About this season
An original documentary series from Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW uncovering the city’s fascinating history. Each story presents an entertaining and intriguing tale about a person or event that shaped Chicago. The series reflects the rich diversity and breadth of human experience that shaped this great American city.
Episodes (6)
1. Jane Byrne
Aired 1 April 2022 • 57 min
As a woman once again occupies the fifth floor of City Hall, Chicago Stories remembers the city’s first female mayor. After pulling off one of Chicago’s greatest political upsets, Jane Byrne found herself caught between the political machine that shaped her and the reformers who elected her.
2. Downtown Disasters
Aired 8 April 2022 • 57 min
Two very different disasters occurred in the heart of Chicago’s Loop 90 years apart. First, the deadliest building fire in U.S. history: the 1903 Iroquois Theatre Fire. Then, the Great Loop Flood of 1992 which saw downtown buildings mysteriously flooded by the Chicago River, and the city searching for answers in a long-forgotten tunnel system.
3. The Real Mad Men of Chicago
Aired 15 April 2022 • 57 min
The real Mad Men of Chicago became leaders of the advertising world, creating iconic figures like the Marlboro Man, Charlie the Tuna, and the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
4. The Union Stockyards
Aired 22 April 2022 • 56 min
At the end of the 19th century, Chicago completely transformed the way Americans eat, and the Union Stockyards on the South Side were the center of that revolution. Experience the sights, sounds, and awful smells of the Union Stockyards and the complex of meat factories next to it, known as Packingtown.
5. Our Soldiers, Our Lady of Guadalupe
Aired 29 April 2022 • 58 min
This is the story of pride and heartbreak in a close-knit South Side community. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Chicago’s first and oldest Mexican-American parish, lost 12 young men in the Vietnam War during a brutal five-year period.
6. The Birth of Gospel
Aired 6 May 2022 • 58 min
Tracing the birth and growth of gospel music in Chicago in the 1930s. Thomas A. Dorsey, "The Father of Gospel", wrote one of gospel’s early hits while coping with his grief over the death of his wife and child.