Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Cold temperatures, strong winds and heavy lake wave action covered piers in a layer of ice off the lakefront near North Avenue on Jan. 2, 2003.

On the front lines for 75 years of blizzards, heat waves, floods and other calamities

Throughout our history, Chicago Sun-Times photographers, reporters and editors have worked hard to capture our icebound, storm-tossed, sun-baked city.

By Neil Steinberg

The Feb. 2, 1948, first edition of the Chicago Daily Sun and Times’ front page.

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Sun-Times at 75: A look back, starting with a story that became a Jimmy Stewart movie

By Stefano Esposito

Ismael Perez outside the Newberry Library last year.

Columnists

How Chicago LGBTQ+ and straight media trailblazers paved the way for this column

By Ismael Perez

Mayor Harold Washington with a copy of the Chicago Sun-Times declaring him the winner of the 1987 Democratic primary election. Washington would win a second term that year, but die in November.

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

75 years, 10 mayors: How Sun-Times coverage of City Hall evolved

By Neil Steinberg

Eppie Lederer, the longtime Sun-Times advice columnist who wrote under the name Ann Landers.

Columnists

Covering LGBTQ+ issues, including an Ann Landers column lauded as ‘a beacon of light in a dark world’

By Neil Steinberg

Chicago Sun-Times Executive Editor Jennifer Kho.

Celebrating 75 years of covering Chicago news

Over 75 years, the Chicago Sun-Times has covered stories of triumph and infamy, innovation and resilience, crime and corruption. There were unforgettable sports moments and legends, and the many Chicago characters that make up the highs and lows of the city we love.

We are so proud to be a part of this history.

To mark our anniversary, we are looking back at stories from our archives and looking forward with opinions from new thought leaders in our ‘Chicago’s Next Voices’ series.

We also look forward to hearing from you! Tell us how the Sun-Times has fit into your life below.

Chicago’s Next Voices

The Sun-Times asked readers to share their predictions for Chicago’s future. Each month, we will share a new take on what the city could and should be for our fellow Chicagoans.

Commentary

Meet the Columnists

They come from all walks of life and share the hopes, frustrations and fears that connect us all.

Read

Commentary

Here’s why we decided to give Chicago’s Next Voices a platform in the Sun-Times

We’ll be publishing pieces from the winners every month, and we need your feedback to make decisions about what’s next.

By Jennifer Kho

A view of the Chicago skyline from part of the old U.S. Steel South Works site near 85th and South Shore Drive in 2014.

Columnists

Chicago should lead the way in turning old industrial sites into green neighborhoods

On the Southeast Side, I discovered folks working to restore eco-preserves sprouting between shuttered mills. Here was a nascent template for the entire city and region.

By John F. Wasik

What are your most memorable Sun-Times moments?

Every Chicagoan has their favorite Sun-Times memory — whether its reading the comics section at their Nana’s house or realizing that the world will be forever changed based on a front page story. 75 years is a lifetime of memories and we’d love to hear how we have fit into your life — big or small.

Your story could be shared in the paper or online.

My Sun-Times Memory

Write your story here.

First name

Last name

Neighborhood

We’d love to know where you are writing from!

Phone number

Can we share your story in the paper or online?

Yes

View this profile on Instagram

Chicago Sun-Times Photo Vault (@cstphotovault) • Instagram photos and videos

Mamie Till Bradley (center) looks down at the grave of Emmett Till at her son’s funeral on Sept. 6, 1955, at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. Alma Spearman stands beside her daughter, Mamie Till Bradley.

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

How we covered Emmett Till’s murder and his mom’s decision to ‘let the people see what they did to my boy’

This year marks nearly seven decades since the 14-year-old boy from the South Side was killed in Mississippi. Here’s a look at how the Sun-Times covered his death in 1955, including Mamie Till Bradley’s decision to show the world the brutality he endured at the hands of white supremacists.

By Richard Cahan and Michael Williams

Bob Richards, one of America’s most popular athletes in the 1950s, pole vaults in the heart of the Loop to promote the 1959 Pan American Games. That’s the old Federal Building in the background.

NASCAR In Chicago

NASCAR’s not the first to use Chicago as a sports arena, venue

As the NASCAR drivers take to Chicago’s streets, we remember other times this city has opened its roadways to provide a venue for national and local sports events.

By Richard Cahan and Michael Williams

Tracy Baim rides in the 1987 Chicago Pride Parade and hands copies of the gay newspaper Outlines.

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Tracy Baim: Finding my niche early in the gay press

By 1984, after graduating with a journalism degree — and being a very out lesbian — I knew mainstream newsrooms were not for me. I was not going back into the closet for my career.

By Tracy Baim

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Rushing to face death, then telling the tale

Over the Sun-Times’ 75-year history, have staffers witnessed disasters that are seared into the memory of the city.

By Neil Steinberg

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

A Mockery of Justice in Mississippi

This Sun-Times editorial was published Sept. 27, 1955, just after the two men charged with brutally murdering 14-year-old Emmett Till were acquitted of the murder charge. The paper expressed disgust at the “nauseating” verdict. This is part of a 75-anniversary project highlighting decades of exceptional journalism.

By CST Editorial Board

This is the front page of the Sept. 8, 1955 Chicago Sun-Times outlining the plans of Mamie Till-Bradley to go to Mississippi to testify against the two men who brutally murdered her teenage son, Emmett Till.

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Slain Boy’s Mother Going to Mississippi; She Will Testify at Death Trial

This story was published on Sept. 8, 1955, when Emmett Till’s mother announced she would be going to Mississippi to testify at the trial of the two men who brutally murdered her teenage son. This is part of a 75-anniversary series highlighting decades of journalism coverage

By Sun-Times staff

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Rites Held for Slain Boy; Blast Wrong Identity Claim

This story on Emmett Till was published on Sept. 4, 1955, the day after thousands came to pay their respects at the funeral of the murdered teenager. Emmett’s mother’s insistence that his brutally beaten body be shown to the world was a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement. This is part of a 75-anniversary series highlighting decades of journalism coverage

By Sun-Times staff

This front-page story on the discovery of Emmett Till’s body in Mississippi was published Thursday, Sept. 1, 1955 — the day after he was found.

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Chicago boy found slain in Dixie

This story was published the day after Emmett Till’s body was found beaten, bullet-pierced and weighed down with iron and barbed wire in the muddy waters of Mississippi’s Tallahatchie River on Thursday, Sept. 1, 1955. It is part of a 75th anniversary series highlighting decades of important journalism coverage.

By Special to the Sun-Times

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

Battered Body of Till Boy Arrives Here; Murdered Youth’s Kin Hysterical at Station

This story was published on Sept. 2, 1955, when Emmett Till’s body arrived by train back in his hometown Chicago from Mississippi. The brutal murder of this teenager and his mother’s insistence that his brutally beaten body be shown to the world was a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement. This is part of a 75-anniversary series highlighting decades of journalism coverage.

By Sun-Times staff

Sun-Times 75th Anniversary

A youngster is lynched in Mississippi

This editorial was published on Sept. 2, 1955, when Emmett Till’s body arrived home by train to Chicago from Mississippi. Till’s brutal lynching murder and his mother’s insistence that the world not turn away from what was done to her son was a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement. This is part of a 75-anniversary series highlighting decades of journalism coverage

By CST Editorial Board