Share Your Chicago Story in A Letter to America

Join us as Julie Lynch, Head Librarian at the Northside Neighborhood History Collection briefs us on the importance and process of the Chicago Public Library’s “Letter to America”.   The initiative commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States by inviting Chicago residents to write personal letters to America – sharing reflections, critiques, hopes, and stories rooted in the Chicago experience. Letters will be archived for future generations to enjoy and learn about the lives we live today.

Share Your Chicago Story. Be Part of America’s 250th.

Letters to America, sponsored by the Chicago Public Library, invites Chicagoans of all ages to take part in the nation’s 250th Anniversary Celebration by writing a personal letter about life in Chicago and what it reveals about America. This is your chance to share your voice, your experiences, and your perspective as part of a citywide public project.

Every letter helps tell a bigger story of Chicago, of America, and of the people whose lives and ideas shape both. Whether your letter reflects on a neighborhood, a memory, a challenge, or a hope for the future, your words can become part of a lasting civic record.

The Chicago Public Library is hosting this citywide letter-writing project to encourage residents to reflect on the people, places, and experiences that have shaped their lives and to connect those stories to the larger American story. Letters will be preserved in a library archive, helping future generations understand how Chicagoans experienced this historic moment.

Click Here for Examples of Three Letters from History

What can I write about?

There’s no single right way to write your letter. Start with a place, experience, question, or memory that matters to you. Your story can help future readers understand Chicago—and through Chicago, America. Here are a few ideas to get started:

• A Chicago Place: Pick a place in Chicago that matters to you. What does this place reveal about America?
• A Chicago Lesson: Write about something Chicago has taught you, through family, school, work, or daily life. What does this lesson say about America?
• Chicago Community: Describe a time you acted or saw others in your Chicago community act. How does this moment connect to American history or movements?
• Chicago Culture: Identify an aspect of Chicago culture that has shaped you. What does it show about American culture?
• Your Chicago Story: Relate an experience in Chicago that, in your view, reveals something about America’s past, present, or future.

What happens after I submit my letter?

Letters with a Chicago theme and a signed Deed of Gift will be preserved in the Chicago Public Library’s Northside Neighborhood History Collection. Together, they will form a powerful public record of how people in Chicago saw their city, their country, and their place in history during this milestone year.

The Letters to America collection is expected to be available to researchers within five years.

For more details, see Letters to America on the Chicago Public Library website.