{"id":54141,"date":"2017-03-07T12:47:39","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T18:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=54141"},"modified":"2017-03-07T12:49:09","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T18:49:09","slug":"chicago-celebrates-180th-birthday-saturday-with-families-and-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-celebrates-180th-birthday-saturday-with-families-and-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago celebrates 180th birthday with families and cheesecake"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Wenjing Yang<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chicago, city of the big shoulders, turned 180 years old on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Chicago History Museum threw a special birthday bash with free admission for Illinois residents, a 60-pound Eli\u2019s cheesecake and a jazz trio that led the crowd in a chorus of \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d.<\/p>\n

Guest speaker Vincent Romero, interim executive director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, called the museum \u201ca wonderful place\u201d to celebrate Chicago\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a place of living history, and everyone here helps make that history,\u201d Romero said. “And it\u2019s important for people getting together, celebrating each other, and being happy with the differences that we have.”<\/p>\n

Chicago was incorporated as a city by the State of Illinois on March 4, 1837. Jean Baptist Pointe DuSable is regarded as the first permanent resident of Chicago. The museum held an essay contest that honors DuSable. Hundreds of K-12 students in Chicago submitted essays on what they thought DuSable would do to help stop the city\u2019s epidemic of violence.<\/p>\n

As Chicago is known as a city of neighborhoods, \u201cdiversity\u201d became the theme of the celebration.<\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
More than 200 people of all ages and races attended the birthday ceremony in the museum to celebrate the moment. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL) <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"2\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Jayla Johnson, the winner of the Friends of DuSable Essay Competition, read her essay at the ceremony. \u201cPeople can\u2019t solve problems by shooting each other and innocent people,\u201d she wrote. \u201cMr. DuSable would want children to be safe and grow up to be good citizens.\u201d (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"3\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The ceremony ended in a chorus of \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d led by the Tony Do Rosairo Trio. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"4\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Local storyteller Gewen Hilary and musician Enoch Williamson told Chicago\u2019s founding history with an interactive performance for kids. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"5\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Families sat together listening to stories about DuSable. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"6\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The event attracted attendees from several communities. Tess Tan, from Skokie, wrote a postcard at the museum for her niece who fell in love with Chicago when she first visited. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"7\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Kids with local artist Sue Romanelli were learning to craft a flag by drawing Chicago\u2019s flag on one side and the flag of their original countries on the other side. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"8\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Annie, 5, who declined to give her last name, was showing her mother a two-sided flag she just made. The family moved to Chicago from China two years ago. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"9\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A woman worn a Blackhawks cap at the birthday ceremony. Chicago elements were everywhere. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n
Photo at top: A 60-pound cheesecake with Chicago’s four-star flag was served by Eli\u2019s Cheesecake. The firm calls its product \u201cChicago\u2019s most famous dessert\u201d. Eli\u2019s has made cheesecakes for four American presidential inaugurations including those of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. (Wenjing Yang\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Wenjing Yang Chicago, city of the big shoulders, turned 180 years old on Saturday. The Chicago History Museum threw a special birthday bash with free admission for Illinois residents, a 60-pound Eli\u2019s cheesecake and a jazz trio that led the crowd in a chorus of \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d. Guest speaker Vincent Romero, interim executive director […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":348,"featured_media":54142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nChicago celebrates 180th birthday with families and cheesecake - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-celebrates-180th-birthday-saturday-with-families-and-kids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chicago celebrates 180th birthday with families and cheesecake - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Wenjing Yang Chicago, city of the big shoulders, turned 180 years old on Saturday. The Chicago History Museum threw a special birthday bash with free admission for Illinois residents, a 60-pound Eli\u2019s cheesecake and a jazz trio that led the crowd in a chorus of \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d. 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