Member Events

Public events hosted by members of Chicago Collections.

We encourage you to check back as new events are added regularly.

CCC Members:  Share your Chicago-related events with us today by using the form found HERE

November/December

Bronzeville Historical Society

Interview and book signing with
Attorney James Montgomery
Saturday, November 5, 2022
1:00 P.M. - 2:30 P.M.
In-person event - register HERE

Bronzeville Historical Society welcomes Attorney James Montgomery to reveal his own story in a personal interview with a live audience. The event is supported in part by the University of Illinois Black Alumni Network and the University of Illinois Student Success Inclusion and Belonging. Autographed books will be available for purchase at the event.
SEATS ARE LIMITED.
Event Details.

September/October

Art Exhibit - Media Burn Archive

Friday, September 16, 2022
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Loyola University School of Communication
51 E Pearson St Chicago IL 60611
More information found HERE

Midwest Style-Writing with PENGO, EAST, and Dulce María Díaz - Newberry Library

Wednesday, October 12, 2022
6: 00 P.M.
In-person event - register HERE

The Newberry Library presents a conversation with PENGO and EAST, two first-generation Midwest graffiti writers, as they explore the evolution and development of Chicago-style graffiti.
Event details.

Virtual Urban History Seminar - Chicago History Museum

Thursday, October 13, 2022
7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
RSVP required

Chicago History Museum's  Urban History Seminar series features a scholarly presentation followed by lively discussion. Join Takako Day, independent researcher, and Michael Day, Professor of English and Director of the First-Year Composition Program at Northern Illinois University, for the program “Breaking the Japantown Stereotype: Who Were the Japanese and Japanese Americans in Chicago 1865–1940?”
Event details.

June/July

Media Mixer — Chicago Film Archives

Thursday, June 30, 2022
7:00PM – 9:00PM
On June 30th, 2022, CFA will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its annual Media Mixer event with the premiere of three new Media Mixer pieces at Constellation. The Media Mixer project started in 2012 as a way to open up CFA’s vault of archival footage to artists working in media, and to support the creation of a new video work by pairing these visual artists with artists working with sound. At the heart of the Media Mixer is a desire to give CFA’s archival collections new life through the creative interpretation of contemporary artists. As a result, three new collaborative videos will be made using footage from the Chicago Film Archives collection.
Tickets and details.

Meet Toya Wolfe: Author of Last Summer On State Street with Dawn Turner - Chicago Public Library

Wednesday, July 20, 2022
6:00PM – 7:30PM
In person or online
Harold Washington Library Center
400 S. State Street
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Lower Level

In this stunning debut novel, inspired by the author’s own lived experience, Toya Wolfe pulls back the curtain on life inside the projects, portraying with absolute authenticity what it’s like to grow up in a world where gang violence, stray bullets, and predators are a part of one’s social fabric. Yet the story is filled with joy and buoyancy—a beautiful reminder of childhood innocence and the power of community and family. Profound, reverent, and uplifting, Last Summer on State Street explores the impact of racist institutions, redlining, gentrification, the power of owning one’s past, and those defining relationships which form the heartbeat of our lives. 
Event details.

May

Pullman Railroad Days — Historic Pullman Foundation

Saturday, May 14 – Sunday, May 15, 2022
9:00AM – 5:00PM
A weekend long celebration of railway history in Pullman, with something for everyone! Featuring the grand opening of “Railroaders”, an exhibition of Jack Delano’s WW2-era photography of the people who worked the railways in the yard, station and on the train; tours of three historic Pullman train cars brought in especially for the event; the advent of new railway-innovation focused guided tours of the Pullman Factory site; the launch of our monthly lecture series; food, music and much more! Access to some sites and events will be ticketed.
More details.

March/April

Cosmo's Cosmos: 100 Years of Birth, Death, and Rebirth - Media Burn Independent Video Archive

Saturday, March 26, 2022
1:00 PM - 7:30 PM
In-person
Smart Museum of Art, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
A celebration of the life and work of artist Cosmo Campoli (1922-1997), through a maker event, a historical tour, and a presentation featuring images, films, lectures, and storytelling.
Registration and details

Women's History Month Archives Exchange - Loyola University Chicago

Thursday, March 31, 2022
6:30PM - 7:30 PM
Virtual
Gerber/Hart and the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) will lead virtual tours of their archives and present a "show and tell" of a few favorite collections. WLA Director Emily Reiher will discuss the SisterSerpents collection. SisterSerpents is a radical feminist art collective that was formed in 1989 in Chicago and carried out public art operations including poster and sticker campaigns, annual art exhibitions, and performances. Archivist Whit Sadusky and librarian Erin Bell of Gerber/Hart will discuss the Lorrainne Sade Baskerville collection along with a few other smaller collections. Lorrainne Sade Baskerville is an American social worker and activist best known for founding the transgender advocacy group transGENESIS, which addresses issues of gender identity, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, sex work, harm reduction, and self-empowerment in the greater Chicagoland area.
Registration and details.

Wilmette Across Three Centuries - Wilmette Historical Museum

Sunday, April 10, 2022
2:00PM - 3:00PM
In-person
Professor Michael H. Ebner will discuss the history of Wilmette from its early days to today. Dr. Ebner taught American history at Lake Forest College for thirty-three years and is the author of the prize-winning book Creating Chicago's North Shore: A Suburban History. This presentation is an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecture.

Making Mexican Chicago - Newberry Library

Thursday, April 28, 2022
6:00PM – 7:30PM
In-person
In Making Mexican Chicago, Mike Amezcua offers a powerful multiracial history of Chicago that sheds new light on the origins and endurance of urban inequality. Amezcua visits the Newberry to discuss how the Windy City became a postwar Latinx metropolis in the face of white resistance. This event is co-sponsored with Chicago Collections Consortium.
Registration and details.