In honor of Black History Month, this free online program will explore the complex stories of the Underground Railroad, with an emphasis on its operation in and around Chicago. The program will be co-presented by Barry Jurgensen and Dr. Larry McClellan.

Barry Jurgensen serves as the Midwest Regional Manager of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program of the National Park Service. This program honors, preserves and promotes the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide. Through its mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression.

Dr. Larry McClellan is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Community Studies at Governors State University, which he helped create in 1970. He is the author of the award-winning Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois, published in 2023 by Southern Illinois University Press. The Underground Railroad Free Press wrote:
”Of all of the regional works on the Underground Railroad that we have seen, this book is perhaps the most detailed . . . This is the finest book yet of which we are aware for a close-up look at the Underground Railroad as it actually happened.”

The program is free of charge, but registration is required. Attendees will receive the Zoom link a few days in advance. The presentation will be recorded and a link will be provided to all registrants which will remain active for seven days. This program is co-sponsored by Glessner House, Second Presbyterian Church, Friends of Historic Second Church, and Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church.

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Architect Nate Lielasus will provide a Basement to Belfry tour of the church. During this popular tour at Second Presbyterian, guests will be given a behind the scenes look at areas of the church not typically visited on regular tours, from the basement dirt floor to the charred roof timbers. The tour will focus on original architectural features from the 1874 construction and evidence of changes during Shaw's reconstruction. Please note there are stairs, uneven ground, and several small spaces.

$20 general admission/ $16 members

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* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Login to your account first and if you have questions regarding your account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

It was once the “world’s largest amusement park.” It boasted the world’s first suspended roller coaster and first parachute ride. Today, it’s merely one of Chicago’s best loved memories. The names alone evoke nostalgia: the Pair-O-Chutes, Aladdin’s Castle, Shoot the Chutes and of course, the Bobs roller coaster. Join historian Leslie Goddard, Ph.D. for a look back at the history of Riverview, from its opening in 1904 to its sudden closing in 1967.

Speaker:

Our speaker today is Leslie Goddard. She is a historian and author who holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and master’s degrees in museum studies and in theater.

She is a lifelong resident of the Chicago area and has written three books on Chicago history. She has been presenting programs on topics in history for more than fifteen years.

$12 general admission/ $10 member admission

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All ticket sales final, no refunds or exchanges.

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Login to your account first and if you have questions regarding your account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

Join preservation consultant and Friends volunteer John Cramer on a walking tour of Chicago’s Gold Coast to explore the legacy of architect Howard Van Doren Shaw and his contemporaries in one of Chicago's most exclusive and dynamic neighborhoods. On the tour we will see the work of Chicago's leading architects from the 19th century to today and hear stories about some of the communities' best known residents.

Meeting place: Outside the Restoration Hardware at the Three Arts Club - 1300 N. Dearborn Street (restrooms available inside Restoration Hardware on the bottom floor)

$20 per person/$16 for members

Purchase Tickets

Please note: Registration for purchasing tickets closes Thursday, September 14th.

All ticket sales final, no refunds or exchanges.

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Login to your account first and if you have questions regarding your account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

The South Loop neighborhood between 16th Street and Cermak Road has seen extraordinary changes over the past 150 years. It was the most exclusive residential district in Chicago in the late 19th century but underwent a rapid transformation in the early 20th century as business and industry moved into the area. By the 1950s, it was declared one of the worst slums in the city, but saw a renaissance in the first decades of the 21st century as new residents embraced the advantages of living close to downtown.

Throughout this time, Second Presbyterian Church has remained the one constant, with the year 2023 marking the 150th anniversary of the completion of its landmarked building at Michigan and Cullerton. In this heavily illustrated lecture by William Tyre, Executive Director and Curator of Glessner House, attendees will see the transformation of the neighborhood over the decades, and how Second Presbyterian has responded to those changes. Topics include the Gilded Age mansions and their residents, the transformation of Michigan Avenue into Motor Row, the development of the printing and publishing industry, the nearby red light district known as the “Levee,” Prohibition, the impact of the adjacent Chinatown and Bronzeville communities, and the factors that led to the recent residential rebirth.

This is a free program, but reservations are requested. The program is co-sponsored by Glessner House, Friends of Historic Second Church, and Second Presbyterian Church.

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Artist and collector Frederic Clay Bartlett was born on June 1, 1873 in Chicago, the son of a partner in the successful wholesale hardware firm of Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. In honor of the 150th anniversary of his birth, this symposium brings together several individuals who will speak about various aspects of his life and career. The event will take place at the National Historic Landmark Second Presbyterian Church, which features one of the largest extant collections of Bartlett’s works, including the recently restored Tree of Life mural (1903).

Schedule

9:00am - Check in and tours of the sanctuary

9:30am - William Tyre, Executive Director and Curator, Glessner House, will speak on Bartlett’s life and career, including significant Chicago commissions at the University Club, Second and Fourth Presbyterian churches, and the Bartlett Gymnasium at the University of Chicago

10:10am - Jeffrey Nigro, Research Associate, Art Institute of Chicago, will speak on the Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection, assembled by Frederic and Helen Bartlett, and including such iconic works as Picasso’s The Old Guitarist and Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte

10:50am - Break

11:10am - Video presentation. Take a virtual tour of Bonnet House, Bartlett’s artistic winter home (and gardens) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, which is open to the public as a historic site

11:50am - Peter Schoenmann, principal, Parma Conservation, will speak about the recent restoration of Bartlett’s huge “Tree of Life” mural on the front wall of the sanctuary

12:30pm - Closing and additional tours

Co-sponsored by Glessner House and Friends of Historic Second Church. Please note that this symposium is only being offered in-person.

$40 per person / $32 for members

Register Has Closed

You can purchase tickets in person by cash or check beginning at 8:30 am on site.

All ticket sales final, no refunds or exchanges.

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Login to your account first and if you continue to have questions regarding with your account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

THIS PROGRAM WILL BE OFFERED ONLINE.

What on Earth does geology have to do with the world-renowned architectural masterpieces of the Windy City? Raymond Wiggers, acclaimed author of the guidebooks Chicago in Stone and Clay and Geology Underfoot in Illinois, explains the fascinating and often surprising links between science, art, and engineering in this general-interest survey of Chicago’s most famous buildings, the materials they are made of, and the soil, clay, and bedrock they are anchored in.

In this richly illustrated talk, Wiggers provides fresh perspective on both the vast sweep of geologic history and the origin and use of ornamental brick, terra cotta molded and fired by skilled local artisans, and a rainbow spectrum of cut and polished stone - stone of which is over three and half billion years old. Special emphasis is placed on such well-known landmarks as the Chicago Water Tower, the Wrigley Building, Glessner House, Second Presbyterian Church, many of the Loop’s skyscrapers, and a wide selection of interesting sites in the city’s outer neighborhoods, from Pullman and South Shore to Rogers Park and Sauganash.

Copies of Chicago in Stone and Clay will be available for purchase online. You will receive a discount code in your registration email.

The program will be recorded and all registrants will receive a link to the recording, which will remain active for seven days.

Co-sponsored by Glessner House and Friends of Historic Second Church.

$12 per person / $10 for members

Online tickets

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Login to your account first and if you continue to have questions regarding with your account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

The prolific and talented Howard Van Doren Shaw designed many buildings and homes in the Kenwood area. This walking tour, led by architect, Nate Lielasus will go past many of the surviving houses, with attendees learning about both the architecture and design and the families for whom they were built.

Meeting location to be determined. An email with information will be sent to attendees before the event.

$20 general admission/ $16 members

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* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Login to your account first and if you continue to have questions regarding with your account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

Tiffany’s resplendent windows are a combination of creativity, artistry, and ingenuity in glass. Join us on Wednesday, May 11, for a in-depth look at the different types of special glass used to create these masterpieces. This virtual presentation by Lindsy R. Parrott, executive director and curator at The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in New York City, draws on her 18-year experience with The Neustadt’s Tiffany Glass Archive, an unparalleled holding of more than a quarter million pieces of original Tiffany glass. Second Presbyterian’s windows will be among those used to illustrate Tiffany’s glorious glass and the ways his artisans employed this material to create spectacular effects.

The Presenter

Lindsy R. Parrott is the executive director and curator of The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in New York City. During her seventeen-year career at The Neustadt, Parrott has conducted groundbreaking research on Tiffany’s opalescent flat glass, windows, mosaics and lamps. She has curated popular traveling exhibitions and developed The Neustadt’s partnership with the Queens Museum, which now houses a permanent gallery dedicated to changing exhibitions drawn from The Neustadt’s collection. She has also co-curated exhibitions including Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion for the Museum of Biblical Art and, most recently, Tiffany’s Glass Mosaics, organized jointly by The Neustadt and the Corning Museum of Glass. Parrott previously held positions at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park and the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, both in Florida. She received her MA in the History of Decorative Arts through the Smithsonian/Parsons School of Design.

This event is a collaborative partnership between The Neustadt Collection and Friends of Historic Second Church.

Price per device.

$10 General Admission/ $8 Members

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* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Try to create a login first and if you continue to have questions regarding setting up an account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

A child once asked Edward Burne-Jones if the Three Magi actually made the journey just to give gifts to a child born in a manger. Burne-Jones had a ready answer: The tale was “too beautiful not to be true.” Hardly conventional in his spiritual views, the Pre-Raphaelite painter had faith in beauty, and he celebrated it wherever it could be found. This talk will explore Burne-Jones’s fascinating and deeply personal interpretation of biblical subjects in paint, print, tapestry, and stained glass.

Debra N. Mancoff is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Newberry Library and a long-time friend of Second Presbyterian Church and Glessner House, both of which possess works by Burne-Jones. Her newest books are Dante Gabriel Rossetti:Portraits of Women and Secrets of Art: Uncovering the Mysteries and Messages of Great Works of Art. Copies of the Rossetti book will be available for purchase and signing.

The event will begin with a wine and cheese reception at 6:00pm, during which time guided tours of the National Historic Landmark sanctuary will be offered. Ms. Mancoff’s presentation will begin at 7:00pm.

This event is co-sponsored by Glessner House and Friends of Historic Second Church.

$12 per person / $10 for members

NOTE: THIS PROGRAM WILL BE OFFERED BOTH IN PERSON AND ONLINE.

Purchase Tickets

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Try to create a login first and if you continue to have questions regarding setting up an account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Engine Company 21, Chicago’s first organized paid African American firefighting company. In recognition of Black History Month, this program will provide information and insight on the transition from slavery to freedom in the African American community and the political impact that affected change for African American firefighters, during the period of reconstruction in America.

The presentation will be given by Dekalb Walcott, Jr., author of Black Heroes of Fire. Walcott is a retired Batallion Chief who served 31 years with the Chicago Fire Department and helped the city establish a smoke detector and carbon monoxide ordinance in the mid-1980s. He serves as the historian for the African American Firefighters and Paramedic League of Chicago.

Co-sponsored by Glessner House, Quinn Chapel AME Church, Friends of Historic Second Church, and Second Presbyterian Church.

Free admission, registration not required.

The prolific and talented Howard Van Doren Shaw designed more than 20 houses in the Hyde Park neighborhood, as well as a church and a club house. The buildings span his full career from the 1890s through the 1920s and display the variety of styles in which Shaw was proficient. This walking tour, led by architect, Nate Lielasus will go past many of the surviving houses, with attendees learning about both the architecture and design and the families for whom they were built.

Meeting location to be determined. An email with information will be sent to attendees before the event.

$20 general admission/ $16 members

This tour is sold out.

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Try to create a login first and if you continue to have questions regarding setting up an account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

A Brief and Exciting History of Brick Architecture in Chicago

This presentation covers the history of brickmaking and brick building in Chicago, from 1830 to today. We'll follow the trends and fashions in Chicago's brick buildings: From homegrown common bricks, to imported red bricks, to wild colors, textures, and terracottas of the 1910s-30s, to Miesian modern bricks, and more. The presentation will also look into several buildings from the past 10 years that have used brick in innovative and dynamic ways. The presentation will be accompanied by photos of beautiful brick buildings from across Chicago's many neighborhoods.

The Presenter

Will Quam lives in Chicago and is an architecture photographer, architecture writer, and researcher. Did we mention he loves bricks?

He documented the brick as a way to pay more attention to the world around him and encourage others to do the same. And it was like learning a whole new language and suddenly discovering great texts hidden in the buildings around him.

Above all, he believes that nothing is boring. Everything can be interesting and exciting. Even bricks.

$10 general admission/$8 members

Price per device

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* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Try to create a login first and if you continue to have questions regarding setting up an account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

Agnes Northrop and Tiffany’s Gardens in Glass

Verdant landscape scenes framed by sunlit foliage and punctuated with bright blossoms and serene streams are hallmarks of Agnes F. Northrop’s celebrated windows. She shared Louis C. Tiffany’s love of nature and used her keen powers of observation to cultivate gardens made of colorful glass. The highest-ranking woman at the Tiffany Studios, Northrop designed countless windows for churches and private homes during her extraordinary 50-year career at the firm.  This illustrated presentation will explore Northrop’s artistic inspirations and professional accomplishments, with a special look at her landscape window for the historic Second Presbyterian Church and other Chicago-area designs.

The Presenter

Lindsy R. Parrott is the executive director and curator of The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in New York City. During her seventeen-year career at The Neustadt, Parrott has conducted groundbreaking research on Tiffany’s opalescent flat glass, windows, mosaics and lamps. She has curated popular traveling exhibitions and developed The Neustadt’s partnership with the Queens Museum, which now houses a permanent gallery dedicated to changing exhibitions drawn from The Neustadt’s collection. She has also co-curated exhibitions including Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion for the Museum of Biblical Art and, most recently, Tiffany’s Glass Mosaics, organized jointly by The Neustadt and the Corning Museum of Glass. Parrott previously held positions at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park and the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, both in Florida. She received her MA in the History of Decorative Arts through the Smithsonian/Parsons School of Design.

This event is a collaborative partnership between The Neustadt Collection and Friends of Historic Second Church.

Price per device.

$10 General Admission/ $8 Members

Register

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Try to create a login first and if you continue to have questions regarding setting up an account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.

Leslie Goddard portrays turn of the century suffragist, Alice Paul

Actress and Scholar Leslie Goddard, Ph.D., performs in this living history portrayal of suffragist Alice Paul. Paul was one of the most enigmatic leaders in the fight to win votes for women. She arranged parades, organized the first picketing demonstrations outside the White House, lobbied politicians, and endured imprisonment for women’s suffrage. She inspires us still in the struggle for equal rights.

This event will be online. Before the event, an email will be sent to attendees with details on how to login into Zoom or other online platform.

General admission $10/Member $8

Glessner House and Friends of Historic Second Church are partnering for this event.

This program is generously partially-funded by a grant from Wintrust.

Purchase Tickets

* All members must sign-in to our Neon database to receive member discounts. Member discount codes are no longer viable with check out. Try to create a login first and if you continue to have questions regarding setting up an account please email info@historicsecondchurch.org.