History – ROBERT LOERZEL

Another Deadly Chicago Heat Wave: 1916

Scroll down or click these links for appendixes on CHICAGO MORTALITY TRENDS and WEATHER RECORDS; and SOURCE NOTES. THIS MONTH—JULY 2020—WAS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF CHICAGO’S MOST NOTORIOUS HEAT WAVE, which killed an estimated 700 people during a scorching week in 1995. While that tragedy is well documented, a similar catastrophe from earlier in the… Continue reading Another Deadly Chicago Heat Wave: 1916

Where Chicago’s 1919 race riot began

The landscape along Lake Michigan on Chicago’s South Side has utterly changed over the past century. If you’re looking for the beaches where Chicago’s race riot erupted on July 27, 1919, you won’t find them. As I was researching a history of the riot for Chicago magazine, I searched for maps, documents, and details that… Continue reading Where Chicago’s 1919 race riot began

In Chicago magazine: The 1919 race riot

Blood in the Streets A hundred years ago, Chicago experienced the worst spasm of racial violence in the city’s history. Here’s how the riot unfolded, in the words of those who lived it. Read my article in the August 2019 issue of Chicago magazine. (Illustration by Michelle Thompson)

Chicago’s Top Chefs (Circa 1900)

Chicago Magazine, June 27, 2018 — From epic game dinners (including ibex ham and juniper-soaked bear) to lobster palaces to revered railroad cuisine that took advantage of food available along the journey, Chicago chefs were pioneers long before the city was a food destination. Read the story.

The History of the Solo Cup, From the South Side to Star Wars

Chicago Magazine website, May 17, 2018 — The ubiquitous plastic vessel has come a long way: from South Side immigrant inventors to big business in Lake Forest, a Toby Keith hit to syndicated TV specials starring its inventor’s wife—and now a galaxy far, far away. Read the story.

Chicago’s Oldest (and Oddest) Laws

WBEZ’s Curious City, April 28, 2018 — Read my interactive online story about some of Chicago’s oddest laws, and listen to the audio story about the city’s oldest laws: Audio production by Laura Pavin | Illustrations by Nate Otto | Digital production by Katherine Nagasawa | Edited by Alexandra Salomon

March-April 2018 Theater Preview

Make It Better, March-April 2018 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays.

How a Government Agency Ended Up Responsible for Swing Mikado, Among Others

Playbill, July 2017 — Arts agencies consume a microscopic fraction of the $4 trillion U.S. budget. And yet government funding for the arts is controversial; calls to eliminate it never fully subside. But there was a time when the government did more than just provide grants. For a few years, the government actually had its own… Continue reading How a Government Agency Ended Up Responsible for Swing Mikado, Among Others

In a divided Chicago, one thing we all agree on: A damn fine flag

Crain’s Chicago Business, April 4, 2017 — Can a flag improve your life? If your city just happens to have a municipal flag with a cool, eye-catching design that everyone seems to like, will that somehow make your city a better place to live? … Read the rest of my op-ed at Crain’s Chicago Business.

The Story of Chicago’s Four-Star City Flag

Medium.com, April 4, 2017 — Wallace Rice covered the floor of his living room with colorful rectangles. He’d spent six weeks combining shapes and symbols, trying to find just the right image to represent the city where he lived. He’d come up with hundreds of possibilities for a city flag design, and now he displayed his… Continue reading The Story of Chicago’s Four-Star City Flag