This June, join the Men’s Group for an exciting presentation by esteemed speaker, Krista August.

Mother Nature left Chicago’s landscape promising yet problematic. It took clever engineers to orchestrate imaginative and sometimes daring edits to Chicago’s terrain, and consequently, to build the city with the big shoulders. In looking back, we salute the problem solvers and workers who made swampland hospitable and safe for big city life.

Krista August bridges local history and contemporary life with her many presentations based upon meticulous research portrayed through captivating images and lively storytelling. Krista’s books and lectures are popular with private and corporate groups, libraries, historical societies and schools.

Krista holds mathematics and graduate education degrees from Northwestern and DePaul Universities, respectively. Her fine art study includes coursework at the Palette and Chisel, the Old Town Triangle Association, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Richeson School of Art, and the Peninsula School of Art. For seven years, Krista volunteered for the Chicago Architecture Foundation, leading walking tours of Chicago’s historic and modern skyscrapers.  She has been a popular speaker at the Men’s Group over the years, with her last presentation taking place in December 2020, where she discussed Holiday Rituals.

Her books include Giants in the Park, which was awarded 2011 Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association and received 2014 and 2017 Certificates of Excellence from the Illinois State Historical Society.