Robert E. Weems Jr. recently answered some questions about his book, The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire. Q: Why did you […]
Category: Chicago
In Search of Belonging Awarded Bonnie Ritter Outstanding Feminist Book Award from NCA
We are pleased to announce that In Search of Belonging: Latinas, Media, and Citizenship by Jillian M. Báez has won the Bonnie Ritter Outstanding Feminist Book Award from the Feminist […]
Celebrating Chicago Blues
This fall we have two new books on the Chicago Blues scene that celebrate the city’s incredible musicians and their legacy. Celebrate with us and check out our books on […]
Q&A with Erika K. Jackson, author of “Scandinavians in Chicago”
Erika K. Jackson is an associate professor of history at Colorado Mesa University. She recently answered some questions about her book, Scandinavians in Chicago: The Origins of White Privilege in Modern America. […]
A Triumph of Progressive Politics: Roger Biles on Mayor Harold Washington

Roger Biles is Professor Emeritus of History at Illinois State University. His books include Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race, and the Governing of Chicago and The Fate of Cities: Urban America and the Federal […]
From Lincoln to Neoliberal Chicago: Celebrating the Illinois State Bicentennial
Illinois became a state on December 3, 1818. One hundred years later, the University of Illinois Press opened its doors. The Press’s debut book, on Abraham Lincoln, marked the beginning of […]
200 Years of Illinois: Making way for Fermilab
It came from the future: Tevatron. The villain in the new Michael Bay feature? Actually, the world’s largest particle accelerator once it opened in 1983. But to get there, the giant […]
Make your own deep dish sausage pizza with this recipe
Sausage, an inexpensive meat as long as you avoid foodiepreneurs trying to sell you fennel-infused giraffewurtz, still offers you the chance to go carnivore on the cheap. Homeslice in Lincoln […]
Sausage in Chicago history
In an era where you may find any sort of foodstuff on your gourmet pizza, the classic za with sausage not only gets overlooked, but looked upon suspiciously, as if […]
It Is National Cheese Pizza Day
The Boring Pizza? Oh ho, not at all! Cheese pizza is a godsend perfect for kids’ birthday parties and church meetings. An icebreaker. A hand across countless divides. A relatively cheap […]
Let’s observe National Soft-Serve Ice Cream Day one day early
There’s nothing more American than soft-serve ice cream. It provides the dairy and sweetness we crave in an attractive shape atop a sugary cone that encourages mobility. And we dispense […]
The Food’s The Story
While on the UI Chicago campus this week, we had the distinct pleasure of visiting the current Special Collections and University Archives exhibit at the library: “The Food’s The Story.” […]