Chicago: City of Futures

Undergraduate / Graduate

This class - an introduction to Chicago's history - uses William Cronon's framing of Chicago in Nature's Metropolis to explore how the concept of abundance shaped both cultural ideals and the material development of the city and its hinterland. Never-ending fields of wheat not only spurred the creation of the futures market, but also an ideology of growth to actualize imagined futures. Acres of rubble from the great Fire of 1871 made way for higher density living, mass retail, and new centers of wealth and power. The prospects of home ownership and steady industrial employment made the impossible possible for people from across the world. 1893's White City, bathed in electric light, presaged more beautiful and modern forms of urban life. Working men and women taking direct action through strikes and organizing built economic and social mobility. The promise of "streets paved with gold" drew hundreds of thousands of Southerners to the city, bringing new art and culture but also opening new divisions. Cows and hogs, rails and steel gave way to towers of concrete and glass. Together, we will explore key questions: How, historically, did Chicagoans approach unknown futures? How did they create social connections, labor ideology, art, entertainment, and hope within their lives? How did events beyond their control shape and frame their outlook? How did the people of Chicago understand their own future, and how did these understandings, in their turn, shape Chicago?