Washington Square Park (Bughouse Square)
901 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60610
Parks
Bughouse Square, across from the Newberry Library, was Chicago’s famed free-speech park. From the 1910s–1960s, poets, preachers, and radicals drew crowds with passionate, unscripted soapbox debates.
Bughouse Square—slang for a mental health facility—was the nickname for Washington Square Park, Chicago’s most famous outdoor free-speech venue from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. Located across from the Newberry Library, it drew crowds and tourists alike for its lively, unscripted debates.
At its peak in the 1920s and ’30s, speakers ranged from poets to preachers, though the revolutionary left dominated the soapboxes with fiery, impassioned discourse.
Illinois 250
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What's happening nearby...
Chicago Pride Fest
Jun 20 – Jun 21
Chicago Pride Fest is a massive two-day pride celebration that takes over Northalsted every June.
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Chicago's Annual Pride Parade
Jun 28
Celebrate Chicago's LGBT community at the annual Pride Parade! The parade will feature floats, decorated vehicles and marching groups and more!
Read more about Chicago's Annual Pride Parade
Taste of Chicago - Grant Park
Grant Park • Jul 08 – Jul 12 @ 11AM
The 46th annual Taste of Chicago is bringing some of the city’s most iconic bites to lakefront Grant Park.
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