American History
“Other Washingtons” is an art intervention located around the George Washington statue at 51st Street and Martin Luther King Drive that features artists, inventors, educators and other inspirational leaders, all with the last name Washington.
As the country faces unprecedented affordability crises, rising mental and physical health issues, and a polarizing political climate, a new documentary seeks to discover whether the American Dream can be realized.
Emmett Till was a Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a White woman in Mississippi. Till was 14 years old. Following Till’s murder, his mother insisted on an open casket funeral to show his mutilated body.
‘Awesome.’ ‘Sad.’ ‘Let’s Keep Democracy Going.’ Americans Weigh In on State of a 250-Year-Old Nation
Across the United States, many Americans are celebrating their country’s 250th birthday by closing their ears to all the partisan shouting. Instead, in varied ways, they are tuning into their own personal concepts of America the Beautiful.
Americans nationwide are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States, marked by the signing of the Declaration of Independence. However, the country’s origins started before English settlers claimed the land as their own.
WTTW News visited the Obama Presidential Center for a firsthand look at the exhibits, installations and everything in between.
Here is a look at Juneteenth, the oldest known U.S. celebration of the end of slavery. On June 19, 1865, over two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved African Americans in Texas were told they were free.
WTTW News got a sneak peek of the Obama Presidential Center: Here’s what visitors can expect from the museum and the broader campus.
“Unheard Voices of Care: Filipino Nurses in America” runs until Aug. 2 at the International Museum of Surgical Science. The exhibit highlights stories of Filipino nurses from the 1940s to present day.
The Weber family will mark 80 years since arriving in the U.S. with a May 20 screening of “UnBroken” at the Wayfarer Theater in Highland Park, hosted by the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
The road that helped stitch the nation together with automobile travel turns 100 this year. As the starting point for Route 66, Illinois plays a central role in launching centennial celebrations.
The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday is releasing eight stamps marking significant parts of the road in each of the states it traverses, passing by vintage diners, gas stations and motels — many since preserved or restored — along with breathtaking vistas and wide horizons of the open road.
Peabody and Emmy Award-winning producer Rita Coburn is offering a fresh way to look back on the legacy of civil rights pioneer and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois.
It’s been nearly 105 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre claimed the lives of hundreds of Black Tulsans. Over the course of two days in 1921, a mob of White people terrorized and burned down a thriving Black community known colloquially as Black Wall Street.
Route 66 marks its 100th anniversary this year. Despite losing its status decades ago as one of the nation’s main arteries, people from around the world still flock to it to take perhaps the quintessential American road trip and soak in its neon lights, kitschy motels and attractions, and culinary offerings.
A recent New York Times investigation found that Cesar Chavez sexually abused both young girls who worked in his movement and union co-founder Dolores Huerta.