Browse Items (293 total)

Located between Hollywood and Ardmore Avenues, this beach was completed in the 1950s as a part of the larger project of Lincoln Parks landfill extension. The beach was renamed to Kathy Osterman Beach in 1993 and its namesake was a "dedicated public…

Clarence Ludd's High Chaparral club was once housed near the northwest corner of 79th Street and Stony Island Avenue. A host for local and national icons, the venue was one of the most popular clubs in the 1960s and 1970s.

A venue known for its live independent music and performances where "city workers and grade school teachers, art students and plumbers, bikers and bike riders all converge at the corner of Ada and Wabansia Streets to dance and sing along to their…

"Out of the Past Records originally began in 1964 as a photography studio at 8 S. Pulaski Road that Marie and Charlie Henderson operated. They took family portraits, captured music scenes on Chicago's West Side, and sold the photographs to customers…

Jazz club that hosts popular artists and "local jam sessions." Originally established as Pop Morse's Roadhouse, the venue was renamed to Green Mill Gardens in 1910. The club was a prominent destination for jazz artists and fans during the Jazz Age.…

"""Launched in 1989 on Rush Street, Boogie’s Diner Chicago combined a 1950’s American diner with a clothing store with a focus on contemporary fashion for men and women age 15 to 35. It was part of Merry-Go-Round Enterprises, which filed for…

Beatnix specializes in club, drag, and party clothing and costumes. They also carry vintage clothing and jewelry.

Grandbar was a nightclub that hosted live music from DJs who spun "everything from top 40 hits to mash-ups to old school house music." The space was once occupied by Betty's Blue Star Lounge.

Now named DePaul College Prep, this is a Catholic high school that opened in 1952 as an all boys school on the corner of Division Street and Greenview Avenue. In 1961, the school moved to its "second and longest-serving campus" at the intersection of…

A post-party spot for food and drink afterhours.

George's Music Room opened December 12, 1969, just days before his 21st birthday. "I opened the store with six albums and 100 45s," he says. He ran his store quietly, hiring neighborhood kids and building a steady customer base in his community. It…

Owner Ester Fletcher opened Fletcher's 1 Stop in January 1953. The record store is known for specializing in class R&B records, cassette tapes, and CDs and is "one of the go-to shops music arists visit when they are in town." Over the years,…

"The Fifth City movement was a community development project launched on the Westside of Chicago in the 1960s that set out to reconceive what and how communities could be organized. As an initiative between neighborhood residents and the Ecumenical…

Ephraim M. Martin founded and produced the Chicago Reggae Music Awards and the International Reggae Music Awards in 1982 in an effort to promote Jamaican music, arts, and culture in Chicago. Central to the Awards was its mission to "serve as a voice…

Fiesta del Sol was originally established in August 1973 following a 2-year campaign led by residents of the Pilsen community calling for the Chicago Board of Education to build a new high school. In response to the pressure from members of Pilsen's…

"lub 51, which existed from 1955 to 1957, was one of the myriad mom and pop labels that briefly made their appearance in Chicago during in the post-World War II efflorescence of independent label recording activity. The label grew out of the various…

Chess was founded by the now-well-known Chess brothers, Phil and Leonard. The company started as a stake in the blues hub Aristocrat Records in 1947 (owned by the Arons) that the Chess Brothers bought into. Leonard, who was running the Macomba…

"Chance Records, like Parrot, United, and Aristocrat, was an independent Chicago label that pioneered in recording the new African-American sounds that swept the city after World War II: the electrified Mississippi blues and the doowop harmony…

Capitol Distributors was a distributor, owned by a large West Coast label, was part of Record Row, a 10-block stretch of Chicago's South Michigan Avenue where several independent record companies produced blues, R&B, jazz and soul music from the late…

"Curtis Jones, aka Green Velvet and Cajmere is the founder of Cajual Records. Used as an outlet for varying forms of techno beats Curtis has, since '94, provided an array of sounds from their Chicago based.

Cajual has featured DJ Sneak, Gemini,…

Parrot Records was Deejay Al Benson's second record company venture after his first failed. Although the company failed as a commercial enterprise, it succeeded in producing influential recordings by bluesmen, solo R&B performers, and vocal harmony…

A Chicago-based retail shop and distribution company, Barney's Records was owned and operated by Raymond Barney, who also founded Dance Mania.

A dive bar that opened in the 1980s and was home to Chicago's punk music scene. It was closed by the city for "dangerous and hazardous conditions" in 2021.

Described by co-founders as an olive bar rather than a martini lounge, the night club was "an open space for dancing where local DJs hosted themed nights."

Evergreen Park Plaza was a shopping mall in Evergreen Park. Originally established as an open-air mall, the mall was remodeled in the 1960s becoming the first suburban enclosed mall. In addition to being a hangout for teens where youth would shop,…

Indie music venue and bar that started as a "hole-in-the-wall bar in Ukrainian Village."

Located east of the Dan Ryan Expressway on 79th Street, this club venue is located on the ground floor of a hotel of the same name. East of the Ryan is a space where folks come together to commune over live music, food, and dancing.

Dr. Wax Records in Hyde Park has been an important part of the Chicago music scene since it first opened in 1980 in Lincoln Park and in 1984 in Hyde Park. The Hyde Park store was a critical site of networking and collarboration for independent soul…

A 218-acre park featuring ponds, gardens, athletic facilities, a pool and an historic fieldhouse. Recently renamed in honor of abolitionist Frederick Douglass by Parks Commissioners in response to local student activism decrying its previous naming…

Founded by musician Rocky Jones, DJ International records was the right label in the right place at the right time. Chicago in 1985 was a city which was moving to its own particular beat and that beat was House Music. The key movers and shakers in…

Originally a mixed race gay disco, Den One was the first places to host a residency by DJ Ron Hardy. With 9,000 square feet of space, the club became hugely popular with many of the Black gay party-goers who went to the Warehouse. Jacob Arnold says…

De La Salle Institute is a private, Catholic, secondary school in Bronzeville. The school was established in 1889 and Lourdes Hall was opened in 2002 as a collaboration with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis.

"Originally built in 1924 for the Lynch circuit not far from the Chicago border with the suburb of Elmwood Park, the Manor Theatre was located at the intersection of W. North Avenue and N. Central Avenue. Seating was provided for 1,835, and in the…

Bop Shop was impresario Kate Smith's up-and-coming and avant-garde jazz club. It was a nightclub, mini concert hall, and boutique movie theater. Smith had a reputation of compensating artists well, at times exceeding the venue's profits.

"The Blue Note, one of Chicago's premiere jazz clubs during the 1950s, showcased nationally renowned musicians as regular acts, including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman" (Encyclopedia of Chicago). It was Frank Holzfeind’s club and had…

The Blue Heaven (Theatre) Lounge was an entertainment venue, featuring jazz and blues musicians, in Hyde Park. It "promoted air conditioning and continuous entertainment until 4 a.m., with 5 a.m. hours on Saturday" (Hyde Park Herald).
Blues drummer…

Bijan's was an after-hours bistro since the 1980s, as one of the few restaurants/bars that stayed open til 4am all week and 5am on Saturdays. In 2021, restaurant manager Arthur Gerhardt said "Bijan's Bistro's late hour liquor license was put to good…

A Latino group of DJs used to hold afterparties at the Big Horse following the Summer Dance house nights in the Spirit of Music garden in early 2000s. Also, it became one of the first homes for Chances Dances parties.