Halsted Street to be the focus of a (third) documentary

By the Editorial Team · Sunday, September 20, 2026

The Mouse Arts and Letters Club has launched a new, volunteer-driven documentary project to explore Halsted Street’s history and present through multimedia contributions from artists and community members. By building on past films and incorporating diverse creative approaches, the initiative aims to strengthen connections across Chicago’s communities and highlight the street’s evolving cultural significance.

Halsted Street, a major thoroughfare that runs through Chicago and beyond, has long been a subject of artistic and cultural interest, previously inspiring two documentary films. Now, a new project aims to build upon those earlier portrayals with a fresh, multifaceted exploration of the street, engaging a diverse group of artists and community members.

The initiative is being led by the Mouse Arts and Letters Club, a recently formed social arts collective based in the Bridgeport neighborhood. The club, which describes itself as part salon and part creative workshop, seeks to provide a space for poets, journalists, musicians, and activists to collaborate and discuss ideas outside of the often contentious realm of social media.

The prior documentaries offer a foundation for the new effort. The earliest, a silent 16-minute film from 1932 by filmmaker and labor organizer Conrad Friberg, presents a visual cross-section of Halsted Street from Chicago’s southern border northward to Lake Michigan. The film captures a mix of urban and rural scenes, streetcars, pedestrians, and storefronts reflective of the era, including a record shop and a public bathhouse promoting health remedies.

In the 1990s, director David Simpson expanded the scope with “Halsted Street, USA,” a roughly hourlong film tracing the street’s path from Southern Illinois into Chicago and beyond. Narrated by Studs Terkel, the documentary examines the street as a cultural melting pot and highlights the diversity and tensions found along its route.

Building on this legacy, the Mouse Arts and Letters Club plans to create a new documentary that remains strictly focused on Halsted Street itself rather than specific neighborhoods. The project aims to capture both historical and contemporary perspectives through a wide array of creative forms, including interviews, historical reenactments, visual art, poetry, and photography. Collaborators will be divided into teams, each responsible for documenting particular segments of the street.

Among the contributors is Paul Durica, director of exhibitions at the Chicago History Museum, who will participate with historical reenactments, including scenes related to the 1877 Battle of the Viaduct, a workers’ uprising that took place on Halsted.

The club’s co-founders, Morley Musick and Blair Paddock, emphasized the grassroots and collaborative nature of the project, which operates entirely on volunteer efforts and relies on donated filming equipment. Fundraising efforts are underway to secure additional resources.

The documentary is envisioned as a layered, richly textured portrait of Halsted Street, weaving together stories from various time periods and disciplines. The project’s organizers hope it will foster connections across Chicago’s diverse communities by encouraging participants from different parts of the city to engage deeply with the street’s history and contemporary identity.

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