The 1871 Chicago fire gave the city its first free public library

Evidence

English efforts focused on the creation of a new free public library for Chicago, something which to this point had been lacking. — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 870

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader England-to-colonies library export theme — British donations shaped Chicago’s library as they shaped imperial libraries. — connects to: The great Chicago fire destroyed up to three million library volumes — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 869
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 870