More Than a Game: Chicago's Public Square
In 1968, Eunice Kennedy Shriver launched the first Special Olympics here. A moment that changed how the world sees ability. Soldier Field has hosted more than football.
By Editorial Team · 2025-12-03
A Stadium for Everyone
Soldier Field has always been more than a sports venue. It's where Chicago gathers—for celebrations, for protests, for moments that matter.
The stadium's colonnades have witnessed presidential speeches, papal masses, and movements that changed the world.
The Birth of the Special Olympics
July 20, 1968. Eunice Kennedy Shriver stood on the Soldier Field turf and launched the first International Special Olympics Summer Games.
A thousand athletes from 26 states and Canada competed that day. Many had never been given a chance to participate in organized sports. Soldier Field gave them a stage.
The movement that started here has since reached millions of athletes in over 170 countries. It began on the lakefront, in a stadium built for everyone.
Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.
Special Olympics Athlete Oath
Where the City Comes Together
In 1962, John F. Kennedy addressed a massive political rally at Soldier Field. In 1979, Pope John Paul II held Mass for over 300,000 people—one of the largest gatherings in Chicago history.
The stadium has hosted graduation ceremonies, religious gatherings, and concerts that brought hundreds of thousands to the lakefront. Not because it's the fanciest venue, but because it's big enough for everyone.
That's what makes Soldier Field different from a privately-owned arena. It was built on public land, for public use. The colonnades don't belong to any team. They belong to Chicago.
A Public Legacy
Every dome proposal, every suburban relocation plan, threatens something that can't be replaced: a public gathering place on the lakefront.
The Special Olympics could have started anywhere. So could Kennedy's rally, or the Pope's Mass. They happened at Soldier Field because it was Chicago's public square—open, accessible, and owned by no one.
Some things are worth more than revenue projections.