77 Flavors of Chicago
We've visited all 77 of Chicago's historic community areas and taught you the history and tasted amazing food along the way! Join us, Sara Faddah and Dario Durham, as we continue to tell Chicago's tasteful history. New episodes every Monday. Support this podcast: https://77flavorschi.buzzsprout.com
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If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
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One of the largest projects that the plan broke down was transportation. The ideas were large and costly. Burnham dedicated a great part of his plan to remapping the city with a focus on how people and freight interacted.
Show notes here!
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
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Sara @sarafaddah
The Burnham Plan of Chicago stands as a clear example of an era when wealthy power players used their influence to shape the city, believing, at least in part, that their vision would serve the public good. Were they always right? Not necessarily. But given the choice, I’ll take an ambitious parks system over another phallic rocket launched into space any day.
Read the show notes here!
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
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Visit our *NEW* website https://www.77flavors.org
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77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
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Sara @sarafaddah
The roar of Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was not just the sound of industry and stockyards; it was the rising collective voice of women demanding influence, education, and reform. Far from the halls of government, these voices were first amplified within the elegant, often unassuming walls of women's clubs, institutions that were simultaneously havens for self-improvement and clandestine engines of social change. The history of Chicago's development is incomplete without tracing the impact of these organizations. They provided the intellectual and organizational springboard for women to step out of the domestic sphere and into the civic arena.
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
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77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
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Sara @sarafaddah
How many statues of women exist in the city of Chicago; people have asked this question every year in March for the last decade at least! What I found most surprising is that we’re still getting the same answer. Why are there only a handful of monuments?
Show Notes Here
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
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77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
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Sara @sarafaddah
Dive into the life of a woman that was the first of many things here in Chicago. Carol 'Mickey' Norton tells stories from her time as the first woman on the floor of the International Monetary Market, her ownership in Chicago sports and more!
Show Notes Here
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
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77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
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Sara @sarafaddah
This week is one of our favorites. Chicago turns 189, it’s Women’s History Month, and you can finally feel that little hint of spring in the air. There was no way we were skipping a celebration of Chicago’s birthday — so we did what we love most: dove!
Show Notes Here
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
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Visit our *NEW* website https://www.77flavors.org
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77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
Dario dariodurhamphoto
Sara @sarafaddah
It’s easy to roll your eyes at a heritage month.
To assume it’s corporate. Performative. Political. A logo swap and a themed menu and then back to business as usual.
But when you step back and really look at the data — at tourism dollars, small business revenue, museum attendance, school engagement, public programming — you start to see something deeper. Heritage months aren’t just symbolic. They move cities. They fund institutions. They spotlight artists, historians, chefs, and community leaders who might otherwise be overlooked.
And more importantly? They create space.
Space for stories that were erased.
Space for traditions that survived anyway.
Space for communities to see themselves reflected in the place they call home.
In a city like Chicago — layered, immigrant-built, migration-shaped, neighborhood-defined — heritage months are not side notes. They’re essential chapters. They help us understand who built what, who cooked what, who organized, who resisted, who preserved.
This episode explores why these months matter beyond the headlines. We dig into the numbers. The impact. The intention. And we ask a bigger question: What would it look like if we carried this same energy all year long?
Sources:
https://www.cps.edu/strategic-initiatives/black-student-success/
https://statisticalatlas.com/place/Illinois/Chicago/Educational-Attainment
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
WATCH US ON YOUTUBE HERE!
Visit our *NEW* website https://www.77flavors.org
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77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
Dario dariodurhamphoto
Sara
Show Notes Here
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
WATCH US ON YOUTUBE HERE!
Visit our *NEW* website https://www.77flavors.org
Follow us on IG:
77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
Dario dariodurhamphoto
Sara @sarafaddah
A Porter’s Life: Riding the Rails of Black Labor History
The morning of April 6th 1907, Ross Wood decided to fill out the application to become a Pullman Porter. He was 23 years old, and until this point he has only ever worked as a servant; a “houseboy”. Wood was born to parents that were enslaved not too long before he was born. He thought about how if he had been born just 20 years earlier, he too would’ve been a slave. He wanted to be a porter. It was a respected job among his black peers and even though he would spend his days being demeaned, the $10 a week might’ve been enough incentive.
Show Notes Here
If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at admin@77flavors.org
WATCH US ON YOUTUBE HERE!
Visit our *NEW* website https://www.77flavors.org
Follow us on IG:
77 Flavors of Chicago @77flavorschi
Dario dariodurhamphoto
Sara @sarafaddah