The Lakefront Historian is a group blog moderated by graduate students associated with the Loyola University Chicago Public History Program and the Loyola University Chicago History Department.

Our Mission 

The Lakefront Historian seeks to create a space for public historians across the Chicagoland area to showcase their projects and interests. By cultivating both academic and community partnerships, our publication encourages people to take an active role in creating histories of their own.  

What is Public History? 

Public history is a type of history that extends outside of the walls of the “traditional” classroom. This type of history goes beyond academic discourse and seeks to engage the public not only by telling their stories but also by sharing authority and encouraging people to create histories of their own. Public history is a diverse field that has a variety of different looks, methods and usages. 

How You Can Engage with Public History 

• Documenting and discussing family histories. 

• Telling community stories- restaurants, stores, schools, concert venues, etc. That are important to your home! 

• Researching the history of your neighborhood’s monuments. 

• Attending and reviewing a museum exhibit. 

• Listing a property with the National Register of Historic Places, Landmarks Illinois, or the Chicago Landmarks preservation organizations. 

• Conducting oral histories- interviewing family members or people in your life to learn about the past through a person’s life experience.  

• Asking questions about local history that you would like to know more about or that are less often discussed.

The opinions presented in The Lakefront Historian represent those of the individual author–not Loyola University Chicago, the Loyola History Department, or the Loyola History Graduate Student Association.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.