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  Inside The Baffler, 1993

  Blog

  Today, we look back at the early years of The Baffler, a literary journal which was published out of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood for more than 20 years. Praised for its critiques of mass media and business culture, The Baffler came from a strong “do it yourself” ethic inspired by punk rock music and the advent of personal computers, which helped move cultural production out of the hands of big businesses and into the hands of everyday people. In this 1993 interview, Thomas […]

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  Neon signs and baked Alaska

  Blog

  We’ve been meaning to update you on the exciting results of our projects with five University of Michigan graduate students back in March. We had a great week together: the students showed us how to do amazing things with our website, and we gave them t-shirts and introduced them to Baked Alaska at Sabatino’s. Sara with the group at lunch (L-R): Yiqing Li, Maria Smith, Soohyun Park, Kimberly Springer, Krishna Vadrevu In just five days, they created some marvelous new […]

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  Mike Gray (1935-2013)

  Blog

  We’re sad to report the passing of a close friend and pioneering documentarian. Mike Gray was brilliant…a journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker, steadfast in his beliefs and and absolutely creative every day of his life. H. Michael Gray was born in Darlington, a small town in Indiana. He received an engineering degree from Purdue University, and came to Chicago in the early 1960s. He had lived and worked in Los Angeles since 1973. He was the co-founder of the Chicago-Based […]

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  Richie Havens (1941-2013)

  Blog

  Three videos in honor of musician and activist Richie Havens. The first was shot in 1982 as part of a national nuclear disarmament survey with the participation of more than 300 videomakers. Next, from 1990, a short interview by Skip Blumberg for the PBS series THE 90’s. Lastly, enjoy a performance by Havens at the 1991 Studs Terkel Toast at the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago from our extensive Studs Terkel collection. As always, you can watch the full programs: Disarmament Survey (1982, […]

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  Redwood Summer, 1990

  Blog

  For this year’s Earth Day, we take a look back to the year 1990, when thousands of activists congregated in various bases throughout California’s redwood forests as part of the large scale anti-deforestation protest known as Redwood Summer. The event involved various forms of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience, including protesters sitting in front of bulldozers or chaining themselves to trees as well as legal motions for court injunctions against the logging of old growth forests. Redwood Summer sparked conflict […]

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  Money Man: a monument to the American Way

  Blog

  Tax day is upon us, and we thought it was a great time to revisit artist Doug Michels’ (1943-2003) project “Money Man Monument” (1991). Michels proposed the installation of a 23-foot-tall Money Man on the National Mall alongside memorials to American icons like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, calling it “a permanent tribute to green power and the American way.” It also features the contributions of two more of our close friends, Joe Angio (camera) and Tony Judge (actor). You […]

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  Roger Ebert (1942-2013)

  Blog

  We cannot begin to articulate the sadness that Chicago is feeling today after the loss of one of our greats, Roger Ebert. By now there are innumerable tributes; we particularly recommend you read Robert Feder and Rick Kogan. Here’s Roger at his best in 1999, reminiscing about drinking with Mike Royko as a young kid fresh out of Urbana, Illinois, and reading Royko’s review of “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.” It’s a portrait of Chicago journalism that we deeply […]

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  Easter in Cabrini, 1981

  Blog

  In 1981, Mayor Jane Byrne decided to address criticisms of her administration’s handing of public housing by moving in to the Cabrini Green housing projects. Her brief stay culminated in an Easter celebration featuring gospel music, an Easter egg hunt, and carnival rides. Some Cabrini residents were not happy to be used as a publicity stunt and staged a small protest. This video shot by Tom Weinberg and Tom Finerty shows the festivities and the quick arrests of the peaceful […]