Upcoming Events
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!
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!
UChicago Folk Fest and Hyde Park Memories
Visit the Hyde Park Historical Society’s table at the UChicago folk fest to share your memories of Folk Fest and of Hyde Park
In Praise of Good Bookstores with Jeff Deutsch
Hyde Park Book Club – Monday, November 21, 7:30pm via Zoom. Jeff Deutsch, director of the Seminary Coop Bookstore and author of In Praise of Good Bookstores will join us. Register here.
When Hyde Park was Happening with Trish Morse
When Hyde Park was Happening
Sunday, November 13, 2pm-4pm
Join Patricia Morse for a 45-minute Zoom presentation, followed by a question-and-answer period, about the times when crowds flocked to Hyde Park to be entertained. There were big-time sports at the Washington Park Racetrack, Stagg Field, the Jackson Park Golf Course, and the Washington Park Armory. There were rides, music, and beer at the big amusement parks along Cottage Grove. There was always dancing, especially when jazz filled the air and the airwaves. And, oh yes, there was a fair.
Patricia Morse has a PhD from the University of Chicago. After teaching American Studies and Literature at Union College, St. Lawrence University, and Michigan State University, she returned to Hyde Park, where she has served on the executive council of HPKCC, the Hyde Park Garden Fair, and the Hyde Park Used Book Sale. She’s an avid local historian, known to many as Hyde Park Trish.
Past, Present, and Future of Olmsted Landscapes in Chicago
Past, Present, and Future of Olmsted Landscapes in Chicago – with Julia Bachrach – Parks Historian, Duane Savage – Washington Park Camera Club, and, Patricia O’Donnell – Heritage Landscapes.
Virtual Program, October 25, 2022 6-7:30 p.m. Register Here.
Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Path to Peace with Author Christopher Blattman
Hyde Park Book Club – Monday, October 17, 7:30pm via Zoom. Christopher Blattman, professor at the University of Chicago and author of Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Path to Peace will join us. Register here.
Fall Open House at the Cable Car Building
Join the Hyde Park Historical Society as we open up our Headquarters on October 15th from 2p-4p. This is your chance to see the inside of our restored cable car station, visit the Nancy Hays photo gallery, and learn more Hyde Park Historical Society rich programming. All are welcome!
Walking the Point
Bill Swislow leads a tour the 150+ art carvings on the limestone promenade and steps at the Point. Learn about Swislow’s research into these carvers and the history of art on the revetment. The walk is mildly strenuous. Please wear appropriate shoes. Meet at the Point plaque across from the 55th Street underpass.
Walking the Point
Jack Spicer will conduct a landscape walking tour of Promontory Point. Easy walking and talking. Meet at the Point plaque across from the 55th Street underpass.
Chicago Beer: A History of Brewing, Public Drinking and the Corner Bar with author June Sawyer
Hyde Park Book Club – Monday, June 20, 2022, 7:30pm
The Event will be held IN PERSON at the Woodlawn Tap (Chicago, IL 60615) with June Sawyer, author of Chicago Beer: A History of Brewing, Public Drinking and the Corner Bar.
Join author June Skinner Sawyers and singer-songwriter Chris Farrell
Long before corner bars stitched the social fabric of Chicago’s neighborhoods together, raucous pioneers like Mark Beaubien were fermenting over the untapped potential of the unbroken prairie. Take a determined saunter from the clamor of Chicago’s first breweries, through the hidden passages of thousands of speakeasies and then back into the current of the contemporary craft beer revival. Follow a path plastered with portraits of infamous saloonkeepers and profiles of historic bars. Author June Sawyers will join us at Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap for beer, music by Chris Farrell and a trip through the history of Chicago beer from the early years through Prohibition and organized crime to today’s craft beer revival.
Come and celebrate Chicago’s corner bars!
THE HYDE PARK BOOK CLUB
IS JOINTLY SPONSORED BY:
The Hyde Park Historical Society and the Chicago Hyde Park Village See less
200th Anniversary of the Birth of Frederick Law Olmsted
Launching April 26, 2022, the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., Olmsted in Chicago is a series of free programs in Chicago celebrating the landscape architect and his core belief that parks are democratic spaces for all people. Olmsted was the founder of American landscape architecture and designer of such iconic greenspaces as New York’s Central Park and the National Capitol Grounds in Washington DC. He created Chicago’s 1871 South Park (now Jackson, Washington Parks and Midway Plaisance) and two decades later, transformed much of that site into the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition fairgrounds.
The Hyde Park Historical Society (HPHS) and Washington Park Camera Club (WPCC) have come together to sponsor Olmsted in Chicago. One of Chicagoland’s oldest camera clubs, the WPCC is predominantly composed of African American members. Olmsted in Chicago is presented as part of Art Design Chicago Now, an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art that amplifies the voices of Chicago's diverse creatives, past and present, and explores the essential role they play in shaping the now. These Chicago program are part of the nationwide Olmsted 200 celebration “Parks for All People.”
The celebration begins on April 26, 2022 with South Park Then and Now, an on-line photo exhibit created by the WPCC. The free series of public programs includes summer walking tours led by park historian Julia Bachrach and a fall virtual program about the past, present, and future of Olmsted’s parks in Chicago.
The Hyde Park History of the Chicago Children's Choir
This is a virtual event will take place via Zoom. Click Here to Register for the Event
The Chicago Children's Choir (CCC) was founded in Hyde Park in 1956 at the First Unitarian Church, where it rehearsed and performed until 1987.CCC relocated within Hyde Park to the Sinai Congregation (on 54th Street near Hyde Park Blvd) until 1994, when it moved downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center. CC was a Hyde Park institution, performing at most annual Wooded Island Festivals, and Hyde Park Art Fairs. CCC was even included on Astrid Fuller's 1973 mural on 57 Street (above), where it stays, although repainted recently as the children no longer don their famous red jackets.
CCC alumna and author Sarah Elizabeth Dennis, Ph.D. will discuss her forthcoming book about CCC's first 40 years (1956-1996) of which 31 were spent in Hyde Park. Learn about the Choir's history and its integral position in Hyde Park's history. Many Hyde Parkers were in the choir as children, have heard the choir sing, or knew the people who formed and led the choir over the first decades. The audience will be invited to contribute their memories to the discussion during the Q&A.
Hyde Park School of Dance: History and Community
This is a virtual event will take place via Zoom. Click Here to Register for the Event
Founded in 1993 at the Hyde Park Unitarian Church, the Hyde Park School of Dance is a Hyde Park institution. Guided by the principles of Training, Performance and Community, the school started with 30 students and has grown to serve over 400 students. Join Marilyn Sheperd, Founding Board President, LaWanda May, Executive Director, and Tracey Patterson, Board President for a discussion of the school’s history, current programming and community engagement.