Geoffrey Baer shares the history of Chicago’s original tiny houses – coach houses – in this installment of Ask Geoffrey. 

When a local real estate agent decided to commission a mural, he chose to include a prominent figure who has made history as the first black woman to become mayor of Chicago. We visit South Shore for a look.

According to data released by the Chicago Police Department, the city saw 105 homicides in July — an increase of 138% compared to July 2019. Despite that increase, police say overall crime numbers are trending down.

For about 70 years, Chicago boys who were chronic school-skippers were sent to a residential facility in a bucolic setting that was once WTTW’s neighbor. Our own history teacher Geoffrey Baer explains.

The new documentary “A Most Beautiful Thing” tells the story of Manley High School’s rowing team on Chicago’s West Side. We speak with some of the men featured in the film.

The short film written and produced by Lookingglass Theatre’s J. Nicole Brooks premieres Monday to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the start of 1919 Chicago race riots.

It’s not so glamorous anymore, but there was a time when people clamored to enjoy the novelty of eating fast food from the comfort of their cars. Geoffrey Baer serves up some fast food history with a side of super signs in this week’s Ask Geoffrey.

The movement to rename Douglas Park after Frederick Douglass had hit a bureaucratic brick wall. Recent shifts in the political and social landscape encouraged activists to keep forging ahead with their campaign, which relaunches Saturday.

They’re rare now, but rooftop water tanks once stood sentinel atop every large building in the city, keeping them safe from threat of fire.

A look back at Chicago’s deadly heat wave — and how it compares to the coronavirus pandemic — with Eric Klinenberg, author of the 2002 book, “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.”

When Diane McCoy Lee was named “Top Teen in Public Housing” in a 1962 Chicago Housing Authority contest, she was a straight-A student. But just a few years later, she was a college dropout in an abusive marriage.

Geoffrey Baer has the scoop on some Chicago ice cream history.

If you’ve ever marveled at archive footage of old Chicago in a WTTW documentary, chances are good it came from Walt Keevil’s north suburban basement.

When Nazis sought to march in Skokie in 1978, they did not get their wish. Residents resisted and six years later opened a storefront museum whose mission remains to “take a stand” against bias.

Geoffrey Baer shares the story of a clash between women’s suffragists and anti-lynching activists.

When it comes to Midwest brewing, Chicago tends to get overshadowed by neighboring cities. The revival of a popular early Chicago beer aims to prove the sudsy beverage has always been a vital part of the city’s economic and social life.