Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-369-7383
Noted Chicago Historian Delivers 1st Annual Columbia College Chicago Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Lecture
WHAT: The Daleys of Chicago: A Study in Political Power
Over the last fifty years, no other family has had a greater impact on the American city as have the Daleys of Chicago. During this time period, additionally, no family has had a greater influence on the national political stage than the Daleys, with perhaps the rare exception of the Kennedys, Clintons, and Bushes. Rising out of the intensely working-class, multi-ethnic Chicago community of Bridgeport, this family has come to national prominence—and notoriety.
Now, at the beginning of the twentieth-first century, the Daleys continue to play important political roles across the spectrum of Democratic and urban politics. With President Barack Obama, a Chicagoan who received the early and staunch backing of the city’s most important political family, the Daleys again sit near the seat of power in the Republic. Still, corruption haunts the Daleys and Chicago's image with recent scandals involving Rod Blagojevich, among others.
Join Dean Deborah H. Holdstein and Dr. Pacyga for a spirited look at the extraordinary rise of the Daleys as they have made their way through Chicago’s political jungle and onto the national theater, where they continue to play a vital role. Q & A follows.
WHEN: Thursday, February 26, 5:30
WHERE: Columbia College Concert Hall, 1014 S. Michigan, first floor
HOW MUCH: Free and open to the public
MORE INFO: 312-369-8217
Dominic A. Pacyga, Ph.D., is an award winning author, or co-author, of six books concerning Chicago’s history including the upcoming Chicago: The Biography of a City (University of Chicago Press, Fall 2009). A faculty member in the Department of Humanities, History and Social Sciences at Columbia College Chicago, Pacyga has also lectured nationally on topics ranging from urban development to labor history, immigration, and racial and ethnic relations, and has appeared in both the local and national media. He has consulted with, and curated exhibits for, numerous museums and organizations including the Museum of Science and Industry, the Chicago History Museum, the Field Museum and the Chicago Architecture Society. Pacyga has also served as a consultant to numerous organizations and neighborhood groups to help them preserve and exhibit their ethnic and labor history. He was a visiting fellow at Oxford University in 2005 and holds his Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago.
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