For more than forty years, Chicago has called itself a Sanctuary City—but what does that promise really mean?  

Through the stories of Adriana Portillo-Bartow, a Guatemalan mother fleeing military terror in the 1980s; and Elvira Arellano, whose stand inside a Humboldt Park church after 9/11 reignited a national movement; Chicago History Museum curator Rebekah Coffman reflects on three distinct waves of the city’s historic promise. This episode traces how a moral idea became a political battleground, and what it means now that the United States may have entered a new era where even traditional sanctuaries are no longer safe.

Episode Resources:
Chicago Cold War: Adriana Portillo-Bartow—Peter Alter, Chicago History Museum 

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/chm_oh/id/333/

Elvira Arellano—Elena Gonzales & Rebekah Coffman, Chicago History Museum  

https://soundcloud.com/chicagomuseum/elvira-arellano-aqui-en-chicago

Jacobita Cortes on providing Sanctuary for Elvira—Elena Gonzales & Rebekah Coffman, Chicago History Museum

https://soundcloud.com/chicagomuseum/interview-with-jacobita-cortes-aqui-en-chicago

The Sanctuary Movement in Chicago—Megha Khemka

https://www.chicagohistory.org/sanctuary-in-chicago/

Adriana’s testimony in the trial of former Guatemalan military officers—International Justice Monitor 

https://www.ijmonitor.org/2018/03/military-expert-senior-military-officials-are-responsible-for-the-crimes-against-emma-and-marco-antonio-molina-theissen/

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