Ben Bearskin was born on the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska, but he didn’t stay there. Instead, he moved to the big, loud, bustling city of Chicago, where he became a leader in his Native American community. Ben worked hard to live deeply in the world of his ancestors and in the modern, fast-paced city. He helped establish the American Indian Center in Chicago, and made sure it was a place that treasured Native culture. Near the end of his life, Ben moved back to the reservation, and eventually all five of his children found their way there too.

Executive Producers: Melissa Harris and Mary Schmich

Writer/Host: Mary Schmich

Producer: Bill Healy

Editors: Cate Cahan and Mark Jacob

Sound Designer/Audio Engineer: Libby Lussenhop

Associate Producer/Dialogue Editor: Chijioke Williams

Music Director/Composer: Chris Walz

For more information, visit divisionstreetrevisited.com.

When she was just 12 years old, Della Reuther traveled alone to Chicago in winter with 65 cents in her pocket. This is the story of a woman who never let go of that grit and audacity. As a young woman, she fought to organize a union for women working in the slaughterhouses. She protested against nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War. Della ran a neighborhood tavern for decades, until the warmth of the west drew her to Phoenix. Della’s granddaughter Holly admires her strength. Della’s son Mike looks back on her activism and determination, and admits Della was right all along.

Executive Producers: Melissa Harris and Mary Schmich

Writer/Host: Mary Schmich

Producer: Bill Healy

Editors: Cate Cahan and Mark Jacob

Sound Designer/Audio Engineer: Libby Lussenhop

Associate Producer/Dialogue Editor: Chijioke Williams

Music Director/Composer: Chris Walz

For more information, visit divisionstreetrevisited.com.

In the 1960s, society’s hostility toward gay people could be dangerous. That was the reality for Bill Koza, an actor from Chicago’s South Side. While Bill had a fulfilling life in the suburban dinner theater scene, he hid his authentic self from his family. But Bill did sit for a groundbreaking interview with Studs Terkel – under an assumed name. Decades after Bill’s death, his friends and relatives take stock of how much has changed for LGBTQ+ people since his time.

Executive Producers: Melissa Harris and Mary Schmich

Writer/Host: Mary Schmich

Producer: Bill Healy

Editors: Cate Cahan and Mark Jacob

Sound Designer/Audio Engineer: Libby Lussenhop

Associate Producer/Dialogue Editor: Chijioke Williams

Music Director/Composer: Chris Walz

For more information, visit divisionstreetrevisited.com.

Witty, outspoken Myra Alexander was 54 years old when she met Chicago radio host Studs Terkel on a train to the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Studs included Myra in a book of interviews he published called Division Street: America.

Her family had warned her about the trip: “Oh grandmother, you’re too old for that!” But Myra, a janitor in Chicago public schools, refused to soft-pedal the injustices that Black people like her endured. She insisted, “You’re never too old to be free." 

Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mary Schmich asks: What happened to Myra as she went on in her life? What about her kids and grandkids? How can their lives help us understand our lives?

Executive Producers: Melissa Harris and Mary Schmich

Writer/Host: Mary Schmich

Producer: Bill Healy

Editors: Cate Cahan and Mark Jacob

Sound Designer/Audio Engineer: Libby Lussenhop

Associate Producer/Dialogue Editor: Chijioke Williams

Music Director/Composer: Chris Walz

For more information, visit divisionstreetrevisited.com.

Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Schmich takes a deeper look at the lives of seven people featured in Studs Terkel’s first book of oral history. They include a Black public school janitor; a Lithuanian tavern owner; an Appalachian mother of 15; a closeted gay actor; a Native American activist; a Black labor leader; and a prominent white woman in Chicago high society. What happened to them? To their children? To their dreams? And what has changed from their time in the 1960s to today? 

Our series launches Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, and drops every Tuesday for six weeks thereafter.