Uncovered & Rediscovered: Stories of Jewish Chicago

A Jewish Homeland Uncovered & Rediscovered is an evolving eight-part exhibit that explores the Chicago Jewish experience. The exhibit unfolds over time in a series of intimate chapters (each on display for 3-6 months in the ground floor vestibule of the Spertus building). Admission, including a multi-media screening station on the second floor, is free.

This chapter documents the efforts of Chicagoans to secure a homeland for the Jewish people, beginning with the founding of this country’s first Zionist organization on Chicago’s Near West Side in 1896. Learn of little-known episodes such as Methodist Minister William Blackstone’s petition to Presidents Harrison and Wilson to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, or the failed efforts of a prominent group of Chicagoans to create a Jewish homeland in Siberia. The segment also explores local responses to the unfolding horror of Nazism — including a boycott of German goods and frantic efforts to rescue European family members — as well as a joyful rally of 25,000 at the Chicago Stadium celebrating the founding of the State of Israel.