Culture




Museums

Illinois has numerous museums; the greatest concentration of these are in Chicago. Several museums in Chicago are ranked as some of the best in the world. These include the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry.

The modern Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is the largest and most attended presidential library in the country. The Illinois State Museum boasts a collection of 13.5 million objects that tell the story of Illinois life, land, people, and art. The ISM is among only 5% of the nation's museums that are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Other historical museums in the state include the Polish Museum of America in Chicago; Magnolia Manor in Cairo; Easley Pioneer Museum in Ipava; the Elihu Benjamin Washburne; Ulysses S. Grant Homes, both in Galena; and the Chanute Air Museum, located on the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul.

The Chicago metropolitan area also hosts two zoos: The Brookfield Zoo, located about ten miles west of the city center in suburban Brookfield, contains more than 2,300 animals and covers 216 acres (87 ha). The Lincoln Park Zoo is located in Lincoln Park on Chicago's North Side, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the Loop. The zoo accounts for more than 35 acres (14 ha) of the park.

  • Illinois Museums

  • Vandalia State House State Historic Site in Vandalia

  • The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago

  • Magnolia Manor is a Victorian period historic house museum in Cairo.

  • Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield

  • The Polish Museum of America in Chicago

  • A Railway Post Office preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union

Music

Illinois is a leader in music education, having hosted the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference since 1946, as well being home to the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA), one of the largest professional music educator's organizations in the country. Each summer since 2004, Southern Illinois University Carbondale has played host to the Southern Illinois Music Festival, which presents dozens of performances throughout the region. Past featured artists include the Eroica Trio and violinist David Kim.

Chicago, in the northeast corner of the state, is a major center for music in the midwestern United States where distinctive forms of blues (greatly responsible for the future creation of rock and roll), and house music, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed.

The Great Migration of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities brought traditional jazz and blues music to the city, resulting in Chicago blues and "Chicago-style" Dixieland jazz. Notable blues artists included Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf and both Sonny Boy Williamsons; jazz greats included Nat King Cole, Gene Ammons, Benny Goodman, and Bud Freeman. Chicago is also well known for its soul music.

In the early 1930s, Gospel music began to gain popularity in Chicago due to Thomas A. Dorsey's contributions at Pilgrim Baptist Church.

In the 1980s and 1990s, heavy rock, punk, and hip hop also became popular in Chicago. Orchestras in Chicago include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Movies

John Hughes, who moved from Grosse Pointe to Northbrook, based many films of his in Chicago, and its suburbs. Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, and all his films take place in the fictional Shermer, Illinois (the original name of Northbrook was Shermerville, and Hughes's High School, Glenbrook North High School, is on Shermer Road). Most locations in his films include Glenbrook North, the former Maine North High School, the Ben Rose House in Highland Park, and the famous Home Alone house in Winnetka, Illinois.

Sports

Major league sports

As one of the United States' major metropolises, all major sports leagues have teams headquartered in Chicago.

  • Two Major League Baseball teams are located in the state. The Chicago Cubs of the National League play in the second-oldest major league stadium (Wrigley Field) and are widely known for having the longest championship drought in all of major American sport: not winning the World Series since 1908. However, this ended in 2016 when the Cubs finally won their first world series in 108 years. That drought finally came to an end when the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in seven games to win the 2016 World Series. The Chicago White Sox of the American League won the World Series in 2005, their first since 1917. They play on the city's south side at Guaranteed Rate Field.
  • The Chicago Bears football team has won nine total NFL Championships, the last occurring in Super Bowl XX on January 26, 1986.
  • The Chicago Bulls of the NBA is one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world, largely as a result of the efforts of Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL began playing in 1926, and became a member of the Original Six once the NHL dropped to that number of teams during World War II. The Blackhawks have won six Stanley Cups, most recently in 2015.
  • The Chicago Fire is a member of MLS and has been one of the league's most successful and best-supported clubs since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups in that timespan. The team played in Bridgeview, adjacent to Chicago from 2006 to 2019. The team now plays in Chicago.

Other top-level professional sports

  • The Chicago Red Stars have played at the top level of U.S. women's soccer since their formation in 2009, except in the 2011 season. The team currently plays in the National Women's Soccer League, sharing a stadium with the Fire.
  • The Chicago Sky have played in the Women's National Basketball Association, the sister league of the NBA, since 2006.

Minor league sports

Many minor league teams also call Illinois their home. They include:

  • The Bloomington Edge of the Indoor Football League
  • The Bloomington Flex of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association
  • The Chicago Bandits of the NPF, a female softball league; have won four league titles, most recently in 2016
  • The Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL, previously of Women's Professional Soccer League (WPS) and Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL)
  • The Chicago Wolves are an AHL team playing in the suburb of Rosemont
  • The Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League in Sauget, Illinois
  • The Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League
  • The Normal CornBelters of the Frontier League
  • The Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League
  • The Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League
  • The Peoria Rivermen are an SPHL team
  • The Rockford Aviators of the Frontier League
  • The Rockford IceHogs are an AHL team
  • The Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League
  • The Southern Illinois Miners based out of Marion in the Frontier League
  • The Windy City Bulls, playing in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, of the NBA G League

College sports

The state features 13 athletic programs that compete in NCAA Division I, the highest level of U.S. college sports.

The two most prominent are the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats, both members of the Big Ten Conference and the only ones competing in one of the so-called "Power Five conferences". The Fighting Illini football team has won five national championships and three Rose Bowl Games, whereas the men's basketball team has won 17 conference seasons and played five Final Fours. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have won eight football conference championships and one Rose Bowl Game.

The Northern Illinois Huskies from DeKalb, Illinois compete in the Mid-American Conference winning four conference championships and earning a bid in the Orange Bowl along with producing Heisman candidate Jordan Lynch at quarterback. The Huskies are the state's only other team competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of NCAA football.

Four schools have football programs that compete in the second level of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision. The Illinois State Redbirds (Normal, adjacent to Bloomington) and Southern Illinois Salukis (the latter representing Southern Illinois University's main campus in Carbondale) are members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) for non-football sports and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Western Illinois Leathernecks (Macomb) are full members of the Summit League, which does not sponsor football, and also compete in the MVFC. The Eastern Illinois Panthers (Charleston) are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).

The city of Chicago is home to four Division I programs that do not sponsor football. The DePaul Blue Demons, with main campuses in Lincoln Park and the Loop, are members of the Big East Conference. The Loyola Ramblers, with their main campus straddling the Edgewater and Rogers Park community areas on the city's far north side, compete in the MVC. The UIC Flames, from the Near West Side next to the Loop, are in the Horizon League. The Chicago State Cougars, from the city's south side, compete in the Western Athletic Conference.

Finally, two non-football Division I programs are located downstate. The Bradley Braves (Peoria) are MVC members, and the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (in the Metro East region across the Mississippi River from St. Louis) compete in the OVC.

Former Chicago sports franchises

Folded teams

The city was formerly home to several other teams that either failed to survive or belonged to leagues that folded.

  • The Chicago Blitz, United States Football League 1983–1984
  • The Chicago Sting, North American Soccer League 1975–1984 and Major Indoor Soccer League
  • The Chicago Cougars, World Hockey Association 1972–1975
  • The Chicago Rockers, Continental Basketball Association
  • The Chicago Skyliners, American Basketball Association 2000–01
  • The Chicago Bruisers, Arena Football League 1987–1989
  • The Chicago Power, National Professional Soccer League 1984–2001
  • The Chicago Blaze, National Women's Basketball League
  • The Chicago Machine, Major League Lacrosse
  • The Chicago Whales of the Federal Baseball League, a rival league to Major League Baseball from 1914 to 1916
  • The Chicago American Giants of the Negro baseball league, 1910–1952
  • The Chicago Bruins of the National Basketball League, 1939–1942
  • The Chicago Studebaker Flyers of the NBL, 1942–43
  • The Chicago American Gears of the NBL, 1944–1947
  • The Chicago Stags of the Basketball Association of America, 1946–1950
  • The Chicago Majors of the American Basketball League, 1961–1963
  • The Chicago Express of the ECHL
  • The Chicago Enforcers of the XFL pro football league
  • The Chicago Fire, World Football League 1974
  • The Chicago Winds, World Football League 1975
  • The Chicago Hustle, Women's Professional Basketball League 1978–1981
  • The Chicago Mustangs, North American Soccer League 1966–1967
  • The Chicago Storm, Ultimate Soccer League 2004–2005
  • The Chicago Rush, Arena Football League 2001–2013
  • The Chicago Storm, American Profesional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), 1977-1978
  • The Chicago Nationwide Advertising, North American Softball League (NASL), 1980
Relocated teams

The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, who currently play in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, played in Chicago as the Chicago Cardinals, until moving to St. Louis, Missouri after the 1959 season. An NBA expansion team known as the Chicago Packers in 1961–1962, and as the Chicago Zephyrs the following year, moved to Baltimore after the 1962–1963 season. The franchise is now known as the Washington Wizards.

Professional sports teams outside Chicago

The Peoria Chiefs and Kane County Cougars are minor league baseball teams affiliated with MLB. The Schaumburg Boomers and Lake County Fielders are members of the North American League, and the Southern Illinois Miners, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Windy City ThunderBolts, and Normal CornBelters belong to the Frontier League.

In addition to the Chicago Wolves, the AHL also has the Rockford IceHogs serving as the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. The second incarnation of the Peoria Rivermen plays in the SPHL.

Motor racing

Motor racing oval tracks at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero and the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, near St. Louis, have hosted NASCAR, CART, and IRL races, whereas the Sports Car Club of America, among other national and regional road racing clubs, have visited the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, the Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit and the former Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville. Illinois also has several short tracks and dragstrips. The dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway and the Route 66 Raceway, which sits on the same property as the Chicagoland Speedway, both host NHRA drag races.

Golf

Illinois features several golf courses, such as Olympia Fields, Medinah, Midlothian, Cog Hill, and Conway Farms, which have often hosted the BMW Championship, Western Open, and Women's Western Open.

Also, the state has hosted 13 editions of the U.S. Open (latest at Olympia Fields in 2003), six editions of the PGA Championship (latest at Medinah in 2006), three editions of the U.S. Women's Open (latest at The Merit Club), the 2009 Solheim Cup (at Rich Harvest Farms), and the 2012 Ryder Cup (at Medinah).

The John Deere Classic is a regular PGA Tour event played in the Quad Cities since 1971, whereas the Encompass Championship is a Champions Tour event since 2013. Previously, the LPGA State Farm Classic was an LPGA Tour event from 1976 to 2011.

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