The National Council on Public History has given the Newberry the 2020 Outstanding Public History Project Award for Chicago 1919: Confronting the Race Riots. A collaboration between the Newberry and 13 Chicago cultural organizations, the project engaged nearly 2,700 Chicagoans in a series of community conversations about the decisive role the 1919 Chicago race riots played in cementing racial division in the city.

Groundbreaking poet and photojournalist Jun Fujita is the focus of a new exhibition presented by the Newberry and the Poetry Foundation. A multi-media experience comprising poetry, photographs, personal correspondence, and archival artifacts, Jun Fujita: American Visionary explores the life and career of one of Chicago’s master chroniclers.

Judging a book by its cover is generally frowned upon. But there are exceptions to every rule. Take, for example, the work of George Salter, the calligrapher, illustrator, and designer who revolutionized book jacket design in the mid-twentieth century.

Midwest Time Machine, a new website from the Newberry, enables users to see the past through first-hand accounts of different figures, from a wealthy socialite in Chicago to a U.S. Army private who was part of the Lewis and Clark expedition.