Remarkably, no carefully researched popular history of the Great Chicago Fire had been written until now. To celebrate Carl Smith's book Chicago's Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City and the Chicago History Museum's milestone exhibition, City on Fire: Chicago 1871, this program brings together four acclaimed specialists on Chicago history for an important conversation at the fire's 150th anniversary.

Smith will be joined by US historian Adam Green, Chicago History Museum Assistant Curator Julius Jones, and the Newberry's Liesl Olson to unpack the geographical and social inequalities that doomed Chicago to burn and to reconsider the myth of the city rising from the ashes.

This event is cosponsored by the Newberry Library. Click here to RSVP.