Happy Pride Month! June is a month-long celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture and their contributions throughout history. Illinois has a notable history of celebrating pride, particularly in Chicago.

A year after the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York, inspired by what occurred there, activists in Chicago put on the first ever major pride event in the city. A lot of Pride events, including the ones in Chicago, initially started out as protests with LGBTQIA+ people fighting for equality. The pride events in Chicago have grown over the years, going from hundreds of attendees to hundreds of thousands of attendees.

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Frank Lloyd Wright is known as the pioneer of Prairie Style architecture, and many of his famous buildings are right here in Illinois, including his own home and studio in Oak Park. He was born on this day in 1867.

Wright grew up in southwestern Wisconsin, but by age 20, he had arrived in Chicago, where his childhood love of nature collided with the unique life of the city. He landed a job at the Adler & Sullivan firm, and his time working with Louis Sullivan, known for his organic and fluid style, inspired Wright’s own abstract designs he is known for.

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Famed actor Michael Peña has taken on a wide variety of roles throughout his entire career such as a comedic superhero sidekick and a mysterious as well as creepy hotel host. But did you know that he is a Chicago native?

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It’s no secret that cities are better when they’re efficient and less divided. One infrastructure project in Springfield that attempts to increase efficiency and bring neighborhoods together was recognized by the American Public Work Association.

On Monday, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced that the APWA had selected the Ash Street underpass in Springfield as one of its “Project of the Year.” This award recognizes achievement in management and administration of public works projects across the United States.

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