SOLD OUT! Chicago artist, historian, and preservationist Jack Simmerling (1935-2013) was passionate about Prairie Avenue. Jack first visited the fabled street as a young boy, when he accompanied his grandfather on a visit to a friend working as the caretaker of the old Marshall Field mansion at 1905 S. Prairie. As a teenager, Jack obtained a job working with the wrecking crew tearing down the old houses, salvaging architectural fragments which soon filled his house. As a budding artist, he began creating oil paintings of the houses, and what they may have looked like in their prime. Shortly before his death in 2013, he bequeathed his entire collection of Prairie Avenue fragments and artwork to Glessner House.

In October 2025, the Ridge Historical Society, in partnership with Glessner House, opened an exhibit on Jack Simmerling entitled “Jack Simmerling: Through His Eyes,” in honor of the 90th anniversary of his birth. One half of the exhibit features a detailed look at his life and includes a selection of fragments and artworks - oil paintings, watercolors, and pen and ink sketches - from the Simmerling Collection at Glessner House. The other half of the exhibit focuses on his work documenting the architecture and history of the Beverly Hills and Morgan Park neighborhoods where he lived and operated his business, The Heritage Gallery, for more than fifty years.

This very special event will include a private tour of the exhibit by the co-curators - Bill Tyre from Glessner House, and Tim Blackburn from the Ridge Historical Society. After the exhibit tour, participants will have the rare opportunity to visit the historic 1866 Ingersoll-Blackwelder house nearby. Jack Simmerling purchased the house in 1970, restored it to its former glory, and filled it with his massive collection of architectural fragments, some of which remain today. The event will conclude with a wine and cheese reception at the house.

Join us in the beautiful home of The Fortnightly of Chicago for our annual gala, Celebrating Frances Glessner.

Frances Macbeth Glessner (1848-1932) was an extraordinarily gifted woman. Her talents ranged from embroidery to silversmithing, and jewelry making to beekeeping. An accomplished pianist, she and her husband John were among the most devoted supporters of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the first four decades of its existence, regularly welcoming the leading musicians of the world into their home.

The event, styled as a summer garden party, will include small bites and beverages, and the opportunity to tour the former home of Bryan and Helen Lathrop, an 1892 Georgian Revival masterpiece by McKim, Mead & White, which has served as the home of The Fortnightly since 1923. Frances Glessner was an active member of The Fortnightly for more than 50 years and presented the organization with a beautiful silver sweetmeat dish she handcrafted in 1905, which will be on display.

A brief program will include a welcome from the current president of The Fortnightly, remarks on Frances Glessner and her impact on Chicago, and the presentation of the annual John and Frances Glessner Award to Linda Miller, immediate past president of Friends of Historic Second Church.

This very special tour provides attendees with the rare opportunity to visit the interiors of several landmarked homes in the Prairie Avenue Historic District. See beautifully carved wood moldings, leaded glass windows, fireplaces in elaborate tile, mosaic, and marble, and much more!

Sites tentatively included on the 2026 tour:
-Marshall Field Jr. house, 1919 S. Prairie Avenue (Solon S. Beman, architect; 1883;
remodeling by Daniel H. Burnham & Co., 1902)
-Charles Purdy house, 213 E. Cullerton Street, (Thomas & Rapp, architects; 1891)
-William Reid house, 2013 S. Prairie Avenue (Beers, Clay & Dutton, architects; 1894)
-Harriet Rees house, 2017 S. Prairie Avenue (Cobb & Frost, architects, 1888)
-Second Presbyterian Church, 1936 S. Michigan Avenue (James Renwick Jr., architect, 1874; remodeling by Howard Van Doren Shaw, 1901)
-The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, originally Engine Company 104, 1401 S. Michigan Avenue (Charles F. Hermann, 1905)
-Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, 2120 S. Michigan Avenue (historic studio of Chess Records)

An abbreviated tour of Glessner House including the main first floors rooms is also included.

Tour guides will also be stationed at various locations in the neighborhood to discuss and show photos of prominent lost houses including those of Marshall Field, George Pullman, Philip Armour, and others.