Washington Square Park (Bughouse Square)
901 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60610
Parks
Bughouse Square, across from the Newberry Library, was Chicago’s famed free-speech park. From the 1910s–1960s, poets, preachers, and radicals drew crowds with passionate, unscripted soapbox debates.
Bughouse Square—slang for a mental health facility—was the nickname for Washington Square Park, Chicago’s most famous outdoor free-speech venue from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. Located across from the Newberry Library, it drew crowds and tourists alike for its lively, unscripted debates.
At its peak in the 1920s and ’30s, speakers ranged from poets to preachers, though the revolutionary left dominated the soapboxes with fiery, impassioned discourse.
Illinois 250
How to find us?
What's happening nearby...
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2)
McCormick Place South • Mar 27 – Mar 29
Pop culture fans, assemble!
Read more about Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2)
EXPO CHICAGO Contemporary Art Fair
Navy Pier • Apr 09 – Apr 12
EXPO CHICAGO Contemporary Art Fair celebrates contemporary and modern art with a diverse schedule of cultural programming and contemporary art installations.
Read more about EXPO CHICAGO Contemporary Art Fair
Chicago Latino Film Festival
Apr 16 – Apr 27
The 42nd annual Chicago Latino Film Festival represents the great diversity of themes and genres of Latino filmmaking from around the world.
Read more about Chicago Latino Film Festival
