Born into slavery in 1862 in Holly Springs, Miss., Ida B. Wells became one of America's most courageous and tenacious journalists and rights activists. Wells moved to Memphis, Tenn. following the deaths of her parents. A schoolteacher by training, Wells took up journalism in 1891 and wrote several scathing indictments of the lack of educational opportunities for blacks in Memphis. Dismissed by the school board for her commentaries, Wells became a partner and full-time writer/reporter at the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight. In 1892, three black store owners, friends of Wells, were abducted and lynched by a mob. Her coverage of the story and subsequent publishing of Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, exposed the tradition of racially motivated vigilantism and encouraged blacks to move away from the South. In 1893, Wells moved to Chicago where she continued her writing and became a nationally recognized anti-lynching crusader. In 1895, she married Ferdinand Lee Burnett, an esteemed Chicago black attorney. Wells-Burnett went on to found the National Association of Colored Women and was one of only two women to sign the petition that lead to the creation of the NAACP. Wells-Burnett and her husband lived in their Bronzeville neighborhood home from 1919-1929.

On this site in 1831, the Sauganash Hotel opened its doors as one of the first inns and taverns in the city. In 1833, it hosted a gathering of prominent local citizens who met to incorporate the blossoming new town. The Sauganash was also the site of the city's first elections and town hall meetings. In 1851, the hotel was destroyed by fire, and it wasn't until almost a decade later that it was replaced. In 1860, a group of Republican financiers put forth money to erect a new hall to hold the upcoming party convention. In less than six weeks, and at the then enormous sum of $6,000, the new Wigwam was constructed to hold nearly 10,000 attendees. The building was furnished with a moveable stage and outfitted with a brass cannon that was fired upon the selection of a new presidential candidate. At their first convention in 1860-the first presidential convention held west of the Allegheny Mountains-Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln to lead their party ticket. Although the Wigwam was later destroyed by fire, it ushered in an era of Chicago political conventions. Over the past 146 years, Chicago has hosted 25 presidential conventions-more than any other city in the country.

This strip of roadway adjacent to Randolph Street was the scene of one of the most significant, tragic and chaotic events in American labor history. On Monday, May 3, 1886 strikers who assembled at the McCormick Reaper factory to heckle non-union replacement workers were accosted by police arriving on the scene to break up the demonstration. Heated exchanges escalated quickly into violence, and in the ensuing fracas, police killed two protestors. A public protest was immediately planned the next day at the West Side Market-also called Haymarket-on Randolph Street. However, the crowd was smaller than expected and the group relocated to this site on Des Plaines Street. After two hours of speeches, Chicago police arrived to monitor the event. At 10:30 p.m., officers decided to break up the gathering. After giving a second order to disperse, an unknown assailant tossed a lighted dynamite bomb into the cluster of police. Chaos ensued and both officers and civilians began exchanging gunfire. At the end of the melee, 60 officers and an unknown number of civilians were wounded. Eight officers and four civilians died from wounds sustained in the fight. In the end, eight men were arrested and tried for their role in the riot. Four men, including the widely known anarchist Albert Parsons, were hanged. Four others were sentenced to prison terms. However, the search for the perpetrators of the event had been hastily undertaken and had quickly spiraled into a witch hunt. The guilt of the convicted parties was largely unsubstantiated, and in 1893, the Illinois governor pardoned the surviving three jailed men.

Established in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr, Hull House was created "to provide a center for a higher civic and social life; to institute and maintain educational and philanthropic enterprises, and to investigate and improve the conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago." Hull House provided numerous services for immigrant families such as literacy, homemaking, citizenship classes, job assistance, and other programs that helped the poor assimilate and succeed in American society. Addams was a lifelong fighter for justice and equality for people of all nationalities, races and genders. Her pioneering social work won her international praise including a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Addams understood the need to reform laws for the betterment of the poor and marginalized. She labored tirelessly and helped establish numerous advocacy organizations including the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Washington Square Park, or Bughouse Square as it was more famously known, was one of the most famous, active and important free speech zones in the United States. Originally set aside as a public park in 1842, Washington Square Park was home to many wealthy Chicago families after the Great Fire. However, at the turn of the 20th century the area of the square and the nearby Water Tower district, "Tower Town," became home to a bustling bohemian population. Washington Square Park was the nexus of free speech and a beacon to artists and radicals. Hundreds of famous and unknown orators including Eugene Debs, Lucy Parsons, Clarence Darrow and Carl Sandberg were known to have stood atop a soapbox and shouted poetry, political speeches and general rantings. One reporter who witnessed the scene described the square as "a three-ring circus, [or] a carnival.... You have a feeling, as you leave the square that you'd go bughouse if you stayed there any longer." While much of the radical speech was quelled by governmental crackdowns around WWI, the square remained an active free speech zone through the Great Depression and today is the location of the Newberry Library's annual July Bughouse Square Debates.