Sampler Series Picture Postcards: The Happy Invention

Presented by Katherine Hamilton-Smith, director of public affairs and development for the Lake County Forest Preserves. In America, the first picture postcards were printed for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago – making Illinois the birthplace of the American picture postcard. Since then, billions of postcards have captured every aspect of life including our social history – from the whimsical to the dark. Hamilton-Smith, has maintained career-long professional interest in archives and museum work – including creating and developing the Curt Teich Postcard Archives, now housed at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Made possible by a grant from Illinois Humanities.