Chicago Tribune Tower (and the writing on the walls)

Last week I walked over to the Tribune Tower and took some photos of the building exterior, the courtyard and the lobby. And while the exterior is very beautiful and interesting, the interior is even more fascinating and meaningful.

Tribune Tower is located at 435 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It is a skyscraper built in the Neo-Gothic style. It currently houses the Chicago Tribune, Tribune Media and WGN Radio. The restaurant on the main floor is named Howells & Hood (after the building’s architects). It was first built in 1868, but was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and rebuilt in 1925. It is a designated Chicago landmark. From 2006 through 2009 it housed the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, but now the museum can only be found online. The museum was dedicated to the First Amendment, i.e. freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom of petition. The Tribune Tower was recently sold and will undergo mixed-use redevelopment.

What I found most fascinating about the Tribune Tower was the Entry Hall and the writing on the walls. The writings on the walls are inscriptions in stone about the importance of freedom of speech and freedom of the press by statesman and philosophers throughout history.

THIS IS TRUE LIBERTY, WHEN FREE-BORN MEN,
HAVING TO ADVISE THE PUBLIC, MAY SPEAK FREE
WHICH HE WHO CAN, AND WILL, DESERVES HIGH PRAISE,
WHO NEITHER CAN, NOR WILL, MAY HOLD HIS PEACE.
WHAT CAN BE JUSTER IN A STATE THAN THIS?
—EURIPIDES

GIVE ME BUT THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS AND I WILL GIVE TO THE MINISTER A VENAL HOUSE OF PEERS.

I WILL GIVE HIM A CORRUPT AND SERVILE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

I WILL GIVE HIM THE FULL SWING OF THE PATRONAGE OF OFFICE.
I WILL GIVE HIM THE WHOLE HOST OF MINISTERIAL INFLUENCE.
I WILL GIVE HIM ALL THE POWER THAT PLACE CAN CONFER UPON HIM
TO PURCHASE UP SUBMISSION AND OVERAWE RESISTANCE:
AND YET, ARMED WITH THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS,
I WILL GO FORTH TO MEET HIM UNDISMAYED.
I WILL ATTACK THE MIGHTY FABRIC OF THAT MIGHTIER ENGINE.
I WILL SHAKE DOWN FROM ITS HEIGHT CORRUPTION
AND BURY IT BENEATH THE RUINS OF
THE ABUSES IT WAS MEANT TO SHELTER.
—RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDANNO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT
NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT.
—FIRST DIVISION MOTTO

TAKE HER DOWN!
—HOWARD GILMORE

I WANT THE TRIBUNE
TO CONTINUE TO BE AFTER I AM GONE
AS IT HAS BEEN UNDER MY DIRECTIONS:
AN ADVOCATE OF
POLITICAL AND MORAL PROGRESS,
AND IN ALL THINGS TO FOLLOW THE LINE OF COMMON SENSE.
—JOSEPH MEDILL

THE MASS OF EVERY PEOPLE
MUST BE BARBAROUS
WHERE THERE IS NO PRINTING,
AND CONSEQUENTLY KNOWLEDGE
IS NOT GENERALLY DIFFUSED.
KNOWLEDGE IS DIFFUSED
AMONG OUT PEOPLE BY NEWSPAPERS.
—SAMUEL JOHNSON

THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH
HAS MARCHED HAND IN HAND
IN THE ADVANCE OF CIVILIZATION WITH
WITH THE STRUGGLE
FOR OTHER GREAT HUMAN LIBERTIES.
HISTORY TEACHES THAT
HUMAN LIBERTY CANNOT BE SECURED
UNLESS THERE IS FREEDOM
TO EXPRESS GREIVANCES.
—CHIEF JUSTICE
FLOYD E. THOMPSON

THE ENTIRE AND ABSOLUTE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
IS ESSENTIAL TO THE PRESERVATION OF GOVERNMENT
ON THE BASIS OF A FREE CONSTITUTION.
—DANIEL WEBSTER

THE NEARER YOU ARE TO THE ENEMY
THE NEARER YOU ARE TO GOD.
—ROBERT R. McCORMICK

GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!
—PATRICK HENRY

NEWSPAPERS ARE THE SENTINALS
OF THE LIBERTIES OF OUR COUNTRY.
—BENJAMIN RUSH

LET IT BE IMPRESSED UPON YOUR MINDS,
LET IT BE INSTILLED IN YOUR CHILDREN,
THAT THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IS THE
PALLADIUM OF ALL CIVIL, POLITICAL AND
RELIGIOUS RIGHTS OF THE FREEMAN.
—JUNIUS

A FREE PRESS STANDS AS ONE OF
THE GREAT INTERPRETERS BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE.
TO ALLOW IT TO BE FETTERED
IS TO FETTER OURSELVES.
—GEORGE SUTHERLAND
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE
UNITED STATES

A NEWSPAPER IS AN INSTITUTION
DEVELOPED BY MODERN CIVILIZATION
TO PRESENT THE NEWS OF THE DAY,
TO FOSTER COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY,
TO INFORM AND LEAD PUBLIC OPINION,
AND TO FURNISH
THAT CHECK UPON GOVERNMENT
WHICH NO CONSTITUTION
HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO PROVIDE.
—ROBERT R. McCORMICK

AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH,
AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.
—ST. JOHN 8:32

OUR LIBERTY DEPENDS
ON THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
AND THAT CAN NOT BE LIMITED
WITHOUT BEING LOST.
—THOMAS JEFFERSON

TO THE PRESS ALONE
CHECKERED THOUGH IT IS WITH ABUSES
THE WORLD IS INDEBTED
FOR ALL THE TRIUMPHS
WHICH HAVE BEEN GAINED
BY REASON AND HUMANITY
OVER ERRORS AND OPPRESSION.
—JAMES MADISON

CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING
AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION OR PROHIBITING
THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF, OR ABRIDGING
THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR OF THE PRESS,
OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY
TO ASSEMBLE AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT
FOR A REDRESS OF GREIVANCES.
—FIRST AMDENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERMENT HAS BECOME MORE COMPLEX,
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MALFEASANCE AND CORRUPTION HAVE MULTIPLIED,
CRIME HAS GROWN TO MOST SERIOUS PROPORTIONS,
AND THE DANGER OF ITS PROTECTION BY UNFAITHFUL OFFICIALS AND OF
THE IMPAIRMENT OF THE FUNDAMENTAL SECURITY OF LIFE AND PROPERTY
BY CRIMINAL ALLIANCES AND OFFICIAL NEGLECT
EMPHASIZES THE PRIMARY NEED OF
A VIGILANT AND COURAGEOUS PRESS ESPECIALLY IN GREAT CITIES.
THE FACT THAT THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS
MAY BE ABUSED BY MISCREANT PURVEYORS OF SCANDAL
DOES NOT MAKE ANY THE LESS NECESSARY THE IMMUNITY OF THE PRESS
FROM PREVIOUS RESTRAINT IN DEALING WITH OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT.
—CHARLES EVANS HUGHES
CHIEF JUSTICE UNITED STATES

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