The Chicago Cultural Center, originally the main branch of the Chicago Public Library (1893), which was built on land donated by the Grand Army of the Republic, maintains a memorial hall to the Grand Army inside the building.
The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army who had served in the American Civil War. The GAR was among the first organized interest groups in American politics. It was succeeded by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW).
The rotunda just outside the memorial hall features 30-foot walls of Knoxville pink marble, mosaic floor, and a fine, colorful stained-glass dome in an intricate Renaissance floral pattern by the firm of Healy and Millet.
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