CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The history of Chicago runs through its cemeteries.
A local historian said he's been conducting virtual tours of Chicago cemeteries since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adam Selzer of Mysterious Chicago Tours said a walk through a cemetery is a socially-distant outdoor activity that can make history come alive.
For example, he said, you can trace the development of Chicago by the location of cemeteries. When they were established in the mid-19th Century, cemeteries like Graceland in Lakeview or Oak Woods on the South Side were considered the outskirts of town. Development would then catch up and surpass them as the city grew.
He also said cemeteries can help you trace the history of pandemics. Graveyards contain the remains of people who died in cholera epidemics in the 19th century. Cemeteries on the Southwest Side of Chicago contain the bodies of people who died in the influenza pandemic of 1918.
Selzer suggests going on a cemetery scavenger hunt. You can search for the graves of politicians, sports stars, and the namesakes of Chicago streets.
Selzer said he's currently looking for Chicagoans who assisted in the Underground Railroad that led enslaved Africans to freedom in Canada prior to the Civil War. Several are buried at Graceland Cemetery on the North Side.
"People like Philo Carpenter, Chicago's first pharmacist. He had a whole farm where he would keep refugee slaves until it was safe to get them to Canada. John Jones, the first black man to get rich in Chicago is just a little ways north of him. He would have slaves passing through his place all the time on the way to Canada," Selzer said.