This year on May 9, Amtrak will kick off its “Amtrak Train Days” campaign from Chicago’s Union Station. This series of events is in honor of National Train Day and part of an effort to show why trains matter. The events will take place across 20 locations starting in May and going through October.

President Barack Obama has named a unique Chicago neighborhood as a national monument, recognizing Illinois' history in the railroad industry and a unique part of the birth of the labor rights movement in the United States.

Professional chorus group Conspirare, conducted by University of Illinois alum Craig Hella Johnson, won a Grammy on Sunday for Best Choral Performance during the show’s 57th annual awards.

While its origins can be traced to the Mississippi Delta in the Deep South, large cities in the North and Midwest played a huge role in the development and evolution of blues music.

Chicago, with its large number of African-American migrants, would become known for its own distinct style of blues called the electric blues.