Jane Miller

Martha Dodd Stern, seen here with her husband Alfred Stern (right) and their son Robert in Prague in 1957 after the couple was accused in the United States of spying for the Soviet Union.

FBI files detail the story of ex-Chicagoan Martha Dodd Stern who became a Soviet spy

Her father was U.S. ambassador to Germany as Hitler rose to power, and she was romantically involved with the Nazis’ secret police chief before embracing the Soviet Union.

By Jane Miller

Joe Miller painted this mural in 2014 on a building at 1400 W. 46th St. that anchors an urban farm and food incubator called The Plant, an old meatpacking building back when the Chicago’s stockyards were still around.

Murals and Mosaics

A pig and a steer and a whole lot of history are packed into Back of the Yards mural

Chicago artist Joe Miller tapped photos from the heyday of the old Union Stock Yard for his large-scale brick canvas at The Plant, an urban farm and food production incubator.

By Jane Miller

The Bernard Williams mural “Feed Your Child the Truth” at Jessie “Ma” Houston Park, 5001 S. Cottage Grove Ave., features the jail and prison minister the Kenwood park is named for.

Murals and Mosaics

Kenwood mural celebrates Chicago civil rights figure Rev. Jessie ‘Ma’ Houston

The 1994 mural by Bernard Williams spotlights the late jail and prison chaplain who was a founding member of what’s now the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

By Jane Miller