We wanted this room to celebrate all that the first amendment has to offer and how it’s been able to evolve through time. It’s our hope that when visitors leave this exhibit, that they feel a sense of confidence having gained the knowledge to support their aspirations to change the country for the better. We hope that having this feeling will inspire visitors to stand up for and speak about what they believe in, no matter how small.

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When first entering the room, visitors will notice a long roll of unraveling paper that starts by the entrance door and leads to the back of the room where visitors are asked to participate in a talk-back interactive. Inspired by the process of printing newspapers, it is intended to show the transition of important documents and media over time. At it’s start, the paper will show remnants of the Declaration and Constitution and look more aged. As it progresses to the back of the room, the paper will subtly transition into a modern newspaper with noteworthy/historic headlines.

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We wanted the symbolism of the paper to be largely present because of the Medill/McCormick involvement with the Chicago Tribune. As mentioned, it’s inspired by the process of printing newspapers and the act of writing and recording has been at the foundation of this country.

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As it flows along the wall and under the windows, it functions as a reader rail that holds three interactives. Just as the roll of paper is visually transitioning to represent important documents and media throughout history, these three interactives are also intended to show how media has been presented through time.

The first interactive would be a large flip book intended to mimic flipping the pages of a newspaper. Here we would discuss the establishment of printed media.

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The second interactive in this section would be a microfiche reader with content discussing Joseph Medill.

The third interactive here would be a modern computer or laptop that speaks to Robert McCormick.

The roll of unfurling paper ends by the exit doorway with a headline printed upon it that asked the question, “How have you used your First Amendment rights?” Because this is an exhibit all about the freedom of speech, we wanted to invite visitors to put words into action right in same room. In this talk-back section, visitors stand in front of a video or TV camera and simply speak about how they have used or plan to use their First Amendment rights. As they speak into the camera, they are being broadcast to a television screen placed by the entrance for people to engage with as they first enter the exhibit. What better way to explain what free speech is than to be witness to a live example?

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Next to the television at the front of the room is the WGN radio artifact. Perhaps faint sounds of protestors can be heard as ambient sounds within this section.

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All graphic panels in the room are on standoffs for a modern touch and have been arranged in a way that makes the walls stylistically appear as large newspaper pages. However, being conscious of that this is a historic home, none of these graphics will be attached directly to the home’s walls. Instead, we have designed unobtrusive freestanding walls to be placed in front of the original walls so that all graphics and artifacts can be secured to those instead.

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Opposite the windows, we’ve used two desks to create a juxtaposing scene. One desk is of an early 1900’s style, has a typewriter, papers scattered about, and a telephone. Graphic panels in front of the desk offer a mural of a 1930’s style press room that’s filled with bustling people in action. Visitors are invited to take a seat at the desk and answer the telephone to hear Robert McCormick’s voice instructing them to follow a certain story. Perhaps sounds of a busy press room can be heard in the background.

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Immediately to the right of this is a very modern style desk with a large display of computer screens. A mural in front of this desk shows a modern-day news broadcasting room. On the monitors, visitors can see social media feeds, behind-the-scenes messages between coworkers about who’s covering what story, and a YouTube-esque video of a news anchor getting ready to be on camera.

As mentioned earlier, this then leads visitors to stand in front of the camera themselves and tell their own story.