Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
184
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Ages 8 & up.
Three y ears after the 1886
Haymarket Riot, a young woman named Jane Addams bought a mansion on Halsted Street
that had been built in 1856 as a “ country home” but was now surrounded by the shanties
of the immigrant poor . Here Addams and her co-wor ker, Ellen Gates Starr, launched the
American settlement-house mo vement with the establishment of H ull House, an institu-
tion that endured on this site in Chicago until 1963. (It continues today as a decentralized
social-service agency known as Hull House Association.) Orphans found a home here, and
immigrants received healthcare, job training, and E nglish lessons. I n 1963 all but two of
the settlement's 13 buildings, along with the entire residential neighborhood in its immedi-
ate vicinity, were demolished to make r oom for the ne w University of I llinois at Chicago
campus, which now owns the museum buildings. Of the original settlement, what remains
today ar e the H ull-House M useum (the mansion itself ) and the r esidents' dining hall,
snuggled among the ultramodern, pour ed-concrete buildings of the univ ersity campus.
Inside are the original furnishings, J ane Addams's office, and numer ous settlement maps
and photographs. Rotating exhibits re-create the history of the settlement and the wor k of
its residents, showing how Addams was able to help transform the dismal streets around her
into stable inner-city environments. Allow a half-hour.
University of Illinois at Chicago, 800 S. Halsted St. (at Polk St.).
&
312/413-5353.
www.uic.edu/jaddams/
hull. Free admission. Tues-Fri 10am-4pm; Sun noon-4pm. Closed univ ersity holidays. Subway/El: Blue
Line to Halsted/University of Illinois. Bus: 8.
McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum
Ages 12 & up.
As you might guess from
the name, the
Chicago Tribune
newspaper is the guiding force behind this celebration of the
First Amendment. Thankfully, though, this is no corporate-PR stunt, but rather a thought-
provoking overview of how the freedom of speech impacts our daily life. Aimed pr edomi-
nantly at junior-high and high-school students, it includes the requisite high-tech bells and
whistles aimed at jaded y oung attention spans (such as computer kiosks wher e you can
listen to once-banned songs, or take sides in a fr ee-speech debate), and during the w eek,
you might be surr ounded by loud school gr oups. But some of the exhibits—such as the
stories of reporters who were jailed for telling the tr uth—are emotionally affecting, and it
makes an easy stop during a walk along M ichigan Avenue. Allow 1 hour.
445 N. Michigan Ave. (btw. Illinois St. and the Chicago River).
&
312/222-4860.
www.freedommuseum.
us. Admission $6, free for children 5 and under. Wed-Mon 10am-6pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas,
and New Year's Day. Bus: 56 or 66. Subway/El: Red Line to Grand. Bus: 145, 146, 147, or 151.
Museum of Contemporary Art
Ages 5 & up.
The MCA is the largest contem-
porary-art museum in the country, emphasizing experimentation in a variety of media—
painting, sculpture, photography, video and film, dance, music, and performance. To be
honest, some of the wor ks are challenging enough for adults, much less kids, but kids
might get into some of the touring shows, which have included Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy
Sherman, and Chuck Close.
Sitting on a fr ont-row piece of pr operty betw een the lake and the historic Water
Tower, the classically styled building, clad in aluminum panels, is a subdued, almost-
somber presence, and the steep rise of stairs leading to the entrance is monumental y et a
bit daunting. But don't let the gloomy exterior get you down; the interior spaces are more
vibrant, with a sun-dr enched two-stor y central corridor , elliptical stair cases, and thr ee
floors of exhibition space.
You can see the MCA's highlights in about an hour, although art lovers will want more
time to wander (especially if a high-pr ofile exhibit is in to wn). Your first stop should
be the handsome barr el-vaulted galleries on the top floor , dedicated to pieces fr om the
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