Chicago History Museum: Out in Chicago

May 21, 2011 - March 26, 2012. Co-curated by Jill Austin and Jennifer Brier

Museum's Description of Show:

Discover 150 years of urban history through the lens of gender, sexuality, and nonconformity. This exhibition uses four themes—individuals and their bodies, family and home, communities, and political action—to present the city’s diverse LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) history. Out in Chicago is part of a continuing series about the city’s communities.

From its earliest days, Chicago has served as a dynamic crossroads of people and cultures—all who came to Chicago seeking a better life and creating new communities. Out in Chicago explores the stories of a group of Chicagoans who have been here since the city’s beginnings but whose lives have often been lived in the shadows.

For more than 150 years, a complex community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Chicagoans has been at turns surviving, struggling, and thriving, often on the edge of mainstream awareness. In the nineteenth century, the forces that made Chicago a national metropolitan center also brought diverse LGBT people to the heartland and fostered their development as a community.

Out in Chicago spans diverse stories and perspectives and explores issues such as language, gender expression, formation of identity, the role of LGBT people in politics and culture, and family relationships. It balances private stories with public perspectives in relation to gender, community, and identity and spotlights the inspiring and charged heritage of this diverse Chicago community, whose history truly belongs to all of us.

"Chicago’s LGBT history is not just a story about one group of people in one neighborhood. It’s a history that has happened throughout the city and over time." — Jill Austin, co-curator

Chicago History Museum

Bessie Green-Field Warshawsky Gallery and Green-Field Gallery

1601 N. Clark St.

Chicago, IL 60614

312.642.4600

Open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and Sunday from noon - 5 p.m.

Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and students and free for children 12 years old and younger.

Admission is free on Mondays. For more information visit [www.chicagohs.org Chicago Historical Society]

Chicago History Museum: Plan A Visit

Chicago History Museum: Out in Chicago

Out in Chicago: 14 Pictures and Texts

Kara Spak, New exhibit ‘Out in Chicago’ chronicles city’s gay story. Chicago Sun Times, May 20, 2011 11:24PM. Updated June 22, 2011.