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• 1 media/CITY01_0507_38198100081965_03.jpg 2023-10-19T15:39:33-05:00 What We Were 73 image_header 4635 2024-07-02T12:56:11-05:00

  “But it’s so Chicago. Boastful. Prideful… Such bluster I suspect also stems from our deep-rooted insecurities, that somehow we won’t be recognized as a world-class city. Who will honor us if we don’t honor ourselves?"
          – Alex Kotlowitz

  Many events during the year 2000 brought many changes. Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex debuted at the Field Museum, Barack Obama lost his congressional campaign against Black Panther member Bobby Rush, and the 2000 presidential election came down to a Supreme Court decision to stop the vote recount in Florida in December, giving George W. Bush the presidency. These events still impact lives today.

  While life today is very different, some things remain the same. Chicagoans still attend religious services, go to parades and festivals, and use public transportation to get to both. The photographs are a record of the public and private sides of Chicago: Kids hopping a fence to play outside, a man grinning in his car with his window down (despite the frigid winter air), and someone letting a pigeon perch on their arm while waiting for the train. These small moments of joy show who they are. These photographs show that many of our traditions still exist today.

  Scroll down to explore a selection of photographs in the "What We Were" section. Clicking on any image will open its "media file" page, click the x in the top right corner to close the image and return to the exhibit page.