In honor of the 40th anniversary of house music, Navy Pier is hosting the “Chicago: Home of House” exhibit in partnership with the Design Museum of Chicago and the Vintage House Show Collective. Presented in a sprawling wall display of historical milestones, DJs, clubs, labels, record stores, and local radio stations, the exhibit showcases the Chicago origins of the now-global musical genre.
Among the many highlights of the exhibit are archival photos of legendary Chicago house DJs, including Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Terry Hunter, and Lori Branch. For those interested in where house music got its name, the exhibit’s timeline features several entries chronicling the origins of the Warehouse underground nightclub. According to local accounts, Warehouse founder and promoter Robbie Williams would often use the latter part of the club’s name to describe its discotheque-inspired music as “house music” on flyers. Parties at the club were also called “house parties,” giving a distinct name to the new musical genre and club culture that was taking shape in early 1970s Chicago.
The exhibit also chronicles Southside DJ Jesse Saunders’ seminal 1984 release “On and On,” the first house music recording, marking this year as the genre’s 40th anniversary. Saunders would go on to create iconic house songs, including “Fantasy” and “Love Can’t Turn Around” with Farley "Jackmaster" Funk.
On the more controversial side of house music history, the exhibit includes local radio personality Steve Dahl’s infamous 1979 Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, where mainly white attendees piled disco records—primarily by Black and LGBTQ+ artists (as well as records by Black artists from other genres)—onto the field and destroyed them with explosives.
The racially charged destruction that night is often cited as the death of disco, but also the ironic birth of what would later become house music. White backlash against Black and LGBTQ+ disco artists drove disco music underground. As a result, Chicago’s early underground house music scene became one of the few creative outlets where disco culture could thrive despite the threat of racial and homophobic violence.
Along with the exhibit’s impressively in-depth historical timeline, house connoisseurs will enjoy the reproductions of old-school pluggers (promotional flyers that advertised house parties) and images of vinyl classics, including Ralphi Rosario’s “You Used to Hold Me” and Westside producer Adonis’ “No Way Back.”
On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, the exhibit buzzed with several visitors who experienced the history of Chicago house music firsthand. Near the 1970s and '80s section of the timeline, a man talked with his companion about his experiences passing out pluggers and attending local parties. Another couple joined in, recalling the genius talent and untimely death of house music pioneer DJ Ron Hardy.
Within earshot of the conversations, exhibit curator and Vintage House Show Collective co-founder Lauren Lowery sprang into action, asking if she could get a quick interview as she engaged the visitors with questions about their experiences in Chicago’s house music scene.
The conversation generated a litany of house music venues and DJs as Lowery traveled back in time with the visitors. Names like the Music Box, Medusas, Sauers, PinkHouse, Walter “Get Down” Brown, and Mendel High School elicited smiles and sparks of nostalgia.
“‘Chicago: Home of House’ is a living timeline,” Lowery shares. “The exhibit is in its third iteration here at Navy Pier and continues to grow as we collect the stories and experiences of the people who lived this history.” On her mission to archive the history of house music, Lowery emphasizes, “We have to study the impact of this music and time. If we don’t preserve the history, we can’t study it.”
“Chicago: Home of House” is free to the public and runs through October 31st at Navy Pier between doors 5 and 6. For more house music history, check out the Vintage House Show Collective podcast at vintagehouse.buzzsprout.com. In addition to the exhibit, Navy Pier will also host live performing arts events celebrating Chicago house music through the fall. For more information, visit navypier.org.