS. Learn important history memorialized by the park’s enduring bronze statues: stories about the heroes, the artists, the benefactors, and the unveiling ceremonies.

For more information, contact Krista via the contact form at the bottom.

“ The residents really enjoyed your talk – great buzz around the community today.”

— senior living community program coordinator