A History of Chicago Museums

Class Description

Over the course of four sessions participants will engage in an examination of the history and present state of the museum as it relates to factors including but not limited to philanthropy, public land usage, immigration, and international relations. All of these factors have influenced the creation and development of Chicago's museum landscape; ranging from the encyclopedic to the culturally specific, to the natural.

Through a combined exploration of archival images, news reports, various other publicly accessible archives, and a walking tour, participants will engage with the history and present offerings of Chicago cultural institutions. Special attention will be paid to multimedia resources within the Newberry collection.

The meeting on October 11 will be a walking tour. Please read our Walking Tour Policies here. The rain date is October 25.

Ahmad Bracey (he/him) is an intergenerational arts educator and researcher from Chicago. He is currently Manager of Learning: School and Youth Communities at The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. He has previously led classes at the Newberry on topics including the History of Black American Agriculture (Fall 2024) and Frantz Fanon (Summer 2025).

What to Expect

Format: In Person

Class Capacity: 18

Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged

Materials List

Required

• Instructor-Distributed Materials

First Reading

• Please read the following short readings in preparation for week one
  • Collier, Donald. "Chicago Comes of Age: The World's Columbian Exposition and the Birth of Field Museum." Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin 40, no. 5 (May 1969): 2-7.
  • "The Museum's First Million" Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin 41, no. 8 (Aug 1970): 13-15.

A Brief Syllabus

1. Encyclopedic/Art Museums
2. Racial/Nationally Specific Museums
3. Walking Tour: Museum Campus (Please read our Walking Tour Policies.)
4. Nature Museums

Cost and Registration

4 Sessions, $220 ($198 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($220), Community Supported ($205), and Sponsor ($235). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

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View our full schedule of adult education classes.

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Call us at (312) 255-3700 or send us an email at adulteducation@newberry.org.

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