Chicago Stories

See how Marshall Field's plans and puts together its holiday windows, and learn the history of the beloved Christmastime tradition.

John Callaway narrates the story of "Francis O'Neill: The Police Chief Who Saved Irish Music," a turn-of-the-century Renaissance man and the wide-reaching effects of his life's work. Watch the 2002 video from our archives.

Just a few decades ago, Chicago was tearing many architectural landmarks, including the work of legendary architect Louis Sullivan. No one, it seemed, felt it was important to document and preserve them. No one, that is, except photographer Richard Nickel. This idealistic young crusader's passion to save Chicago's architectural treasures consumed his life and ultimately caused his untimely death.

Looking back at the World's Fair that celebrated a "Century of Progress" in Chicago.

Chicago Stories explores the luxurious Edgewater Beach Hotel, which hosted celebrities, big bands, weddings, and proms on its boardwalk and grand Marine Dining Room from 1916 to 1967. The iconic pink building had a radio station, six restaurants, a print shop, a chocolate factory, and a heliport, and was "the pride of Chicago."

WTTW's John Callaway hosts a Chicago Story about Riverview, the Chicago amusement park that from 1904-1967 delighted people with rides such as the Bobs roller coaster, Aladdin's Castle, a tunnel of love, and parachutes, all in the city at Western and Belmont.

On July 24, 1915, more than 800 people died in Chicago's deadliest disaster when the SS Eastland rolled onto its side in the Chicago River, only 20 feet from shore.

Among the most powerful - and most colorful - of America's 20th century labor leaders, James C. Petrillo served as president of the Chicago Federation of Musicians before going on to battle the music recording and broadcasting industries as president of the American Federation of Musicians. Features Petrillo's daughter and granddaughter, as well as archival footage of a 1954 trumpet-piano duet between Petrillo and former President Harry Truman.

A profile of blues queen Koko Taylor

A profile of grassroots political organizer Saul Alinsky produced by the Chicago Video Project.

A profile of WGN Channel 9 Cub producer Arne Harris. Includes many vintage Cubs moments as directed and produced by Harris.

Days before the 1960 election, the Cook County Democratic party bought a half-hour of prime time on the NBC television network for a coast-to-coast broadcast of a massive torchlight parade and rally for John F. Kennedy at the old Chicago Stadium involving more than 250,000 people and costing well over $100,000. This half-hour documentary features clips from a kinescope recording of the broadcast, as well as interviews with prominent Chicago Democrats Dan Rostenkowski, Seymour Simon, Newton Minow, and Howard Carroll.

A profile of legendary city parks man Daniel Burnham. John Callaway narrates the program, written and produced by architecture expert Judith Paine McBrien.

A profile of Ruth Page, whose work as a dancer and the choreographer of such Americana pieces as "Frankie and Johnny" and her version of "The Nutcracker" was based in Chicago. Brief archival appearances by Page are supplemented by performance footage, excerpts from her books and diaries, and interviews with her associates.

A profile of Studs Terkel - radio host, oral historian, and voice of bygone Chicago. Produced by Tom Weinberg.

Revisiting the 1985 Chicago Bears. Narrated by John Callaway, and produced by Mike Leiderman who is also the new producer for the "Chicago Stories" series.

Our People was the first televised weekly forum for Black issues - a program for Chicago Blacks, by Chicago Blacks that premiered in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. Jim Tilmon, host of Our People, presents excerpts including interviews with a young Harold Washington, then a newly-elected state Congressman; State Senator Richard Newhouse, who provides a fascinating perspective on racial profiling by police; and, as a coda, a lively performance by jazz vocalist Johnny Hartman. Another highlight: Three segments featuring controversial author James Baldwin, who shares his hopes and dreams for his family in the Black community, as well as some blunt assertions about whites.

In 1863, when Chicago industrialist George Pullman began making his famous Pullman Cars for luxury rail travel, he needed highly trained porters who were skilled in service and willing to work for low wages. So he headed south, and found his porters among the legions of recently freed slaves. Soon, The Pullman Rail Car Company was the largest employer of blacks in the country, with the greatest concentration of Pullman porters living in Chicago. But soon, the porters were questioning their situation, and began to take on the enormously powerful company. Long before anyone was talking about rights for the black worker, the Pullman porters began a struggle that would be a forerunner of the civil rights movement. It is the story of the first attempt by black laborers to form a union and fight for workers rights and job security. A Network Chicago Production.

Celebrating the Swedish community. TV reporter Amy Jacobson and producer Rise Sanders serve up a surprising smorgasbord of historic and culinary delights as Jacobson returns to her family's roots in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood to interview her grandfather, John Jacobson, and a host of other colorful characters.

Encyclopedia Britannica Films and Coronet Films made Chicago "the Hollywood of instructional film" - those films that taught you social mores. Local TV historian J. Fred MacDonald presents a selection of such films from his vast archive, including such gems as Studs Terkel playing a character giving boys dating advice, and a young Dick York ("Bewitched") portraying "Shy Guy" and the reckless driver in a film about "teenicide."

Tracy Ullman's documentary reveals how Civil War blockades helped Chicago displace Cincinnati as the leading meat-processing city, and the Yards' vital role as an employer of immigrants, a maker of fortunes, and a symbol of a kind of regional brawn.

In the 1930s-60s the area of 47th Street now called the Bronzeville Cultural Utopia was a mecca of Black entertainment and culture. There were theaters, supper clubs, nightclubs and even juke joints. Celebrities such as Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, and Earl "Fatha" Hines could be seen and heard, particularly at the old Regal Theatre. Narrated by television personality Merri Dee

Bessie Coleman beat her contemporary Amelia Earhart to become the first American woman - and first Black American - with an international pilot's license. She wanted to inspire other Black people to reach for the skies.

Author David Gerrard Lowe joins host John Callaway to look at what's here and what's gone in the city's architecture.