Chicago

Railroad Track Elevation in Chicago: A Modern Marvel

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“How few know even the names of the men who design and execute the work and in whose care the public safety is placed.  How vigilant and resourceful they must be is little appreciated by the passengers who are almost lifted as they ride.”

-M. K. Trumbull, Engineer of Track Elevation of the City of Chicago, 1908

1911 map of all track elevation projects

The 1890 census confirmed Chicago had become the second largest city in the United States. Driven by immigration, the population had more than doubled in 10 years. 41 percent of residents were born in foreign countries. The Civil War, ending 25 years before, vaulted the geographically northern Chicago past traditional rivals St. Louis and Cincinnati as the Western hub of rail transportation and manufacturing. By 1889, thousands of trains were entering and leaving the city every day. More than 2,000 miles of track ran directly through Chicago neighborhoods, all at ground level.

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One Book One Chicago: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

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One Book, One Chicago's 2014 Selection: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

One Book, One Chicago’s 2014 Selection: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

I discovered One Book, One Chicago in the fall of 2012 when every single person I saw on public transit had their head buried in The Book Thief. I knew it couldn’t be coincidence that the whole city seemed to read the same book at the same time, but I was too new to know the secret. Luckily, a billboard popped up near my office with the One Book, One Chicago logo and The Book Thief cover art. A quick google search later, and I had a favorite Chicago Public Library program. One Book, One Chicago aims to engage the city’s readers in a public discourse on a single book supported by events, blog posts, and small group discussions to help build a culture of reading.

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John Lewis and the Civil Rights Movement in March: Book One

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Pray for Peace

Some of you may have heard of John Lewis, a U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th congressional district who—with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and four others—was one of six leaders within civil rights organizations during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. But a lot of younger people may not know his name. Along with Andrew Aydin, Lewis’s Congressional aide, the duo released a graphic novel in 2013 about his fight for racial equality, now stretching over 50 years. While I may not be the first to review this, I thought it relevant to touch upon the importance of John Lewis and his role in a movement that changed the country. [Read more…]

826CHI is Hosting an Open House!

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open house

This week in Chicago, there’s a fantastic and free event hosted by a great non-profit, at which a famous author will make an appearance! (Hint: it’s this guy)

This Friday, 826CHI will be hosting an open house to celebrate its 10th anniversary and the opening of its new headquarters in Wicker Park. The nonprofit, as well as its retail front The Wicker Park Secret Agent Supply Co. (formerly known as The Boring Store, one of the quirkiest, yet entertaining, shops I’ve ever stepped into in this city) will be offering tours of their new space as well as light refreshments. In addition, there will be “collaborative writing exercises for the whole family.”

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Pop Culture Q&A with Slow Roll Chicago

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Image of Olatunji Oboi Reed and Jamal Julien from Slow Roll Chicago

Olatunji Oboi Reed (left) and Jamal Julien (right)

Slow Roll is an organization that began in Detroit and has since expanded to Chicago, thanks to Slow Roll Chicago co-founders Olatunji Oboi Reed and Jamal Julien. The pair have brought the Slow Roll mission to the Windy City, getting particularly involved in Southside and Western Chicago neighborhoods to promote cycling as a way of life. They are sponsoring a toy and coat drive this weekend at Golden Crust Pizza in Albany Park and at Heritage Bikes on Lincoln Avenue. Donations can also be brought to any Kozy’s Cyclery location at any time this week until Dec. 21. Check out more information online.

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#BlackLivesMatter: Marching for Eric Garner in Chicago

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Let me begin by making the following statement:

The Addison Recorder is not a political blog. We talk about popular culture here, and how it affects us at large. We shy away from politics – it’s not our specialty by any means. With that being said, the recent events in Ferguson, MO, New York, Cleveland, etc. (too many to list, sadly) have transcended pure politics and instead have become a cultural movement, a moment of recognition of how people relate to one another in America. This is a national moment, a historical moment, and that’s what drove me to the streets of downtown Chicago on Thursday night (12/4/14) to protest the failure to indict the police officers responsible for the choke-hold death of Eric Garner. I was joined in this by Alex, Andrew, and over a thousand other outraged citizens. Surreal, exhilarating, at times terrifying, it was something that needed to be done.

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Super Fatigue: Marvel, DC, and the Blockbuster Bubble

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We’ve all seen the announcements, major events reminiscent of Apple conventions, wherein the stuff of comic books are plotted out in their latest big screen adventures. This year, both Marvel and DC have declared (civil?) war upon movie screens and wallets across America. Over the next six years, there will be over 40 (!) superhero movies featuring the characters of the two comics publishers released, setting the tone for blockbusters for the immediate future to come. On the surface, this sounds exciting – there’s never been a better time to be a comic-book movie fan.

And that might not necessarily be a good thing.

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Essay Fiesta to Celebrate Five Years of Live Lit

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Book-cellar

Essay Fiesta will celebrate five years Nov. 17 at the Book Cellar.

At the very first Essay Fiesta performance on Nov. 16, 2009, founders Keith Ecker and Alyson Lyon didn’t know what to expect. They’d invited a handful of writers they knew to read essays for strangers they hoped would come out for it, at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square. The pair were in then-uncharted territory, seeking an audience for the live performance of written essays and first-person narratives. Live literature was new and Chicago, now the art form’s epicenter, was the wild west.

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Rock and Roll Rising From the Mud: 10.5 Observations on Riot Fest

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1. Rock and roll is not dead…but it is very dirty.

Recently, Gene Simmons asserted that “rock is dead” – this article can be considered my dissent against that statement. Sales may be dropping, and manufactured pop, rap, and metal may continue to keep their footholds in the musical consciousness, but as long as artists reach the masses with passionate, high-energy performances full of unexpected surprises, rock and roll will never die. Riot Fest, celebrating its tenth anniversary in Chicago, is the ultimate case in point, as I witnessed on the one day of concerts I attended.

Saturday at Humboldt Park proved to be a beautiful day, albeit full of mud leftover from Friday’s rain.  I wore my old sneakers to the festival and immediately threw them out on my return home. Nobody emerged with clean shoes. None of us minded. For my part, I saw nine acts and change from noon to 10 pm, some of whom I was familiar with, some of whom I love, and none of whom did note for note recreations of their studio sound. It was an experience worth every penny.

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