Chicago Historical Society

To enliven the values of democratic and inclusive practices, "Neighborhoods: Keepers of Culture" was conceived. Central to the design of this initiative was the intention to share authority with Chicago residents in the interpretation of their history, thereby shifting the telling of the story by historians to the telling of "our" story, with an emphasis on contemporary urban experiences.

The Chicago Historical Society believed that Chicago's history is more than an intellectual exercise of learning about something that occurred long ago; it is a documentation of the lives of the people who live and have lived within its boundaries, and an interpretation of how events have influenced their lives. Ultimately, the learning experience of varied segments of a community working together.

Not willing to allow such an important initiative to be assessed on the basis of a few numbers or an intuitive sense of what worked and what didn't, the Chicago Historical Society contracted with Management Cornerstones to conduct an evaluation of Neighborhoods: Keepers of Culture. Mirroring the democratic approach that served as a backbone of the Neighborhoods Project, the evaluation was designed to solicit feedback from every segment involved with the Project, as well as from professional historians.

The evaluation itself broke new ground, as it represented the first time that such a comprehensive endeavor had been undertaken at the museum.