Photographic Windfall Captures Chicago’s Soul

With the eyes of the world looking so anxiously toward the future, a chance to catch some telling glimpses of the past can prove surprisingly therapeutic; as well as add some perspective to the tension filling so many of our current days. 

Last year, the Chicago History Museum made a momentous acquisition that, today, lets us slip through the portal of time and revisit people and events that helped define the Chicago we now know.   In 2019, over 5 million images taken by Chicago Sun-Times photographers from the 1940s to the 2000s were placed on the market by private collectors. The Chicago History Museum had the good fortune of receiving them.  Many of the things that makes a city dynamic, kinetic, even tempestuous, are in Millions of Moments.  The exhibition acts as a small introduction of the collection to the public.  Many of the its photos have not been seen until now.  Broad in scope, Millions of Moments embraces sports, entertainment, politics, Chicago’s ethnic multiplicity and the manifestations of both race based and generational strife.  It’s a fascinating montage made up of only 150 carefully curated photographs; just a tiny sliver of the massive trove. 

By capturing human responses to events, whether pivotal or mundane; and by freezing in celluloid the crushing power of nature or the surprising magnitude civil protest can attain, Sun-Times photojournalists played an important role in bringing unique immediacy to current affairs of the day.  The everyday business of living didn’t escape their cameras’ gaze either as they froze in time festivals and celebrations that commemorated heritage or followed youngsters just reveling in their youth.

At its height, the Sun-Times enjoyed a daily circulation of 600,000; reaching a broad swathe of the city’s population. During that heyday, the paper was renowned for the quality and quantity of the photographs it published.  Some of its photographers like Jack Dykinga (1971) and John H. White (1984) were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their work.  After setting aside his photo assignments for the newspaper, Pete Souza became the Chief Official White House Photographer for two presidents, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. 

The accomplishments of these photographers highlight the skill and dedication to craft they shared with many of their peers.  Those attributes shine through in the images filling Millions of Moments. Some visitors to the show will be reminded of other days when the fabric of civic cohesion seemed on the verge of tearing.  Or they may recall, after seeing a row of quietly excited children in traditional dress, when a stretch of Lawrence Ave. was known as Korea Town. 

Younger visitors might gravitate to the photographs of iconic sports legends or those like Serena and Venus Williams who, at the time their photographs were taken, stood just on the cusp of greatness.

An absorbing exhibit that gets its balance just right, Millions of Moments invites you to leisurely take it all in and fully appreciate the richness and beauty it has to share.

To ensure distancing guidelines are met, making reservations for either early or late afternoon viewing is required.  Contact the Chicago History Museum at  https://www.chicagohistory.org/ for these and other details.

Millions of Moments

Chicago History Museum

Lincoln Park

1601 N. Clark

Chicago, IL    60614

chicagohistory.org