The Bughouse Square Debates was an annual event sponsored by the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wo ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The debates took place across from the Newberry, in

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. The park is operated by the New York City Department o ...

. Soapboxes located throughout the park gave a series of scheduled speakers platforms from which they shared their opinions on a variety of issues related to education, labor, sports, religion, technology, national security, and other topics. Every year, a panel of judges presented the champion soapboxer with the Dill Pickle Award, a nod to the Dill Pickle Club, a bohemian gathering place located near the park in the early twentieth century. In addition to the debates, the Newberry honored individuals or organizations with the John Peter Altgeld Freedom of Speech Award. Recipients of the award included

Wendy Kaminer Wendy Kaminer (born December 28, 1949) is an American lawyer and writer. She has written several books on contemporary social issues, including ''A Fearful Freedom: Women's Flight From Equality'', about the conflict between egalitarian and protect ...

, Chicago journalists Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky; Students Organizing to Save Our Schools; and

Kartemquin Films Kartemquin Films is a four-time Oscar-nominated 501(c)3 non-profit production company located in Chicago, Illinois, that produces a wide range of documentary films. It is the documentary filmmaking home of acclaimed producers such as Gordon Quinn ( ...

. The first debates organized by the Newberry were in 1986. The event was discontinued in 2021. It has been replaced by Chicago Storytelling, a program that invites Chicagoans to tell stories about the city's people, history, and culture. This event also serves as a platform to presen
The Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award at the Newberry Library
Washington Square Park served as a raucous public forum for many of the political radicals and intellectuals who frequented the Dill Pickle Club. "Bughouse" being popular slang for mental health facilities at the time, the word gave the park its nickname and described the fringe viewpoints and the free-flowing discourse on display there. John Drury, describing the scene for the ''Chicago Daily News'' in 1921, wrote, "free speech never was freer than in this unique spot on the near north side." During Bughouse Square's height in the 1920s and 1930s, poets, religionists, and philosophers addressed the crowds, but the mainstays were soapboxers from the revolutionary left, especially from the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

. Many of the speakers became legendary and included anarchist

Lucy Parsons Lucy E. Parsons ( – March 7, 1942) was a US social anarchist and later anarcho-communist, well-known throughout her long life for her fiery speeches and writings. She was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World. There are d ...

Ben Reitman __NOTOC__ Ben Lewis Reitman M.D. (1879–1943) was an American anarchist and physician to the poor ("the hobo doctor"). He is best remembered today as one of radical Emma Goldman's lovers. Martin Scorsese's 1972 feature film ''Boxcar Bertha'' is ...

, John Loughman, socialist Frank Midney, feminist-Marxist Martha Biegler, Frederick Wilkesbarr, Herbert Shaw (the "Cosmic Kid"),

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Althoug ...

in his youth, the Sheridan twins (

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

and Jimmy), famed criminal defense lawyer Julius Lucius Echeles (about Clarence Darrow, and some of his own experiences with judges, justice and defendants); and one-armed "Cholly" Wendorf.Encyclopedia of Chicago
accessed July 29, 2012.

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External links

Studs Terkel on a Soapbox (WTTW Chicago) Trailer
on YouTube. Industrial Workers of the World in Illinois Annual events in Illinois {{Chicago-stub

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