Chicago Public Library is pleased to partner with the Division Street Revisited podcast to celebrate the life and legacy of Studs Terkel and his remarkable work. In this exciting new podcast, a team led by Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Schmich follows up on the stories of “uncelebrated” people from Studs Terkel’s groundbreaking 1967 oral history, Division Street: America.
Approaching Chicagoans as emblematic of the nation at large, Terkel set out with his tape recorder and spent a year talking to over seventy people about race, family, education, work, prospects for the future—all topics that remain deeply contentious today. Most interviewees shared the hope for a good life for their children and the wish for a less divided and more just America, but the real Chicago street referenced in the title takes on a metaphorical meaning as a symbol of the acute social divides of the 1960s—and highlights the continued relevance of Terkel’s work in our polarized times.
Now, over fifty years later, Melissa Harris and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mary Schmich have created the remarkable Division Street Revisited podcast, coming in January 2025, in which they have found and interviewed descendants of Terkel’s original subjects in seven rich episodes. Each of the seven episodes will stand on its own and focus on a primary theme: race, work, labor rights, indigenous rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, conservation and poverty. These episodes will be full stories that will show how and why each of the original portraits was created, and how those same themes echo and evolve in the present. The podcast will be distributed by PRX and air on WBEZ and other national networks.
Chicago Public Library is pleased to host the podcast launch party of Division Street Revisited on Wednesday, January 29 at 5:30pm in the Winter Garden at Harold Washington Library Center. Join Mary Schmich and her team of journalists, including Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Healy, for a conversation, listening session, and celebration! Listen to excerpts, music, and behind-the-scenes stories, hosted by executive producers Mary Schmich and Melissa Harris.
After the launch party, keep the exploration going with the Division Street Revisited Listening Club. It's like a book club, but for podcasts!
We’ll discuss a different episode of Division Street Revisited each week in free get-togethers open to the public. They’ll take place on Wednesdays, a little more than a week after each episode’s release, except for the final session on a Friday.
Find links to listen to the podcast at the Division Street Revisited page. Bring your questions! Mary Schmich and her colleagues will share the stories behind the stories.
Two of the sessions will be in person — at the Chicago History Museum and Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music — and the other five will be online. To attend, register at this link.
Feb. 5, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Episode 1: Myra Alexander (online)
Feb. 12, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Episode 2: Bill Koza (online)
Feb. 19, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Episode 3: Della Reuther (online)
Feb. 26, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Episode 4: Ben Bearskin (online)
March 5, 5-7 p.m.: Episode 5: Mary Ward Wolkonsky (in person at Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St)
March 12, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Episode 6: Leon Beverly (online)
March 21, 5-7 p.m.: Episode 7: Blanche Gates (in person at Old Town School 909 W. Armitage location)
