The annual meeting offers an opportunity to get to know the meeting city, including its history and historical resources. Use this guide to find local tours and discounts, locate services and restaurants near the meeting, navigate meeting sessions on the history of Chicago and its environs, and find out about exciting work being done by colleagues in the area.
AHA-Organized Tours
See tour descriptions for accessibility details. Tour tickets are nonrefundable. Tours meet near the 8th Street North Registration at the Hilton Chicago.
Thursday, January 8
Tour 1: Chicago SNCC History Project Tour and Reception at the Carter G. Woodson Library
3:15–6:45 p.m.
Friday, January 9
Tour 2: Beyond the Galleries at the Chicago History Museum
11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Tour 3: The World Travelers of the Pullman Company’s Chicago Works
12:00–3:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 10
Tour 4: Tour of Bronzeville with Chicago Mahogany Tours
10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Tour 5: National Public Housing Museum
12:30–2:45 p.m.
Sunday, January 11
Tour 6: Little Palestine: Stories, People, Struggles
9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
To sign up for tours, log in to your AHA account and click “Register Now” in the “2026 Annual Meeting, Chicago” section. You’ll be able to sign up during the registration process. If you have already registered for the meeting, return to the MY AHA page and click “Edit My Registration or Add Students.”
See the tour descriptions for accessibility details. Alternate transportation for people with disabilities will be available on request. Contact annualmeeting@historians.org for additional information.
Other Local Tours and Museum Discounts
The Newberry Library invites you to take the Indigenous Chicago Downtown Walking Tour, which is self-guided.
Teaching Chicago at the Annual Meeting
Experiential Learning and Latinx History: Teaching with the Chicago History Museum’s Aquí en Chicago Exhibit
Thursday, January 8, 3:30–5:00 p.m.
Teaching Local History in Chicago and Beyond
Thursday, January 8, 3:30–5:00 p.m.
Local Histories in Action: Exploring Social Movements Through Punch 9 for Harold Washington and the Chicago YLO Curriculum
Saturday, January 10, 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Indigenous Chicago: Community-Engaged Curriculum Development as Public History
Saturday, January 10, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Chicago History at the Annual Meeting
Engaging Public Voices in the History of Housing Discrimination in Chicago’s City and Suburbs
Thursday, January 8, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
New Approaches to the Chicago Convention and Global Aviation History
Friday, January 9, 8:30–10:00 a.m.
The University Park Water Crisis: Lead Poisoning, a Private Utility, and the Struggle for Environmental Justice in Chicago’s Southland
Friday, January 9, 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
The History of Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1
Saturday, January 10, 8:30–10:00 a.m.
Broadening the Scholarly Paradigm: Documenting, Preserving, and Creating a Framework for Chicago History
Saturday, January 10, 8:30–10:00 a.m.
Organized by the American Catholic Historical Association
Chicago Is a Polish Town
Saturday, January 10, 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Organized by the Polish American Historical Association
The Chicago Area Friends of SNCC and the Chicago SNCC History Project, Part 1: Telling the Story
Sunday, January 11, 9:00–10:30 a.m.
The Chicago Area Friends of SNCC and the Chicago SNCC History Project, Part 2: Making the Way
Sunday, January 11, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 a.m.
Pope Leo’s Chicago: From Local Boy to Global Citizen
Sunday, January 11, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 a.m.
Food Near the Meeting Hotels
Quick Eats
Washington Hall (15 W. Washington St.)
Pret A Manger (73 W. Monroe St.)
Groceries
Target (1 S. State St.)
Totto’s Market (751 S. Dearborn St.)
Urban Pantry (730 S. Clark St.)
Local Restaurant Guides
The Infatuation: “The Best Restaurants In The Loop”
Chicago Loop Alliance: “Eat & Drink”
Nearby Services
Dry Cleaners
Grant Park Cleaners (310 S. Michigan Ave.)
Wabash Cleaners (808 S. Wabash Ave.)
Banks
Bank of America Financial Center (201 S. State St.)
Chase Bank (810 7th Ave.)
Citibank (787 7th Ave.)
US Employees Credit Union (230 S. Dearborn St., Ste. 2962)
Office Supplies/Business Services
UPS Store (available inside the Palmer House)
FedEx Office Center (available inside the Hilton Chicago)
Staples (111 N. Wabash Ave.)
Nearby Hospitals
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (251 E. Huron St.)
UChicago Medicine South Loop (1101 S. Canal St., Ste. 201)
Urgent Care
Michigan Avenue Primary Care (180 N. Michigan Ave. #1720)
Urgent Care at UChicago Medicine Dearborn Station (47 W. Polk St.)
Pharmacies
CVS Pharmacy (1 S. State St.)
Walgreens (2 N. State St.)
CVS Pharmacy (520 S. State St.)
Walgreens (2 E. Roosevelt Rd.)