Upcoming Events
Monthly Open House
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society for our Monthly Open House on Sunday, November 17th from 1-4pm. Check back for more information about any special programming for this or future open houses as it gets closer to the date.
From Hyde Park to Manzanar: The Life of the Harding Museum Curator & Hyde Park Business Owner Kiyotsugu Tsuchiya
Lourdes Nicholls, granddaughter of Kiyotsugu Tsuchiya will share how her grandfather and family went to living at the Harding Museum and owning a Japanese restaurant on Cornell, to living in one of America's Japanese Incarceration Camps... Manzanar.
Monthly Open House
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society for our Monthly Open House on Sunday, December 15th from 1-4pm. Check back for more information about any special programming for this or future open houses as it gets closer to the date.
Monthly Open House
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society for our Monthly Open House on Sunday, September 15th from 1-4pm. Check back for more information about any special programming for this or future open houses as it gets closer to the date.
Monthly Open House: Paper Conservation with Kim Nichols
Kim Nichols, Director of Conservation at the Newberry Library will be at the Hyde Park Historical Society on August 25th from 2-3pm to teach members about protecting and conserving aging documents.
A Hyde Park Historical Talk with John Mark Hansen, Convention City
On Behalf of the Hyde Park Historical Society, you are invited to:
A Hyde Park Historical Talk
Sunday, August 18th
2:00 PM (CDT)
The Hyde Park Historical Society Headquarters
5529 S. Lake Park Avenue
Just in time for the upcoming Democratic National Convention, John Mark Hansen, Charles L. Hutchinson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago, is presenting, "Convention City, Chicago's Presidential Nominating Conventions." Prof. Hansen's teaching focus is on elections, public opinion, and congressional politics.
RSVP not required.
Can't make it in person? Join the Division of the Social Sciences on Thursday, August 15th for a virtual conversation with Professor Hansen. Register here.
Monthly Open House: Special Visit from Sherman “Dilla” Thomas
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society for our Monthly Open House on Sunday, July 21st from 1-4pm. From 2-3pm, we will welcome a very special guest, Sherman “Dilla” Thomas. Shermann “Dilla” Thomas is an American TikToker and self-taught historian known for his historic walking tours of Chicago. He has made a huge impact on young Chicagoans by enhancing access to Chicago history and especially Black History. Check back for more information about any special programming for this or future open houses as it gets closer to the date.
Monthly Open House: A History of Pride on the South Side
A History of Pride on the South Side
A Discussion with Frank Joseph, Author of To Love Mercy
Join Author Frank S. Joseph, former Hyde Parker, for a discussion about his Hyde Park roots and his book, To Love Mercy!
Click Here to register and join via Zoom
Frank S Joseph's “Chicago Trilogy” novels [To Love Mercy, To Walk Humbly, To Do Justice] tell a story of lives forever changed by the racial turmoil that marked and marred Chicago at mid century, a great city going up in flames.
Frank lived it. He came of age as a privileged but naive White boy growing up in the ‘40s and ‘50s in Hyde Park and Kenwood, neighborhoods at the time facing racial turnover and “white flight” ... and his young adulthood as an Associated Press correspondent covering the ‘60s riots that wracked Chicago’s inner city. These life experiences undergird the Chicago Trilogy.
Frank came to Washington in 1969, landing at The Washington Post during Watergate. He went on a career founding and co-founding numerous award-winning publishing companies, and creating award-winning direct marketing campaigns as a consultant to fellow publishers.
He and his wife Carol Jason, an artist and sculptor, live just outside Washington DC in Chevy Chase MD. They are the parents of Sam and Shawn, and the grandparents of Kai.
Monthly Open House
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society for our Monthly Open House on Sunday, May 19th from 1-4pm. Check back for more information about any special programming for this or future open houses as it gets closer to the date.
Monthly Open House
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society for our Monthly Open House on Sunday, April 21st from 1-4pm. Urooj Naveed will provide information about the new field trip based curriculum she recently developed for the Hyde Park Historical Society as a resource for educators, youth workers, and anyone looking for fun educational activities for youth. Stop on by to the Historical Society to check out the materials and learn more!
*At 1pm there will be a special visit from Photographer, Patric McCoy who will drop by to present the Historical Society with one of his photos to be on permanent display at the headquarters.
Monthly Open House
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society for our Monthly Open House on Sunday, March 17th from 1-4pm. Check back for more information about any special programming for this or future open houses as it gets closer to the date.
Black Cultural Heritage Fest
On Saturday, March 2, join @ChicagoDPD at the Chicago History Museum for the City’s first-ever Black Cultural Harvest — a free, all-ages event created to help preserve and celebrate the Black experience in Chicago. All Chicagoans are invited to bring historical and cultural mementos to be scanned into a digital archive.
The 2024 Black Cultural Harvest is part of Chicago’s Black Cultural Heritage Initiative (BCHI) and an ongoing effort to better preserve the physical assets of cultural groups.
Visit Chicago.gov/BCHI to register and learn more.
February Open House with tour to Pioneering Black Muralist, William Walker’s, “Childhood is Without Prejudice”
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society on Sunday, February 18th from 1-4pm for our February Open House. In honor of Black History Month, visitors will have a chance to be led from our headquarters down to the 56th Street viaduct to learn about and remember pioneering black muralist, William Walker’s “Childhood is Without Prejudice”, his connection to Bret Harte School, and the impact of Walker across the City of Chicago. Free and Open to all!
UChicago Folk Fest
Stop by our table and see what’s new at the Hyde Park Historical Society during the UChicago Folk Fest in Mandel Hall at
1131 E 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637
More details with specific times will be announced soon!
Volunteer Training
Registration is now Open for our Volunteer Orientation/Training on Saturday, January 20th, 2024 at 12pm.
December Open House
Join us for our December Open House!
See the short film about the history of the building if you haven’t already, and learn more about what's happening with the HPHS!
National Visit A Cemetery Day: Oak Woods Self-Guided Audio Tours
If you missed our last open house, we will be releasing our free self-guided audio tours of Oak Woods Cemetery in honor of National Visit a Cemetery Day! Click here to access the tours
Open House Chicago @ the HPHS Headquarters
Join us for a special Open House Sunday, October 15th from 10a-5pm each day! We will be showing our new short film about the history of the building as well as have an exhibit on Oak Woods Cemetery. You will learn how to access our new free self-guided audio tours!
PLEASE NOTE: Lake Park will be closed on Sunday (10/15) until 11am for a race please keep this in mind if you planned to visit but have mobility needs, as you will not be able to drive to the front of the building and will need to park elsewhere to access the building.
Open House Chicago @ the HPHS Headquarters
Join us for a special Open House hosted in partnership with Open House Chicago on Saturday, October 14th and Sunday, October 15th from 10a-5pm each day! On Saturday, October 14th, at 2pm, join our summer intern and board member for a discussion on self guided audioo tours of Oak Woods Cemetery which will be released that day.
Likewise, a short video of the history of our building will be shown to all visitors upon entry.
PLEASE NOTE: Lake Park Ave will be closed on Sunday (10/15) until 11am for a race please keep this in mind if you planned to visit but have mobility needs, as you will not be able to drive to the front of the building and will need to park elsewhere to access the building.