2014
Next year’s Debates will be held on Saturday, July 26. See you in the park!
2013
The Main Debate: Lester Munson, ESPN.com, vs. Tom Tresser, Civic Activist
How Much Is It Worth to the City to Keep the Chicago Cubs?
Altgeld Freedom of Speech Award: Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, represented by Israel Munoz, Clementine Freye, and Jamie Leann.
Dill Pickle Champion Soapbox Winner: Enrique Perez, “Why Rahm is Unbeatable!”
2012
The Main Debate: Jon Anderson, Occupy Chicago, vs. Eric Kohn, Chicago Tea Party: Who’s to Blame fort he Great Recession, Big Government or Big Business?
Altgeld Award Winner: Laurie Jo Reynolds
Dill Pickle Champion Soapbox Winner: Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist, An Appreciation of Appreciation
2011
The Main Debate: Kenzo Shibata, Chicago Teachers Union vs. Richard Lorenc, Chair of the Chicago Chapter of America’s Future Foundation, Collective Bargaining and the Public Sector: Is collective bargaining compatible with public service?
Altgeld Award Winner: Leslie F. Orear
Dill Pickle Winners: Seth Dodson and Kellen Alexander, Screaming Louder: The Power of Volume in Modern Debate
2010
The Main Debate: Otis McDonald, plaintiff in McDonald et al. v. City of Chicago, Illinois, et al. vs. Garrett Evans, Survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre, Gun Control in the City
Altgeld Award Winner: Kartemquin Films
Dill Pickle Winners: Pam Selman and Evan Ribot, Students are Americans, Too!
Listen to highlights of the Debates recorded by WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified
Watch a video created by Kartemquin Films
2009
The Main Debate: In honor of the Lincoln Bicentennial, the Bughouse Main Debate was a reenactment of the famous 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debates, featuring Michael Krebs as Abraham Lincoln and Larry Diemer as Stephen Douglas
Altgeld Award Winner: Barbara Thill
Dill Pickle Winner: Tom Tresser, Chicago 2016 Olympics: Biggest Disaster to Hit Chicago Since the Great Fire!
Listen to highlights of the Debates courtesy of WBEZ 91.5 Chicago Amplified
2008
The Main Debate: John A. Fritchey, Representative for the 11th District of the Illinois General Assembly, vs. Joseph A. Morris, a lawyer and member of the Bars of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Illinois, That the American People Should Choose the President by National Popular Vote
Altgeld Award Winner: Dawn Sherman
Listen to highlights of the Debates recorded by WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified
2007
The Main Debate: Voter Slam on Immigration, hosted by Marj Halperin of the Bread and Butter Forum
Altgeld Award Winner: Jorge Mujica
2006
The Main Debate: John H. Cox, Chicago native and 2008 Republican candidate for President, vs. Michael Silverstein, University of Chicago professor of anthropology, linguistics, and psychology, Is American democracy exportable as U.S. foreign policy? (Can it be imported to Cook County?)
Altgeld Award Winner: The American Library Association
2005
The Main Debate: Christopher F.H. Robling, former news anchor and talk show host on WMAQ and WBEZ, vs. Marilyn Katz, founder and president of MK Communications, Inc., Is the U.S. on the road to real national security?
Altgeld Award Winner: Seymour Simon
2004
The Main Debate: Joseph A. Morris, President of the Lincoln Legal Foundation and Director of the American Conservative Union, vs. John A. Knight, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois Lesbian and Gay Rights/AIDS Project, Is same-sex marriage un-American?
Altgeld Award Winner: Dr. Quentin Young
Read the speech given by Seymour Simon in honor of Altgeld Winner Dr. Quentin Young
2003
The Main Debate: John E. McNeal, former Assistant Illinois Attorney General, vs. Michael Silverstein, University of Chicago professor of anthropology, linguistics, and psychology, Are we safer with fewer civil liberties?
Altgeld Award Winner: Governor George Ryan
Read Governor Ryan’s thank you note to Bughouse Square Committe Chair Diane Ciral
2002
The Main Debate: Dr. Quentin Young, past President of the American Public Health Association, vs. Joseph A. Morris, President of the Lincoln Legal Foundation and Director of the American Conservative Union, Is corporate healthcare killing you?
Altgeld Award Winner: Leon Despres
2001
The Main Debate: Reverend Eugene Winkler, Senior Pastor of the Chicago Temple/First United Methodist Church, vs. Kenan Heise, writer and award-winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Is there a God?
Altgeld Award Winner: Lila Weinberg
Read Lila Weinberg’s thank you note to the Bughouse Square Committee
2000
The Main Debate: Seymour Simon, former Illinois Supreme Court Justice, vs. Joseph A. Morris, President of the Lincoln Legal Foundation, Should capital punishment be abolished in America?
1999
Read an invitation from Bughouse Square Committee Chair Diane Ciral to Justice R. Eugene Pincham, asking him to be a Bughouse Main Debater and his reply
1998
The Main Debate: J. Quinn Brisben, 1992 Socialist Party candidate for President, vs. Joseph Morris, Lincoln Legal Foundation, Karl Marx: Dead or Alive?
1997
The Main Debate: Michael Silverstein, University of Chicago professor of anthropology, vs. Leon Todd, Director of the Milwaukee School Board, Multiculturalism: Ebonics or Moronics?
1996
The Main Debate: Jacky Grimshaw, Center for Neighborhood Technologies and Political Activist vs. Joe Morris, Lincoln Legal Foundation, Dole: Do we Deserve Him? Who Should Lead the Country?
In 1996, Washington Square Park was rededicated with a plaque acknowledging it as a center of free speech known as Bughouse Square. Read correspondence about the new plaque, placed in conjunction by the Newberry Library and the Chicago Park District
1995
The Main Debate: James Wall, President of the Christian Century Foundation and Editor of Christian Century vs. Larry Horist, President of Thomas & Joyce, Inc. and Chairman of the Foundation for Research, Education and Empowerment, The Contract For or On America
Read a note from Bughouse Square Debater Justice R. Eugene Pincham to the Bughouse Square Debates Committee
1994
The Main Debate: Susan Catania, former State Representative vs. Mary Anne Hackett, member of Concerned Women of America, Feminism: A Mystique or a Mistake?
1993
The Main Debate: Studs Terkel vs. Tom Roeser, The Sixties: A Dream or a Nightmare?
See the official Pickle Nickle of Bughouse Square