The Great Fire of 1871 was a seminal event in Chicago’s history. It changed the way we thought about many aspects of our civic life—especially architecture. The city enacted new regulations involving building materials and fireproofing after the Fire to prevent future disasters.

As a teacher, you help your students understand the myriad factors and events that led to the fire as well as those factors that allowed the fire to grow so disastrously out of control. The Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) invites you to participate in a two-day workshop that builds on the information you currently use to teach about the Great Fire and introduces new ideas, information, and activities that will help your students understand what happened when Chicagoans began rebuilding their city.

This workshop includes a visit to the site where the fire started (now the Chicago Fire Academy), a bus tour of the Fire’s 4-1/2 mile path through the city, walking tours to compare and contrast pre- and post-fire construction methods and building materials, a visit to the Chicago Historical Society, exercises involving primary source photos and maps, point-of-view writing, and a variety of materials written by fire eye-witnesses, plus handouts and continental breakfasts.

Dates: Saturdays, November 2 & 16, 2002

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day

Fee: $100.00 (payable to CAF—optional $20.00 lane credit fee)

Location: The Chicago Architecture Foundation, 224 S. Michigan Ave.
(Santa Fe Building, corner of Michigan Ave. and Jackson Blvd.)

Credits: One (1) Lane Credit hour / Fifteen (15) CPDU’s

Instructors: Jean Linsner and Jennifer Masengarb, CAF, Education Department.

Registration deadline is Friday, October 18, 2002
You may register by calling the Chicago Architecture Foundation or, if you are interested in receiving lane promotional credit for this workshop, call the CPS Teachers Academy of Professional Development directly at 773-553-6050. The Great Fire is course number SOS286F02.

For more information and to register, please contact:
Jean Linsner, Director of Youth Education at the Chicago Architecture Foundation
Email: jlinsner@architecture.org
Phone: 312-922-3432, ext. 232