10 Things To Do in Chicago That Aren't Taking Pictures at the Bean—and Don't Involve Giving Money to Large Corporations
If you’re coming to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention or live here and want to know more about your city, forget The Bean and check out these important spots.
In These Times Editors
Tens of thousands come to Chicago next week for the Democratic National Convention. If you’re one of them, In These Times put together 10 amazing progressive places you should visit. From a radical bookstore to a Palestinian-owned cafe to rich labor history sites, there’s no shortage of attractions and hidden gems.
Uptown - 4660 N. Broadway
Cozy Palestinian-owned community space serving coffee and chai
Pilsen - 1102 W. 18th St.
PCB is a general-interest radical bookstore with a commitment to labor and social justice. It’s the only worker-owned independent bookstore in the city. Buy one of their iconic tote bags (which they work with unions to design and print) to carry your book haul home.
Bridgeport - 3219 S. Morgan St.
Cultural center that hosts screenings, exhibitions, performances and more
PULLMAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Pullman - 610 E. 111th St.
This 19th-century center of workers rights and industry in Chicago was the first model industrial town in the United States. The park was the site of the 1894 Pullman strike, which halted railroad service in the Midwest and marked the first time first time a federal injunction was used to break a strike.
West Loop - 175 N. Desplaines St.
Sculpture commemorating the Haymarket Riot, when a bomb was thrown into a crowd of strikers protesting police violence near Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886
Pilsen - 2149 S Halsted St
Earlier this year, the original owners of this iconic dive bar sold the spot to six employees who preserved it and all its charm. It’s cash only with great food and a photo booth. Try to spot the photos of Marx on the walls.
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Forest Park, IL - 863 Des Plaines Ave
This one’s technically in Forest Park, but it’s cool enough to make the list. Labor radicals and anarchists Emma Goldman and Lucy Parsons’ graves and the Haymarket Martyrs Monument are here.
(BONUS: Johnnie’s Beef, famous for its Italian beef sandwiches, is a short drive away.)
Pilsen - 1439 W. 18th St.
This colorful cafe is a favorite spot in Pilsen’s arts community that offers coffee, sandwiches, soups and more.
GERBER/HART LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES
Rogers Park - 6500 N. Clark St.
The biggest library of gay and lesbian titles circulating in the Midwest lives here.
Near North - 901 N. Clark St.
A popular spot in Washington Square Park where leftist soapbox orators gave speeches in the early- to mid-1900s (plus a good-looking fountain)
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article mentioned Gerber Hart Library and the Leather Archives and Museum. They are separate entities that are near each other.
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