History Club of Chicago

06/27/2023

What do you think about cargo cult?

After receiving numerous requests, we are going to talk about the phenomenon of the Cargo Cult as we continue to discuss traditions and cults of Melanesian tribes.

According to Wikipedia, the cargo cult is a modern Melanesian belief system, often characterised as one in which adherents perform rituals which they believe will cause a more technologically advanced society to deliver goods.

The term means a superficial imitation of something, without a deep understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, in the hope of obtaining results similar to the object of copying.

Cargo cult appeared in New Guinea as well as other islands of Melanesia during WW2. The islands served as bases for Japanese, and later American military forces. Local people did not participate in the military operations, but were watching how military planes and ships brought food and other goods to the islands. The islanders, unable to explain the origin of these things otherwise than as a manifestation of a miracle, began to believe in the magical power of technology and other objects;" airplanes, airports, ships, canvas tents, radio towers etc. According to their views, the "newcomers" had a special connection with the spirits of their ancestors, for which they undeservedly received from them "gifts" delivered from heaven. When the war ended, the flow of things from the civilized world stopped. The natives decided that by copying the manners and buildings of strangers, they would be able to win over the spirits and began to imitate the behavior of the military. They marked "runways", built life-size copies of airplanes from coconut trees and straw, made "headphones" from halves of coconuts and "guns" from sticks, walked in formation, etc. They did all this in the hope that they too would be able to receive "heavenly gifts."

06/25/2023

Sargent (John Singer Sargent) is a painter with an extraordinary talent but not so well known. Have you heard about this artist? If you have seen his paintings, please, mention which gallery in the comments!
He was born in Florence, Italy January 12, 1856. Sargent was an American artist and cousin of the famous botanist, Charles Sargent. One of the most successful painters of his era, he created most of his works based on realism and impressionism. His parents were Americans but lived permanently in Europe. The family of the future artist cannot be called well-to-do, though through family finances of the parents allowed them to fully satisfy their passion for changing places. During winter months the family lived in southern Italy, and with the onset of the summer heat, the Sargents moved to either France or Germany. Even the appearance of two more children in the family did not force John's parents to change their lifestyle.
With such a nomadic way of living, the possibility of giving the children a decent education was slim. However, there was one indisputable plus, traveling to various countries contributed to the fact that the children spoke almost all the European languages perfectly.
John Singer Sargent became interested in drawing at an early age, his parents strongly encouraged this hobby. John Singer Sargent celebrated his eighteenth birthday in Paris as a student of the fashion artist Charles Emile Durand, who was known as a portrait painter.

While John Singer Sargent was still at school, one of his paintings was already exhibited in the Salon at the prestigious Paris exhibition. Five years later in 1881, one of the paintings of the young artist was awarded the prestigious Salon medal.
In those days the artist painted a lot: landscapes, compositions, genre scenes and portraits, which glorified the name of John Singer Sargent in the future. The artist also traveled a lot. We can say that his passion for travel was hereditary.
In 1877, John Singer Sargent visited America for the first time and the homeland of his parents simply sunk into his heart. Many years later, the artist would refuse a tempting offer to become an English
knight for the simple reason that a knighthood was awarded only to citizens of England, and John did not want to give up American citizenship.

The popularity of the artist grew, the Parisian public simply idolized him. In 1884, the artist painted a portrait of the wife of a major French banker (Madame Pierre Gautreau) erupting a scandal as the public considered the portrait overly frank. The scandal did not fade away and the artist left France. The portrait of Madame Pierre Gautreau was renamed the portrait of Madame X. The artist himself considered this portrait to be his best work.
After this scandal with Madam X portrait he practically stopped painting in this genre.

In 1925 in London at his home, the artist died in his sleep due to cardiac arrest. He remained for posterity an American artist, though only visiting America on a few occasions. John Singer Sargent created nearly 900 oil paintings and more than 2000 watercolors, along with countless sketches and charcoal drawings.

06/15/2023

06/11/2023

Tsavo Man-Eaters - one of the most famous exhibits of Chicago Field Museum.

It is known that animals almost never attack humans and do not consider humans as a source of food. One of the most heartbreaking instances of animal attacks on humans occurred at the construction site of a bridge, between Congo and Uganda on the Tsavo River. Two African lions killed from 30 to 100 people, according to general estimates.
Now stuffed, they can be seen at the Field Museum in Chicago. Let's go back to the events when two large ( about 3 meters long) males forced a serious project of the British Empire to stop. The construction of the bridge was put on hold March through December 1998. People began to disappear without a trace at the facility where mostly Indians worked. Sometimes the lions, in front of a crowd, pulled their prey right out of the tent. The unlit fires and darkness did not help, nor did the net that was circled around the camp. Hundreds of workers fled considering this place to be cursed and the lions to be the spirits of local shamans who protect their territory from invaders. The remaining workers slept in trees or dug holes to lay down in as they covered themselves from above with iron rods. This went on for about 9 months.

Bridge construction was led by Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson.
To support and aid in the hunt, other officials arrived with reinforcements of around twenty armed soldiers. Patterson set traps and tried several times to ambush the lions at night from trees. After repeated unsuccessful attempts, he shot the first lion on December 9, 1898. Twenty days later, the second lion was found and killed. The first lion killed measured 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) from nose to the tip of tail. It took eight men to carry the carcass back to camp.
Subsequently, the skins of lions were kept by Patterson and served him as carpets in his house. They were purchased by the Field Museum in fairly poor condition for $5,000 and stuffed. The size of the stuffed animals due to the poor condition of the skin
turned out to be significantly smaller than the actual size when they were alive. There are many versions of why lions began to hunt people which is absolutely unusual, as we noted, wild animals are not known to hunt people. One of explanations mentioned above stems from spiritual origins. There are many other theories. Now you know the story. What do you think about this?

06/10/2023

The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational and scientific programs, and its extensive scientific-specimen and artifact collections. The permanent exhibitions, which attract up to two million visitors annually, include fossils, current cultures from around the world, and interactive programming demonstrating today's urgent conservation needs. The museum is named in honor of its first major benefactor, Marshall Field, the department-store magnate. The museum and its collections originated from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the artifacts displayed at the fair. The museum maintains a temporary exhibition program of traveling shows as well as in-house produced topical exhibitions. The professional staff maintains collections of over 24 million specimens and objects that provide the basis for the museum's scientific-research programs. These collections include the full range of existing biodiversity, gems, meteorites, fossils, and rich anthropological collections and cultural artifacts from around the globe. The museum's library, which contains over 275,000 books, journals, and photo archives focused on biological systematics, evolutionary biology, geology, archaeology, ethnology and material culture, supports the museum's academic-research faculty and exhibit development. The academic faculty and scientific staff engage in field expeditions, in biodiversity and cultural research on every continent, in local and foreign student training, and in stewardship of the rich specimen and artifact collections. They work in close collaboration with public programming exhibitions and education initiatives.

Please enjoy these photos of the Field Museum and our kid's, as well as adult group tours, led by master historian Oksana.

Contact us to book a tour.

06/07/2023

Сhicago skyscrapers

06/06/2023

Summary of Field Museum Study Tour:

We will visit the most famous and interesting exhibits of Field Museum in Chicago:

* SUE the T. Rex.
Sue is the nickname given to one of the largest, most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever found, at over 90 percent recovered.
* Maximo the Titanosaur. "Maximo" means "maximum" or "most" in Spanish, so it's a very fitting name for this dinosaur, the biggest ever discovered to date.
* Inside Ancient Egypt: a great collection of Egyptian mummies and other amazing artifacts.
* Melanazian and Polynesian section: One of the largest collections of artifacts from Melanesian and Polynesian Islands.
* The Ancient Americas - one of the greatest exhibitions devoted to American ancient civilizations.
* Tsavo Lions - The Tsavo Man-Eaters were a pair of man-eating male lions in the Tsavo region of Kenya, which were responsible for the deaths of many construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway between March and December 1898.
* Halls of Gems and Jades.

Tour guide reservation:

+1 (847) 312-4051

[email protected]

05/31/2023

Chicago - 4 seasons

05/26/2023

The celebration of Pacific Islander Heritage Month continues!

In connection to this, let’s discuss a unique tribe native to New Guinea. After many generations, they continue to live deep in the jungle forests without any touch of civilization, preserving their unique traditions and style of life.
Recently discovered in 1974, the name of this tribe is Korowai. The Korowai have incredible skills for high-rise construction that are used to build housing without any metal high above the ground. They build their homes on top of tall trees 10-30 meters up! The main explanation of such an extravagant choice of living is that wicked spirits do not dwell so high! In fact, the only subject of their beliefs are evil spirits and not much else. Their belief system does not include deities or other objects of worship. An interesting fact about the Korowai is that pigs serve them as pets rather than dogs. Pigs usually live with them on the tops of trees. The Korowai are former cannibals, though these days their main source of protein is larvae.

More interesting details about this tribe as well other unique cultures will be discovered and discussed as you join our tours to the Field museum. Follow and like our page to stay informed about civilizations and cultures around the world.

05/22/2023

Tulips in Chicago

05/22/2023

Excursions ( in English, Russian and Ukrainian languages) at the Field Museum with a professional historian who will broaden your horizons as you learn many new and interesting things:

Current promotion for excursions in English, Russian and Ukrainian languages: Family package: 2 adults 2 children $120. Entrance tickets are included in the price!

Excursions to choose from:
1. Study tour - let's get acquainted with the most famous and interesting artifacts, museum collections, and main attractions.
2. Tour of Ancient Egypt - explore the unique collection of mummies of ancient Egypt and diorite statues, and much more. We will learn many interesting things about the history of Egypt, including official historical and alternative concepts.
3. Tour "Ancient civilizations of pre-Columbian America". Walking through the halls of the Field Museum, we study the history of the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Incas, the magical country of Eldorado, the mounds of Cahotia and many other amazing cultures of America.
4. Tour "The mostly unique cultures of the planet", Tibet, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Hawaii, New Guinea and others.
During the tour we will plunge into the unique features of the tribes of New Guinea and other islands of Melanesia lost among the forests and mountains. We will get acquainted with the history and culture of the many people of the Polynesian islands, New Zealand, Hawaii, and other unique places in the Pacific Ocean. We will talk about challenges and adventures that the great travelers James Cook, Miklukha-Maclay faced, about the unusual traditions local culture, and about many, many other things.

◦ During the excursion, thanks to the materials on display at the Field Museum, we will learn more about the life and spiritual side of the most mysterious place on the planet, the Roof of the World - Tibet. We will discuss why exactly this territory is unique, with its culture, system of values, beliefs, and traditions, let's talk about the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism and the Tulku Institute.

05/22/2023

05/20/2023

* These are the most famous and interesting exhibits of Field Museum in Chicago, which we highly recommend to visit!

* SUE the T. Rex.
Sue is the nickname given to one of the largest, most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever found, at over 90 percent recovered.
* Maximo the Titanosaur. "Maximo" means "maximum" or "most" in Spanish, so it's a very fitting name for this dinosaur, the biggest ever discovered to date.
* Inside Ancient Egypt: a great collection of Egyptian mummies and other amazing artifacts.
* Melanazian and Polynesian section: One of the largest collections of artifacts from Melanesian and Polynesian Islands.
* The Ancient Americas - one of the greatest exhibitions devoted to American ancient civilizations.
* Tsavo Lions - The Tsavo Man-Eaters were a pair of man-eating male lions in the Tsavo region of Kenya, which were responsible for the deaths of many construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway between March and December 1898.
* Halls of Gems and Jades.

05/19/2023

Welcome, and welcome back to the History Club of Chicago! Here we will not only focus and discuss Chicago history, we will also spend time discussing world history as we know it and not as we know it, delving into alternative theories and circumstances. Here you will have opportunities to join group tours to various museums guided by a master historian and learn about ancient and modern civilizations, their cultures, technologies, and how we were more connected than we thought. We welcome your views and encourage your conversations, thoughts, and theories.

05/18/2023

Frederick Catherwood was a British architect, artist, archaeologist and explorer. He gained worldwide fame thanks to his paintings and sketches of the ruins of the Mayan civilization discovered by him. Along with J. L. Stephens, he laid the foundation of Mayan studies.
From 1839 to 1841, Catherwood and Stephens explored almost the entire territory of the Maya civilization. While Stephens was compiling written reports, Catherwood sketched various monuments: pyramids, stelae, ball stadiums, etc., often overgrown with jungle. Together they visited 44 archaeological sites and discovered several new ones.