Election Day is coming, the leaves have hit their peak…. what better time to delve into the rich political history of Chicago cemeteries?
This virtual tour features live narration over gorgeous footage of Graceland, Rosehill and other local burial grounds taken in late October when the fall foliage is at its peak, making even the graves of total scumbags look lovely! Among those buried here are anti-slavery fighters, Lincoln hangers-on, Lincoln foes, old time conspiracy-mongers, whiskey tax thieves, mayors, governors, senators, members of the “Know Nothing” party, and others from the days when politics was…. well, really, not THAT different.
Tour guide Adam Selzer is the author of more than twenty books, including HH Holmes: The True History, Mysterious Chicago, The Ghosts of Chicago, and the upcoming Graceland Cemetery: Stories, Symbols and Secrets (Univ of Illinois Press, 2021). He appears often on TV and the radio, including the new Scary Stories documentary on Amazon Prime. A Chicago cemetery tour guide for several years, his knowledge of the cemetery is encyclopedic, but he’s always finding new things to research, and new ways to make the stories as fascinating and entertaining as possible. Some of these graves have come up on recent tours (naturally there’s some overlap with the “Jerks in Chicago History” tour), but we’ll focus on graves we haven’t covered too much before.
This tour is all about historical stuff, and won’t really touch on the upcoming election (surely you’ve heard enough about it by now and need a break!). But some issues from back then still resonate today and the parallels will be obvious. Don’t expect the tour to be a safe space for white pride types, conspiracy theorists, people who think the Civil War was just about “states rights,” or any of that other malarkey.
HOW TO WATCH – it’s easy!
– The event will be broadcast live via Facebook Live on the Mysterious Chicago facebook page. (
http://www.facebook.com/mysteriouschicago
)
– ALL YOU HAVE TO DO is be on that page after the broadcast starts (we usually start shortly before the scheduled start time and give people a few minutes to join in). If you don’t see it right away, try refreshing or reloading.
– If you “like” the Mysterious Chicago page you can set it to notify you when the page starts broadcasting! And if you want practice, or to make sure it works on your system, we broadcast “mini tours” nearly every day at 10am central.
– The event is free to watch. Donations are suggested either via eventbrite (see ticket link), venmo (adamchicago), paypal (adam@mysteriouschicago.com) or joining patreon.com/adamchicago. You will not need a ticket or code to login.
– If you miss it, never fear – it’ll be on the “videos” section of the facebook page for some time after the live broadcast.
More than 99% of viewers have no trouble tuning in, but, hey, this is the internet. Sometimes things seem to get wonky. Here are some troubleshooting tips if you’re new to Facebook Live:
– There is no special code or special link or login info. Just be on the main Mysterious Chicago Facebook page. (not the page for one of the photos or old posts, just regular old
facebook.com/mysteriouschicago
)
– If you are on the site and don’t see “Happening Now” or “Mysterious Chicago is Live” (as in the pic below), try refreshing and scrolling down a bit.
– And make sure you’re not mistaking the time zone! All times are central.
– Beware of spam and scam sites!
– Note that clicking “follow” on the eventbrite page only means that you’re now following this company on eventbrite, and will get notices about new event postings. The button doesn’t do anything particular to the event. You don’t have to push it. It won’t feel bad.
