Join us as we celebrate the 148th anniversary of the birth of Frances Glessner Lee. Born on March 25, 1878 in her parents’ home on West Washington Street in Chicago, Lee lived in many homes during her 83 years. In this presentation by museum curator William Tyre, we will explore those houses and how they both reflected and influenced Lee through the years.

Our exploration begins with her birthplace, her New Hampshire playhouse at The Rocks (shown above left), and, of course, Glessner House. The second part of the presentation will include the Prairie Avenue townhouse occupied during her married years (shown above right) and her elegant co-op apartment on Lake Shore Drive. The third and most detailed portion of the presentation will focus on her beloved cottage at The Rocks (shown above center), which became her permanent residence in 1938. It was here that she explored and expanded the emerging field of legal medicine, now forensic science, and created her famous Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.

Chicago’s Union Stock Yard opened on Christmas Day 1865 and became a must-see tourist attraction, drawing more than half a million visitors each year, from school groups to visiting dignitaries. At its peak, 50,000 employees processed six hundred animals an hour.

Dominic A. Pacyga, author of Slaughterhouse, will share the story of the Union Stock Yard, chronicling the rise and fall of an industrial district, that, for better or worse, served as the public face of Chicago for decades. Pacyga grew up in the shadow of the stockyards, and spent his summers in their hog house and cattle yards. He will explore the rough and toxic life inside the plants, and how the yards shaped the surrounding neighborhoods and controlled the livelihoods of thousands of families.

April marks the 60th anniversary of the official movement that rescued Glessner House from a shaky future. On April 16, 1966, twenty preservationists signed a resolution creating the Chicago School of Architecture Foundation with its first goal being the acquisition of the house. After the house was purchased in December 1966 for $35,000, the real work began - how would it be maintained and restored, and what types of exhibitions, public programs, and educational offerings would breathe new life into the 80-year-old structure?

Over the decades the house served as an incubator for the emerging preservation movement in Chicago, brought together leading architects and urban planners to consider the past, present, and future of Chicago architecture, and became a world-class fully-restored house museum, celebrating H. H. Richardson and the Glessner family. One of the first two buildings in the city designated an official Chicago landmark in 1970, it earned National Historic Landmark status in 1976.

Separating from the Foundation in 1994, the house has operated as an independent non-profit since that time, continuing the restoration and interpretation of the house, embracing modern technology including geothermal to position it for the 21st century, and defining the site as a cultural center for its South Loop community and beyond.

This presentation, by William Tyre, Executive Director and Curator, will explore some of the highlights of our first 60 years, as we look ahead to the next 60 years - and beyond!