Freedom Rings on Michigan Avenue

A museum dedicated to liberty has opened its doors for all.

The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, located in Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, it is dedicated to freedom—that inalienable right of all humans.

The museum focuses primarily on the First Amendment freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Those basic freedoms include the right to speech, religion, press, assembly and petition.  The goal of the museum is to make visitors think about some uncomfortable and sometimes volatile topics involved with the First Amendment.

“We view our mission as fairly straightforward.  We want to get our visitors to understand, value and protect freedom,” Dave Anderson, the museum’s executive director, told the Chicago Tribune. 

The two-story, 10,000-square-foot museum was built at a cost of more than $10 million and was funded by the McCormick Tribune Foundation.  It features a revolving collection of historical artifacts connected to First Amendment issues, most on temporary loan from other museums and individuals.  Included on display, on loan from the Chicago History Museum, is one of 25 existing copies of the Dunlap Broadside, the Declaration of Independence as it was published by Philadelphia printer John Dunlap on July 4, 1776. 

The museum is open from 10-6, Wednesday through Monday. A $5 admission fee will be charged to visitors six and older.  However, all school groups will be admitted free, and teachers will be offered free curriculum plans to prepare students for their visit.  More information can be found at www.freedommuseum.us.