Naphtali ben Yakov Pritzker American History Wing
"The new wing of the Chicago History Museum opening on the Fourth of July is and will continue to be, a reflection of ALL of our histories. It will tell the often difficult story of the struggle for freedom and also celebrate achievements as a community and nation; and together, this makes us a family of Americans."
COL (IL) James N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Ret.)
President & Founder, Tawani Foundation & Pritzker Military Library
Tawani Foundation is honored to announce the grand opening of the Naphtali ben Yakov Pritzker American History Wing at the Chicago History Museum, located at 1601 N. Clark Street. Following a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday, July 4, 2010, the new wing of the museum named and dedicated in honor of the great-grandfather of Tawani Foundation’s Founder and President, opened to the public and features the Facing Freedom exhibit.
- In January 2007, the Tawani Foundation awarded a five-year project grant to the Chicago History Museum to support the design and development of the American History Wing.
- The American History Wing is generously named for Naphtali ben Yakov Pritzker, a Jewish immigrant from Russia who arrived in Chicago at age 10 in 1881. After teaching himself English by reading the Chicago Tribune, he eventually opened his own law practice in 1902. The exhibit describes the life of Mr. Pritzker in the exhibition as a parallel to the story of immigration in America and in particular, Chicago.
- The theme for the new wing, Facing Freedom: What does freedom mean? To whom should freedom be extended? How are denied rights gained? These are some of the questions the new American history exhibition explores. Based on the central idea that the history of the United States has been shaped by conflicts over what it means to be free, this new exhibition uses images, artifacts, and interactivity to explore familiar and not-so-familiar stories from the nation’s past.
- Tawani Foundation is proud of the Chicago History Museum’s talented and professional leadership, staff and volunteers and we value the opportunity to support this landmark project that with thoughtful topics and engaging exhibits, studies the past, in order that our community, and country can strive for a better future.
- In addition to this new commitment, Tawani Foundation made a $250,000 Preservation Grant in support of the Reinventing the Chicago Historical Society capital campaign. The Preservation Grant more specifically included support of the public reopening of the Diorama Hall, kindly renamed in honor of the Tawani Foundation in September 2006.
- In 2008, the Chicago History Museum reported high audience and membership levels, its second full year open since it reopened on September 30, 2006 after a major renovation. CHM had the second largest attendance among the Museums in the Park (Chicago’s 10 world-class cultural attractions known as the Museums In the Park (MIP)) which was at 266,000 visitors, up 32% from 2007.
