🎤📚 Chicago Misconceptions: Criminally Overrated | CFC Winter Lecture Series 🍸

🎤📚 Chicago Misconceptions: Criminally Overrated | CFC Winter Lecture Series 🍸

Chicago isn’t “criminally overrated” — or is it? 👀

Kick off the CFC Winter Lecture Series with Patti Swanson as she busts crime myths, gangland legends, and modern misconceptions. History, cocktails, and big ideas in a speakeasy setting! 🍸📚

FIRST LECTURE OF THE SEASON!
Lecture by Patti Swanson
📅 Tuesday, January 6, 2026

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🚨 REGISTRATION REQUIRED — READ FIRST
You MUST register outside of Meetup on Eventbrite to attend the live, in-person lecture.

This event is FREE, but registration is required to enter the speakeasy area for the lecture.
🗓 Registration opens: Tuesday, 12/23/25 at 9:00 AM (set reminder)
⚠️ Space is limited — register ASAP
👉 Register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chicago-misconceptions-criminally-overrated-registration-1967672439234

If registration is full:
• Join the Eventbrite waitlist — people cancel and waitlist guests DO get in
• Walk-ins are allowed, space permitting
⭐ NEW, BIGGER VENUE — but it still fills up fast!

****IMPORTANT!! PLEASE NOTE THAT TICKETS FOR THE EVENT ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE. IT IS CRUCIAL THAT EVERYONE SETS A REMINDER TO REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2025, AT 9 AM. RSVPING ON MEETUP DOES NOT SECURE YOUR SPOT. YOU MUST GO BACK AND REGISTER ON THE 23RD VIA THE EVENTBRITE LINK TO CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE.****

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🕕 ⏰TIMING & ENTRY DETAILS (VERY IMPORTANT)
• Meetup group meets at 6:00 PM
• Doors open at 6:30 PM
• Registered ticket holders admitted first
• Walk-ins may enter starting at 7:00 PM, space permitting
• Lecture begins promptly at 7:10 PM
➡️ If you are not registered, arrive close to 7:00 PM and be flexible.

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📍 Venue
Bad Apple Lincoln Park
658 W Belden Ave · Chicago
Historic, handicap accessible, with great food & cocktails
🍔 YES — food is available during the lecture
✔ Separate checks allowed
✔ More seating than past venues
✔ Food is excellent
https://www.badapplebar.com/the-bad-apple-lincoln-park

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🏙️ About the Series
Chicago for Chicagoans returns for their 9th Winter Speakeasy Lecture Series, designed to teach Chicago residents about the history of their own city.

Hosted at Bad Apple Lincoln Park, these pay-what-you-can events spark discussion about Chicago’s past — and how it continues to shape our future.

📅 NOW ON TUESDAY EVENINGS!

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🔍 This Year’s Theme: MISCONCEPTIONS
This season explores the unfair stereotypes, urban legends, and dubious assumptions surrounding Chicago’s past.

Each week features a different local Chicago historian & expert for 12 one-of-a-kind evenings of:
• Legendary tall tales
• Corrected mischaracterizations
• Disproven myths
• Lively discussion + tasty cocktails
Attend in person or watch the recorded lectures online afterward.

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📚 THIS WEEK’S LECTURE — 01/06/26
Criminally Overrated
Is Chicago really more dangerous than everywhere else?
Explore the myths vs. truths of Chicago crime, from:
• The lawless frontier
• 1920s gangsters
• Mid-century mobsters
• Today’s crime statistics
🎤 Lecture by Patti Swanson, Founder of Chicago for Chicagoans
Registration opens 12/23/25!

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👩‍🏫 About the Speaker: Patti Swanson
Founder & Executive Director of Chicago for Chicagoans
Patti is an artist, historian, educator, event planner, and brickophile. She moved to Chicago to study art history at SAIC — and stayed to research the city, lead tours (since 2012), eat all the food, meet all the people, and shovel a lot of snow.

She is passionate about making community history inclusive and accessible.

Also under her care: two cats, a dog, several chickens, and a sourdough starter named Susan Yeast Anthony.

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🌐 Learn More & Watch Recordings
Chicago for Chicagoans:
http://www.chicagoforchicagoans.org/
Effing Chicago:
http://effingchicago.com/

🎥 Recordings posted the following Thursday:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChicagoforChicagoans
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicagoforchicagoans/videos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicagoforchicagoans

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💛 Support the Nonprofit
Chicago for Chicagoans is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Tax-deductible donations:
http://www.chicagoforchicagoans.org/donate.html

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🚇 Getting There
Public transit:
Google Maps or CTA Trip Planner
https://www.transitchicago.com/planatrip/

🚗 Parking:
• Metered parking on Lincoln, Fullerton & Halsted
• Some free side-street parking (watch signs)
• SpotHero lot directly across the street

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⚠️ NO-SHOW POLICY (PLEASE READ)
• 3 no-shows without updating RSVP = 3-month event freeze
• RSVP cut-off = event start time
• If late, message the host directly
• Failure to check in counts as a no-show
• Continued no-shows may result in removal from the group